Reader’s Guide
Surfing the Internet, find at least three indications that your contemporaries are concerned about the potential for artificial intelligence and robots to challenge humans in the near future. Do you think these high-tech creations might be present on college campuses soon as “The Witch Games” seems to imply?
Ghosts appear in many stories in this collection. Compare the use of ghosts as characters in any two stories. You might, for example, use “The Yurei” and “Mr. Truman’s Ghosts” for your exploration.
The ancients thought earth, air, fire, and water were the four basic elements while a fifth element, called the quintessence, was the spiritual dimension informing all four. Using the stories “Element of Earth” and “Element of Fire,” show how Farnsworth uses the ancient formula with a decidedly modern twist. Can you think of how you might structure stories titled, “Element of Air” and “Element of Water”?
The theme of the curse is used in some of the stories. Discuss how each curse is supposed to work in its context. Examining the action of each story, show how the curse motivates major characters and drives the actions of the plots.
“The Fourth Horseman” uses a riding figure from the New Testament Book, Revelation. Do you think there is a relation between the end times foreseen in the biblical story and the historical outcomes portrayed in the story, “Across the Middle Sea”?
The horrific figure of the golem is transformed in Farnsworth’s “Element of Earth,” and a female golem becomes the companion of a male golem. Further, a woman is the creator of the female golem. Assuming the author’s premise, discuss whether a golem might solve some of today’s problems in our inner cities.
Distinctly Nordic mythology and characters lie at the center of two stories in this collection. Specifically, the hero in each story encounters magical figures that affect his life in wondrous ways. Do you think trolls and fairies exist? What would the world be like if their existence was generally known?
“The Empress Borte’s Revenge” is based on the historical favorite wife of the most ruthless and successful conqueror the world has ever known. Discuss how Borte’s power extends through time, surpassing, in some respects, the temporal power of the Mongol emperor.
“TEOTWAWKI” is an acronym favored in the run-up to the millennial year 2000 ACE. It applied to way advanced technology can change our lives and perspectives and makes us feel we are entering a whole new world of possibilities. Give a few examples of world-changing technologies you use every day. Farnsworth’s story posits the makers of such technologies can be defeated in business, yet prevail by creating new inventions, potentially indefinitely. Do you subscribe to this view? Why or why not?
“Across the Middle Sea” depicts two different worlds, one termed the City of God and the other the City of Man. Explore how these cities compare in the story, and how they both relate to the sacked Rome to the north of the Mediterranean Sea and its relatively unscathed province of Africa, which lay to the south. Considering the world of today as analogous to that of ancient Rome, can you think of any similar geographical divides with characteristics like those presented in Farnsworth’s story?