Enlightenment
()
About this ebook
Aurora Award Finalist
Think of human emotion as a geography, with peaks of pleasure and valleys of pain. Imagine a drug that flips the valleys and makes them peaks, too. You react now to an event based not on the pleasure or pain it brings, but solely on the intensity of the emotion created. Pain brings pleasure, grief gives joy, horror renders ecstasy. Now give this drug to a soldier. Tell them to kill. Not in the historically acceptable murder of war, but in a systematic corporate strategy--of xenocide. They will kill. And they will revel in it.
Welcome to the world of Scream.
Jarrod is a Scream-addicted soldier forced to take part in the destruction of entire races. But when his unit encounters the Be'nan, aliens who hold the secret to true enlightenment, no one is prepared for the result.
Science fiction, space (novelette)
"…reaches far past the muddled mediocrity of swashbuckling tales forgotten before the page is turned to the next story. I enjoyed the alien anthropology and the details are tremendous…in this tale of tremendous sacrifice" —Tangent Online
"My favourite of the selection was 'Enlightenment' by Douglas Smith. A strange story indeed about Earth people engaged in strip-mining planets and relocating indigenous populations. ... The end is horrific in many respects but it's also thought-provoking." —SF Crowsnest Reviews
"…[tells of] a spiritual undertaking by a member of a brutal planetary occupation force who "goes native" in which Douglas Smith provides a riff on Ray Bradbury's famous rationale of space travel: for Man to find God in the cosmos. A science fictional depiction of the mistreatment of "aliens" to subvertly criticize the atrocities of imperialist colonization." —SF Site
"... unexpected twists and a superb ending; the story is as powerful as any in the [Chimerascope] collection (A++)" —Fantasy Book Critic
"Douglas Smith…succeeds in evoking an alien society with mythic/religious overtones in his moving tale ENLIGHTENMENT." —New Hope International Review
"Another strong story, looking at humanity's treatment of indigenous people." —Best SF
"...oppressed inhabitants of distant worlds making the ultimate sacrifice in order to bring mankind back to the realisation of what right and wrong truly mean." —Whispers of Wickedness reviews
"Nicely judged depictions of alien customs…" —SF Site
Douglas Smith
Douglas Smith is an award-winning historian and translator and the author of Rasputin and Former People, which was a bestseller in the U.K. His books have been translated into a dozen languages. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, he has written for The New York Times and Wall Street Journal and has appeared in documentaries with the BBC, National Geographic, and Netflix. Before becoming a historian, he worked for the U.S. State Department in the Soviet Union and as a Russian affairs analyst for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. He lives with his family in Seattle.
Read more from Douglas Smith
Former People: The Final Days of the Russian Aristocracy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last of a Thing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThriving in the Second Half of Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJigsaw Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Russian Job: The Forgotten Story of How America Saved the Soviet Union from Ruin Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Nothing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGreen Zone Selling: How Top Producing Salespeople Out-Sell, Out-Earn and Outlast Everyone Else Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApep Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrom a Guys View Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Walker of the Shifting Borderland Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsState of Disorder Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Secret of the Sword Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dancer at the Red Door Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBouquet of Flowers in a Vase, by van Gogh Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFiddleheads Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Taste Sweet & Salty Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5By Her Hand, She Draws You Down: The Movie Companion Book Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Last Ride Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Life and Times Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSymphony Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhat's in a Name? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGoing Harvey in the Big House Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Enlightenment
Related ebooks
Endpoint: Book 1: Day Zero Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEncounter Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTruth Revealed Volume 1: FROM THE SERIES OF BEYOND WORLDS Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Winter of Empires Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn the Eye of the Sphinx Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIris Incredible Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsScream Angel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSidespace (Aurora Renegades Book One): Amaranthe, #4 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Sab's of Mentra Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEarth Has No Tomorrow Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTampered Tales Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWake of Deception: The Wake Trilogy, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOrion Among the Stars Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFreedom's Fury Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5So You Want To Be A Dragon Slayer... Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWarpworld: Ghost World: Warpworld, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWarlord of Antares [Dray Prescot #37] Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Five Moons: Nexus of Fates Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEverwild Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Savage Worlds Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFive Moons Entangled Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMidshipman GOD Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHarper's War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDear Earth The Draven Dash Letters Volume One: Dear Earth The Draven Dash Letters, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrom the Waste Land Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Twenty Sci Fi Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTales from the Deep Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEphemeris Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsZombies Vs. Aliens Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFerren and the Angel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Science Fiction For You
The Alchemist: A Graphic Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is How You Lose the Time War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silo Series Collection: Wool, Shift, Dust, and Silo Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Annihilation: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frankenstein: Original 1818 Uncensored Version Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sarah J. Maas: Series Reading Order - with Summaries & Checklist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Warrior of the Light: A Manual Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Psalm for the Wild-Built Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Perelandra: (Space Trilogy, Book Two) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How High We Go in the Dark: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England: Secret Projects, #2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flowers for Algernon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sunlit Man: Secret Projects, #4 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Institute: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Authority: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wool: Book One of the Silo Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rendezvous with Rama Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Who Have Never Known Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas: A Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Deep Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Going Postal Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dust: Book Three of the Silo Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Roadside Picnic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Tower: And Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Troop Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Camp Zero: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Enlightenment
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Enlightenment - Douglas Smith
Enlightenment
by Douglas Smith
Aurora Award Finalist
Think of human emotion as a geography, with peaks of pleasure and valleys of pain. Imagine a drug that flips the valleys and makes them peaks, too. You react now to an event based not on the pleasure or pain it brings, but solely on the intensity of the emotion created. Pain brings pleasure, grief gives joy, horror renders ecstasy. Now give this drug to a soldier. Tell them to kill. Not in the historically acceptable murder of war, but in a systematic corporate strategy--of xenocide. They will kill. And they will revel in it.
Welcome to the world of Scream.
Jarrod is a Scream-addicted soldier forced to take part in the destruction of entire races. But when his unit encounters the Be’nan, aliens who hold the secret to true enlightenment, no one is prepared for the result.
~~
…reaches far past the muddled mediocrity of swashbuckling tales forgotten before the page is turned to the next story. I enjoyed the alien anthropology and the details are tremendous…in this tale of tremendous sacrifice
—Tangent Online
My favourite of the selection was ‘Enlightenment’ by Douglas Smith. A strange story indeed about Earth people engaged in strip-mining planets and relocating indigenous populations. ... The end is horrific in many respects but it’s also thought-provoking.
—SF Crowsnest Reviews
…[tells of] a spiritual undertaking by a member of a brutal planetary occupation force who
goes native in which Douglas Smith provides a riff on Ray Bradbury’s famous rationale of space travel: for Man to find God in the cosmos. A science fictional depiction of the mistreatment of
aliens to subvertly criticize the atrocities of imperialist colonization.
—SF Site
... unexpected twists and a superb ending; the story is as powerful as any in the [Chimerascope] collection (A++)
—Fantasy Book Critic
Douglas Smith…succeeds in evoking an alien society with mythic/religious overtones in his moving tale ‘Enlightenment’.
—New Hope International Review Online
Another strong story, looking at humanity’s treatment of indigenous people.
—Best SF
...oppressed inhabitants of distant worlds making the ultimate sacrifice in order to bring mankind back to the realisation of what right and wrong truly mean.
—Whispers of Wickedness reviews
Nicely judged depictions of alien customs…
—SF Site
...was my favourite of the issue. ‘Enlightenment’ went exactly where I expected it to, but that was where I wanted it to go--I was there for the ride
Stories [were] great, particularly ‘Enlightenment.’ [I] was just engrossed in the whole thing...and applaud it thoroughly!
…just blew me away…I was taken away by the lovely prose.
...provoked some really interesting ideas…
…mind-blowing…
—InterZone readers forum
Table of Contents
DESCRIPTION
ENLIGHTENMENT
ABOUT THE STORY
A REQUEST
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ALSO BY DOUGLAS SMITH
THE HOLLOW BOYS
THE WOLF AT THE END OF THE WORLD
CHIMERASCOPE
COPYRIGHT
ENLIGHTENMENT
THEY’RE DEAD NOW,
the Be’nans. Ta’klu was the last to die. Her body hangs in my arms, as heavy as my guilt, as my footsteps echo in these empty alien streets. And soon we’ll be gone from this world, too. I’m the last human in this bizarre, beautiful