Challenge 910

Curious Others

1. In Nemo West’s What Kate Found in the Fringe: How, exactly, were Kate and Quince instrumental in thwarting the space pirates?

2. In Charles C. Cole’s A Post-Human Conversation: What human characteristics does Aye-Aye exhibit?

3. In Michael Burnett’s The Crystal Library:

   1. What philosophical and even theological schools of thought does the Crystal Library give rise to?
   2. What social development related to the Crystal Library seems to lead to armed conflict?

4. In Dimitar Dakovski’s The Perfect Form:

   1. In what way does the view of the Saari people’s evolution resemble that of humanity? How does current human thinking differ with regard to sapience and tool-making?
   2. Does the myth of Maari and Sandre resemble origin myths in any Earth cultures?
   3. Bonus question: To what extent is the story’s premise similar to that of Hal Clement’s Iceworld (1953)?

5. In Madalyn Meyers’ The Nightingale:

   1. What does the “trickster” Shay reveal about the narrator’s personality?
   2. The occurrences of “as” used as a subordinating conjunction of time approach those of a normal high-frequency word, the definite article “the.”
      1. In how many cases does “as” signify simultaneity (“while” or “when”)?
      2. In how many cases might “as” actually signify sequential actions or states of being (“before” or “after”)?
      3. Might “as” mean “because” in some cases?
   
   

   Responses welcome!

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