cover art by Richard Sternbach |
Okay, it is a romantic notion: that Teela somehow had the power to alter the flow of events in the universe so that her descendants would have the chance to populate the Ringworld. For decades I tried to push the whole crazy idea out of my thoughts.
Teela Brown by RobCaswell |
But maybe Teela and Kirk simply had the ability to see the future.
what a way to go |
Bimanoid Interface
Now, after I've had a couple of decades to calm down and cool off, I just had a horrible realization. Maybe there is a way that you could breed for luck.
I've been developing a fan-fiction sequel to Jack Vance's novel Trullion in which an artificial life form (the Phari) is discovered to have carried out a thousands-of-years-long breeding project aimed at creating humans who can use the Bimanoid Interface.
Vance often had fun including in his stories the idea that some aliens and some humans had access to a paracosmos that is outside of the awareness of most people. In particular, Vance made the paracosmos an integral part of his Alastor Cluster trilogy.
Marune
Vance told the tale of Efraim, Kaiark of Scharrode, who was poisoned by Fwai-chi shag. The main effect of the poison was that he lost his memory.
Fwai-chi |
I like to imagine that the Grendels had similar advanced reproductive abilities, allowing them to manufacture tryp'At from human biological source material.
Vance enigmatically suggests that the Fwai-chi are more closely attuned to the paracosmos than we humans.
Marune: interior artwork by Stephen Fabian |
The League of Yrinna |
Pheni |
With the help of a Phari endosymbiont, a human such a Duissane can use the Bimanoid Interface and gain access to the information content of the Hierion Domain. With some additional assistance, information from the future can be channeled from the Sedronic Domain to Duissane, allowing her to take action based on knowledge of the future. Normally all of this takes place outside of human conscious awareness, but with the help of the alien Pheni, she learns to take conscious command of her Phari endosymbiont.
source |
"Your corporeal substance itself contains memory; it is called instinct. I give you this medicine. It will prompt all your cells to erupt memories -even those very cells that now block your memory."
paranormal |
internal art for Marune by Stephen Fabian |
Related Reading: the September 1975 Amazing with the ending of Marune is available via the Internet Archive.
visit the Gallery of Book and Magazine Covers |
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