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Brian W. Aldiss

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The Dark Light Years Kindle Edition

by Brian W. Aldiss (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

3.9 47 ratings

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A strange alien species forces us to question our definition of civilization in this biting satire from the Grand Master of Science Fiction.

What would intelligent life‑forms on another planet look like? Would they walk upright? Would they wear clothes? Or would they be hulking creatures on six legs that wallow in their own excrement? Upon first contact with the Utod— intelligent, pacifist beings who feel no pain—mankind instantly views these aliens as animals because of their unhygienic customs. This leads to the slaughter, capture, and dissection of the Utod. But when one explorer recognizes the intelligence behind their habits, he must reevaluate what it actually means to be “intelligent.”

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About the Author

Brian W. Aldiss was born in Norfolk, England, in 1925. Over a long and distinguished writing career, he published award-winning science fiction (two Hugo Awards, a Nebula Award, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award); bestselling popular fiction, including the three-volume Horatio Stubbs saga and the four-volume the Squire Quartet; experimental fiction such as Report on Probability A and Barefoot in the Head; and many other iconic and pioneering works, including the Helliconia Trilogy. He edited many successful anthologies and published groundbreaking nonfiction, including a magisterial history of science fiction (Billion Year Spree, later revised and expanded as Trillion Year Spree). Among his many short stories, perhaps the most famous was “Super-Toys Last All Summer Long,” which was adapted for film by Stanley Kubrick and produced and directed after Kubrick’s death by Steven Spielberg as A.I. Artificial Intelligence. Brian W. Aldiss passed away in 2017 at the age of 92.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00J3EU3KQ
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Open Road Media Sci-Fi & Fantasy (April 1, 2014)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 1, 2014
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3971 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 173 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #617,437 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,523 in Hard Science Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #3,263 in Hard Science Fiction (Books)
- #3,888 in First Contact Science Fiction (Books)

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3.9 47 ratings

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3.9 out of 5

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Gregg Bender

Very interesting take on alien life

Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2017

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I've always wondered whether we would recognise intelligent alien life. Their thought and language might be beyond our ability to comprehend. I fear this take might be the outcome of first contact. But which side of the equation would humans be on...?

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Mia

Science fiction to make you think

Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2017

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Civilization is a distance the man has placed between him and his excreta. What an idea, though, of course, not without its limitations. Conceptually this is precisely the sort of scifi I enjoy. The sort that uses fictional constructs to address serious topics. The sort that uses aliens to talk about humanity. In this case the fictional construct is an alien race found and found offensive by earth explorers. Offense in the form of not subscribing to standard humanoid measures of hygiene. It matters not, of course, that Utods are in fact a sophisticated race with advanced technology and philosophy, the men (confined by their impregnable anthropomorphism and galvanized by narrow minded prejudice) see their wallowing in mud habit and their excretions as appalling, thus rendering the entire race as inferior, thus making it ok to slaughter, imprison and torture. So this really is a sociopolitical satire about humankind's rationalization for violence through their inability to understand another culture and thus perceiving it as lesser. A lesson in xenophobia, quite timely one too. The gentle intelligent Utods didn't stand a chance. The novel was written in 1964 and occasionally reads as such, particularly when it comes to visions of distant future which to us is more or less now. Funny how the present time is both infinitely more and infinitely less stranger than once imagined. The writing was good and so, for the most part, was the pacing. Served as a worthy introduction to a new author, I've never experienced before outside of cinematic adaptation. Certainly makes you think, which is really what books ought to do. After all, Epictetus was right...books are the training weights of the mind.

4 people found this helpful

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Chris

Strong satire but only a decent novel

Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2015

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Humanity has met many species of semi-sapient lifeforms on its expansion across the galaxies, but had never discovered another intelligent race before. That changed when a group of explorers ran into the utod. Hippopotomi-sized, two-headed mammals that wallow in mud and their own filth, traversing the galaxy in wooden spacecraft, the utod are gentle creatures who feel no pain, can change their gender, and communicate in a complex series of whistles and hoots from their eight orifaces. Needless to say, humanity’s gut instinct on first contact is to gun down all but two of them. Taken back to the London Exozoo, the sharpest human minds attempt to converse with the remaining creatures, only to see them fail every man-made test for intelligence. Meanwhile, the utod refuse to open communications with this strange race of two-legged creatures whose second orifice is hidden under clothing, and who shun the holiness of a middenwallow in favor of abject cleanliness.

It sounds like the perfect setup for a social satire---and that's exactly what Aldiss provides, a kind of first-contact, post-colonial take on humanity's anthropocentric expectations of what an alien intelligence should look/act like. Like other such satires (Pohl's Jem comes to mind), it isn't as good at being a novel as it is as biting social commentary. Aldiss' writing is good, as always, but the pacing and particularly the characterization is weaker than normal. The characters are wooden and under-developed; while one "critical" character isn't introduced until the third to last chapter. Most exist as one-dimensional stand-ins for what Aldiss is mocking, the pompous scientists who are already convinced that these grotesque beasts aren't intelligent despite any sign to the contrary. A bit too much hyperbole for some, but I think it amps up the satire when there's only ever one sane man in the room.

Come for the social commentary, which is spot on; if you enjoy social satire SF ala Pohl, Sheckley, Tenn, and others, there's a good chance you'll like this one. Just lower your expectations a bit before diving in. While it's not a bad novel, the pacing and characters haves some serious issues, and it isn't quite able to deliver on its brilliant premise.

16 people found this helpful

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Thomas Herlofsen

Sharp, witty, sad

Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2001

In a myriad of SF-writers, Brian Aldiss has always stood out because of his ability to infuse typical genre scenarios with unique imagination and gentle irony, and The Dark Light Years is the author at his best. The plot follows humanity's first contac with an alien race called the Utods, an intelligent, gentle people who think technology is a strange Idea and socialize using their excrements(!). Aldiss turns this scenario into a humorous but but bleak fable about human nature, with lots of sideways glances at heavy philosophical themes like the nature of communication, religion and progress. A great book, halfway between Ellison and Asimov. Thoroughly recommended.

4 people found this helpful

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