Reference/Inspiration List for "Where Black Seas Lap the Shores of Dead Stars" · 11:39pm May 18th
Rather than litter the author's notes with references in my usual style, I thought I'd try something a little different. So, for the curious, I've made a separate blog post of all the references and allusions you might have missed!
Fair warning, it’s a pretty dense list. Okay, let’s start off with…
CHARACTERS:
Rosie = Rosie (aka RO-315) is named after Rosie, the robotic maid on The Jetsons animated series. Kind of an obvious name, but I wanted something floral to represent something alive and growing and it just kinda stuck. It was going to be a placeholder, but I liked it too much.
Captain Blue Dot = Blue Dot, of the Equus Self Defense Force (ESDF) is named for the famous picture taken by Voyager 1 of the earth from 4 billion miles away. As the furthest picture ever taken of the planet, it identifies her as an explorer with a broad view of things.
First Lieutenant Will Power = He’s just named after Will Ryker, the First Lieutenant on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Not even the first time I’ve referenced the guy (see “Hill Hiker” in The Iron Horse: Everything’s Better With Robots! for instance.)
Okay, up next we have…
PLANETS/OBJECTS:
A lot of planets and specific objects are named after Greek tragedies or their characters. I chose those names to highlight the extreme misfortune and suffering that falls on Rosie and the colonists, along with their struggles against Fate…
The Planet Medea-3 = The home of Rosie and the terraforming colonists is named after the Greek mythological figure and title character of one of my favorite Greek tragedies by the playwright Euripedes. I hardly think it necessary to avoid spoiling a play that’s a few thousand years old, but, just in case… Medea fell in love with the handsome, heroic Jason and betrayed her father to be with him. The two of them raised a few kids and eventually found themselves taken in by King Creon of Corinth. Jason betrays Medea to marry Creon’s daughter so he can finally have his own kingdom. In retaliation for being spurned by the man she gave up everything for, she hatches a plot that results in the death of the princess, King Creon, and both of her children. Thus she utterly ruins everything Jason had worked for. I named the planet after Medea for the fact that she becomes the killer of her own “children” (the colonists) and for the theme of giving up everything for the one you love.
Jason = The Colonists’ main computer. Like Medea’s husband, he ultimately proves useless.
The Argonaut = Named for the group of brave heroes led by Jason, this space station might have once been have great help to Jason and Medea, but those days are gone now…
The Planet Antigone = Named for the play Antigone by the Greek playwright Sophocles. Likewise named after a tragic woman, I chose this name both for the naming convention - gotta keep up that theming, man! - and because of the fate of its last organic inhabitant. In the play, Antigone defies the king by burying her brother, so he orders her to be buried alive. Which is just what ends up happening, more or less, to the CEO of AguaVita, Caballero Magnifico II.
Rex = Named after Oedipus Rex, (that is, Oedipus the King), another Greek tragic figure. He was the father of Antigone and, er… also her brother. (It’s a long story.) Likewise, it indicates that Rex will share its sister/daughter world’s tragic fate at the hands (hooves? appendages?) of the Foresters.
Agamemnon = The black hole Rosie flies by is named after the Greek king in Euripides play The Trojan Women. I named it that because of its unstoppable power and the effect it has on the protagonist’s history, just as Agamemnon has on his victims in Troy.
MUSIC:
The most obvious reference is actually just to ONE album by one band:
To Our Children’s Children’s Children by The Moody Blues (1969)
The Moody Blues were a prog rock band that did their main work between 1967 and 1974. They put out SEVEN concept albums at the time, and they’re all pretty good… if maybe a little dated.
Their work blends rock and roll, orchestral sounds, synthesizers, and classic lyrical poetry in a way that I can best describe as, in various turns, “emotional, grandiose, and moving” at times, and “super cheesy” at others.
Anyway, To Our Children’s Children’s Children is a concept album inspired by the 1969 Moon Landing and centered around the theme of space exploration. It really is a great album, filled with soaring, emotional songs tinged by the hope and optimism of the apex of the Space Age. It’s definitely old and not the usual type of music I mention in my stories, but I think it deserves attention in the modern age.
So, if you want to, you can listen to the whole album HERE.
But on to the Chapter Titles, most of which are named for various songs on the album…
Chapter 1 - Of A Strange and Distant Time
Named for the song “Gypsy (of a Strange and Distant Time).” This was the song that inspired the story in general, as it tells the story of a nomad wandering through the depths of space across time inconceivable and braving the terrors of the universe:
The gypsy of a strange and distant time
Travelling in panic, all directions blind
Aching for the warmth of a burning sun
Freezing in the emptiness of where he'd come from
Left without a hope of coming home
I kept the title mostly intact, but unlike in 1970, it’s not really kosher to use the term “gypsy” anymore. Still, why waste a good song reference?
For the others, rather than give an exhaustive description, we’ll do the lightning round for Moody Blues songs:
- In the Eyes of a Child - Named for Star Seedling, whose unfiltered love and admiration for Rosie give her a purpose beyond her duties. (Lyrics: With the eyes of a child/ You must come out and see/ That your world's spinning 'round/ And through life you will be/ A small part of a hope/ Of a love that exists/ In the eyes of a child you will see)
- Out and In - The song is about taking a long journey through space to find greater understanding, which is what Blue Dot and her crew are doing (Lyrics: Gazing past the planets/ Looking for total view/ I've been laying here for hours/ You've gotta make the journey out and in)
- Travel an Eternity Road - Rosie travels across mind-bending distances, burdened with her guilt and hoping that one day she can find peace in knowing she’s preserved the colonists’ history and hopefully saved Star Seedling’s life. (Lyrics: Turning, spinning, catherine wheeling/ Forever changing, there's no beginning/ You're so very far from home/ And so very much alone/ Travel an eternity road/ What will you find there?/ Carrying your heavy load/ Searching to find a peace of mind)
- Burn Slowly the Candle of Life - By saving what little extra thaumium and electricity she could, Rosie hoped to keep her friends alive as long as possible, hoping that her journey will one day free Star Seedling and his family from their sleep. (Lyrics: “Something there outside says we're only/ In the hands of time, falling slowly/ It's there for us to know with love that we can go/ Burn slowly, the candle of life)
- Watching and Waiting - At journey’s end, Star Seedling is finally allowed to have a normal childhood on a lush, living planet. But even as he looks to the future, he still feels lonesome thinking about the friend he lost. (Lyrics: Watching and waiting/ For a friend to play with/ Why have I been alone so long/ Mole he is burrowing his way to the sunlight/ He knows there's some there so strong/ 'Cause here there's lot of room for doing/ The thing you've always been denied/ Look and gather all you want to/ There's no one here to stop you trying)
OTHERS:
One of the handful chapters that is NOT named after a song is
Chapter 5 - A Curiosity.
Rather, it’s named after the Mars rover Curiosity, which is still active as of this writing and also famously was programmed to hum the “Happy Birthday” song to itself after its first anniversary. The adorable, somewhat somber image of a tiny robot singing “Happy birthday to me…” alone on a desolate world has always made me a little emotional, and Rosie does the same in a bit of an homage to our little explorer.
Aaand, last of all, as a bit of an homage to more recent works, the Dark Forest Hypothesis mentioned by Xerxes in “The Voice Below” - and the aliens dubbed “The Foresters” - is a reference to the novel The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin.
The theory is an abridged version described in the novel, though the aliens have a name in that series.
Aaaand, that’s it!
Whew, lots of deep draws for such a short story! Hope this made for interesting reading, folks!
See you next time!
Technically they always were, it's just that nobody called them anything other than the equivalent of the N word because nobody pretended to care about their feelings.
5781614
Exactly. But that would be harder to fit in a hashtag and not have it come off as a joke.
When I saw the name 'Medea' for the planet, my first thought was of 'Harlan's World', a setting Harlan Ellison (aka Harlie the Shrimp, but that's another story) set up for other writers to come up with stories in. I misremember many of the details, because it was long ago and I wasn't writing then. (I know, I'm old and brain fog from covid hasn't faded after 4 years).
my opinion of the story has not changed, i still think it is a wonderful tale. I admit to jealousy.
Also, I'm a Moody Blues fan, having seen them perform live at the Arizona State Fair back in 2000. Have to look up the album you referenced, for sure.
Keep up the good work!
Using a strategic hand-blocking-part-of-the-screen to prevent spoilers, I checked the author's note after the last chapter of the story to see if this was linked there (to see if I'd come across it naturally when/if I get to the story, rather than having to save it separately), and I think the link there is broken?
5782798
Oh holy cow, you're right! Thanks, Reese, I'm glad you said something!
5782815
Glad I could help. :)