Music on Mars
I’ve been revising a new short story called ‘The Librarian’ (related to ‘The Astronaut’s Library’) and I realized the character had read a science fiction story I had read: an astronaut on Mars comes across a set of alien ruins. An automated system gives him food (which is loathsome) and loudspeakers play dissonant music. By the end of the story the food seems excellent and the music has changed to the sound of sweet violins. (I won’t spoil more of the sweet but creepy story than that, it’s one of those SFnal happy endings that is not happy, by traditional standards.) I couldn't remember the title of the story, or who wrote it, or in what old library science fiction anthology I’d read it in.
I sent out messages to friends, I asked on Twitter, and a friend asked RPG.net. They suggested stories by Simak
and Bradbury
(I knew it wasn’t Ray Bradbury
, or Arthur C. Clarke
’s 2001
as another friend suggested), but the story I was think of was A. E. Van Vogt
's "The Enchanted Village
". (For a complete list of where the story appears, see here: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?56655.)
and Bradbury(I knew it wasn’t Ray Bradbury, or Arthur C. Clarke ’s 2001 as another friend suggested), but the story I was think of was A. E. Van Vogt's "The Enchanted Village". (For a complete list of where the story appears, see here: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?56655.)Now I can put the correct information in my story: the main character is a librarian and he would not get that kind of information wrong.
-Lisa Shapter
-Lisa Shapter
Posted by Lisa Shapter at 8/26/2010 11:27 PM 
Categories: A E Van Vogt, Science Fiction, My Fiction, Mars, Clifford Simak, The Astronaut's Library, The Enchanted Village, Arthur C Clarke, Ray Bradbury, The Librarian, Twitter, Short Story, 2001
Tags: A E Van Vogt Science Fiction My Fiction Mars Clifford Simak The Astronaut's Library 2001 Arthur C Clarke Ray Bradbury The Enchanted Village Twitter Short Story The Librarian
Categories: A E Van Vogt, Science Fiction, My Fiction, Mars, Clifford Simak, The Astronaut's Library, The Enchanted Village, Arthur C Clarke, Ray Bradbury, The Librarian, Twitter, Short Story, 2001
Tags: A E Van Vogt Science Fiction My Fiction Mars Clifford Simak The Astronaut's Library 2001 Arthur C Clarke Ray Bradbury The Enchanted Village Twitter Short Story The Librarian
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