15-year-old Arthur Clark ran all the way out of school and came to the post office in the town by familiar routes.
"Charlie, are you reading the newspaper again?" a post office employee said with a smile.
Arthur Clark's obedient greeting: "Hello, Uncle Joseph!"
The employee smiled and said, "Come in, your mother is sorting out the newspapers and will get off work soon."
Clark's mother was a post office operator. His hobby since childhood was reading old newspapers and magazines from the post office, especially those whimsical science fiction stories. Clark was a science fiction fan. When he was 12 years old, he used a homemade telescope to observe the moon and draw a map of the moon's surface.
.Although he is only 15 years old now, he has already taught himself radio technology.
Like Wells, this man's family situation is also very bad. His father has died of illness, and he relies entirely on his mother to make money to support the family. After Clark graduates from high school, he can only go to work, and he will not have the opportunity to enter college until he is 29 years old. Before that,
, he has been involved in the development of the Royal Air Force's early warning radar defense system.
Without Zhou Hexuan, a time traveler, Clark would be the first person to predict the "artificial earth satellite". In his 1945 work "Extraterrestrial Broadcasting", he concluded that radio and television signals can be transmitted to the world through geostationary satellites.
worldwide.
At this time, Clark was still a teenager who liked to fantasize. He ran into the post office and said hello to his mother, then walked to a corner where countless expired newspapers and magazines were piled up.
Clark's reading speed was very fast. He picked up a newspaper and quickly scanned the contents. He only stopped when he found articles related to science. Sitting among the pile of old newspapers and periodicals like a garbage mountain, Clark was extremely excited.
Like a scavenger, happily searching for his own treasures.
"Hey, this is actually an American science fiction magazine. It's so rare!" Clark felt like he had found a treasure and quickly put it in his schoolbag.
At this moment, his mother, who had already got off work, came over and shouted: "Charlie, come home soon!"
"Here it comes, Mom!" Clark responded, but his hands were still rummaging through the pile of waste paper.
Two minutes later, my mother anxiously urged again: "Charlie, hurry up, the post office is about to be locked."
"Here it comes, here it comes!" Clark stood up reluctantly, and suddenly caught a glimpse of a brand-new magazine buried under the scrap newspaper. He quickly pulled it out, but it was a copy of "School of Science" stained by coffee, with most of the cover
All were dyed brown.
The mother and son walked together back to the farmhouse on the outskirts of the town. The house was in disrepair, and the doors and windows were broken everywhere and were fixed with rough wooden strips.
When my mother returned home, she immediately walked into the kitchen and started cooking dinner. She also turned on the radio to listen to the radio.
But there seemed to be something wrong with the radio. My mother couldn't make any sound even after several clicks. She immediately shouted: "Charlie, come and fix the machine!"
"coming!"
Clark came over with tools and quickly disassembled the radio. After trying it a few times, he smiled and said, "My wiring was not secure last time. It was just a small problem."
The children of the poor have grown up early, and all the electrical appliances in Clark's house are discarded products he picked up from the town. For example, this radio was made by him by dismantling three broken radios and assembling the usable parts inside.
After repairing the radio in a few moments, Clark couldn't wait to go back to the bedroom, took out the "Science School" magazine and flipped through it.
This thing is a rare commodity, because few people in remote towns order it. In addition to science fiction novels, the content also includes the latest scientific trends, as well as various shallow or deep explanations of scientific theories.
Clark first turned to the science fiction section because the novels could be read immediately, while other popular science content had to be understood while he was reading it, and he even did his own experiments based on the explanations in it.
"The Legend of the Galactic Heroes?"
The magazine was very dirty. The coffee not only stained the cover, but also contaminated most of the text, so that some of the writing was blurred. Clark was not affected by this, and he read the science fiction story without hesitation.
Completely immersed in the fantasy world.
"Charlie, it's time to eat!" Mother shouted.
"Coming, Mom!"
Clark put down the magazine without finishing it. He had read the prologue three times. The huge framework of the universe shocked him beyond measure.
Oh, God!
More than 1,000 years later, humans have actually completed the colonization of the Milky Way and established a powerful interstellar empire. The nearly 15-year-old Clark doesn't quite understand the expressions about dictatorship and democracy. He just likes that magical world.
That's all.
It's a pity that this issue of the magazine only has the prologue. Clark even dreamed of reading the rest of the story.
In the next few weeks, Clark had to run to the post office every time after school just so he could read the story behind the prologue of "The Legend of the Galactic Heroes".
Unfortunately, few people in this remote town ordered "Scientific School", and there was no more coffee-stained "Scientific School". It wasn't until Clark graduated from high school two years later and became the auditor of the school's pension department that he
A set of magazines was found in the home of a retired school director.
In 1956, when the 39-year-old Clark won the Hugo Award for the first time, he said in his acceptance speech: "One of my childhood dreams was to read "Scientific School" without missing an issue. When I won the
When I received my first salary in my life, I ordered this magazine without hesitation. Reinhardt and Yang Wenli accompanied me through my boyhood. Thanks to Mr. Zhou Hexuan, it was a wonderful time, and the vast universe allowed me to
People forget their worries. Now I have become a science fiction writer. I hope that my works can also accompany countless teenagers and young people and become their best partners as they grow up..."
The entire 1920s and 1930s, whether in Europe or the United States, was the golden age of science fiction literature.
This is due to many scientists represented by Einstein, and with the advancement of cutting-edge science such as the theory of relativity and quantum theory, a science fiction craze quickly set off in Europe and the United States.
However, there are still some differences between Europe and the United States. European science fiction writers like to include private goods and discuss various realistic topics in science fiction novels. Generally speaking, the artistic value is higher. In the United States, they follow a purely commercial route, combining passionate adventures and suspense reasoning.
When other elements are added, it becomes more similar to later Chinese Internet articles.
There is no doubt that if "Legend of the Galactic Heroes" were serialized in the United States, it would definitely be more popular than in Europe. It is obviously more in line with the appetite of American readers.
But this does not prevent "Legend of the Galactic Heroes" from being popular in the UK. First of all, this is the golden age of science fiction novels, with a broad reader base. Secondly, it must be popular and popular, and deep and profound, so that readers of all walks of life can read it.
With relish.
Yes, Legend of the Galactic Heroes was very deep, at least for the early 1930s.
The original author Yoshiki Tanaka drew on too many things when he was writing, such as Hitler's dictatorship. The confrontation between the two protagonists can be regarded as a war between democracy and dictatorship, justice and fascism, as well as Napoleon, militarism,
The shadow of feudal dictatorship, ***, fundamentalism, and racism.
These elements may seem banal 50 years later, but when written in the 1930s, it was so eye-catching that it could be regarded as a novel discussing politics.
Countless British teenagers like Clark were obsessed with the cosmic fantasy of "Legend of the Galactic Heroes". This science fiction work accompanied them through their long youth and became the common memory of a generation.
British young people who are in the second grade of middle school often quote lines from this book and say: "Our journey is the stars and the sea!"
When that generation of readers grew into middle-aged adults, "Legend of the Galactic Heroes" was also made into a TV series for the first time, and the ratings instantly exploded, easily crushing all TV programs at the time.
Later, Lucas, the creator of "Star Wars" said: "When I was 16 years old, I saw "The Legend of the Galactic Heroes" on TV for the first time. It was a TV series imported from the United Kingdom. You can't imagine that.
Such a shock, the vast universe and the bright starry sky are more beautiful than anything else in the world. Since then, I have had a dream about interstellar war, and I want to create my own universe story."
These are all things for later. At this time, British science fiction readers love and hate Zhou Hexuan. What a wonderful novel. Why can’t you update it faster?
