(i) A civilization with regular faster than light interstellar travel, many inhabited and colonized planets and rising and falling interstellar empires.
(ii) Artificial intelligence spreading through and beyond a mainly lifeless galaxy.
(i) and (ii) differ considerably. Poul Anderson presents both well. A friend prefers (i) but I think that (ii) is less implausible. Anderson makes his Technic Civilization a credible setting for novels and short stories but, of course, we willingly suspend disbelief in hyperspace, telepathy, hostile green aliens and other cliched premises inherited from the Golden Age of pulp magazine science fiction.
Maybe some "sf" is closer to fantasy than to speculative fiction? Gods need no rationale for their powers whereas a universal telepath needs an attempted explanation, however far-fetched. Anderson spans this spectrum.
"Glory to the Emperor!"
But remember
"...the vacant interstellar spaces..."
O dark dark dark. They all go into the dark, The vacant interstellar spaces,
-copied from here.
1 comment:
Hi, Paul!
The second scenario you described is most clearly outlined in Poul Anderson's GENESIS. While the four HARVEST OF STARS books seem to fall in the middle between the Technic Civilization scenario and GENESIS.
Truthfully, I prefer the Technic Civilization scenario, while admitting we don't yet know if life on other worlds exist. About all we KNOW for sure is that thousands of other planets exist--but we don't know if any of them have life, intelligent or not.
I myself find it downright REPUGNANT and imlausible to think mankind is the only physically incarnate rational race to exist.
Sean
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