Silver Spiral Stories: Blood & Oil – Pg 7

Welcome back to Serreven.com, and thanks for checking out the penultimate page of “Blood & Oil.” T-wk has won his power cell from the gullet of the gigantic mutant crattler, and he is within sight of his goal of escaping Rummigan 3. T-wk seemed to have the upper-hand on the previous page.

What is next for him? That’s a question I hope you’ll see the answer to sooner rather than later. Also, stick around for the page notes as I unpack some of the literature of the setting.

I’have been able to update pretty consistently, which I am very excited about, so be sure to catch the most recent Cosmic Dash page if you haven’t seen it. I went up last weekend.

Cosmic Dash #390

Aside from that, I will direct you to the usual suspects. Supernatural Selection, RGBots, and The Mutant Hours. We also are back on Discord if you want to talk comics and ask questions about the setting.

Speaking of questions…

Galactic Literature: What do aliens read?

We have a fun question this week from Ghostforge over on the Discord chat, who asks “what are the currently popular fiction genres in the various cultures?” I love this question so much.

All sentient species have contributed their literary works into a collection known as the Galactic Literary Core, which makes up many of the books studied at different levels of education. These books and docs are chosen by their respective cultures as representations of their culture and their nature as beloved or controversial publications.

The Galactic Literary Core was one of the most influential elements of the outreach and networking of the Grand Galactic Alliance. To this day, legislation regarding access to these texts is still followed, even after the Dividing War. This program resulted in a mandatory collection of thousands of texts being made available on every ship’s memory core, not only as a cultural exchange feature but as a way to help reduce the rigors of space travel.

As for some of these texts, here is a brief sample of some of the most beloved or studied.

Galactic Literature: Galactic Literary Core Selections

Here are some of the thousands of books and literature docs collected under the Galactic Literary Core.

Jewel Moon by Shinzo Harante – This text documents the settling of Ocia from the Terrekin diaspora and serves as a quasi-religious text.
Song of Ragna Two-Horns by Margluk – This epic poem covers the life of Ragna Two-Horns and the foundation of the Blassnaught Empire.
The First Flight by Otoanna F’Letna is a historical novel that documents the first Oonooian ship to break the solar system boundary of Oonoo. This text is considered to be fairly dry and features passages upon passages on math and physics.
Moby Dick by Herman Melville is pne of the cultural items Terrans brought to the Silver Spiral Galaxy, the metaphorical nature of the whale and Ahab is lost on most aliens, and Ahab has become a metaphor for how Terrans are percieved.
Chi-Nek-Ti-Ti-Chi by Snil Ita Tar is a religious text of the Mantoid used in rituals and established their highly matriarchal society. Most translations are considered flawed unless accompanied by pheromonal cards as Mantoid language combines chemical queues and written and spoken words.
Origins and Variations by Gege Lippol is foundational to understanding how the Furnesean people reached so many unique variations and body plans. The Furnesean scientist Gege Lippol wrote this intensive study that traced communities, divisions, and how they factored into the myriad appearances of the race. It is also a book that has been honored by the Grey of Oonoo for its educational value and is studied in xenobiology.
The Art of Love by Adon Collieb is the first literature documenting of the sexual and pleasure practices of multiple species and is widely considered the preeminent text for this sort of information. The text was originally published by Syrien poet and lothario Adon Collieb but has since been continually updated after his untimely death due to a myriad of sexually transmitted diseases.