One of the converging plot lines should have been predictable. When Nansen and Dayan enter the wrecked Kith ship, Fleetwing, they find plants, then people, and one of those people has a familiar surname, Shaun. However, as the link shows, we have catalogued Shauns before. There is a list in a post dated ten years ago. All that remains in Starfarers is Chapter 52 which will outline the cosmic implications of the interstellar civilization whose growth is now assured.
I recently referred to The Prisoner. For an intense anticipation of a bleak future, see an interview with Patrick McGoohan here. Sf from Verne and Wells has been about anticipations and McGoohan does that, intensely.
2 comments:
I'd heard that Poul originally had a more pessimistic ending, and Karen talked him out of it.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Almost correct, Anderson originally planned to incorporate "The Norn of Time the Hunter" into STARFARERS--before Mrs. Anderson persuaded him against doing that.
"The Horn of Time" is set about 10,000 years after the 'Envoy' returned to Earth, and it is definitely darker in tone than that final, probably overoptimistic final chapter of STARFARERS. I rather regret "Horn" not being part of STARFARERS, because Anderson might have ended the book on a more realistically cautionary note.
Ad astra! Sean
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