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October 20: Tim Pratt's "Impossible Dreams"
In "Impossible Dreams," the main character named Pete finds a video store from a parallel universe and starts a relationship with the woman that works there.[1] They bond over a love of movies, even though due to the different universes there are subtle differences in them. The short story by Tim Pratt won a Hugo award in 2007.[2]
Throughout the short story, there is a theme of maximizing limited time. The window of time that Pete is able to access the other universe gets smaller and smaller. He makes plans to give the clerk a gift of movies from his universe because he thinks he'll never see her again, but she unexpectedly strands herself in his universe instead of her own.
These two characters represent two different ways of approaching limited time. Pete is careful, but the clerk goes for what she wants, and from the ending it seems to work out for them. Although, the story ends before any more potential consequences could arise.
October 13: Parallels between "Impossible Dreams" and "The City on the Edge of Forever"
Both "Impossible Dreams" and the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The City on the Edge of Forever" take place partially in parallel universes. The parallel universe of the short story contains familiar movies that were almost made in ours, like "Total Recall, but directed and written by David Cronenberg, not Paul Verhoeven."[1] In the Star Trek episode, a crew member alters the past and changes the future, leaving the rest of the crew stranded in a universe where Germany developed nuclear weapons during World War II and they could no longer reach The Enterprise.[3] By exploring the consequences of acting on alternate realities, they beg the question: "Can one person really shape the destiny of the earth with his or her free will when so many other things appear to be in charge of our destiny[...]?"[4]
"The City on the Edge of Forever" presents a bleak view of what can happen when you meddle in other timelines and universes. Even though Edith Keeler had good intentions, like the pacifist movement she founded, when she was saved by the crew's interference with the past it led to terrible consequences and millions of lives lost.[3]
However, "Impossible Dreams" offers another view of parallel-universe-meddling: as a vehicle to find love. When the clerk leaves the shop and her universe with Pete, no possible negative effects are mentioned, but instead Pete says "I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship."[1]
- ^ a b c Pratt, Tim, 1976- author. Hart & Boot : & other stories. ISBN 9781597800532. OCLC 83763066.
{{cite book}}:|last=has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "2007 Hugo Awards". The Hugo Awards. 2007-08-09. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
- ^ a b "Star Trek: The Original Series". Amazon Prime Video. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
- ^ Walker, Brett L., 1967- author. A family history of illness : memory as medicine. ISBN 9780295743042. OCLC 1031153927.
{{cite book}}:|last=has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)