The Flickr Sfnovel Image Generatr

“The novel tells the story of a math professor who struggles against urges to commit suicide. His life seemed so successful. He was a well-liked college-on-TV lecturer who offered the public a way to improve their meager living standards in the crowded future world of 2200. He has a lovely young wife, which would seem to be a protective factor. Doctors have ruled out depression, and they cannot figure out his problem. Yet in a suicidal attempt he tries to hurl himself from a high balcony. During one TV lecture he cuts his neck on live broadcast, and he takes an overdose of pills. In fact, a mysterious foe is trying to cause the professor to die, and this villain plans to increase the death toll into the millions.” – Wikipedia

“Rendezvous with Rama” unfolds in the 2130s and revolves around a mysterious alien starship named Rama, a 30-mile-long cylindrical vessel that enters the Solar System and is first mistakenly categorized as an asteroid. The narrative follows a group of human explorers who intercept the ship to uncover its secrets. As they venture inside, they encounter a world unlike any other, complete with cities, streets, and a sea that encircles the ship’s interior. The nature and purpose of Rama and its creators remain elusive, sparking endless speculation and wonder among the crew. The novel is celebrated for its imaginative depiction of first contact and has garnered prestigious awards such as the Hugo and Nebula awards for its contribution to the science fiction genre.

Filming of a movie based on the book is set to begin soon under the direction of Denis Villeneuve, the director of “Dune,” “Arrival” and “Blade Runner 2049.”

From the introduction:

Who knows whether the strange events of this story might not one day occur?

This is the story of an expedition – a strange and exciting expedition of one man and an army of women.

He had come into the land of the women suddenly – and without warning. Tall, bronzed, muscular, he stood out among their pale skins and meek spirits. And when they learned of the land from which he had come – the land they hadn’t even known existed – they had to follow him to it.

One man and an army of women crossing the remnants of a post-atomic United States in search of the Unknown; it was an amazing trek. Miraculous things happened to the women. New emotions rose up to plague them. Once there was a near mutiny. Another time, seven of their number were killed. But it was when they reached the city in the sea that the strangest thing of all happened. . .

Exciting, imaginative, prophetic, THE CITY IN THE SEA is also something rare in science fiction – a compellingly human story,

La division Oméga de la Garde Arayo est composée de soldates d'élites, des combattantes cybernétiquement modifiées qui font littéralement corps avec leur armure. Elles n'interviennent que dans les situations les plus dangereuses, quant tout espoir semble perdu, et leur capacité à renverser le cours des batailles est légendaire.

"Prelude to Space" recounts the fictional events leading up to the launch of Prometheus, the world's first spacecraft capable of reaching the Moon. Prometheus consists of two components, named Alpha and Beta. Alpha is designed for travel from Earth orbit to the Moon and back. It is not capable of independent atmospheric flight. Beta is a nuclear-powered flying wing which carries Alpha into orbit.

This rousing adventure story originally appeared as a serial in “Argosy All-Story” magazine, November 8 – December 13, 1924. The archaeologist hero of the story, Kenton, is cast onto the deck of a vessel sailing an eternal sea when he uncovers a detailed model of a ship in an ancient Babylonian artifact. A spell cast him aboard and fantastic adventures ensue as he is caught in the cosmic struggle between Sharane and Klaneth, representatives of two hostile deities.

This story has appeared in book form many times. Examples are:

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This is one of Arthur C. Clarke’s best novels. It has an irresistible theme – mankind’s first encounter with a visitant from the unimaginably remote depths of space and time.

A new celestial body appears in the outer reaches of our solar system in 2130. Believed at first to be an asteroid and named Rama by earthlings, it proves not to be a natural object at all. It’s a vast cylinder about 31 miles long and over 12 miles across, with a mass of at least ten trillion tons. It is moving steadily closer to the Sun. The five-thousand-ton spaceship Endeavour lands on Rama, and when Commander Bill Norton and his crew make their way into its hollow interior they find a whole self-contained world – a world that has been cruising through space for at least 200,000 years and perhaps for more than a million.

Norton and his crew have, at most, three weeks to explore Rama, which seems to be a dead world, though not without its perils. Then, in its own astonishing way, it proves to be very much alive and the perils intensify. Yet in the end homo sapiens pose the greatest menace.

If Morgan Freeman has his way, Rama will someday make its way onto the big screen:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=20DaSHa4I1k

The time is far enough into the future so that man has long been established on the Moon. Conducted tours for vacationers have become entirely common, and one of the high points of each tour is a cruise around the Sea of Thirst – a body of fine volcanic dust – in a specially designed vessel called the Selene. It’s an eerie voyage but one that is considered perfectly safe.

And then the old, dead Moon plays an appalling trick on the Selene, and there follows a most complicated and perilous rescue operation. How do you locate a small vessel buried beneath fifteen meters of dust in one of the craters of the Moon? If you find it, how do you rescue the passengers and crew? If you are on board, how do you feel and what do you do while brave men and expert technicians join forces, on your behalf, in a desperate race against time?

“The War in the Air” is a classic tale of a future war written by Wells in 1907 and serialized in The Pall Mall Magazine the following year. It is notable for its prophetic ideas —in this case, the use of aircraft in warfare and the coming of World War I.

“The basic assumption behind the plot is that immediately after the Wright Brothers's first successful flight in 1903, all of the world's major powers became aware of the decisive strategic importance of air power, and embarked on a secret arms race to develop this power (there is a reference to the Wright Brothers themselves disappearing from public view, having been recruited for a secret military project of the US Government – as were other aviation pioneers in their own respective countries). The general public is virtually unaware of this arms race, until it finally bursts out in a vastly destructive war which destroys civilization.” [Source: Wikipedia]

The novel's hero is Bert Smallways, a "forward-thinking young man" and a "kind of bicycle engineer.” By accident he is carried off in a balloon and shot down over Germany where he stumbles upon a German air fleet just as it is about to launch a surprise attack on the United States. Bert is taken along on the campaign and becomes a witness as the Germans obliterate an American naval fleet in the Atlantic and engage in the aerial bombardment and destruction of New York City. The Germans then build an airbase at Niagara Falls. China and Japan now join forces and attack the western coast of the USA with their own secretly-built flying machines. The Asians then attack the Germans and, soon, the entire world is caught up in this madness. So begins the collapse of civilization.

Art by A. C. Michael

Art by A. C. Michael

Art by A. C. Michael

Art by A. C. Michael

Art by A. C. Michael

Art by A. C. Michael

Art by A. C. Michael

"Presently the English Channel was bridged -- a series of great iron Eiffel Tower pillars carrying mono-rail cables at a height of a hundred and fifty feet above the water, except near the middle, where they rose higher to allow the passage of the London and Antwerp shipping and the Hamburg-America liners.

"Then heavy motor-cars began to run about on only a couple of wheels, one behind the other... All this gyroscopic and mono-rail development naturally absorbed a vast amount of public attention..." [Wells' description of a mono-rail crossing the English Channel]

Art by A. C. Michael

Art by A. C. Michael

In the story, Butteridge is famous for inventing an easily maneuverable fixed-wing aircraft that he is seeking to sell to the British government or, failing that, to Germany. In the illustration, Butteridge is seen circling the Nelson column in Trafalgar Square in his new aircraft.

Art by A. C. Michael