Challenge 427

How Much Is That Doggie
in the Spaceship?

1. In Ásgrímur Hartmannsson’s Error, does Jonas know who is chasing him?

2. In Matthew T. Acheson’s “The Last March”:

   1. Who are the “little people”?
   2. Brinsabach makes a fatal decision. Its motive is understandable, but in view of the ending, could he have decided to do something else?

3. Viacheslav Yatsko’s “The Professor’s Murder” contains a large dose of satire. What makes it satire rather than dispassionate observation? What, exactly, are its targets?

4. Mary B. McArdle’s Give Them Wine introduces an important character, Donas. Does anything in Donas’ everyday experience seem a bit odd, even allowing for her living in a community where the children are kept drugged?

5. In Antonio Bellomi’s “The Heretic”:

   1. What heresy or heresies seem to come closest to Father Ombuda’s robot from outer space?
   2. How does the Inquisitor’s version of substitutionary atonement compare to the orthodox concept?
   3. Why are the Inquisitor’s last words, Domine, non sum dignus, literally true?

6. In Karen S. Riggin’s “Deep in Africa”:

   1. Why is the expedition heading into the jungle?
   2. What do the narrator’s teammates “tease” her about?
   3. How does Babdedulahla seem to serve as a protector? Who are the only ones in the story who do not know what he’s doing?
   4. What is the function in the story of the narrator’s fear of spiders?
   5. Is the account a short story or a memoir?

7. In Bill Bowler’s “The Bee Among the Blossoms”:

   1. What does the title reveal about the point of view of the narrator?
   2. Do the girls or women differ other than in name and occasional details of appearance?
   3. How do the women feel about the narrator?
   4. What is the set of poems really about? Why might the last line be taken as irony or even sarcasm?

8. In Albert J. Manachino’s “The Collar Out of Space”:

   1. Annette is probably the most interesting character in the story. How might her participation have been developed further?
   2. What does the story have to do with H. P. Lovecraft’s “The Color Out of Space”?

Responses welcome!

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