Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels About Rediscovering Ancient Tech

On 2024-05-17, Michael F. Stemper <michael.stemper@gmail.com> wrote:

| Often SF authors imagine that working alien relics will turn out
| to be doomsday devices.
 
_Forbidden Planet_.  Well, not intended as such.

>
Would the Blight from _A Fire Upon the Deep_ count, or is "ancient tech"
implicitly hardware?

I think it counts as "humans discovering ancient tech", although
the distinction between technology and lifeform breaks down there.
But again, even ignoring the accidental nature of its release, this
appears to have been an equally accidental creation that turned on
its makers in the deep past.  Or are there any hints that it was
designed as a weapon?  The very name "Blight" brings to mind a
version of the paperclip maximizer.

--
Christian "naddy" Weisgerber                          naddy@mips.inka.de