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Well, folks, let's talk about my grand plan for 2023 - attempting to read a whopping 1000 short stories. Now, in hindsight, I might as well have declared my intention to conquer Mount Everest on roller skates. Unfortunately, my reading habits took another nosedive and let's just say that I fell a bit short of that unrealistic goal. But hold your applause because, drumroll, I did conquer about 130 short stories! Not too shabby, right?
Now, for the 'Deal Me in Challenge' of 2024: If I somehow manage to squeeze in 20 short stories for the entire year, it will be a miracle. I hope you will join me on this rollercoaster of literary highs and lows, where my reading aspirations are like a cat on a unicycle – precarious and bound to elicit a few laughs. Stay tuned, dear readers! 📚😅
To ease back into reading again, I decided to start with Colony by Philip K. Dick. He has a pretty good track record when it comes to entertaining sci-fi short-stories, and this one certainly fits the bill. As an alien encounter plot, it's silly fun even though the ending is a little on the predictable side. I find some of Dick's earlier works, including this one, tend to be less cerebral and more pulpy entertainments--not that there is anything wrong with that! Sometimes I just want a story that's less 'Inception' and more popcorn and soda, please. His usual trademark style of blending philosophical depth, wild sci-fi concepts and a gripping plot will not be found here. Yet, he still manages to turn out a compelling enough story filled with mounting paranoia as a group of scientists on the newly discovered "Planet Blue" (creative, right?) find themselves at the mercy of a shape-shifting lifeform.
And Dungeons and Dragons enthusiasts, brace yourselves. You'll spot a familiar monster in this tale that'll make you wonder if Gary Gygax was secretly taking notes. Maybe Dick was the unsung bard of D&D lore all along?
I like the point made in the blog post that “Colony” by Philip K. Dick works mainly as entertaining, slightly pulpy science fiction rather than one of his more philosophical stories. That actually felt accurate to me as well. The premise-explorers on a seemingly safe planet discovering that ordinary objects can be deadly alien mimics-is simple but very effective at building tension and paranoia. The story may not have the deep metaphysical themes that appear in Dick’s later works, but it still delivers a clever idea and a suspenseful situation where the characters slowly realize that even the most harmless objects around them might be alive.
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