The Heart of the Serpent
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| Author | Ivan Yefremov |
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| Original title (if not in English) | Cor Serpentis |
| Translator | Roza Prokofieva |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Language | Russian |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Fredonia Books |
| Released | 4 September, 2002 |
| Media Type | Print (Paperback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 1-4101-0041-3 |
The Heart of the Serpent (Originally in latin: Cor Serpentis) is a 1958 science fiction short story by the Soviet writer and paleontologist Ivan Yefremov.
The crew of a spaceship encounters an alien ship in deep space. Speculation ensues about whether the other crew might be hostile. Comparisons are made to American SF writer Murray Leinster's story, First Contact, in which an elaborate protocol is developed to prevent the aliens from following the Terrans home and destroying them, or vice versa. The premise of Leinster's story is debunked, in part by pointing out that in order for a planet's civilization to become space-faring, they would need to be at peace among themselves and presumably have organized themselves into a planet-wide classless communist society, a point Yefremov had made earlier in his novel Andromeda. Thus the aliens must necessarily be peaceful.
This story takes place within the rubric of Yefremov's Great Circle, a confederation of galactic civilizations that can communicate at faster-than-light speeds, and which also appears in Andromeda Nebula.
[edit] Bibliography
- The Heart of the Serpent compilation of the Soviet SF translated by Roza Prokofieva. Moscow: Foreign Language Publishing House, 1961, 267 pp.
- More Soviet Science Fiction. New York: Collier Books, 1962, 190 pp. ISBN 0-85250-004-2.
- The Heart of the Serpent. NL: Fredonia Books, 4 September, 2002, 272 pp. ISBN 1-4101-0041-3.
[edit] External link
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| Novels: | Andromeda | The Bull's Hour | The Land of Foam | Razor's Edge | Thais of Athens |
| Short stories: | Road of Winds | Cor Serpentis | Cutty Sark | Star ships |
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