Burning (short story)

Burning (short story)

Infobox short story |
name = Burning
title_orig =
translator =
author = Orson Scott Card
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre =
published_in = "Capitol"
publication_type =
publisher = Baronet Publishing
media_type = Print (Paperback)
pub_date = 1978
english_pub_date =
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Burning" is a short story by Orson Scott Card. It only appears in his short story collection "Capitol".

Plot summary

Captain, Homer Worthing and a fleet of twenty ship all piloted by telepaths are orbiting a settled star system. They are on the run from the imperial fleet and trying to leave settled space. When they request permission to take on supplies so that that can leave, the planetary authorities refuse. By the time the imperial fleet arrives they are nearly out of fuel and unable to fight the fleet or force their way down to the planets except by destroying one of them with a fusion bomb. Captain Homer refuses to consider this but when some of the ships run out of fuel he is removed from command and a threat is made to blow up one of the planets. No one believes they will do it and the imperial fleet attacks. After a second battle with the fleet one of the captains launches bombs at the planets but they are intercepted by Captain Homer. When a final volley of missiles is fired at Captain Homer’s ship he launches fusion bombs at all three planets in anger. Captain Homer immediately regrets his decision, but his ship is destroyed by missiles just as he is about to abort the bombs. When the fleet gets back to Capitol the commanders get medals and almost a hundred thousand telepaths are murdered.

Connection to the "Worthing Saga"

This story uses several plot elements also used in "The Worthing Saga", such as the sleeping drug Somec and the taping of memories. It takes place on the planet Capitol shortly after the events in the story "Breaking the Game". The story of Homer Worthing's destruction of a star system also appears in a much shorter form as a part of chapter 3 in Card's novel "The Worthing Chronicle".

ee also

*List of works by Orson Scott Card
*Orson Scott Card

External links

* [http://www.hatrack.com The official Orson Scott Card website]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • short story — short story, adj. a piece of prose fiction, usually under 10,000 words. [1885 90] * * * Brief fictional prose narrative. It usually presents a single significant episode or scene involving a limited number of characters. The form encourages… …   Universalium

  • Hinterlands (short story) — Infobox short story name = Hinterlands author = William Gibson country = Canada language = English series = Burning Chrome genre =science fiction published in = publisher = media type = pub date =1986 english pub date = preceded by = The… …   Wikipedia

  • Dogfight (short story) — Dogfight Author Michael Swanwick William Gibson Language English Genre(s) Cyberpunk Published in Omni …   Wikipedia

  • They (short story) — They is a short story written by American science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein. It was first published in the April 1941 issue of Unknown , and can be found in Heinlein s short story collection, The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag .… …   Wikipedia

  • Neutron Star (short story) — Neutron Star is an English language science fiction short story written by Larry Niven. It was originally published in the August 1966 issue (Issue 107, Vol 16, No 10) of Worlds of If. It was later reprinted in Neutron Star, (New York: Ballantine …   Wikipedia

  • Convergent Series (short story collection) — Convergent Series   Author(s) Larry Niven …   Wikipedia

  • Critical Mass (short story) — Critical mass Author Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth Country  USA Language …   Wikipedia

  • Deep End (short story) — Deep End is a short story written in 1961 by British author J. G. Ballard. It first appeared in the May 1961 edition of New Worlds (Volume 36, Number 106)[1] and then in the 1962 collection The Voices of Time and Other Stories[2] followed by The… …   Wikipedia

  • Beyond the Wall of Sleep (short story) — Infobox short story name = Beyond the Wall of Sleep author = H. P. Lovecraft country = United States language = English series = genre = Science fiction short story published in = Pine Cones publication type = Magazine publisher = media type =… …   Wikipedia

  • Nebula Award for Best Short Story — Winners of the “Nebula Award for Best Short Story” . The stated year is that of publication; awards are given in the following year. Winning titles are listed first, with other nominees listed below. Contents 1 Winners and nominees 2 See also 3… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”