The Curated Guide to Hellsborough and The Dark Peak
Your Guide to navigating Hellsborough and The Dark Peak by Pip Rippon.
The finished version of Dark Peak: Hellsborough Chronicles Book One, is now available in Kindle and paperback formats from Amazon -- or you can download the first 7 chapters for free in ePub or Kindle mobi format from Hellsborough Library
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Introduction » Chapter 1 » Chapter 2 » Chapter 3 » Chapter 4 » Chapter 5 » Chapter 6 »
How can I learn more?
Further Reading and Watching
In trying to understand Hellsborough and The Dark Peak, I read and watch a lot of things: Books, articles, films, documentaries, blog posts, newsletters. Sometimes, you get an “Oh yeah!” moment, when things eventually, finally – fall into place.
Here are some links that have helped in my research. Where possible, I have provided links to freely available material. Where not, or where the format demands it, I’ve used affiliate links. Rather than group titles by genre, I have chosen to categorise them by topics relevant to Hellsborough and The Dark Peak.
Culture in Hellsborough
Motorman, David Ohle
Disturbing and unsettling glimpses into an improbable world, where
omniscience, queer weather, synthetic jellyheads, bug eating and
multiple organ implants are the everyday – a familiar tune to
Hellsborough. Available from Amazon on Kindle, or as a Paperback
1984, George Orwell
Winston Smith was a diary writer too. His insights into his
circumstances have been insightful when considering dystopian aspects of
The Dark Peak District Council (DPDC), exacids and The Nascenti.
Available from Planet eBooks in PDF, ePUB, MOBI, or as a Paperback here, or on CD
Erewhon, Samuel Butler
A distant mountain range and an entirely new civilisation, where the
author explores the culture, describing as best he can thoughts on
birth, death, machines, food and money. Available from Standard eBooks
in ePUB and for Kindle or Kobo, or as a Paperback here
The Violent
Century, Lavie
Tidhar
A slightly alternate world set during the cold war, full of The Murk and
strange powers. Available from Amazon on Kindle.
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
Developments in reproductive technology, sleep-learning, psychological
manipulation, and classical conditioning combine to bring about profound
societal changes; similar to Hellsborough, and insightful. Available
from Faded Page as an ePUB, Mobi or PDF, or as a Paperback here, or as an
Audiobook
Fungal AI, the organic network, the hive mind, the humidity plant and psycmasks
How to Speak
Machine, John
Maeda
AI learns from past data, and can only perpetuate and amplify previous
behaviour, or in other words, if AI’s masters are bad, AI will be too.
Available from Amazon on Kindle (other versions are available, eg. Paperback, but they don’t
feel like very good value)
Entangled Life, Merlin Sheldrake
Fungi allowed plants to colonise the Earth, and all life grew from these
fascinating and intoxicating extremophiles: “The divine within”.
Available from Amazon on Kindle, or as a Paperback, or as an Audiobook
Evolve, Patrick Aryee
A deep dive into the world of biomimicry – unique adaptations in the
animal world that solve problems and help to explain some of the
technological developments in Hellsborough and The Dark Peak. Available
on Amazon Prime Video
Stand on Zanzibar,
John Brunner
An amalgam of slogans, bits of conversation, advertising text, slices of
songs, extracts from newspapers and general cultural detritus – an
insight into the world of the hive mind and wearing a psycmask.
Available from Amazon on Kindle, or as a Paperback
Evolution, extinction and the Denizens of the Hex
Of Ants and
Dinosaurs, Cixin
Liu
Observations of ant technology developed during the Cretaceous has been
fundamental of my understanding of the technology of vehicles in
Hellsborough, and the evolution of the world and species equally so.
Available from Amazon on Kindle, or as a Paperback, or as an Audiobook
The Sixth Extinction:
An Unnatural History, Elizabeth Kolbert
There have been five mass extinctions of life on earth over the last 500
million years. As well as predicting that we are currently in the sixth,
this book explores some fascinating evolutionary topics. Available from
Amazon on Kindle, or as a Paperback
Ancient
Aliens
Prepare to go down the rabbit hole. According to this series, aliens
have been visiting the Earth for millions of years. It has certainly
helped me understand Milting. Judge for yourself. Available on Amazon
Prime Video
Last and First Men: A
Story of the Near and Far Future, Olaf Stapledon
A far reaching account of the evolution of humakind over the millennia:
Two billion years and eighteen distinct human species, of which we are
the first and most primitive. Available from FeedBooks as an ePUB, or as
a Paperback here
Environment of The Dark Peak
A Princess of
Mars, Edgar Rice
Burrows
The Barsoom series has been instrumental in my understanding of the
world of The Dark Peak – from an environmental point of view, as well as
that of the denizens – there are certain similarities which have helped
me enormously. Available from Project Gutenberg in various formats
Prospect
Analogue technology, poisonous spores in the atmosphere and a treasure
trove of wealth known as The Queen’s Lair; this film breaths The Dark
Peak. Available on Amazon Prime Video
Stranger in a Strange
Land, Robert
Heinlein
Maybe Valentine Michael Smith was a little like me, I think maybe has
was. Whatever, this book has always helped me to grok the environment.
Note that this is the unabridged version, the original release cut about
a third of the content. Try and pick up the original version from a
charity shop, or available from Amazon on Kindle, or as a Paperback
Red Mars, Kim Stanley
Robinson
Rather than the story itself, it is realising that the geographical and
technical detail of the red planet makes it the primary character – much
like The Dark Peak is the primary character in this world. Available
from Amazon on Kindle, or as a Paperback