taeto Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 I read it when I was a kid. A couple of times. It seems to be different from "The Andromeda Strain" by Michael Crichton, which comes up every time I try to Google search. It is an even more sinister story. About a signal that gets received from the general direction of the Andromeda Galaxy, and which contains the recipe for creating some kind of alien organism. It is when some laboratory follows this recipe and manages to create an exemplar of this organism that things begin to go very wrong. I remember that it was quite well written and scary, not some simple minded pulp story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strange Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 The nearest I can think of is A for Andromeda, by Fred Hoyle. But it was a TV series not a book. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_for_Andromeda You might find this a useful resource: http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taeto Posted April 10, 2020 Author Share Posted April 10, 2020 (edited) 21 minutes ago, Strange said: The nearest I can think of is A for Andromeda, by Fred Hoyle. But it was a TV series not a book. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_for_Andromeda You might find this a useful resource: http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com Thanks Strange, Fred Hoyle definitely rings a bell. Apparently it was originally a TV series, which later became novelised and came out as a book from Macmillan. From what I have gleaned from the TV series itself, dating from 1961, it seems its character direction is even scarier than its scientific content. Edited April 10, 2020 by taeto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiot Posted April 11, 2020 Share Posted April 11, 2020 There was also a sequel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Andromeda_Breakthrough And another serial another also around that time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Pull Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taeto Posted April 11, 2020 Author Share Posted April 11, 2020 11 hours ago, studiot said: There was also a sequel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Andromeda_Breakthrough And another serial another also around that time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Pull Thanks studiot! I remember watching a TV series when I was a kid much along those same lines. Scary stuff for a kid 😨. I will try to find any episodes of The Big Pull that are still available, to find out if those are the ones I was watching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiot Posted April 11, 2020 Share Posted April 11, 2020 Also the Andromeda Strain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Andromeda_Strain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taeto Posted April 12, 2020 Author Share Posted April 12, 2020 17 hours ago, studiot said: Also the Andromeda Strain In Crichton's novel it seemed more of an arbitrary choice to name the invader after our neighbor galaxy. In Hoyle's case (if it was indeed Fred Hoyle), the Andromeda was its actual source, and it makes it scary on an additional level; that of the intrusion having been orchestrated by someone or -thing on purpose. Imagine receiving in our day a signal from some remote location, say originating from a billion light-years away, which clearly contains technical instructions for the construction of something. Would any laboratory agree to take a shot at it? The outcome could go in different directions, The exciting aspect is to not only have CETI, but you get to have an actual physical thing there to look at, even if you cannot communicate back and forth across the distance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiot Posted April 12, 2020 Share Posted April 12, 2020 They were all darn good yarns and rather frightening to boot. Writers had to rely on good stories in the first place in those days, before CGI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MigL Posted April 12, 2020 Share Posted April 12, 2020 The scene I remember most vividly, from The Andromeda Strain, is that of the woman having an Epileptic seizure because of the flashing red lights. At the time, I didn't even know what Epilepsy was, And I couldn't understand why she stopped. ( I now realize it also wasn't a realistic depiction of a seizure ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strange Posted April 12, 2020 Share Posted April 12, 2020 47 minutes ago, MigL said: ( I now realize it also wasn't a realistic depiction of a seizure ) I'm not sure. I think it is a reasonable depiction of petit mal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absence_seizure Probably more accurate than a lot of cinematic illness and injury, anyway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzkpfw Posted April 12, 2020 Share Posted April 12, 2020 It sounded like Species might have been inspired by this, but a quick skim-read didn't pop up any mention. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species_(film) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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