Big Dumb Object
A term probably coined by reviewer Roz Kaveney (in Foundation: The International Review of Science Fiction, issue 22, 1981) and used in discussing science fiction, a Big Dumb Object (BDO) is a mysterious artifact (usually of extraterrestrial origin) in a story which generates an intense sense of wonder just by being there; to a certain extent, the term deliberately deflates this.
J.G. Ballard's short story, "Report on an Unidentified Space Station" (1982) is an exploration of the metaphor of the BDO: in each successive report, the artifact's estimated size increases, people become lost within it, and the reader eventually realises that the mysterious artifact, of unknown purpose and origin, apparently abandoned by its unknown creator(s), is the Universe itself.
Appearances
- Iain M. Banks' Excession
- Greg Bear's Thistledown asteroid-starship in Eon
- Algis Budrys' Killing Machine found on the Moon in Rogue Moon
- Arthur C. Clarke's monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey
- Arthur C. Clarke's Rama
- Peter F. Hamilton's Sleeping God in The Night's Dawn Trilogy
- Peter F. Hamilton's High Angel and the stars Dyson A and B in Pandora's Star
- Michael Crichton's Sphere in Sphere
- Larry Niven's Ringworld in Ringworld
- Robert Reed's Great Ship in his Marrow books
- Alastair Reynolds' Cerberus/Hades in Revelation Space
- Bob Shaw's Orbitsville, and many other Dyson spheres
- Charles Sheffield's Heritage Universe.
- Clifford D. Simak's abandoned machine-world in Limiting Factor (1949)
- The Vorlon "thirdspace gate" in the Babylon 5 television movie Thirdspace
- Frederik Pohl's Gateway, in his Heechee series.
- Philip José Farmer's Riverworld.
- The ringworld "Halo" from the video game series "Halo"
- The Zohar Monolith from the game Xenogears, as well as the monoliths from the related Xenosaga series.
- The Citadel from the video game Half-Life 2.
- The Nexus in Star Trek: Generations. Star Trek: The Next Generation even used a Dyson Sphere in one episode.
- The statue of the foot in Lost