Hinterlands (short story)
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| "Hinterlands" | |
| Author | William Gibson |
|---|---|
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
| Series | Burning Chrome |
| Genre(s) | science fiction |
| Publication date | 1986 |
| Preceded by | The Belonging Kind |
| Followed by | Red Star, Winter Orbit |
"Hinterlands" is a science fiction short story written by William Gibson in 1981 and published in his short fiction collection Burning Chrome in 1986. The story is a fable about the 'cargo cult' mentality. "Hinterlands" explores the consequences for cultures and civilisations when confronted with artifacts - from an unknown but likely superior source - that are dangerous but nonetheless valuable. The word "hinterland" comes from the German (literally "behind land") and means a remote or undeveloped area, or the land beyond the the coastal region.
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[edit] Plot summary
The story begins with Soviet cosmonaut Olga Tovyevsky, who disappears from radar shortly after a routine scientific experiment. She returns into space-time two years later and her spacecraft, sabotaged by her to prevent anyone from discovering the details of her trip, is towed back to Earth orbit. In her hands she has a seashell, the like of which is unknown in Earth's biosphere. Tovyevsky never regains her sanity and is eventually dissected.
The Russians send out another probe to the same coordinates in space. The solo astronaut disappears at precisely the same point, after performing the same experiment, and returns dead 234 days later. He has committed suicide before anyone can reach him. Many more astronauts are lost in the same way. The coordinates are the same each time, and referred to as the Highway, Metro or River by various cultures. Presently, the Russians enlist other countries in their search for answers. It is not until a dead Frenchman brings back a code in a ring of steel, which turns out to be the Rosetta Stone for cancer, that these trips take on true importance. Already the astonishing frequency of the events creates a cargo cult mentality around the Highway.
A space station is established near the Highway, designed to be a paradise for returned astronauts, nicknamed Heaven. The narrator, Toby Halpert, is a failed astronaut, who had volunteered to go to the Highway but to his shame and disappointment was rejected by whatever is out there. The same fate befell his girlfriend Charmian. His role is to meet returning astronauts, soothe their transition to the station, and allow scientists to analyze their findings.
While meeting a returned female astronaut, Halpert suffers a massive agoraphobia, called The Fear, a H. P. Lovecraftian sensation of being overwhelmed by the Highway's significance. Forced by electric shocks to enter the capsule, he finds the astronaut dead and discovers that she has reprogrammed her robotic surgeon suite assist her suicide. Diagrams for incredibly powerful molecular switches are scrawled on the walls.
[edit] Comic book adaptation
Hinterlands was adapted and illustrated as a comic in 1995 by Vancouver artist Gavin Lonergan. The William Gibson Aleph has called the comic an "interesting evocation of the fake paradise of the short story".[1] The comic was twenty pages in length, anthologised in two sections which appeared in Freeflight #5 and #6, Dec/Jan 95 and Apr/May 95. The look of the comic is similar to Moebius and Gibson was directly involved in the adaptation process.[2]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Complete text of Hinterlands, last accessed January 27, 2008.
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