Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

This is our discussion of the story:


The Marvelous Brass Chessplaying Automaton by Gene Wolfe

This story is part of the The Best of Gene Wolfe: A Definitive Retrospective of His Finest Short Fiction group collection discussion.

★★★★

Synopsis
Somewhere in a future easter Germany, technology and culture came down to a steampunk level. Con-man Mr Heitzmann brings the eponymous computer to an inn, defeating Professor Baumeister, who buys it for the university. The "computer" is worked by his hidden helper, Lame Hans. Hans falls in love with tavern girl Gretchen and decides to counter-trick Heitzmann.

Review
I just loved the setting of easter Germany in a truce during a war with Russia. There is a Grimm's fairytale in it with Hans, Gretchen and someone put into a stove. It also references Goethe's Faust. Hans also shows some psychokinetic and maybe telepathic abilities.

The story is refreshingly straightforward - it would fit well in Michael Swanwick's humorous The Dog Said Bow-Wow.

I enjoyed this one a lot. I think the volume does offer a good ratio of shorter, straightforward stories to the ones that are complex or baffling. Also, I would love to see that machine!

I did someone enjoy this story, in a tragedy sort of way. (I suppose I can't entirely complain they killed off the only innocent character involved, since there was apparently informed agreement, still...) Still, there certainly no punishment of the guilty.

The post-collapse setting allows a story that could just as easily have been set in the 19th century.

Concerning Mr. Wolfe's introductory assertion that it was "so hot that the dogs would not bark for fear of fainting," I'd like to offer that it's 112°F outside right now (44°C), and our dogs are made of heartier stuff.


Andreas wrote: "I just loved the setting of easter Germany in a truce during a war with Russia....

It is one of the oddities of the setting, the future Germany and Russia still at war, pounding each other with guns that sound like they're from World War I. I assume they're fighting over Poland?

I couldn't think of any particular reason for the introduction of the battle to the story, other than to give Lame Hans an opportunity to muse about strategy, comparing the fight to chess.


Andreas wrote: "The story is refreshingly straightforward - it would fit well in Michael Swanwick's humorous The Dog Said Bow-Wow....

I agree it's refreshingly straightforward, one of the reasons I picked it to read based on comments here. However, you have mined humor where I did not.



Sorry I'm not keeping up, gang. Been doing home improvement projects, which provides an opportunity for listening to audiobooks but hasn't left me sufficiently energetic to focus eyeballs on printed text come evening.

G33z3r wrote: "Sorry I'm not keeping up, gang. Been doing home improvement projects, which provides an opportunity for listening to audiobooks but hasn't left me sufficiently energetic to focus eyeballs on printed text come evening. "
Never mind, this is a slower read. My work load got higher since the last week, can't keep up the pace as well!