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Peculiar Lives
''Peculiar Lives'' is the seventh in the series of Time Hunter novellas and features the characters Honoré Lechasseur and Emily Blandish from Daniel O'Mahony's ''Doctor Who'' novella ''The Cabinet of Light''. It is written by Philip Purser-Hallard, author of the Mad Norwegian Press Faction Paradox novel '' Of the City of the Saved...'' The novella is also available in a limited edition hardback, signed by the author (). (The series is not formally connected to the Whoniverse.) Themes ''Peculiar Lives'' is written as if by Erik Clevedon, who is based on the real-life author Olaf Stapledon. The story draws particularly from Stapledon's novels ''Last and First Men'' (1930), ''Last Men in London'' (1932), ''Odd John'' (1935) and ''Sirius'' (1944). The book also features the characters of Gideon Beech, a fictionalised George Bernard Shaw, and (briefly) John Cleavis, a fictionalised C. S. Lewis character originally created by Paul Magrs. Purser-Hallard studied Stapledon's, Shaw's and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philip Purser-Hallard
Philip Purser-Hallard (born 1971 as Philip Hallard) is a fantasy, science fiction and crime author described by the British Fantasy Society as "the best kept secret in British genre writing".The Pendragon Protocol by Philip Purser-Hallard. Book review. 2014.Purser-Hallard, Philip. '' |
Last And First Men
''Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future'' is a "future history" science fiction novel written in 1930 by the British author Olaf Stapledon. A work of unprecedented scale in the genre, it describes the history of humanity from the present onwards across two billion years and eighteen distinct human species, of which our own is the first. The book employs a narrative conceit that, under subtle inspiration, the novelist has unknowingly been dictated a channelled text from the last human species. Stapledon's conception of history follows a repetitive cycle with many varied civilisations rising from and descending back into savagery over millions of years, as the later civilisations rise to far greater heights than the first. The book anticipates the science of genetic engineering, and is an early example of the fictional supermind; a consciousness composed of many telepathically linked individuals. In 1932, Stapledon followed ''Last and First Men'' with the far l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2005 British Novels
5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on each hand. In mathematics 5 is the third smallest prime number, and the second super-prime. It is the first safe prime, the first good prime, the first balanced prime, and the first of three known Wilson primes. Five is the second Fermat prime and the third Mersenne prime exponent, as well as the third Catalan number, and the third Sophie Germain prime. Notably, 5 is equal to the sum of the ''only'' consecutive primes, 2 + 3, and is the only number that is part of more than one pair of twin primes, ( 3, 5) and (5, 7). It is also a sexy prime with the fifth prime number and first prime repunit, 11. Five is the third factorial prime, an alternating factorial, and an Eisenstein prime with no imaginary part and real part of the form 3p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Leeson
John Francis Christopher Ducker (born 16 March 1943), known professionally as John Leeson, is an English actor, voice artist and freelance wine educator. He is known for portraying Bungle in ''Rainbow'' and voicing K9 in ''Doctor Who'' and spin-off ''The Sarah Jane Adventures''. Early career Leeson trained at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and his varied stage and television career spans half a century. It includes work in both repertory and West End productions including Neil Simon's ''Plaza Suite'' (1969), ''Flint'' (1970) and ''Don't Start Without Me'' (1971), and character acting work across a wide range of television sitcoms and costume dramas from the 1970s onwards, including ''Dad's Army'', '' Sorry!'', ''Rings on Their Fingers'', adaptations of ''The Barretts of Wimpole Street'' and '' Vanity Fair'', ''Shadow of the Noose'', ''Crown Court'' and ''Longitude''. He also embarked on a parallel career in voiceover work, freelancing as a continuity announcer with BFBS Tele ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Hampdenshire Wonder
''The Hampdenshire Wonder'' is a 1911 science fiction novel by J. D. Beresford. It is one of the first novels to involve a wunderkind. The child in it, Victor Stott, is the son of a famous cricket player. This origin is perhaps a reference to H.G. Wells's father Joseph Wells. The novel concerns his progress from infant to almost preternaturally brilliant child. Victor Stott is subtly deformed to allow for his powerful brain. One prominent, and unpleasant, character is the local minister. As Beresford's father was a minister, and Beresford was himself partially disabled, some see autobiographical aspects to the story. However this is unproven. What is more concrete is that the story of Christian Heinrich Heineken was an inspiration for the story. Whether the biography of that child prodigy was accurate or not, "the Lubeck prodigy" is mentioned in the work. In the original version, the progressionist ideas of Henri Bergson on evolution Evolution is change in the he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mad Dogs And Englishmen (Doctor Who)
''Mad Dogs and Englishmen'' is a BBC Books original novel written by Paul Magrs and based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It features the Eighth Doctor, Fitz and Anji. Plot A race of alien poodles alters a 20th-century fantasy epic to aid their civil war. The Doctor infiltrates a groups of writers known as the Smudgelings, Anji experiences some very, very special effects in 1970s America and Fitz meets an old friend. The book also features a jolly hotel chef and dogs with opposable thumbs. Tolkien *The novel contains a spoof of J. R. R. Tolkien's experiences writing ''The Lord of the Rings''. The character representing C. S. Lewis in this also appears in Magrs's non-''Doctor Who'' novel ''To the Devil — a Diva!'' and the Smudgelings reappear in his novel ''Something Borrowed''. Another character represents Ray Harryhausen. Cameo *Noël Coward plays a major role in the novel. The title of the book is based on the classic Noël C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eschatology
Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of the present age, human history, or of the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic), which teach that negative world events will reach a climax. Belief that the end of the world is imminent is known as apocalypticism, and over time has been held both by members of mainstream religions and by doomsday cults. In the context of mysticism, the term refers metaphorically to the end of ordinary reality and to reunion with the divine. Various religions treat eschatology as a future event prophesied in sacred texts or in folklore. The Abrahamic religions maintain a linear cosmology, with end-time scenarios containing themes of transformation and redemption. In later Judaism, the term "end of days" makes reference to the Messianic Age and includes an in-gathering of the exiled Jewish diaspora, the coming of the Messiah, the resurrection of the righte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation tends to exist within any given population as a result of genetic mutation and recombination. Evolution occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection (including sexual selection) and genetic drift act on this variation, resulting in certain characteristics becoming more common or more rare within a population. The evolutionary pressures that determine whether a characteristic is common or rare within a population constantly change, resulting in a change in heritable characteristics arising over successive generations. It is this process of evolution that has given rise to biodiversity at every level of biological organisation, including the levels of species, individual organisms, and molecules. The theory of evolution by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eugenics
Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or promoting those judged to be superior. In recent years, the term has seen a revival in bioethical discussions on the usage of new technologies such as CRISPR and genetic screening, with a heated debate on whether these technologies should be called eugenics or not. The concept predates the term; Plato suggested applying the principles of selective breeding to humans around 400 BC. Early advocates of eugenics in the 19th century regarded it as a way of improving groups of people. In contemporary usage, the term ''eugenics'' is closely associated with scientific racism. Modern bioethicists who advocate new eugenics characterize it as a way of enhancing individual traits, regardless of group membership. While eugenic principles have be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Magrs
Paul Magrs (pronounced "Mars"; born 12 November 1969) is a writer and lecturer. He was born in Jarrow, England, and now lives in Manchester with his partner, author and lecturer Jeremy Hoad. Early life Magrs was born in Jarrow, Tyne & Wear, on 12 November 1969. In 1975 he moved with his family to Newton Aycliffe, County Durham; his parents divorced shortly after the move. At the age of 17, Magrs was Gay bashing, queer-bashed, and his father was the police officer who took the report on the incident; it was the last time Paul Magrs saw his father. In Newton Aycliffe, Magrs attended Woodham Community Technology College, Woodham Comprehensive School, where Mark Gatiss was two years ahead of him and in the same drama group. Magrs went on to Lancaster University, where he received a British undergraduate degree classification#First-class honours, first class Bachelor of Arts, BA in English (1991), an Master of Arts, MA in Creative Writing (1991) and a Doctor of Philosophy, PhD in Eng ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 1880s to his death and beyond. He wrote more than sixty plays, including major works such as ''Man and Superman'' (1902), ''Pygmalion'' (1913) and '' Saint Joan'' (1923). With a range incorporating both contemporary satire and historical allegory, Shaw became the leading dramatist of his generation, and in 1925 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Born in Dublin, Shaw moved to London in 1876, where he struggled to establish himself as a writer and novelist, and embarked on a rigorous process of self-education. By the mid-1880s he had become a respected theatre and music critic. Following a political awakening, he joined the gradualist Fabian Society and became its most prominent pamphleteer. Shaw had been writing plays for years ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sirius (novel)
''Sirius'' is a 1944 science fiction novel by the British philosopher and author Olaf Stapledon, whose title character is a dog named Sirius with humanlike intelligence. A sense of existential questioning suffuses the book, as the author delves into aspects of Sirius's psyche. The novel deals with many human issues through Sirius and his experiences, his unusual nature, his ideas and his relationships with humans. The characters go to great lengths to prevent Sirius from becoming a circus-type wonderdog, and instead, they seek to develop Sirius's character much like a family would create and foster that of a human child. Plot summary Sirius is raised by scientist Thomas Trelone in North Wales, near Trawsfynydd. Thomas embarks on a program of using steroids and other chemicals to rapidly develop cognitive power of dogs, resulting in super sheep dogs. Sirius, however, proves to possess a dog intelligence comparable to a normal human being, as he is able to communicate with En ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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