Clans of the Alphane Moon
by Philip K. Dick · first published 1964
67% recommend33% neutral
Clans of the Alphane Moon is a 1964 science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. It is based on his 1954 short story "Shell Game", first published in Galaxy Science Fiction magazine. War between Earth and insectoid-dominated Alpha III ended over a decade ago. (According to the novel, "Alphane" refers to the nearest star to our own system, Alpha Centauri). Some years after the end of hostilities, Earth intends to secure its now independent colony in the Alphane system, Alpha III M2. As a former satellite-based global psychiatric institution for colonists on other Alphane system wor
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…tri-trilogy) wrote a 5-book 'Gap Series'. I have very fond memories of it, though it's been two decades since I read it. Philip K. Dick wrote a tonne of good stuff (and a bit of meh) but my two favourite are Clans of the Alphane Moon (the first Dick I read), and Valis (a bit more conventional to have on the favourite list) Ursula Le Guin also has a huge body of excellent work - Left Hand of Darkness, and The Dispossessed are my favourites.…
on “What are your favourite sci-fi books?” ↗…Daventry - The Green Man and Other Stories by Rand B. Lee (in particular the story Knight of Shallows) - The Star Wolf series by David Gerrold And a few easily overlooked ones by Philip K. Dick: - Clans of the Alphane Moon - The Game-Players of Titan - Now Wait for Last Year.
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?” ↗Brilliant! And for forgive me for jumping in to recommend one my all-time Philip K. Dick favorites: Clans of the Alphane Moon, as it features the memorable and adorable Lord Running Clam a telepathic, intelligent and friendly slime mold from Ganymede.
on “Slime molds are gorgeous (you just never knew it) [video]” ↗…common (or at least eye of the needle?) hippy biblical stuff. The Buddha was also anti-Church, I believe. (and St. Francis was fonder of animals than his fellow clerics?) There's an excellent conceit in Clans of the Alphane Moon (1964) in which the diagnosable mental disorders have their corresponding roles in society: the paranoid form the military, the narcissists the political class, etc. Hebephrenics provide their religious…
on “Reading more Ursula Le Guin (2019)” ↗Heh, I was just thinking of Sade in connexion with https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46707062 Have you seen "Clans of the Alphane Moon"? (let the hebrephenics be the saints, the megalomaniacs the politicians, the paranoid the generals, etc.) As to existential suffering, we must imagine Sisypuss happy: https://i.chzbgr.com/full/5718194432/h98546CBC/furred-world-...
on “Douglas Adams on the English–American cultural divide over "heroes"” ↗See also PK Dick, Clans of the Alphane Moon (1964)
on “Cognitive biases as an adaptive strategy in autism and schizophrenia spectrum” ↗Yikes! Every now and then I have to figure PKD was really talking about earth[0] in Clans of the Alphane Moon (1964)[1]. [0] thank you RWR (1981) [1] (wrt AG) note that Alphane saints tend to come from the Heebs
on “Tritone Substitutions” ↗…that retain their power all these decades later and will likely do so for the foreseeable future: Time Out of Joint The Man in the High Castle Martian Time-Slip The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch Clans of the Alphane Moon The Simulacra Now Wait for Last Year Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968)/Blade Runner (1982) Ubik We Can Build You Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said A Scanner Darkly The Transmigration…
on “Philip K. Dick: Stanisław Lem Is a Communist Committee (2015)” ↗…comment that is the "above" in my comment. X denotes PKD title, O denotes otherwise: X Time Out of Joint X The Man in the High Castle O Martian Time-Slip X The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch X Clans of the Alphane Moon X The Simulacra X Now Wait for Last Year O Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968)/Blade Runner (1982) O Ubik O We Can Build You X Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said X A Scanner Darkly O The…
on “Philip K. Dick: Stanisław Lem Is a Communist Committee (2015)” ↗