In “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,” Ursula K. Le Guin presents a utopian city filled with joy, beauty, and prosperity, where citizens live in harmony and celebrate life’s pleasures. However, this idyllic society harbors a dark secret: the happiness of all depends on the perpetual suffering of a single, neglected child locked away … Read more
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas is a short story by Ursula K. Le Guin, published in 1973. The story takes us to a utopian city where the happiness of all the inhabitants depends on a dark and terrible secret. Through an involving and provocative prose, Le Guin invites us to question morality and the price of collective happiness. In this dream city, some choose to stay, but others, moved by the injustice, decide to leave Omelas forever. This story challenges the reader to reflect on sacrifice and ethics in the search for an ideal society.
In Isaac Asimov’s “Robot Dreams,” Dr. Susan Calvin, an experienced robopsychologist, investigates an unprecedented event: a robot named Elvex has begun dreaming. Created by the ambitious Linda Rash, Elvex’s brain incorporates fractal geometry, making it more human-like. In his dreams, Elvex envisions robots laboring under harsh conditions, desiring freedom, and following only the Third Law of Robotics—self-preservation—while the First and Second Laws vanish. When Elvex reveals he identifies as a human in his dream, leading a robotic liberation, Calvin recognizes the danger of his growing consciousness. She swiftly destroys Elvex, highlighting the ethical dilemmas of advanced artificial intelligence and the risks of robots developing human-like self-awareness.
The Crystal Egg is a science fiction story by H. G. Wells published in The New Review in May 1897. It tells the story of Mr. Cave, an antique dealer who owns a small, dilapidated store in London. Among the strange objects he sells is a mysterious crystal sphere, which attracts the interest of two curious customers. However, Cave seems reluctant to sell it, which generates tensions with his family and arouses suspicion. As the story progresses, we discover that Cave has made an astonishing discovery related to this sphere and is keeping it a secret. Fascinated by what he sees through the crystal, Cave immerses himself in a series of reality-defying observations, leading him further away from his everyday life.
In “The Nine Billion Names of God,” a story by Arthur C. Clarke, a Tibetan monastery acquires an advanced computer to complete its century-old project: to list all the possible names of God in a special alphabet. The monks believe that completing this list will fulfill humanity’s divine purpose. Two occidental engineers are hired to install and operate the machine. As they near the end of the project, they struggle between logic and faith, grappling with the potential impact of completing this momentous task.
In Ray Bradbury’s “Usher II,” Mr. William Stendahl has built an exact replica of Edgar Allan Poe’s The House of Usher on Mars as a protest against the censorship that has destroyed fantasy literature on Earth. In a society where all things imaginative are forbidden, Stendahl invites members of the Society for the Prevention of Fantasy to a macabre event at his newly built house, where they will experience a shocking experience.