The short story, Mr. Spaceship by Philip K. Dick, is about Philip Kramen and Commander Gross, two characters that are trying to end a war. To do it these agents have to build a ship guided by something intelligent so they can defeat the “yuks” (enemy aliens that are trying to invade Earth). Kramen and Gross determine that the ship should be guided by a disembodied human brain!
To this end they recruit Professor Thomas, a very aged man confined to his bed. The brain removal is a success, and Thomas gains control of the ship.
The story’s premise is similar, remarkably similar, to the later published tale, The Ship Who Sang. The Ship Who Sang by Anne McCaffrey was published in the April 1961 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction – eight years after Mr. Spaceship was published.
I think Mr. Spaceship is one of the most interesting Philip K. Dick works that I’ve read. Mr. Spaceship is a very well organized story that was planned out step by step. The writing was very clear, giving us the main problem, and how the characters were going to solve it. I definitely recommend Mr. Spaceship to readers who like science fiction stories.
Mr. Spaceship
By Philip K. Dick; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 1 Hour 11 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 27, 2010
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A human brain-controlled spacecraft would mean mechanical perfection. This was accomplished, and something unforeseen: a strange entity called — Mr. Spaceship. First published in Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy, January 1953.
Here is a |PDF| made from scans of the original publication in Imagination.
Posted by Andrew Kang
Piper In The Woods
