Stellar Engine - Stellar Engines in Fiction

Stellar Engines in Fiction

In Olaf Stapledon's 1937 science fiction novel Star Maker, some advanced galactic civilizations attempted to use stellar engines to propel their planetary systems across the galaxy in order to physically contact other advanced galactic civilizations. However, it turned out that the stars were life forms with a consciousness of their own, and their consciousnesses were extremely upset by this happening to them, because it violated the canon of the galactic ballet dance the stars felt they were a part of and which the stars felt was the primary focus of and most sacred ritual of their lives. So, those stars whose surrounding civilizations attempted to force them to move in a different direction took revenge by committing suicide by exploding as supernovae, thus destroying their attendant worlds. This initiated the War of Stars and Worlds, lasting millions of years, which was a pivotal event in the history of the galaxy. The war only ended when the galactic civilizations figured out how to telepathically communicate with the stars and arrange a truce.

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