Wednesday, 22 February 2023

Future History Culminations

We are working our way back to Poul Anderson's Psychotechnic and Technic Histories but first we will survey the field as far as I know it.

Culminations
Robert Heinlein's Future History: resolution of social conflicts and beginning of interstellar travel.

Heinlein's Juvenile Future History: beginning of interstellar travel.

Asimov: extragalactic threat.

James Blish's Cities in Flight: new creations.

Blish's The Seedling Stars: colonization of a changed Earth by Adapted Men.

Anderson's Flying Mountains: beginning of interstellar travel.

Anderson's Twilight World: colonization of the outer Solar System.

Larry Niven's Known Space: a society so utopian that Niven cannot write about it.

Pournelle: First Contact.

I know that there are more but my knowledge has its limits.
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3 comments:

  1. Sean M. Brooks24 February 2023 at 07:13

    Kaor, Paul!

    I can think of some "future histories" I might have included, such as Cordwainer Smith's Instrumentality of Mankind stories or Frank Herbert's DUNE series.

    Ad astra! Sean

    ReplyDelete
  2. paulshackley2017@gmail.com24 February 2023 at 09:41

    Sean,

    But what are the culminations of those histories?

    Paul.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sean M. Brooks24 February 2023 at 17:45

    Kaor, Paul!

    I don't know about the DUNE series, but I believe Cordwainer Smith intended the Rediscovery of Mankind, the rebirth of the Old Strong Religion (Christianity) and the common destiny of humans and the underpeople to culminate his Instrumentality series.

    Ad astra! Sean

    ReplyDelete