How could anyone not like Chapter XIX, "Thule"?
The eight original immortals are now called the Survivors;
Hanno explores the Solar System alone for two or more years as a "Trial run" (p. 456);
Tu Shan tries farming and handicrafts although neither of these activities fits in a high tech future;
Aliyat, surrounded by a simulacrum of medieval Constantinople for which she had been a principal consultant, converses with the apparently solid image of a friend whose sex change has been not surgery and hormones but regrown organs, glands, muscles and bones and who hopes for a non-human body next;
Wanderer visits a reservation of elective mortals whose numbers decline as their children when grown opt for immortality and reversible sterilization;
and there are four more Survivors to read about before we find out what happens to them and to the rest of civilization next!
Kaor, Paul!
ReplyDeleteMy memory might be at fault, but I don't think the sterilization which was required to be accepted before one could be "immortalized" was necessarily permanent. Rather, people who wanted to eventually have children had to be placed on a list and wait their turn, which could mean waiting generations or centuries.
Sean
Sean,
ReplyDeleteYou are right it was not permanent. I will add the word "reversible" to the post.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
DeleteAha, then I was right! Thanks!
Sean