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Our world is charged with both the grandeur of God and the void of his absence. The seven deadly sins are the force causing that hole. They are at work in each of us. They decimate our relationships, our souls and our world. These deadly sins often seem pleasing and good for gaining what we desire, but they are thoroughly poisonous. Conversely, the Beatitudes are Jesus' pictures of a restored creation. The Beatitudes introduced what Jesus said to his earliest followers about a life strong show more and fruitful. In fact, the Beatitudes give us a glimpse of a world empty of evil and filled to the edges with God's life. Looking at the Beatitudes and the seven deadly sins in turn, we see two paths, two sets of invitations. Both call to deep places within us to come and taste. Both invite us to take up residence. Both present themselves as life as it actually is. But only one will draw us further into reality. And only one will make us happy. "Of the many, many books about the Gospels, or about Jesus, or about Christian morality, only one in a thousand gives us a real breakthrough, a new ‘big picture'. Most are just nice little candles on the cake. Seven is a bonfire. It's not just good; it's striking. It doesn't just say all the things you've heard a thousand times before. And yet it's totally in sync with both the saints and the scholars." --Peter Kreeft, professor of philosophy at Boston College, and author of over forty-five books, including Fundamentals of the Faith. show lessTags
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Orson Scott Card's novel The Worthing Chronicle, which I read several times as a kid, was a rewrite of his first novel, Hot Sleep. Hot Sleep had a companion book, a collection of short stories called Capitol, which gave the backstory for it. Capitol is the Trantoresque (now we would say Coruscantesque, I guess, but not in 1979) center of a galactic empire, where the elite spend much of their time in suspended animation; the richer you are, the more you can afford. This only multiplies the power of the elite. I had read a selection of stories from Capitol in The Worthing Saga (a collection from Tor that republished Worthing Chronicle along with some related short fiction), but I had never read the book itself. So I tracked it down to see show more if there were any other stories in it worth reading.
There is indeed some good stuff. "Skipping Stones" is a decent tale about two boys, one rich and one poor, who grow increasingly separate thanks to use of somec (the drug that creates the suspended animation). I also really enjoyed "Second Chance," which deals with some issues of memory manipulation as well.
There are some other solid stories here. "Lifeloop" is a trifle obvious but well written, about a person whose whole life is broadcast (we would now say "streamed") such that the self has become a performance, even more relevant now, I suspect, than it would have been in 1979. "And What Will We Do Tomorrow?" delves into the psychology of Mother, the ancient ruler of Capitol, who uses somec so much she's only awake for a day every five years.
I checked the contents of Capitol against the ISFDB's entry for Worthing Saga as I went, and I have to say, I think Card absolutely made the right call on which stories he kept in print, and which ones he did not. Many of the stories here, especially earlier in the book are bad, clumsy vehicles for exposition about Capitol and somec that don't make any sense, especially "A Sleep and a Forgetting." So Capitol is more an interesting curio than something worth tracking down on its own merits; if you want the good stuff, you can already get that from The Worthing Saga. show less
There is indeed some good stuff. "Skipping Stones" is a decent tale about two boys, one rich and one poor, who grow increasingly separate thanks to use of somec (the drug that creates the suspended animation). I also really enjoyed "Second Chance," which deals with some issues of memory manipulation as well.
There are some other solid stories here. "Lifeloop" is a trifle obvious but well written, about a person whose whole life is broadcast (we would now say "streamed") such that the self has become a performance, even more relevant now, I suspect, than it would have been in 1979. "And What Will We Do Tomorrow?" delves into the psychology of Mother, the ancient ruler of Capitol, who uses somec so much she's only awake for a day every five years.
I checked the contents of Capitol against the ISFDB's entry for Worthing Saga as I went, and I have to say, I think Card absolutely made the right call on which stories he kept in print, and which ones he did not. Many of the stories here, especially earlier in the book are bad, clumsy vehicles for exposition about Capitol and somec that don't make any sense, especially "A Sleep and a Forgetting." So Capitol is more an interesting curio than something worth tracking down on its own merits; if you want the good stuff, you can already get that from The Worthing Saga. show less
This book was a strange commentary on society and the differences between the haves and have nots. Since this was written to make a point I can kind of overlook the HUGE GLARING hole in the story and why things went the way they did. This was an OK book with some interesting concepts but overall NOT one of Cards best works, far from it I would say.
Someone invented a way to put someone into stasis and pull them out healthy months or years later, in preparation of trying interstellar travel. There's a catch, their brains are wiped to that of a new born. Eventually someone figured out how to record the mind and reload it back. This allowed the human race to move out and populate the stars, and was used by the rich and famous to try and show more live 'forever' by going into stasis for years at a time and spend only little bits of it living. show less
Someone invented a way to put someone into stasis and pull them out healthy months or years later, in preparation of trying interstellar travel. There's a catch, their brains are wiped to that of a new born. Eventually someone figured out how to record the mind and reload it back. This allowed the human race to move out and populate the stars, and was used by the rich and famous to try and show more live 'forever' by going into stasis for years at a time and spend only little bits of it living. show less
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Orson Scott Byron Walley Card, was born in 1951 and studied theater at Brigham Young University. He received his B.A. in 1975 and his M.A. in English in 1981. He wrote plays during that time, including Stone Tables (1973) and the musical, Father, Mother, Mother and Mom (1974). A Mormon, Scott served a two-year mission in Brazil before starting show more work as a journalist in Utah. He also designed games at Lucas Film Games, 1989-92. He is best known for his science fiction novels, including the popular Ender series. Well known titles include A Planet Called Treason (1979), Treasure Box (1996), and Heartfire (1998). He has also written the guide called How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy (1990). His novel Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead, both won Hugo and Nebula awards, making Card the only author to win both prizes in consecutive years. His titles Shadows in Flight, Ruins and Ender's Game made The New York Times Best Seller List. He is also the author of The First Formic War Series, which includes the titles Earth Unaware, Earth Afire, and Earth Awakens. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Bastei Science Fiction-Special (24032)
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Capitol
- Original publication date
- 1979
- People/Characters
- Jason Worthing
- Epigraph
- A Sleep and a Forgetting:
There is no remebrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.
- Ecclesiates 1:11
A Thousand Deaths:
Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?
- Galatians 4:16
Skipping Stones:
Unreal friendship may turn to real
But real friendship, once ended, cannot be mended.
- T. S. Eliot, Murder in the Cathedral
Second Chance:
It is the blight man was born for,
It is Margaret you mourn for.
- Gerard Manley Hopkins
Breaking the Game:
Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the mose bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.
- Proverbs 30:33
Lifeloop:
Jellicle Cats are black and white,
Jellicle Cats are rather small;
Jellicle Cats are merry and bright,
And pleasant to hear when they caterwaul.
- T. S. Eliot, The Song of the Jellicles... (show all)
Burning:
With the nawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of an ass have I slain a thousand men.
- Judges 15:16
And What Will We Do Tomorrow?:
GLENDOWER: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
HOTSPUR: Why, so can I, or so can any man; but will they come when you call for the?
- Henry IV part I, 3:1
Killing Children:
O the mind has mountains; cliffs of fall
Frightful, sheer, no-manfathomed. Hold them cheap
May who ne'er hung there.
- Gerard Manley Hopkins
When No One Remembers His Name, Does God Retire?:
Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about the sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled.
This shall y... (show all)e have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.
- Isaiah 50:11
The Stars That Blink:
If the goodman of the house had known in what time the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
Therefore be ye also ready: for in suc... (show all)h an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
- Matthew 24:43-44 - Dedication
- To Jay A. Parry,
Who has read everything
And made it better. - First words
- A Sleep and a Forgetting:
There was nothing remarkable about a rat failing to run a maze.
A Thousand Deaths:
"You will make no speeches," said the prosecutor.
Skipping Stones:
Bergen Bishop wanted to be an artist.
Second Chance:
By the age of seven Batta was thoroughly trapped, though she scarcely recognized it until she was twenty-two.
Breaking the Game:
Herman Nuber's feet were asleep, and every timr he shifted his weight they tingled unbearably.
Lifeloop:
Arran lay on her bed, weeping. (show all 11)
Burning:
There were exactly twenty ships, and they were exactly alike - vast cylinders, kilometers long and kilometers wide, with slender needles sticking out of one end.
And What Will We Do Tomorrow?:
Of all the people on Capitol, only Mother was allowed to awaken in her own bed, the bed where she had slept with Selock Gray before his death eight hundred years ago.
Killing Children:
He heard the door click open but did not turn away from the tall pile of soft plastic block he was building.
When No One Remembers His Name, Does God Retire?:
The prophet, Amblick, lay dying on a bed they had laid out on the floor of the room the goverment had provided rent-free for their meetings.
The Stars That Blink:
The Governor owned a telescope, and knew how to use it. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)A Sleep and a Forgetting:
But does it mean you have to like it?
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)A Thousand Deaths:
Going home.
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Skipping Stones:
It fell to pieces before he died.
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Second Chance:
I will merely devote my life to fulfilling other, older, colder dreams.
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Breaking the Game:
"In the long run, it was only a game, wasn't it?"
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Lifeloop:
And he didn't even record it!"
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Burning:
After all, hadn't the telepaths committed an atrocity?
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)And What Will We Do Tomorrow?:
and what, she wondered, will we do tomorrow?
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Killing Children:
I love you!"
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)When No One Remembers His Name, Does God Retire?:
No one could tell a joke like God.
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)The Stars That Blink:
Only the spiders used his telescope anymore, and then only as a prop where they could weave their webs.
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