To Marry Medusa

Written by Theodore Sturgeon

Narrated by Stefan Rudnicki

Up until one minute ago, Gurlick was merely a specimen of homo sapiens – and a substandard specimen at that. But now this craven, seething, barely literate drunk has ingested a spore that traveled light years before touching down on our planet, a spore that has, in turn, ingested Gurlick, turning him into a host for the Medusa. The Medusa is a hive mind so vast that it encompasses the life forms of a billion planets, a hive mind that is determined to ingest Earth as well.

In this mind-wrenching classic of science fiction, the visionary novelist Theodore Sturgeon places humanity on a collision course with an organism of unimaginable power and malevolence and reminds us how much we depend on each other, or even on a wretch like Gurlick.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Blackstone Audio
• Release date: Feb 17, 2009
• ISBN: 9781433275371

Theodore Sturgeon

Theodore Sturgeon (1918–1985) is considered one of the godfathers of contemporary science fiction and dark fantasy. The author of numerous acclaimed short stories and novels, among them the classics More Than Human, Venus Plus X, and To Marry Medusa, Sturgeon also wrote for television and holds among his credits two episodes of the original 1960s Star Trek series, for which he created the Vulcan mating ritual and the expression “Live long and prosper.” He is also credited as the inspiration for Kurt Vonnegut’s recurring fictional character Kilgore Trout. Sturgeon is the recipient of the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, and the International Fantasy Award. In 2000, he was posthumously honored with a World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement. 

Reviews for To Marry Medusa

[ashleytylerjohn · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Meh. It's certainly no The Dreaming Jewels (and perhaps I'd better reread that one, in case it's just the rosy memory of youth colouring it so highly).

Reminded me of the Netflix series Sense8 which I didn't keep up with after the first three episodes because it felt like very little was happening (which would be okay, if only the little that was happening was interesting, lively, witty, etc.) There are vignettes from all over the world, with no sense that they're particularly connected (and they're not: any random person from anyone in the world would feature as much to the store as whomever was actually chosen).

There's a bit of a twist ending, but it's a "Hm, okay," kind of a twist, not a "Wow, really!" kind of a twist.

Started Killdozer, but it just kind of lay there, so didn't complete it.

More exciting books are out there.

[altheaann · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A short, but thoughtful - and unusual - story of alien invasion. The 'Medusa' is a hive mind which has taken over galaxies - and now one of its spores is here on Earth. However, the being it infects is Gurlick - a man that pretty much anyone would consider a waste of life - a stupid, drunken, violent loser. The Medusa, a sophisticated intelligence, is nonetheless unable to understand humanity, because the concept of intelligence that does not function communally, but is confined to isolated individuals, is incomprehensible to it. Humanity is saved!?!? But the book encourages us to think about values and the definition of civilization - the Medusa is indeed a frightening concept - but its spread is not a malicious act.
First published in 1958, this novel goes against the popular concepts of the limitations of science fiction from this time period. It may not be Sturgeon's best work, but it is definitely worthwhile.

[cheryl_in_cc_nv · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Interesting premise, rendered with a little more show-offy style" than necessary. Slim paperback"

[darrol_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

As short as this book is, it was a little hard for me to follow. A hive mind attacks humanity, but some force turns humanity into a different sort of hive mind that then absorbs the original?

[clong_818048 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Sturgeon is one of my favorite authors. Much more than just about any other author in science fiction and fantasy, his writing offers loving insight into humanity, warts and all. To Marry Medusa is an alien invasion story in which much of the action takes place in the mind of a violent drunk. Other key characters include a would-be rapist, an abused child, a lost child, a more or less psychotic vandal, and a nymphomaniac. Not your typical collection of science fiction players for a drama that will determine the fate of humanity.While the book had some interesting ideas, in the end it didn’t particularly work for me.I found the protagonist Gurlick and his repeating dream fantasy much less convincing than most Sturgeon protagonists. The mechanics of the hive-minded alien’s efforts to take over the world were given a fairly peripheral treatment. The climactic scene (in which Gurlick’s dream fantasy is fulfilled and the alien consummates its union with mankind) left me scratching my head.It seems obvious that To Marry Medusa (which has also been published under the title The Cosmic Rape) can be read as a response to Arthur C. Clarke’s classic 1953 novel Childhood’s End. Some of the best ideas in the book I had run across already in Sturgeon short stories written earlier in the 1950s (“The Skills of Xanadu” and “The Touch of Your Hand,” if my memory serves me right).

[plappen_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

First published in the 1950s, this is the story of Daniel Gurlick, a barely literate and drunken member of society. He spends his days looking for free drinks from the local bars. He sleeps in a junked car in the back of a local junkyard. He inhales a half-eaten hamburger, found in the trash in the back of a local restaurant, not knowing that it contains a spore of an alien being called Medusa, that plans to absorb humanity into itself.Medusa is an entity of infinite intelligence, spanning a billion planets. After it makes itself known to Gurlick, Medusa tries to explain just what is going on, and what Gurlick’s part is in all this, but Gurlick doesn’t understand. Medusa tries several times, but Gurlick still doesn’t comprehend. It reduces things to the equivalent of a beginner’s level, and, finally, Gurlick begins to get it. The second problem faced by Medusa is that humanity is not mentally linked. All of the other civilizations it has absorbed have had some sort of group mind system, so it doesn’t know how to deal with humanity. The best it can come up with is that maybe mankind was mentally linked at some point in the past, then somehow became un-linked. Gurlick is compelled to build a machine, that will build other machines, that will build still more machines, that will spread all over the world and broadcast a sort-of thought beam that will link all of humanity. Medusa’s intelligence will be transferred into humanity at the moment when Gurlick’s now-altered DNA impregnates an ovum.Among the people changed when the machines start broadcasting is Paul Sanders, who had drugged a female co-worker and was planning to take advantage of her. Sharon is a little girl spending her second night in the woods, lost and starving. She suddenly understands that this type of fungus is actually good for her, and this is how to catch and kill a rabbit, among other things. Humanity destroys the vast majority of the machines in the first couple of hours after they start transmitting, but the "damage" is done.This is a great novel, bordering on "classic." It’s nice and mind-blowing, and will give the reader plenty to think about.