***This story should be considered NSFW*** Welcome to my reading of Dinosaurs by Walter Jon Williams! This story is pretty fantastic and I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed reading it :) Let me know what you guys think in the comments and don't forget to like the video, share it around, leave a comment and subscribe if you haven't already. Thanks, BtQ
I think about this story a lot, usually when I'm looking down at the ground. I think about all the tiny things that find harm whenever I move. I sit still for as long as I can, but eventually I have to get up. Eventually, I have to destroy something. This is a good story, and your narration is wonderful. Thank you again for sharing.
Beautiful. This is a master crafted short story. It ended exactly where it should have. The human clearly feels sadness and regret at the doom of the other species, but his sadness is detached, almost clinical. I can picture this same feeling and mindset within the person of a truly benevolently motivated colonial British government official trying to deal with an uncontacted tribe. Trying to explain to them that the organization he represents is more like a massive, incredibly deadly and consuming machinery that acts and responds in a manner the tribe cannot really understand. Drill, the human, wields an inconceivably large amount of power. He has the ability to set the official “policy” of potentially trillions and trillions of sentient humans towards these aliens. However, he is unable to control the instinctual responses and base violence of the species as a whole. The human species is described as basically being an extrapolation of Drill himself. A cold, clinical logic brain coupled with a kind of true benevolence, but which is so far advanced it cannot appreciate individual life anymore. This organism is basically “riding” on a body controlled by an unconscious, brutal, reptile brain that simply responds to urges and stimuli.
I genuinely can't begin to describe how much I appreciate this video. I struggle with sleep and listen to this often and find myself drifting. My brain is too busy at night for music to cut it, but your intonation is unique and easy to listen to. I'm autistic and I thrive on repetition/regularity. I've listened to this audio book at least 50+ times now and it never gets old. Thank you for the work you do. Your efforts are appreciated immensely.
Ah, there you are! I don't know if you saw my last video but I mentioned there that I had lost track of the comment and subscriber who suggested Dinosaurs and asked for you to come forward. A big thank you for the suggestion as I loved this short story and couldn't wait to get this video out! Thanks again! :)
@@BewareCast Aww dang, didn't catch the channel update. I'm kind of ... preoccupied ... this week. Anyways tracked down the comment for you: th-cam.com/video/PeWnt_oit-A/w-d-xo.html&lc=UgxBOuC-oLHD4B3bxtV4AaABAg I've got heaps of obscure sci-fi novellas in quite a few anthologies from the 80's. I'll revisit that stuff and whenever I feel like something would be in your alley, I'll be sure to let you know.
The Qu were sadistic and spiteful. They enjoyed what they did and sought revenge. The humans in this are aloof and disjointed from their nature to the point that they are just a cog in their own machine.
@@elcidgaming 21:46 Sensing his agitation, Lowbrain began to echo his distress. Mash, Lowbrain thought weakly. Food. Sex. Be silent, Drill commanded. Sex, sex, Lowbrain thought. Drill realized that Lowbrain was beginning to give him an erection. Acceding to the inevitable, he began moving toward Surrogate’s quarters. Surrogate lived in a dim, quiet room filled with the murmuring sound of its own heartbeat. It was a human subspecies, about the intelligence of Lowbrain, designed to comfort voyagers on long journeys through space, when carnal access to their own subspecies might necessarily be limited. Surrogate had a variety of sexual equipment designed for the accommodation of the various human subspecies and their sexes. It also had large mammaries that gave nutritious milk, and a rudimentary head capable of voicing simple thoughts. Tiny Mice, that kept Surrogate and the ship clean, scattered as Drill entered the room. Surrogate’s little head turned to him. “It’s good to see you again,” Surrogate said. “I am Drill.” “It’s good to see you again, Drill,” said Surrogate. “It’s good to see you again.” Drill began to nuzzle its breasts. One of Surrogate’s male parts began to erect. “I’m confused, Surrogate,” he said. “I don’t know what to do.” “Why are you confused, Drill?” asked Surrogate. It raised one of its arms and began to stroke Drill’s head. It wasn’t really having a conversation: Surrogate had only been programmed to make simple statements, or to analyze its partners’ speech and ask questions. “Things are going wrong,” Drill said. He began to suckle. The warm milk flowed down his throat. Surrogate’s male part had an orgasm. Mice jumped from hiding to clean up the mess. “Why are things going wrong?” asked Surrogate. “I’m sure everything will be all right.” Lowbrain had an orgasm, perceived by Drill as scattered, faraway bits of pleasure. Drill continued to suckle, feeling a heavy comfort beginning to radiate from Surrogate, from the gentle sound of its heartbeat, its huge, wholesome, brainless body. Everything will be all right, Drill decided. “Nice to see you again, Drill,” Surrogate said. “Drill, it’s nice to see you again.” readfrom.net/walter-jon-williams/page,1,194621-dinosaurs.html (Read here.)
I was unaware of this book until listening to your reading of it. It's one of those stories that stays with you and makes you think about it long after hearing or reading it. I greatly appreciate your work here on your channel. You have a new subscriber in me :)
What an amazing book thank you dearly for the adaptation. I feel pity for both these post humans and their neighbors. You would think a civilization so devoted to preserving knowlege would work to preserve knowlege of individual empathy, but a great deal of that seems to have been lost :-( One day it may harm them, I am not sure those soldier castes will be able to intentify as the same species in perpetuity with the degree of divergence present and I shudder to think what would happen when such ceases.
That's an excellent point. If the human military one day decides to go rogue then the galaxy truly is doomed, *including* the non-violent section of humanity. A great observation, Bella. Thank you for watching :)
This was truly disturbing. A master class in "show, don't tell" and many other skills. Hateful!!! You've done a great job at narrating this wonderful piece of awfulness. Love your content. Please do more like this story if possible.
The aliens showed far more humanity than the actual humans... how tragically ironic. What a great story though, and excellent narration! Please do more readings! Also, can someone smarter than I am explain the book's title to me? My initial thought is that these people were considered by the humans to be primitive, as are dinosaurs. But I feel like there may be a better explanation.
Honestly I feel like your initial thought is correct. Just going by the condescending thought Drill had while walking out of his ship at the start of the story, thinking "if your species survives, you could look like me in a few million years", I would say he really does consider the Shars to be dinosaurs.
@@BewareCast One could also point to something entirely else. As this meaning of the title is very valid. But could it be also something different? Humanity might got technological and biological supremacy. But they and their empire are big. So big that the communication is slow. So they could recal or reprogram the ships in a timly manner. So they are slow just like that picture of dinosaurs with their slow nerve system. Im not sure if its a myth or once was science before it got fixed. The humans in the story tried to fix that by having no actual structure or hierarchy. Only function. So what would be needed around could be pullet out of storage at any time. Also our "super" human is oversized and moves a bit slow i guess. And acts on his primitive urges. I could be of course completely wrong. Thanks for the great reading of this great story.
I forgot to add. Also these humans were nothing more than their organic machines. Reacting only to things, fitting to their current roles. Completely replaceable and im not sure if they got something like real ambition in there. Or if it comes with their current role. For all their advances they seem to behave very.... primitive.
@@BewareCast It's a dual meaning. Drill considers the Shar to be primitive like the classical view of dinosaurs, but the author wrote the story with the idea of fear of senility in mind. Not only does the diplomat behave as an aged man in a care facility aboard his ship, but the human race as a whole behave as though senile. They have no meaning, no goal, and no greater ideals to their existence; they merely continue to exist and spread out of inertia. This is summarized with the epithet that the young of today often use to disparage the elderly who are stuck in their ways: "Dinosaurs." Williams' father had suffered an aneurysm recently when he wrote the story and his inspiration for it was how aimless the man's life had become, being completely taken care of by his wife and doing a whole lot of nothing at all. You can read his own words on this on his website, if you're interested.
Yay new book on BoQ, love your monotonous voice, helps to sleep. 1 book keeps me for 2 weeks at least. Not ironic, I'm afraid, I've a bit of issue with sleep. As a side effect I know both previous books by hearth
Wow! That was amazing! I finally got around to listen to it. It was a fantastic story and your reading was superb. It is interesting to see the errors and problems on both sides. On the one hand you have an advanced species, millions of years old, which lost it individualistic values. There is this interesting mechanic between strategic benevolent yet logical decisions, by Drill, vs. automatic and deadly almost instinctual actions and responses, by their terraforming ships and military. What is still lingering in my mind is the sheer amount of Drill's benevolent naivety when he presented the true facts with his casual manner. Facts that for others, like the Shar, are horrific atrocities... On the other hand you have a rather young species, with their own values, ambition, and political system. The ideologies and the hunger for power of individuals managed to erode logic and calm reason, leading them into the inevitable grim end.
What was the logo fading in and out at 54:30? At first I thought I dreamt it as I was falling asleep, then after multiple attempts at finding it, I did so. But now I am curious.
@@DraptorRonin basically, people evolved along the same lines as ants. They developed castes, separated into different subspecies. One of the diplomatic caste landed on a planet and sorta crudely tried to make peace with the native life there.
@@mastercharlesdiltardino8058 Alrighty then. Still not entirely convinced "Dinosaurs" was really a good title for this story, but Walter Jon Williams can name his stories whatever he wants. I mean, he wrote, Beware the Qu read it, and we listened to it.
@@BewareCast thank you for doing this, it's amazing. I've been trying to get my hands on books like these so months but they're expensive and rare. You are awesome
This story speaks to me on a very personal level. As someone with an invisible handicap who lives on welfare, I feel like the people in position of power sees people like me a bit (if not a lot) like the post-human sees the Shar. Almost like we're stunted people to take pity on, but entirely disposable and not that difficult to be left with whatever situation our poverty might put us in. The last conversation that the Shar president has with Drill, when he answers that he doesn't understand what she means in regards to empathy and deeper feeling, feels very much like a visit to the welfare agent who simply doesn't get why you don't ~just get a job~. It genuinely feels like talking to a person so ridiculously far "ahead" in society that they simply don't get the concept, or even just the idea, that for the sake of self-preservation a person might need welfare their whole lives. The Shar must have felt such disappointment and resignation when they understood that their so-called superiors had devolved emotionally. It must have been a truly harsh reality to come to terms with.
Take my like, hope more books like these while enjoyable can also give us self reflection into our own society and allow people to see your point of view better!
If still inhabited then I'd presume it is totally and utterly controlled by humans alot more than it is today because in the book we see drill was able to control a frog and mice and talked about sharks and stuff so animals like that still exist but they are probably all controlled and used by us for different purposes, perhaps similar to the ending of man afer man if you know about that
You know? I was expecting the asterisks to be the author's notes about specific subjects covered superficially in the reading, or at least some personal points you wanted to talk about at the end of the video. But now I'm thinking that those asterisks may be just indicators of every chapter's end
thank you for this! I've been really into stories like All Tomorrows and I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. if anyone has similar recommendations please send them to me!
Despite having his memory and warped ideas of his base needs/desires controlles by effective AI, I mean, slab exists because he must be that lazy - clearly the alien, true 'humanity', their interactions , emotions, musicality of the Shah language affected him - on a central, unthinking level - maybe he saw past the clinical coldness of what humans had become without knowing it and truly understimated, unrealised the disaster awaiting.
As odd as the food and sex routine seems it's crazy how pornography works almost exactly like that. It's just kinda there as some shallow meaningless reward at the tale end of whatever the hell you were doing beforehand.
The food and sex were nowhere near as bad as them turning their prisoners into garden mulch essential because only the survival of memories and species matters to these dudes but not individuals.
U.S Usonian, Columbian, American, Stater citzen ''patriots'' are often hyperindividualistic to the point of self harm though? When we are not we tend to be hyper religous, see the Satanic Panic and the Salem Witch Trials for good examples. These guys are not that. At best they embody our horrible attitude towards most wars being abstract concepts where we kill people from miles away who can't fight back to claim resources or international brownie points that most of those killed are often not even aware of. I think they are a cautionary tale about some of the worst and best traits within humanity. So are the tripod aliens though since their hyperindividualism and coalition building makes avoiding a war they cannot win impossible.
While I do love this short story I had to give the video a negative rating just because of the sheer amount of ad breaks, 12 in a 101 minute video? That's nearly one every 8 minutes. Did the channel put in that many or did the company algorithm?
I guess I should just work for nothing, then? Ads are how I earn money from these videos... The entitlement of people these days never ceases to amaze me.
@@BewareCast A reply that ignores the substance of what what said to set up and knock down a strawman instead. I honestly expected better. Im not mad, just disappointed.
@@ForwarDotSlash Lol, you give yourself too much credit. There was nothing of substance in what you said, just "waa waa I had to watch a few ads and so I'm gonna dislike the video somebody spent days working on." It's pretty disappointing for me too, having to read comments like yours. But not surprising, as non-producers like you generally don't have any idea what goes into any of this stuff.
@@BewareCast I understand your interpretation causes you the least amount of discordance and I don't begrudge you that. *shrug* I'm just a random commenter true, but the thumbs down button doesn't mean "this content creator is a bad person who needs dragged to the stockades in the town square." I included my comment to clarify the thumbs down wasn't about the production of the video. If a compliment sandwich is a better format to get my point across please consider the following which I mean sincerely: Your elocution is excellent; many book readers on TH-cam are worse at it than you. Many content creators who have successfully monetized their channels are converging on a certain amount of ads per video time. This video was an outlier whose excess hurt my enjoyment of the product. The different voices you give the characters are well done and give them distinct personalities.
***This story should be considered NSFW***
Welcome to my reading of Dinosaurs by Walter Jon Williams!
This story is pretty fantastic and I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed reading it :)
Let me know what you guys think in the comments and don't forget to like the video, share it around, leave a comment and subscribe if you haven't already.
Thanks,
BtQ
NSFW indeed. Even trying to visualize *that* section was just... eauhh....
Natural Super Future Works?
"If your species survives, you can look like me in another few million years." Truly sublime arrogance and conceit.
Yep, still human.
I think about this story a lot, usually when I'm looking down at the ground. I think about all the tiny things that find harm whenever I move. I sit still for as long as I can, but eventually I have to get up. Eventually, I have to destroy something.
This is a good story, and your narration is wonderful. Thank you again for sharing.
10/10 reading for a 10/10 story.
Well done and thank you for it.
Thank you!
Beautiful. This is a master crafted short story. It ended exactly where it should have. The human clearly feels sadness and regret at the doom of the other species, but his sadness is detached, almost clinical.
I can picture this same feeling and mindset within the person of a truly benevolently motivated colonial British government official trying to deal with an uncontacted tribe. Trying to explain to them that the organization he represents is more like a massive, incredibly deadly and consuming machinery that acts and responds in a manner the tribe cannot really understand.
Drill, the human, wields an inconceivably large amount of power. He has the ability to set the official “policy” of potentially trillions and trillions of sentient humans towards these aliens. However, he is unable to control the instinctual responses and base violence of the species as a whole.
The human species is described as basically being an extrapolation of Drill himself. A cold, clinical logic brain coupled with a kind of true benevolence, but which is so far advanced it cannot appreciate individual life anymore. This organism is basically “riding” on a body controlled by an unconscious, brutal, reptile brain that simply responds to urges and stimuli.
Absolutely. I think you've hit the nail on the head there, Samuel.
A whole audio book this soon? You are a generous man 😎
Need more of this great content. Keep it up.
Thanks John!
I genuinely can't begin to describe how much I appreciate this video. I struggle with sleep and listen to this often and find myself drifting.
My brain is too busy at night for music to cut it, but your intonation is unique and easy to listen to. I'm autistic and I thrive on repetition/regularity. I've listened to this audio book at least 50+ times now and it never gets old.
Thank you for the work you do. Your efforts are appreciated immensely.
Thank you for your kind words Corvideer, I'm glad this video is able to help you drift off to sleep :)
Absolutely love this short story. Hands down the best I have ever listened to.
Well I'll be damned! When I recommended "Dinosaurs" to you I didn't expect THIS to happen :D:D:D
Ah, there you are! I don't know if you saw my last video but I mentioned there that I had lost track of the comment and subscriber who suggested Dinosaurs and asked for you to come forward. A big thank you for the suggestion as I loved this short story and couldn't wait to get this video out! Thanks again! :)
@@BewareCast
Aww dang, didn't catch the channel update. I'm kind of ... preoccupied ... this week.
Anyways tracked down the comment for you: th-cam.com/video/PeWnt_oit-A/w-d-xo.html&lc=UgxBOuC-oLHD4B3bxtV4AaABAg
I've got heaps of obscure sci-fi novellas in quite a few anthologies from the 80's. I'll revisit that stuff and whenever I feel like something would be in your alley, I'll be sure to let you know.
@@SGresponse Awesome, thanks again.
Humans sound like the Qu in this one.
Because the Qu is the representation of the darkest side of humanity
Humans kind of are the real-life Qu, on Earth at least.
The Qu were sadistic and spiteful. They enjoyed what they did and sought revenge. The humans in this are aloof and disjointed from their nature to the point that they are just a cog in their own machine.
Thanks for another interesting story. The ending was sad but predictable. Great narration as usual.
That was so good, enjoyed the whole thing. Well done once again!
Thanks Dante, glad you liked it!
@@BewareCast How does he have sex? That part is not clear
@@elcidgaming
21:46
Sensing his agitation, Lowbrain began to echo his distress. Mash, Lowbrain thought weakly. Food. Sex.
Be silent, Drill commanded.
Sex, sex, Lowbrain thought.
Drill realized that Lowbrain was beginning to give him an erection. Acceding to the inevitable, he began moving toward Surrogate’s quarters.
Surrogate lived in a dim, quiet room filled with the murmuring sound of its own heartbeat. It was a human subspecies, about the intelligence of Lowbrain, designed to comfort voyagers on long journeys through space, when carnal access to their own subspecies might necessarily be limited. Surrogate had a variety of sexual equipment designed for the accommodation of the various human subspecies and their sexes. It also had large mammaries that gave nutritious milk, and a rudimentary head capable of voicing simple thoughts.
Tiny Mice, that kept Surrogate and the ship clean, scattered as Drill entered the room. Surrogate’s little head turned to him.
“It’s good to see you again,” Surrogate said.
“I am Drill.”
“It’s good to see you again, Drill,” said Surrogate. “It’s good to see you again.”
Drill began to nuzzle its breasts. One of Surrogate’s male parts began to erect. “I’m confused, Surrogate,” he said. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Why are you confused, Drill?” asked Surrogate. It raised one of its arms and began to stroke Drill’s head. It wasn’t really having a conversation: Surrogate had only been programmed to make simple statements, or to analyze its partners’ speech and ask questions.
“Things are going wrong,” Drill said. He began to suckle. The warm milk flowed down his throat.
Surrogate’s male part had an orgasm. Mice jumped from hiding to clean up the mess.
“Why are things going wrong?” asked Surrogate. “I’m sure everything will be all right.”
Lowbrain had an orgasm, perceived by Drill as scattered, faraway bits of pleasure. Drill continued to suckle, feeling a heavy comfort beginning to radiate from Surrogate, from the gentle sound of its heartbeat, its huge, wholesome, brainless body.
Everything will be all right, Drill decided.
“Nice to see you again, Drill,” Surrogate said. “Drill, it’s nice to see you again.”
readfrom.net/walter-jon-williams/page,1,194621-dinosaurs.html
(Read here.)
@@tasertag7513 damn very advanced sex bot
This Chanel is criminally slept on
I was unaware of this book until listening to your reading of it. It's one of those stories that stays with you and makes you think about it long after hearing or reading it. I greatly appreciate your work here on your channel. You have a new subscriber in me :)
Amazing story and Audiobook! I find it very fascinating that the Shar actually act much more human than the humans themselves on many occasions.
Great reading! Never heard this story before, so it was nice to get some new sci-fi in the brain🙌
this story scared me so bad as a kid, i love it. thanks for the reading!
What an amazing book thank you dearly for the adaptation. I feel pity for both these post humans and their neighbors.
You would think a civilization so devoted to preserving knowlege would work to preserve knowlege of individual empathy, but a great deal of that seems to have been lost :-(
One day it may harm them, I am not sure those soldier castes will be able to intentify as the same species in perpetuity with the degree of divergence present and I shudder to think what would happen when such ceases.
That's an excellent point. If the human military one day decides to go rogue then the galaxy truly is doomed, *including* the non-violent section of humanity.
A great observation, Bella. Thank you for watching :)
Thank you!!! Your voice is perfect for these audiobooks. Do more I love it!!
Thanks for the kind words, more on the way!
This was truly disturbing. A master class in "show, don't tell" and many other skills. Hateful!!! You've done a great job at narrating this wonderful piece of awfulness. Love your content. Please do more like this story if possible.
The aliens showed far more humanity than the actual humans... how tragically ironic. What a great story though, and excellent narration! Please do more readings!
Also, can someone smarter than I am explain the book's title to me? My initial thought is that these people were considered by the humans to be primitive, as are dinosaurs. But I feel like there may be a better explanation.
Honestly I feel like your initial thought is correct. Just going by the condescending thought Drill had while walking out of his ship at the start of the story, thinking "if your species survives, you could look like me in a few million years", I would say he really does consider the Shars to be dinosaurs.
@@BewareCast One could also point to something entirely else. As this meaning of the title is very valid. But could it be also something different?
Humanity might got technological and biological supremacy. But they and their empire are big. So big that the communication is slow. So they could recal or reprogram the ships in a timly manner. So they are slow just like that picture of dinosaurs with their slow nerve system. Im not sure if its a myth or once was science before it got fixed. The humans in the story tried to fix that by having no actual structure or hierarchy. Only function. So what would be needed around could be pullet out of storage at any time. Also our "super" human is oversized and moves a bit slow i guess. And acts on his primitive urges.
I could be of course completely wrong.
Thanks for the great reading of this great story.
I forgot to add. Also these humans were nothing more than their organic machines. Reacting only to things, fitting to their current roles. Completely replaceable and im not sure if they got something like real ambition in there. Or if it comes with their current role. For all their advances they seem to behave very.... primitive.
Towards the end i could agree with this comment. sadly the shaa's got the short end of the stick
@@BewareCast
It's a dual meaning. Drill considers the Shar to be primitive like the classical view of dinosaurs, but the author wrote the story with the idea of fear of senility in mind. Not only does the diplomat behave as an aged man in a care facility aboard his ship, but the human race as a whole behave as though senile. They have no meaning, no goal, and no greater ideals to their existence; they merely continue to exist and spread out of inertia. This is summarized with the epithet that the young of today often use to disparage the elderly who are stuck in their ways: "Dinosaurs."
Williams' father had suffered an aneurysm recently when he wrote the story and his inspiration for it was how aimless the man's life had become, being completely taken care of by his wife and doing a whole lot of nothing at all. You can read his own words on this on his website, if you're interested.
Yay new book on BoQ, love your monotonous voice, helps to sleep. 1 book keeps me for 2 weeks at least. Not ironic, I'm afraid, I've a bit of issue with sleep. As a side effect I know both previous books by hearth
Tragic. But kept my attention right to the very end. Good story. It has left an impression on me.
It left a pretty big impression on me too.
very good job, thank you so much for this. kept me interested the whole time while grinding this oz of green.
Wonderful story and a beautiful reading as always.
Thank you so much!
I didn't realize it was coming out so soon.
I managed to get it done pretty quickly :)
I’m so intrigued I just started this. It’s is a completely new audiobook for me😆
I always forget you are also a content creator. The reading is so pro
I felt such deep sadness at the end of the story.
Thoroughly enjoyed this
It's an impressive book ! The end was tragic
It certainly was.
Thanks for narrating this, it's awesome 👌
This is great! Drill is such a cool character
This book shows the two sides of humanity. Both bad in their own way.
Of all the depressing stories I've heard on this channel this one hurts the most.😢
Wow! That was amazing!
I finally got around to listen to it.
It was a fantastic story and your reading was superb.
It is interesting to see the errors and problems on both sides.
On the one hand you have an advanced species, millions of years old, which lost it individualistic values. There is this interesting mechanic between strategic benevolent yet logical decisions, by Drill, vs. automatic and deadly almost instinctual actions and responses, by their terraforming ships and military.
What is still lingering in my mind is the sheer amount of Drill's benevolent naivety when he presented the true facts with his casual manner. Facts that for others, like the Shar, are horrific atrocities...
On the other hand you have a rather young species, with their own values, ambition, and political system. The ideologies and the hunger for power of individuals managed to erode logic and calm reason, leading them into the inevitable grim end.
Great story, thanks for reading BWTQ
Thanks Gerrard!
Please do more Audiobooks
Maybe one day.
4:04 for some reason this made me picture Drill as gigachad
LOL
@@UCannotDefeatMyShmeat That's what I took it to mean.
🏆🔉Thank you for your generous gift of auditory perfection here🌐
I find your voice so soothing
Holy Crap! This is Amazing
23:39 this sentence hit me like a fucking truck.
New subscriber enjoying your channel, keep up the good work
What was the logo fading in and out at 54:30? At first I thought I dreamt it as I was falling asleep, then after multiple attempts at finding it, I did so. But now I am curious.
I… still don’t exactly get why it’s called “Dinosaurs”, when it only really involved post-humans and alien-tripod-kangaroo-dog people.
All part of the mystery.
Cuz the difference between the post humans and the aliens is like the difference between us and dinosaurs.
@@mastercharlesdiltardino8058 eh, maybe? Tbh I I think I understand more about actual dinosaurs than what all is going on in this book.
@@DraptorRonin basically, people evolved along the same lines as ants. They developed castes, separated into different subspecies. One of the diplomatic caste landed on a planet and sorta crudely tried to make peace with the native life there.
@@mastercharlesdiltardino8058 Alrighty then. Still not entirely convinced "Dinosaurs" was really a good title for this story, but Walter Jon Williams can name his stories whatever he wants.
I mean, he wrote, Beware the Qu read it, and we listened to it.
Such a beautiful voice
You're very kind, thank you.
Oh my gosh you didn't tell us you were giving us even more content!
There's always something new!
@@BewareCast thank you for doing this, it's amazing. I've been trying to get my hands on books like these so months but they're expensive and rare. You are awesome
@@shadow_shine3578 It's my pleasure, Shadow. More on the way
@@BewareCast:D
Well,this is unexpected, but welcomed
This is a pleasant surprise
I love when a new vid comes
I hope you enjoy this one :)
Heartbreaking!
This story speaks to me on a very personal level. As someone with an invisible handicap who lives on welfare, I feel like the people in position of power sees people like me a bit (if not a lot) like the post-human sees the Shar. Almost like we're stunted people to take pity on, but entirely disposable and not that difficult to be left with whatever situation our poverty might put us in. The last conversation that the Shar president has with Drill, when he answers that he doesn't understand what she means in regards to empathy and deeper feeling, feels very much like a visit to the welfare agent who simply doesn't get why you don't ~just get a job~. It genuinely feels like talking to a person so ridiculously far "ahead" in society that they simply don't get the concept, or even just the idea, that for the sake of self-preservation a person might need welfare their whole lives. The Shar must have felt such disappointment and resignation when they understood that their so-called superiors had devolved emotionally. It must have been a truly harsh reality to come to terms with.
Take my like, hope more books like these while enjoyable can also give us self reflection into our own society and allow people to see your point of view better!
@@gerrardjones28 Thank you so much for your kind words, it feels good to be seen 😊
When people are shamed for disagreeing then they will simply ignore.
No dinosaur 🥺. even if the book is named dinosaur. But 10/10 story. very well righting. Thanks for making this
No problem Maria, sorry about the lack of dinosaurs though😣
rest in peace little tripod creators.
This was fantastic 👏👌🙌
Thank you Lucas, much appreciated :)
Stick THAT in your memory and send it
Fantastic
Thanks Willy!
What is the state of earth??
If still inhabited then I'd presume it is totally and utterly controlled by humans alot more than it is today because in the book we see drill was able to control a frog and mice and talked about sharks and stuff so animals like that still exist but they are probably all controlled and used by us for different purposes, perhaps similar to the ending of man afer man if you know about that
Unknown. The humans most likely don't know they originated there and I bet they wouldn't even care if they knew.
You know? I was expecting the asterisks to be the author's notes about specific subjects covered superficially in the reading, or at least some personal points you wanted to talk about at the end of the video. But now I'm thinking that those asterisks may be just indicators of every chapter's end
thank you for this! I've been really into stories like All Tomorrows and I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. if anyone has similar recommendations please send them to me!
I was afraid you would run out of content I am very happy to be wrong
Nope, I'll never run out because there is so much out there.
Why is the tittle Dinosaurs?
No idea, lol
Ahhhh, do roadside picnic please
I'll look into it
@@BewareCast thanks for even thinking about it, you are a peach
I feel really sad for the tripod dogs, someone rewrite the ending
A nice ending is not necessarily a good ending.
I think any change would make it worse.
Wow, this was so uncomfortable to listen to - I loved it.
awsome read man sad ending =(
Is there a sequel to this or somewhere I can find the rest of the story?
What? This is the whole story.
This is new but I want a 3d series about this
Despite having his memory and warped ideas of his base needs/desires controlles by effective AI, I mean, slab exists because he must be that lazy - clearly the alien, true 'humanity', their interactions , emotions, musicality of the Shah language affected him - on a central, unthinking level - maybe he saw past the clinical coldness of what humans had become without knowing it and truly understimated, unrealised the disaster awaiting.
amazing work. my question is this tho why not take the former president and a small group back as pets, since he clearly expressed he wanted to.
Maybe I’m only using my low brain here, but why is it called Dinosaurs?
As odd as the food and sex routine seems it's crazy how pornography works almost exactly like that.
It's just kinda there as some shallow meaningless reward at the tale end of whatever the hell you were doing beforehand.
The food and sex were nowhere near as bad as them turning their prisoners into garden mulch essential because only the survival of memories and species matters to these dudes but not individuals.
Hi
Man.... The Future Humans are kind of familiar. They seem like Americans.
U.S Usonian, Columbian, American, Stater citzen ''patriots'' are often hyperindividualistic to the point of self harm though?
When we are not we tend to be hyper religous, see the Satanic Panic and the Salem Witch Trials for good examples.
These guys are not that.
At best they embody our horrible attitude towards most wars being abstract concepts where we kill people from miles away who can't fight back to claim resources or international brownie points that most of those killed are often not even aware of.
I think they are a cautionary tale about some of the worst and best traits within humanity.
So are the tripod aliens though since their hyperindividualism and coalition building makes avoiding a war they cannot win impossible.
While I do love this short story I had to give the video a negative rating just because of the sheer amount of ad breaks, 12 in a 101 minute video? That's nearly one every 8 minutes. Did the channel put in that many or did the company algorithm?
I guess I should just work for nothing, then? Ads are how I earn money from these videos... The entitlement of people these days never ceases to amaze me.
@@BewareCast A reply that ignores the substance of what what said to set up and knock down a strawman instead. I honestly expected better. Im not mad, just disappointed.
@@ForwarDotSlash Lol, you give yourself too much credit. There was nothing of substance in what you said, just "waa waa I had to watch a few ads and so I'm gonna dislike the video somebody spent days working on."
It's pretty disappointing for me too, having to read comments like yours. But not surprising, as non-producers like you generally don't have any idea what goes into any of this stuff.
@@BewareCast I understand your interpretation causes you the least amount of discordance and I don't begrudge you that. *shrug* I'm just a random commenter true, but the thumbs down button doesn't mean "this content creator is a bad person who needs dragged to the stockades in the town square." I included my comment to clarify the thumbs down wasn't about the production of the video.
If a compliment sandwich is a better format to get my point across please consider the following which I mean sincerely: Your elocution is excellent; many book readers on TH-cam are worse at it than you. Many content creators who have successfully monetized their channels are converging on a certain amount of ads per video time. This video was an outlier whose excess hurt my enjoyment of the product. The different voices you give the characters are well done and give them distinct personalities.
This is a really frightening tale of going full darwinist realist. Damn.
Indeed.
I'm sorry but I couldn't continue listening seriously past 23:00 lmao wtf
First
Oh my God who the hell cares
Yikes...
There's an ad every 5min... this is practically impossible to listen to.
Not what I expected
This is the most NSFW thing so far and All Tomorrows had nudity XDDDD Did love the audio book, its an interesting universe.
Lol, it is somewhat NSFW, I'm glad you enjoyed it :)
Thank you so much for your hard work in BioSpec 🫡
No problem Adam, thank you for always coming back! :)
New subscriber enjoying your channel, keep up the good work