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A review by midici
Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 40, January 2010 by Neil Clarke
3.0
I don't think I've ever watched the movie "The Thing" based on John W. Campbell’s “Who Goes There?” both of which are retold from the alien's point of view in this story, The Things.
It's based on an alien lifeform that has crashed to Earth. When it wakes up it tries to contact the dominant lifeform- by assimilating it into itself, which is what it considers a natural way to improve both itself and whatever its assimilating. The natural way of the world, according to this alien, is for matter to transform itself into what is needed, and to assimliate ever more into itself in order to increase knowledge and matter.
It has a difficult time assimilating. It cannot seem to find this world's consciousness and is concerned by how the biomass keeps fighting assimilation. At the end of this story the alien comes to the realization that life on this planet has never had the same ability to 'form communion' and is instead stuck in isolated, unchanging forms. It forgives the humans for any violence it has done, assuming now that they can't possibly know better, and vows to help them all. By force, if necessary.
I found the story here: http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/watts_01_10/
It's based on an alien lifeform that has crashed to Earth. When it wakes up it tries to contact the dominant lifeform- by assimilating it into itself, which is what it considers a natural way to improve both itself and whatever its assimilating. The natural way of the world, according to this alien, is for matter to transform itself into what is needed, and to assimliate ever more into itself in order to increase knowledge and matter.
It has a difficult time assimilating. It cannot seem to find this world's consciousness and is concerned by how the biomass keeps fighting assimilation. At the end of this story the alien comes to the realization that life on this planet has never had the same ability to 'form communion' and is instead stuck in isolated, unchanging forms. It forgives the humans for any violence it has done, assuming now that they can't possibly know better, and vows to help them all. By force, if necessary.
I found the story here: http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/watts_01_10/