A science fiction novel by a very powerful author. Dark nights, cruel choices in the suburbs of a great city on an alien planet. Woman walking through the streets of the suburb. I explain to M.L. what a great writer this guy is.

Then the author focuses on the “crab out of control” on yet another planet. The crab is the emperor of the planet, and is encased in a silver tray about 8” x 10”. I see the crab writhing–it has scores of legs, is yellow-orange, and is so complicated in all its writhing that it is painful to watch. The crab is so complicated, in fact, that it cannot logically exist; it is tearing itself apart.

I (and a couple other people reading the book or watching this event) do not want to look anymore, but the author compels one to. Blood starts welling up from the center of the crab, and the emperor writhes all the more. Soon he will pop & explode–but even after the emperor finally dies, it is hard to imagine those scores of little claws ceasing their writhing. For they all have a life of their own, and they all exist in opposition to one another.

Copyright 2020 by Michael D. Smith