1729

E X O D U S

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zim & zou

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1728 – The Zoromes series universe of Neil R. Jones (1931-1989 novels & novelettes)

The Mind Masters Chapter One by Neil R. Jones

Slaves of the Unknown by Neil R. Jones

“Within the interior of the space traveler, queer creatures of metal labored at the controls of the space flyer which juggernauted on its way towards the far-off solar luminary. Rapidly it crossed the orbits of Neptune and Uranus and headed sunward. The bodies of these queer creatures were square blocks of a metal closely resembling steel, while for appendages, the metal cube was upheld by four jointed legs capable of movement. A set of six tentacles, all metal, like the rest of the body, curved outward from the upper half of the cubic body. Surmounting it was a queer-shaped head rising to a peak in the center and equipped with a circle of eyes all the way around the head. The creatures, with their mechanical eyes equipped with metal shutters, could see in all directions. A single eye pointed directly upward, being situated in the space of the peaked head, resting in a slight depression of the cranium.” (“The Jameson Satellite” by Neil R. Jones)

World Without Darkness a novelette by Neil R. Jones

Doomsday on Ajiat a Professor Jameson novelette by Neil R. Jones

Goodreads description of Neil R. Jones

Neil Ronald Jones (29 May 1909 – 15 February 1988) was an American author who worked for the state of New York. Not prolific, and little remembered today, Jones was ground–breaking in science fiction. His first story, “The Death’s Head Meteor”, was published in Air Wonder Stories in 1930, recording the first use of “astronaut”. He also pioneered cyborg and robotic characters, and is credited with inspiring the modern idea of Cryonics. Most of his stories fit into a “future history” like that of Robert A. Heinlein or Cordwainer Smith, well before either of them used this convention in their fiction.

Rating not even a cover mention, the first installment of Jones’ most popular creation, “The Jameson Satellite”, appeared in the July 1931 issue of Amazing Stories. The hero was Professor Jameson, the last Earthman, who became immortal through the science of the Zoromes. Jameson was obsessed with the idea of perfectly preserving his body after death and succeeded by having it launched into space in a small capsule. Jameson’s body survived for 40,000,000 years, where it was found orbiting a dead planet Earth by a passing Zorome exploration ship. The Zoromes, or machine men as they sometimes called themselves, were cyborgs. They came from a race of biological beings who had achieved immortality by transferring their brains to machine bodies. They occasionally assisted members of other races with this transition (i.e. the Tri-Peds and the Mumes), allowing others to become Zoromes and join them on their expeditions, which sometimes lasted hundreds of years. So, much like the Borg of the Star Trek series, a Zorome crew could be made up of assimilated members of many different biological species. The Zoromes discovered that Jameson’s body had been so well preserved that they were able to repair his brain, incorporate it into a Zorome machine body and restart it. The professor joined their crew and, over the course of the series, participated in many adventures, even visiting Zor, the Zorome homeworld, where he met biological Zoromes. The professor eventually rose to command his own crew of machine men on a new Zorome exploration ship. “The Jameson Satellite” proved so popular with readers that later installments in Amazing Stories got not only cover mentions but the cover artwork.

Being cryopreserved and revived is an idea that would recur in SF, such as in Gene Roddenberry’s Genesis II. One young science fiction fan who read The Jameson Satellite and drew inspiration from the idea of cryonics was Robert Ettinger, who became known as the father of cryonics. The Zoromes are also credited by Isaac Asimov as one of the inspirations behind the robots of his Robot series.

Masamune Shirow paid homage to Jones in his cyborg-populated Ghost in the Shell saga by including a no-frills brain-in-a-box design, even naming them Jameson-type cyborgs.

Jameson (or 21MM392, as he was known to his fellow metal beings) was the subject of twenty-one stories between 1931 and 1951, when Jones stopped writing, with nine stories still unpublished. In the late 1960s, Ace Books editor Donald A. Wollheim compiled five collections, comprising sixteen of these, including two previously unpublished. In all there were thirty Jameson stories written (twenty four eventually saw publication, six remain unpublished), and twenty-two unrelated pieces.

A phenomenal exhaustive article (lost of details and lavish images – some of the above are sourced from there) detailing the Zoromes series was written in 2019 by G. W. Thomas (Canadian writer of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror) and can be found here (I urge everyone to check it).

1727 – Machine Mandate universe by Benjanun Sriduangkaew (novels and short stories)

Benjanun Sriduangkaew (on Goodreads)

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Blog of Benjanun Sriduangkaew https://beekian.wordpress.com/

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“Benjanun Sriduangkaew writes love letters to strange cities, beautiful bugs, and the future. Her work has appeared in Tor.com, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Phantasm Japan, The Dark, and year’s bests. She has been shortlisted for the Campbell Award for Best New Writer and her debut novella Scale-Bright has been nominated for the British SF Association Award.” (Clarkesworld Magazine description)

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The Machine Mandate

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A space opera universe where artificial intelligences have achieved independence from humanity and formed the collective known as the Mandate. All titles are standalones and have different protagonists (all of whom are lesbians), though some recurring characters appear throughout. (from beekian.wordpress.com)

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Machine’s Last Testament (novel)

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Where Machines Run with Gold (free short story with the same characters from Now Will Machines Hollow the Beast)

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Then Will the Sun Rise Alabaster (short story with the same characters from Now Will Machines Hollow the Beast)

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Made of Knives (free short story with the same characters from And Shall Machines Surrender)

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And Shall Machines Surrender (novella)

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Now Will Machines Hollow the Beast (novella)

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1726 – The Infinite Man (2014)

timespace coordinates: 1980’s (?) deserted—closed for business—motel, South Australia

The Infinite Man is a 2014 Australian science fiction film directed by Hugh Sullivan. It stars Josh McConville as Dean, a scientist who wants to relive a romantic weekend with his girlfriend, Lana (Hannah Marshall). After they are interrupted by Lana’s ex-boyfriend, Terry (Alex Dimitriades), Dean tries to fix things by going back in time. (wiki)

imdb   /   rottentomatoes

1725 – His House (2020)

timespace coordinates: 2010’s  South Sudan > outskirts of London

His House is a 2020 horror thriller film written and directed by Remi Weekes from a story by Felicity Evans and Toby Venables. It stars Wunmi Mosaku, Sope Dirisu and Matt Smith. The film tells the story of a refugee couple from South Sudan, struggling to adjust to their new life in an English town that has an evil lurking beneath the surface. (wiki)

imdb   /   rottentomatoes

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“The main source of information on witchcraft of the Dinka people comes from British anthropologist Godfrey Lienhardt, who devoted his studies to the Dinka religion. His article written in 1951 for the International African Institute, “Some Notions of Witchcraft Among the Dinka”, sheds light on the apeth and helps to enrich the folkloric vocabulary of His House. According to Lienhardt, night witches work their supernatural misfortunes in the darkness, an element incorporated in the film when Bol turns on the lights to make the ghosts go away. They can also make their presence known through footprints and place curses on their victims through the staring “evil eye,” a concept that says as much about Bol and Rial’s suspiciously xenophobic neighbors as it does their haunting.

Night witches are the most malicious wielders of magic since their main intentions are always to harm others without receiving anything as a trade-off. Thieves like the one in Rial’s story may be creating hardship for those they steal from, but their deeds are motivated by the goal of gaining benefits for themselves. The apeth, on the other hand, lives only to “eat,” a distinction made to describe the fact that the witch consumes the good fortune of its victims, leaving nothing but misery in its wake. Lienhardt talks about this idea in the context of the community or family unit, a thematic connection to His House.” (read more: His House: Dinka Mythology Explained by andrew housman / His House: The Ending, Monster & Final Scene Explained by hannah shaw-williams)

1724 – Anything for Jackson (2020)

Anything for Jackson is a 2020 horror film written by Keith Cooper and directed by Justin G. Dyck. The film stars Sheila McCarthy, Julian Richings, Konstantina Mantelos and Josh Cruddas. The entire movie was made for $250,000. 

“There’s something deliciously subversive about the backstory to this offbeat horror film, which was made in Canada. Director Justin G Dyck and screenwriter Keith Cooper have collaborated on a long list of treacly, holiday-themed, made-for-TV movies with titles such as A Very Country Christmas, Christmas With a View and A Christmas Village. Anything for Jackson, however, is a riotously gory, impish inversion of all things yuletide, in that it stars sweet-featured elderly character actors Sheila McCarthy and Julian Richings as grieving grandparents Audrey and Henry Walsh, who kidnap pregnant Shannon Becker (Konstantina Mantelos) in order to perform a satanic ritual on her. It’s as if Ruth Gordon and Sidney Blackmer, the little old couple who lived next door in Rosemary’s Baby, got to be the stars of their own movie.” (Leslie Felperin review / theguardian)

With blood-soaked gore leaking onto the pristine snow and a unique spin on satanic rituals, Anything For Jackson will appease anti-Yuletide viewers looking to immerse themselves in icy depths of unsettling horror. (Rachel West)

imdb   /   rottentomatoes

1723 – Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski (2018)

Stanisław Szukalski (13 December 1893 – 19 May 1987) was a Polish (self-taught) sculptor and painter who became a part of the Chicago Renaissance. In 1930s Poland he enjoyed fame as a nationalist sculptor. He also developed the pseudoscientific–historical theory of Zermatism, positing that all human culture was derived from post-deluge Easter Island and that humankind was locked in an eternal struggle with the Sons of Yeti (“Yetinsyny”), the offspring of Yeti and humans.

Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski is a 2018 documentary film directed by Irek Dobrowolski, written by Stephen Cooper and Irek Dobrowolski and starring Stanislav Szukalski, Glenn Bray and Robert Williams. (wiki)

imdb