Only You Can Save Mankind
Encyclopedia
Only You Can Save Mankind (1992
) is the first novel
in the Johnny Maxwell
trilogy of children's books and fifth young adult novel by Terry Pratchett
, author of the Discworld
sequence of books. The following novels in the Johnny Maxwell Trilogy are Johnny and the Dead
(1993) and Johnny and the Bomb
(1996). The setting of the novels in the modern world was a departure for Pratchett, who writes more regularly in fantasy world
settings.
edition of the new video game Only You Can Save Mankind from his friend Wobbler. However, he hasn't been playing for long when the ScreeWee Empire surrenders to him. After accepting the surrender he finds himself inside the game in his dreams, where he must deal with the suspicious Gunnery Officer as well as the understanding Captain, and work out exactly what they're all supposed to do now.
This might all be the result of an over-active imagination except that the ScreeWee have disappeared altogether from everyone else's copy of the game. With the help of another player, Kirsty, who calls herself "Sigourney" (as in Weaver
), Johnny must try to get the ScreeWee home.
which, from Johnny's viewpoint, is just as displaced from reality as the ScreeWee Empire. It plays with the effects of perception
. For instance, since Kirsty refuses to see the ScreeWee as anything other than alien monsters who exist to be shot at they are much less human-like in her presence than when only dealing with Johnny.
Wobbler writes a computer game entitled "Journey to Alpha Centauri". The game is meant to be played in real-time, meaning it would take three thousand years to finish the journey. If the game were actually played for three thousand years, the player would be rewarded with a message saying "Welcome to Alpha Centauri. Now go home". This inspired an interactive fiction
game, Journey to Alpha Centauri (In Real Time)
.
, starring Tim Smith as Johnny.
In 2004, a musical adaptation for the stage was premiered at the Edinburgh Festival
, with music by Leighton James House and lyrics by Shaun McKenna
. A UK national tour is planned for opening in late 2011 with director Nikolai Foster. The album was released online November 23, 2009. A national CD release came out in April 2010 or from www.ifnotyouthenwho.com
1992 in literature
The year 1992 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Ben Aaronovitch - Transit*Julia Álvarez - How the García Girls Lost Their Accents*Paul Auster - Leviathan*Iain Banks - The Crow Road...
) is the first novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
in the Johnny Maxwell
Johnny Maxwell
Johnny Maxwell is a fictional character in a series of three children's books by Terry Pratchett. He is a young boy living in the typical late-20th-century English town of Blackbury .Johnny has a difficult home life...
trilogy of children's books and fifth young adult novel by Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
, author of the Discworld
Discworld
Discworld is a comic fantasy book series by English author Sir Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which, in turn, stand on the back of a giant turtle, Great A'Tuin. The books frequently parody, or at least take inspiration from, J. R. R....
sequence of books. The following novels in the Johnny Maxwell Trilogy are Johnny and the Dead
Johnny and the Dead
Johnny and the Dead is the second novel by Terry Pratchett to feature the character Johnny Maxwell. The other novels in the Johnny Maxwell Trilogy are Only You Can Save Mankind and Johnny and the Bomb...
(1993) and Johnny and the Bomb
Johnny and the Bomb
Johnny and the Bomb is a 1996 novel by Terry Pratchett. It is the third novel to feature Johnny Maxwell and his friends, and deals with the rules and consequences of time travel...
(1996). The setting of the novels in the modern world was a departure for Pratchett, who writes more regularly in fantasy world
Fantasy world
A fantasy world is a fictional universe used in fantasy novels and games. Typical worlds involve magic or magical abilities and often, but not always, either a medieval or futuristic theme...
settings.
Plot summary
Twelve-year-old Johnny receives a pirateCopyright infringement of software
Copyright infringement of software=The copyright infringement of software refers to several practices which involve the unauthorized copying of computer software. Copyright infringement of this kind varies globally...
edition of the new video game Only You Can Save Mankind from his friend Wobbler. However, he hasn't been playing for long when the ScreeWee Empire surrenders to him. After accepting the surrender he finds himself inside the game in his dreams, where he must deal with the suspicious Gunnery Officer as well as the understanding Captain, and work out exactly what they're all supposed to do now.
This might all be the result of an over-active imagination except that the ScreeWee have disappeared altogether from everyone else's copy of the game. With the help of another player, Kirsty, who calls herself "Sigourney" (as in Weaver
Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver is an American actress. She is best known for her critically acclaimed role of Ellen Ripley in the four Alien films: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection, for which she has received worldwide recognition .Other notable roles include Dana...
), Johnny must try to get the ScreeWee home.
Ideas and themes
The book contrasts the apparent reality of the computer game with Johnny's difficult home life and the television coverage of the Gulf WarGulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
which, from Johnny's viewpoint, is just as displaced from reality as the ScreeWee Empire. It plays with the effects of perception
Perception
Perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of the environment by organizing and interpreting sensory information. All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in turn result from physical stimulation of the sense organs...
. For instance, since Kirsty refuses to see the ScreeWee as anything other than alien monsters who exist to be shot at they are much less human-like in her presence than when only dealing with Johnny.
Wobbler writes a computer game entitled "Journey to Alpha Centauri". The game is meant to be played in real-time, meaning it would take three thousand years to finish the journey. If the game were actually played for three thousand years, the player would be rewarded with a message saying "Welcome to Alpha Centauri. Now go home". This inspired an interactive fiction
Interactive fiction
Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, describes software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives and as video games. In common usage, the term refers to text...
game, Journey to Alpha Centauri (In Real Time)
Journey to Alpha Centauri (In Real Time)
Journey to Alpha Centauri is an interactive fiction game by Julian Fleetwood released in 1998. It holds the distinction of being the video game with the longest minimum play time to complete - slightly more than three thousand years. It has never been completed without cheating...
.
Adaptations
In 1996, Only You Can Save Mankind was adapted into a three-part radio drama on BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
, starring Tim Smith as Johnny.
In 2004, a musical adaptation for the stage was premiered at the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
, with music by Leighton James House and lyrics by Shaun McKenna
Shaun McKenna
Shaun McKenna is an English dramatist, lyricist and screenwriter.-Biography:Shaun studied at Maidstone Grammar School and the University of Bristol...
. A UK national tour is planned for opening in late 2011 with director Nikolai Foster. The album was released online November 23, 2009. A national CD release came out in April 2010 or from www.ifnotyouthenwho.com
Translations
- Само ти можеш да спасиш света (BulgarianBulgarian languageBulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
) - Le Sauveur de l'humanité (FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
) - Nur Du kannst die Menschheit retten (GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
) - Tylko ty możesz uratować ludzkość (PolishPolish languagePolish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
) - Только ты можешь спасти человечество (RussianRussian languageRussian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
) - Sólo Tú Puedes Salvar a la Humanidad (SpanishSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
) - Bara du kan rädda mänskligheten (SwedishSwedish languageSwedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
) - İnsanlığı Ancak Sen Kurtarabilirsin (TurkishTurkish languageTurkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
) - Dim Ond Ti All Achub y Ddynoliaeth (WelshWelsh languageWelsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
) - Iba ty môžeš zachrániť ľudstvo (SlovakSlovak languageSlovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people...
) - Doar tu poţi salva omenirea (Romanian)
- Johnny: Jen ty můžeš zachránit lidstvo (Czech)
- Samo Ti Možeš Da Spaseš Svet (Serbian/Croatian)