We stand on a very high mountain-top when we contemplate alternative futures imagined by Wells, Heinlein, Anderson and others. I omitted Olaf Stapledon. In his
Last And First Men, mankind evolves and even devolves through various species, migrates through the Solar System and is eventually destroyed when the Sun expands. In this context, the TV adaptation of
Dune that I watched for the first time today has its place as just one of these many fictional futures.
I think that Poul Anderson's Genesis is the most advanced futuristic speculation and will not be outdated in the foreseeable future but maybe this is just because I am not familiar with more recent works by other authors?
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
One thing I've wondered about is which is best or most correct "devolves" or "de-evolves." The latter seems, to me, to bring out more clearly ideas like racial degeneracy, or deliberate genetic engineering, which we also see in the far future Earth of GENESIS.
I agree, I don't think GENESIS will soon become outdated, even after more than 20 years since it was published.
Ad astra! Sean
Post a Comment