The Impossible Planet
Written by Philip K. Dick
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“The Impossible Planet” is a Scifi, short story written by the master of the Scifi genre, the man himself, Phillip K. Dick. It was first published in 1953 and has been reprinted dozens of times and influenced so many stories in the Scifi genre. This type of story has been retold in many different facets with every author giving their twist on this type of story. The idea of the lost planet, the origin planet is really timeless.

The Impossible Planet Goodreads webpage

“The Impossible Planet” tells the story of a 350 year old woman named Irma Louise Gordon who asks to be taken to the planet believed to exist only in legends, the planet Earth. It is supposedly the planet where humanity, most of humanity, has originated from. Irma is deaf as her robot reminds the captain over and over and is at death’s doorstep. At 350 years old society has refused to give Irma any more rejuvenation treatments and so she wants to die on Earth. She is persistent and determined to rest with her ancestors and offers a large sum of money to the ship that will take her there.

This is a simple story with deep themes that still ring deep today, decades later from when it was published. This is as much the story of people making a lot of money as it is granting a dying person’s wish. The character of Ed Andrews is motivated by the large sum of money he is offered and sets out to find the best candidate of what might be Earth. The ending of this story is a very good surprise. Several hypotheses exist on the existence of where Earth might be and Andrews chooses the most prevalent one, the Morrisson Report, in the M4 System. And as it turns out, the planet in the M4 System they head to is a barren pit of a place.

There is also the idea that maybe one day, in the distant future, this planet we call home will become a forgotten relic. It’s possible that before such a day arrives our beautiful globe is poisoned and polluted by war and “commercial operations exhausting the surface “ or environmental exploitation and destruction, as they state.

This is a fun short story with a nice twist.

John Ink2Quill

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