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
"Science fiction has gotten more accurate as we've gotten closer to the present, because science fiction stories have not only attracted, but also generated current scientists."
- Larry Niven
 |
| Pray-Machine | ||
| A kind of energy receiver that could retrieve a soul from the radiation belt surrounding a planet. |
In this remarkable novel, Roger Zelazny has created a world in which reincarnation really works. All of the electrical impulses that constitute a person can be successfully transferred from an old, infirm body to a new healthy one. The original settlers of the planet set themselves up as deities overseeing this system. One warrior who challenged the system was punished by being sentenced to nirvana - having his electrical being projected into the radiation belt surrounding the planet. At the beginning of the story, he is summoned back to life with a pray-machine.
| It was in the days of the rains that their prayers went up, not from the fingering of knotted prayer cords ... but from the great pray-machine in the monastery of Ratri, goddess of the Night. The high-frequency prayers were directed upward through the atmosphere and out beyond it, passing into that golden cloud ... which is seen as a bronze rainbow at night and where the red sun becomes orange at midday. Yama tended the pray-machine and the giant metal lotus he had set atop the monastery roof turned in its sockets. For six days he had offered many kilowatts of prayer, but the static kept him from being heard on high. |
| Technovelgy from Lord of Light,
by Roger Zelazny. Published by Doubleday in 1967 Additional resources -
|
Yama was successful, bring the protagonist of the novel back to life; the Mahasamatman, or as he called himself, Sam. This remarkable fusion of Indian epic, technology and typical tongue-in-cheek wit won Zelazny the Hugo award in 1968.
Here's another interesting tidbit:
"But, ah, my prayer account!" replied the prince. "I'll stand on that for the time being. Future theologians will have to make the final decision, though, as to the acceptability of all those slugs in the pray-o-mats..."
It's interesting to note that in Tibetan Buddhism, prayer wheels (Chokhor) are turned by hand to gain merit, but larger ones are made to turn by wind power or water power, providing a kind of automated karmic gain.
Compare to the mother scanner from The Turning Wheel (1954) by Philip K. Dick.
"This day your sin account is filled to overflowing," said the sailmaker.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Lord of Light
More Ideas
and Technology by Roger Zelazny
Tech news articles related to Lord of Light
Tech news articles related to works by Roger Zelazny
Pray-Machine-related
news articles:
- Sky Ear: Mobile Phones and Helium Balloons
- Sky Ear Works!
- Saudi Arabian Mobile Phones
- Prayer Antenna Religious Technology Artifact
- Planetary Hard Drive
| Holobox? Who Doesn't Want A Home Hologram? |
| EBS-260 Handjet Free Hand Dot Matrix Printer |
| CD, DVD Bit Rot And PKD's Civic Notification Distorter |
| Zoom Education Idea Is 100 Years Old |
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
'And he had been sent with troops, supplies and bombs to command Russia's most trusted post, the Moonbase.'
'What is your population', I asked. 'About eighty millions.'
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street of Hydropole. Robot-guided, insulated from noise and cold...'
'The car had no steering wheel, and no one drove!'
Now that's power walking that Hugo Gernsback would have approved.
'It was disturbing to think of the Flatline as a construct...'
'...he rewired the delivery robot so that it would serve him midnight snacks.'
'On went the electric-yacht faster and still faster.'
'...the huge vessel had spun, with a sickening lurch, through a complete half-circle, the instant the power was reversed.'
'...he realized that it was not quite a clear lens. Speckles of colored brightness swirled and gathered in it.'
