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Acolyte, v. 4, issue 1, whole no. 13, Winter 1946
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There is the auroraphone itself. While Lesage's apparatus was nothing more than a sending and receiving set analogous to that eventually invented by Marconi, the Saturnians were able to use their equipment for the direct broadcast of power (using their set to build roads on earth, and eventually to destroy the earthlings' apparatus) and moreover were able to broadcast in full color three dimensional depictions of any happenings in the solar system, past or present. There is Cole's undeveloped but lucid anticipation of Stapledon's "galactic mind", which is brought out in some relayed messages from Neptune. Quoting from page 226: "...just as the embryonic processes go on to the development of the full-orbed intelligence of the man, so must the cosmical processes go on to the development of the cosmical intelligence." It is extremely regrettable that Cole did not devote more space to this concept, since the context indicates quite strongly that he was toying with a nebulous and hazy forerunner of the idea which Stapledon more than 35 years later developed into the climax of Starmaker. Of perhaps the greatest interest, since it is developed at length, is Cole's amazing pioneer writing in the field of robotry. We have in The Auroraphone as complete a robot story as can be found anywhere in scientifiction; one which, moreover, utilizes all the chief features of the typical modern pulp robot story. On Saturn, electrically operated robots were invented, and eventually became so popular that each person had at least one to do all his work for him. The robots eventually revolted and took over the government. The remnants of the Saturnians finally developed an electrically propelled airship and in a counter-revolt wiped out the robots from the air, since these automatons had been designed prior to the invention of air travel and lacked the proper relays to shoot upwards at high angles. And all this some 22 years prior to R.U.R. ! Of course, Cole called them "dummies", but one could scarcely expect him to guess the exact name. From a historical point of view, The Auroraphone is unimportant, since the many original scientifictional concepts apparently fell on sterile soil. Later writers developed these same ideas independently of Cole; at least this seems a reasonable supposition when one considers the extreme obscurity of this work. Nonetheless, the number of innovations for which Cole is responsible make The Auroraphone a key book in any well-rounded collection of scientifiction. It is the hope of this writer that Cyrus Cole will eventually enjoy among fans the esteem which he so richly merits. THE FLOWERS OF KOO-LUN He strolled the terraced walks at leisured pace Amid the wind-swept tides of crimson flame, And saw rare flower-beds of swaying grace And heard the alien whispers of his name. Until at last he slowly neared the nook Where spawned the ill-famed blossoms of Koo-Lun, They clustered round a thinly winding brook Which babbled evil to the setting sun. The dusky petals called; their swaying dance Was madness far beyond a mortal's ken. He gazed, a sleeper in a nightmare's trance, And thought he sensed the sad despair of men. Felt pity --- till he saw his body shrink And join the dance upon the water's brink. ---Arthur F. Hillman -- 23 --
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There is the auroraphone itself. While Lesage's apparatus was nothing more than a sending and receiving set analogous to that eventually invented by Marconi, the Saturnians were able to use their equipment for the direct broadcast of power (using their set to build roads on earth, and eventually to destroy the earthlings' apparatus) and moreover were able to broadcast in full color three dimensional depictions of any happenings in the solar system, past or present. There is Cole's undeveloped but lucid anticipation of Stapledon's "galactic mind", which is brought out in some relayed messages from Neptune. Quoting from page 226: "...just as the embryonic processes go on to the development of the full-orbed intelligence of the man, so must the cosmical processes go on to the development of the cosmical intelligence." It is extremely regrettable that Cole did not devote more space to this concept, since the context indicates quite strongly that he was toying with a nebulous and hazy forerunner of the idea which Stapledon more than 35 years later developed into the climax of Starmaker. Of perhaps the greatest interest, since it is developed at length, is Cole's amazing pioneer writing in the field of robotry. We have in The Auroraphone as complete a robot story as can be found anywhere in scientifiction; one which, moreover, utilizes all the chief features of the typical modern pulp robot story. On Saturn, electrically operated robots were invented, and eventually became so popular that each person had at least one to do all his work for him. The robots eventually revolted and took over the government. The remnants of the Saturnians finally developed an electrically propelled airship and in a counter-revolt wiped out the robots from the air, since these automatons had been designed prior to the invention of air travel and lacked the proper relays to shoot upwards at high angles. And all this some 22 years prior to R.U.R. ! Of course, Cole called them "dummies", but one could scarcely expect him to guess the exact name. From a historical point of view, The Auroraphone is unimportant, since the many original scientifictional concepts apparently fell on sterile soil. Later writers developed these same ideas independently of Cole; at least this seems a reasonable supposition when one considers the extreme obscurity of this work. Nonetheless, the number of innovations for which Cole is responsible make The Auroraphone a key book in any well-rounded collection of scientifiction. It is the hope of this writer that Cyrus Cole will eventually enjoy among fans the esteem which he so richly merits. THE FLOWERS OF KOO-LUN He strolled the terraced walks at leisured pace Amid the wind-swept tides of crimson flame, And saw rare flower-beds of swaying grace And heard the alien whispers of his name. Until at last he slowly neared the nook Where spawned the ill-famed blossoms of Koo-Lun, They clustered round a thinly winding brook Which babbled evil to the setting sun. The dusky petals called; their swaying dance Was madness far beyond a mortal's ken. He gazed, a sleeper in a nightmare's trance, And thought he sensed the sad despair of men. Felt pity --- till he saw his body shrink And join the dance upon the water's brink. ---Arthur F. Hillman -- 23 --
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