Friday, 1 December 2017

Cosmological SF

We watched Jim Al-Khalili (see image) on the beginning and end of the universe. This made me think about which works I classify as "cosmological sf."

(i) There is a lot that I have not read.

(ii) Both The Triumph Of Time by James Blish and Tau Zero by Poul Anderson feature an intergalactic journey and the end and beginning of a universe.

(iii) In The Avatar by Poul Anderson, a T-machine enables a spaceship to visit different galaxies at different stages of cosmic history and eventually to arrive at a monobloc.

(iv) I also include works that show stellar processes, e.g.:

Sol has become a red giant in the "Further Vision" of HG Wells' The Time Machine;
Anderson's "Lodestar" and Mirkheim deal with the stellar synthesis of heavier elements.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

And I would include "Kyrie" as well, because of how it shows Poul Anderson using black holes in that story. To say nothing of the very strange kind of non human beings we see in that tale!

Sean