Smiley Posted January 4, 2016 Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 Please join us for our next chat in #readers_corner at 8:30 P.M. (EST) on January 9, 2016 (00:30 A.M., January 10 (GMT)), for a discussion of "Amaryllis" by Carrie Vaughn. The story is one from a collection of "dystopian tales" from the anthology Brave New Worlds by edited by John Joseph Adams. In his introduction to the collection, Adams describes the dystopian genre as follows: "The roots of the word dystopia—dys-and -topia—are from the Ancient Greek for “bad” and “place,” and so we use the term to describe an unfavorable society in which to live. “Dystopia” is not a synonym for “post-apocalyptic”; it also is not a synonym for a bleak, or darkly imagined future. In a dystopian story, society itself is typically the antagonist; it is society that is actively working against the protagonist’s aims and desires. This oppression frequently is enacted by a totalitarian or authoritarian government, resulting in the loss of civil liberties and untenable living conditions..." "Amaryllis" tells a story of a fishing boat and its crew who are bound by the strict conservation laws of a future society living off the limited resources of a depleted earth. The governmental restrictions limit their productivity, a situation acerbated by an somewhat venal scale operator with a vendeta against the crew. Some of our regular chatters will be struck with what Dash might classifiy as symbolism. The Amaryllis Belladonna is a perrenial flowering plant that, much like the tulip, blooms in early Spring. The bulbs are normally sold in the US already potted in suitable containers and are marketed in time to bloom at the traditional Spring religious holidays (Easter and Passover). The blooms might be thought of as a celebration of the return of life. Without giving away too much, I will tell you that the title does reflect a certain happy resolution of the characters troubles. The story is available in html as well as all 'e-reader' formats at: http://www.baenebooks.com/10.1125/Baen/F9781597802215/F9781597802215.htm?blurb The link will take you to the author's introduction (which is very short and worth reading). Amaryllis is the first story in the anthology and can be reached by clicking on the 'next' link at the top or bottom of the page. (We have used a number of other 'free' stories posted on Baen's e-books site and are familiar with his copyright policies -- i.e. the material is free to download for educational or personal use, but may not be used for any commercial purpose.) Meeting Place: Webchat: http://www.koach.com...#Readers_Corner mIRC Users: /server -m chat3.koach.com:6667 -j #readers_corner I feel certain that you will like the story and that we will have a very interesting chat, I hope to see you all there. Log attached: #readers_corner.Koach.com.20160109.txt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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