Sci-Fi Battle
Went for a short walk along the not-very-lovely beach at Battle/Hastings recently, and chanced upon this vast lump of concrete, sticking out to sea. It's clearly been built to protect the beach from the tides (although not doing a great job, judging by the number of noisy little diggers being employed to rearrange the shingle). It really caught my imagination.
Something about its ridiculously monstrous concrete form, folorn and windswept position, and dilapidated condition reminded me of old sci-fi novel cover art. You know - vast operatic landscapes, in virulent colours, populated only by spinifex and orange icecaps, being swooped over by oversized, organic-shaped spacecraft, bristling with twinkling lights and exotic weaponry - strongly reminiscent of The Culture stuff that Iain M. Banks writes about (all too infrequently IMHO).
When I was eight or nine, growing up in dreary Dorset, these images fired my imagination like nothing had done before. They presented a fantastical vision of the future that promised unimaginably endless travel, excitement, adventure and discovery - pictures like this...
this...
and this...
Sadly the content of said novels rarely lived up to the quality of covers. A valuable lesson learned early, I guess.
Something about its ridiculously monstrous concrete form, folorn and windswept position, and dilapidated condition reminded me of old sci-fi novel cover art. You know - vast operatic landscapes, in virulent colours, populated only by spinifex and orange icecaps, being swooped over by oversized, organic-shaped spacecraft, bristling with twinkling lights and exotic weaponry - strongly reminiscent of The Culture stuff that Iain M. Banks writes about (all too infrequently IMHO).
When I was eight or nine, growing up in dreary Dorset, these images fired my imagination like nothing had done before. They presented a fantastical vision of the future that promised unimaginably endless travel, excitement, adventure and discovery - pictures like this...
and this...
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