Riding the Crocodile

Last updated

"Riding the Crocodile"
Short story by Greg Egan
Country Australia
Language English
Genre(s) Science fiction
Publication
Published in One Million A.D.
Publication dateDecember 2005

"Riding the Crocodile" is a science-fiction novella by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in One Million A.D. edited by Gardner Dozois in December 2005. The novella was included in the collections Dark Integers and Other Stories in 2008 and Oceanic in 2009. [1] [2] [3] The short story is set in the same universe as Egan's short stories "Glory" and "Hot Rock" as well as Egan's novel Incandescence .

Contents

Plot

For millions of years, an alien civilization known as the Aloof living in the core of the galaxy have kept a strict isolation. Any attempts to communicate have been ignored and any non-sentient probes sent into their territory have been shut down and sent back decades later. Leila and Jasim, after having been married for more than ten thousand years and, voluntarily having chosen death, want to start another attempt for contact and travel through the communication network of an alien civilization known as Amalgam from their home planet Najib to the planet Nazdeek. More than ten thousand additional years are spent mostly unconscious for this journey, hence their children and grandchildren have probably already chosen death. Leila enters the network of the Aloof and is allowed to pass through the core of the galaxy. Every attempt to communicate is still ignored and Leila realizes, that surely none of her arguments regarding cooperation have already been thought through by the Aloof. Leila finally accepts their isolation, but assures them, that others will nonetheless continue to investigate them for a better understanding since that is simply their nature. [4]

Reception

Reviews

Rich Horton writes on the SF Site , that "the portrayal of the far future posthuman culture is intriguing, and the notion of the Aloof comes off pretty well, but never did I quite care." [5]

Karen Burnham writes in Greg Egan (Modern Masters of Science Fiction) about "Riding the Crocodile", "Glory" and Incandescence , that "the real challenge is coping with the ennui of immortality" and that "his characters tend to do this by maintaining a spirit of scientific inquiry". [6]

Awards

The novelette was a Locus Award Nominee for Best SF Novelette in 2007 and reached the 12th place. [7]

Related Research Articles

Greg Egan is an Australian science fiction writer and mathematician, best known for his works of hard science fiction. Egan has won multiple awards including the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, the Hugo Award, and the Locus Award.

"Wang's Carpets" is a science-fiction short story by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in New Legends edited by Greg Bear and Martin H. Greenberg on 5 April 1995.

<i>Incandescence</i> (novel) 2008 novel by Greg Egan

Incandescence is a 2008 science fiction novel by Australian author Greg Egan. The book is based on the idea that the theory of general relativity could be discovered by a pre-industrial civilisation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oceanic (novella)</span> 1998 novella by Greg Egan

"Oceanic" is a science fiction novella by Australian writer Greg Egan, published in 1998. It won the 1999 Hugo Award for Best Novella.

<i>The 1975 Annual Worlds Best SF</i> 1975 anthology edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Arthur W. Saha

The 1975 Annual World's Best SF is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Arthur W. Saha, the fourth volume in a series of nineteen.

<i>The 1979 Annual Worlds Best SF</i> 1979 anthology edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Arthur W. Saha

The 1979 Annual World's Best SF is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Arthur W. Saha, the eighth volume in a series of nineteen. It was first published in paperback by DAW Books in May 1979. It was reissued by DAW in 1984 under the variant title Wollheim's World's Best SF: Series Eight, this time with cover art by Olivero Berni.

<i>The Best Science Fiction of the Year 13</i> 1984 anthology edited by Terry Carr

The Best Science Fiction of the Year #13 is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Terry Carr, the thirteenth volume in a series of sixteen. It was first published in paperback by Baen Books in July 1984, and in hardcover and trade paperback by Gollancz in December of the same year.

"Axiomatic" is a science-fiction short story by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Interzone 41 in November 1990. The short story was included in the collection The Best of Greg Egan in 2020.

Dark Integers and Other Stories is a collection of five science-fiction short stories by Australian writer Greg Egan, published on 25 March 2008 by Subterranean Press. One of them, "Oceanic", won the Hugo Award for Best Novella, while two others were nominated.

<i>Oceanic</i> (book) 2009 collection of short science fiction stories by author Greg Egan

Oceanic is a collection of 12 science fiction short stories by Australian writer Greg Egan, published on 16 July 2009 by Gollancz.

"Luminous" is a science-fiction short story by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Asimov’s Science Fiction in September 1995.

"Dark Integers" is a science-fiction short story by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Asimov's Science Fiction in October/November 2007. The short story was included in the collections Dark Integers and Other Stories in 2008, Oceanic in 2009 and The Best of Greg Egan in 2020. It was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novelette in 2008. It is a sequel to the short story "Luminous".

"Chaff" is a science-fiction novelette by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Interzone #78 in December 1993. The novelette was included in the anthology The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Eleventh Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois in 1994 and in the collections Our Lady of Chernobyl in 1995, Luminous in 1998 and The Best of Greg Egan in 2019.

"Into Darkness" is a science-fiction novelette by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Asimov's Science Fiction in January 1992. The novelette was included in the collections Axiomatic in 1995 and The Best of Greg Egan in 2019.

"Border Guards" is a science-fiction novelette by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Interzone 148 in October 1999. The novelette was included in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Seventeenth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois in 2000, Year's Best SF 5 edited by David G. Hartwell in 2000 and Beyond Singularity edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois. It was also published in the collection Oceanic in 2009.

"Glory" is a science-fiction novelette by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in the anthology The New Space Opera edited by Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan in 2007. The novelette was included in the collections Dark Integers and Other Stories in 2008 and Oceanic in 2009. The novelette is set in the same universe as Egan's novellas "Riding the Crocodile" and "Hot Rock" as well as Egan's novel Incandescence.

"Silver Fire" is a science-fiction short story by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Interzone #102 in December 1995. The short story was included in the collections Luminous in 1998 and The Best of Greg Egan in 2019.

<i>Phoresis and Other Journeys</i> 2023 novella collection by Greg Egan

Phoresis and Other Journeys is a collection of three science-fiction novellas by Australian writer Greg Egan, published in 2023.

Sleep and the Soul is a collection of ten science-fiction short stories by Australian writer Greg Egan, published in 2023.

"The Slipway" is a science-fiction novelette by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Analog in July/August 2019. It describes the discovery of a wormhole approaching the Earth. It was included in the collection Instantiation. Greg Egan described the scientific background of the short story in the essay The View through a Wormhole.

References

  1. ↑ "Bibliography". 2024-04-09. Retrieved 2024-04-17.
  2. ↑ "Summary Bibliography: Greg Egan" . Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  3. ↑ "Title: Riding the Crocodile" . Retrieved 2024-04-17.
  4. ↑ Greg Egan (2006-12-31). "Riding the Crocodile" . Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  5. ↑ Horton, Rich (2008). "Dark Integers and Other Stories". sfsite.com. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
  6. ↑ Burnham 14, p. 33
  7. ↑ "Locus Awards 2007" . Retrieved 2024-08-11.

Literature

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.