Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"The planet's immune system is doing everything it can. The planet's immune system is doing everything it can."
- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
 |
| Book of the Kalends | ||
| The ever-changing book without a title; the documented history of a world. |
When Joe Fernwright arrives at the spaceport at Plowman's Planet (Sirius 5), a spiddle ("a careful, brown, large creature resembling a rat") approached him, carrying an armload of books.
| The spiddle touched a tiny tape recorder mounted on its belt; the tape began to speak for the spiddle. "Fully documented history of a fascinating world," it said, in English, and then evidently repeated this in a variety of other tongues...
"Buy it," Mali said. "You know this book? What book is it?" "There is only one book. In this world." "Don't people get tired of reading it?" "It changes," Mali said. "It is written ... by a group of creatures or entities... that records everything that happens on Plowman's Planet. Everything. Great and small." "Then it's a newspaper." Mali halted; she turned to face him, her eyes burning with exasperation. "It is recorded first," she said. "The Kalends spin the story; they enter it into the ever-changing book without a title and it comes about, finally." |
| Technovelgy from Galactic Pot-Healer,
by Philip K. Dick. Published by Berkley Publishing in 1969 Additional resources -
|
The book of the Kalends is a great illustration of a central tenet of PKD's world; that the news is created or manifested in a way that is not clear, and that it both reflects what has happened and what may yet happen. Compare the ever-changing book without a title with homeostatic newspapers.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Galactic Pot-Healer
More Ideas
and Technology by Philip K. Dick
Tech news articles related to Galactic Pot-Healer
Tech news articles related to works by Philip K. Dick
Book of the Kalends-related
news articles:
- Wikipedia Encyclopedia And Dick's Book Of The Kalends
| Has Elon Musk Given Up On Mars? |
| 'They Erased My Memory' Says Ariana Grande |
| 'Spikeless' Brand Swizzle Stick Detects Spiked Drinks |
| Musk Proposes Sites For Martian Cities |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
'Their only check on the growth and development of Vulcan 3 lay in two clues: the amount of rock thrown up to the surface... and the amount of the raw materials and tools and parts which the computer requested.'
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'
'Figments of his mind in one sense, of course, for he had shaped them...'
'So the parent drone carries a spotter that it launches...'
'...nurse drones that would cruise around dumping large amounts of power into randomly selected pods.'
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
'...for months Grantline bores had dug into the cliff.'
'I hope all those other cars are on automatic,' he said anxiously.
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.'
