The Harmonizer
Written by A. E. Van Vogt
www.ink2quill.com

“The Harmonizer” is a Scifi, short story written by the Canadian Scifi author A. E. Van Vogt. It was published in several languages under the titles “Facteur D’Harmonie”, “O Harmonizador” and “De Vredestichter”. It was published in many publications such as “Astounding Science Fiction” (in the years 1944, 1945, 1966 and 1969 in several languages) and “Away And Beyond” (in the years 1952, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1974 etc. in different languages). This is a short story with great environmental themes.

The Harmonizer ISFDB.ORG wepage

The Harmonizer The Archive.org webpage

The Harmonizer Abe Books webpage

“The Harmonizer” is the story of a sentient plant named the Ibis. It tells the tale of its life, as a species, through time and the different environments it lives in and influences.

I loved the environmental themes of this story with the main character being an Ibis plant and seeing how it influences and affects its environments. We always see stories, (almost all stories are from the point of view of a person or humanoid), about a person or people from their point of view and how they influence the environment. This story is a refreshing change. The idea of having a sentient plant that has a form of intelligence similar to people is a great touch. It is also interesting to see how the Ibis influences an entire era of life after it is dropped off on a prehistoric planet Earth.

This is an interesting take on history and even a segment of human history. We need more of these types of stories from the point of view of non humanoid, non homo-sapien like intelligences with different senses like maybe electro-magnetic senses instead of the plain hearing, sight, touch, taste, balance and smell. Such stories would makes us aware that there is a vast, vast universe out there and we really have to make greater efforts to understand it and respect it.

This is not a famous short story or even known at all in most circles but it is well worth the read. I really, really liked this story. Hats off to A. E. Van Vogt for giving a fresh look at species survival and what sentience can be.

John In k2Quill

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