Big Dumb Object
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A term probably coined by reviewer Roz Kaveney[1] and used in discussing science fiction, a Big Dumb Object (BDO) is a mysterious artifact (usually of extraterrestrial or otherwise unknown origin) in a story which generates an intense sense of wonder just by being there; to a certain extent, the term deliberately deflates this.
The term was not in general use until it was included in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction as a joke by Peter Nicholls[2].
J.G. Ballard's short story, "Report on an Unidentified Space Station" (1982) is an exploration of the metaphor of the BDO: in each successive report, the artifact's estimated size increases, people become lost within it, and the reader eventually realises that the mysterious artifact, of unknown purpose and origin, apparently abandoned by its unknown creator(s), is the Universe itself.
[edit] Appearances
- Iain M. Banks' Excession
- Stephen Baxter's Bolder's Ring in the Xeelee Sequence series of novels
- Greg Bear's Thistledown asteroid-starship in Eon
- Algis Budrys' Killing Machine found on the Moon in Rogue Moon
- Arthur C. Clarke's monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey
- Arthur C. Clarke's Rama
- Arthur C. Clarke A massive sun-blocking mirror in novel Sunstorm
- Michael Crichton's Sphere in Sphere
- Philip José Farmer's Riverworld.
- Peter F. Hamilton's Sleeping God in The Night's Dawn Trilogy
- Peter F. Hamilton's High Angel and the stars Dyson A and B in Pandora's Star
- Larry Niven's Ringworld in Ringworld
- Frederik Pohl's Gateway, in his Heechee series.
- Robert Reed's Great Ship in his Marrow books
- Alastair Reynolds' Cerberus/Hades in Revelation Space
- Bob Shaw's Orbitsville, and many other Dyson spheres
- Charles Sheffield's Heritage Universe.
- Clifford D. Simak's abandoned machine-world in Limiting Factor (1949)
- Robert Charles Wilson's Spin, in the eponymous novel.
- The Derelict and "space jockey" from the film Alien
- The Ultimate Evil from the film, The Fifth Element
- The Vorlon "thirdspace gate" in the Babylon 5 television movie Thirdspace
- The Chodak Unity Device in the Star Trek: The Next Generation video game A Final Unity
- The Dyson Sphere in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Relics
- The Nexus in Star Trek: Generations.
- "The Great Machine", a planet-sized device with many abilities, including time travel in the TV series Babylon 5
- The statue of the foot in the TV series Lost
- The Medical Mechanica factory in Anime series FLCL
- The Citadel from the video game Half-Life 2.
- The "Halo" ringworlds from the video game series of the same name
- The Zohar Monolith from the game Xenogears, as well as the monoliths from the related Xenosaga series.
- The Star Forge from the video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Kaveney, Roz, 1981, Foundation: The International Review of Science Fiction, issue 22.
- ^ Nicholls, Peter, 2000, Big Dumb Objects and Cosmic Enigmas: The Love Affair between Space Fiction and the Transcendental, in Westfahl, Gary (ed), Space and Beyond: The Frontier Theme in Science Fiction, Greenwood Press, p. 13. "... I decided to write an April Fool's entry. I would pretend that a phrase I’d always liked, originated by the critic Roz Kaveney but not in general use, was actually a known critical term. I would write an entry called "Big Dumb Objects" in a poker-faced style, suggesting an even more absurd critical term to be used in its place, "megalotropic sf.""
