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Midsummer Century
In the year 25,000 AD! When John Martels returned to consciousness he found himself the Delphic Oracle of a world far different from the Twentieth Century. Humanity has risen and fallen three times and was back once again in a semi-primitive state.
He shared his oracular powers with a mind and a device left over from the last Rebirth... but the real problem was not rebuilding civilization, it was that another genus of creatures had arisen to claim inheritance of the world—the evolved, strangely intelligent birds, whose priority was the elimination of the world's former masters.
The problem of man versus bird, complicated by the question of John's personal survival, presents a canvas worthy of the diverse talents of the author of A Case of Conscience and Cities in Flight.
Also contains two short stories: 'Skysign' (1968) and 'A Style in Treason' (1971).
He shared his oracular powers with a mind and a device left over from the last Rebirth... but the real problem was not rebuilding civilization, it was that another genus of creatures had arisen to claim inheritance of the world—the evolved, strangely intelligent birds, whose priority was the elimination of the world's former masters.
The problem of man versus bird, complicated by the question of John's personal survival, presents a canvas worthy of the diverse talents of the author of A Case of Conscience and Cities in Flight.
Also contains two short stories: 'Skysign' (1968) and 'A Style in Treason' (1971).
159 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
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217 people want to read
About the author
James Blish
454 books328 followersJames Benjamin Blish was an American author of fantasy and science fiction. Blish also wrote literary criticism of science fiction using the pen-name William Atheling Jr.
In the late 1930's to the early 1940's, Blish was a member of the Futurians.
Blish trained as a biologist at Rutgers and Columbia University, and spent 1942–1944 as a medical technician in the U.S. Army. After the war he became the science editor for the Pfizer pharmaceutical company. His first published story appeared in 1940, and his writing career progressed until he gave up his job to become a professional writer.
He is credited with coining the term gas giant, in the story "Solar Plexus" as it appeared in the anthology Beyond Human Ken, edited by Judith Merril. (The story was originally published in 1941, but that version did not contain the term; Blish apparently added it in a rewrite done for the anthology, which was first published in 1952.)
Blish was married to the literary agent Virginia Kidd from 1947 to 1963.
From 1962 to 1968, he worked for the Tobacco Institute.
Between 1967 and his death from lung cancer in 1975, Blish became the first author to write short story collections based upon the classic TV series Star Trek. In total, Blish wrote 11 volumes of short stories adapted from episodes of the 1960s TV series, as well as an original novel, Spock Must Die! in 1970 — the first original novel for adult readers based upon the series (since then hundreds more have been published). He died midway through writing Star Trek 12; his wife, J.A. Lawrence, completed the book, and later completed the adaptations in the volume Mudd's Angels.
Blish lived in Milford, Pennsylvania at Arrowhead until the mid-1960s. In 1968, Blish emigrated to England, and lived in Oxford until his death in 1975. He is buried in Holywell Cemetery, Oxford, near the grave of Kenneth Grahame.
His name in Greek is Τζέημς Μπλις"
In the late 1930's to the early 1940's, Blish was a member of the Futurians.
Blish trained as a biologist at Rutgers and Columbia University, and spent 1942–1944 as a medical technician in the U.S. Army. After the war he became the science editor for the Pfizer pharmaceutical company. His first published story appeared in 1940, and his writing career progressed until he gave up his job to become a professional writer.
He is credited with coining the term gas giant, in the story "Solar Plexus" as it appeared in the anthology Beyond Human Ken, edited by Judith Merril. (The story was originally published in 1941, but that version did not contain the term; Blish apparently added it in a rewrite done for the anthology, which was first published in 1952.)
Blish was married to the literary agent Virginia Kidd from 1947 to 1963.
From 1962 to 1968, he worked for the Tobacco Institute.
Between 1967 and his death from lung cancer in 1975, Blish became the first author to write short story collections based upon the classic TV series Star Trek. In total, Blish wrote 11 volumes of short stories adapted from episodes of the 1960s TV series, as well as an original novel, Spock Must Die! in 1970 — the first original novel for adult readers based upon the series (since then hundreds more have been published). He died midway through writing Star Trek 12; his wife, J.A. Lawrence, completed the book, and later completed the adaptations in the volume Mudd's Angels.
Blish lived in Milford, Pennsylvania at Arrowhead until the mid-1960s. In 1968, Blish emigrated to England, and lived in Oxford until his death in 1975. He is buried in Holywell Cemetery, Oxford, near the grave of Kenneth Grahame.
His name in Greek is Τζέημς Μπλις"
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
June 14, 2020
DAW Collectors #89
Cover Artist: Josh Kirby
Name: Blish, James Benjamin, Birthplace: East Orange, New Jersey, USA, (23 May 1921 - 30 July 1975
002 - Midsummer Century (frontispiece) • interior artwork by Jack Gaughan
009 - Midsummer Century • (1972)
091 - Skysign • (1968)
123 - A Style in Treason • (1970)
Radioastronomer John Martels falls 25,000 years futurewards, where, camped in the brains of a haughty, bodiless oracle, a jungle tribesman, and a powerful computer, he helps humanity battle the evolved, malevolent Birds. Highly literate, esoteric, and (after a dull start) vivid: theories of telepathy and maps of Mind to delight metaphysicists, while all will enjoy a delightfully sensuous jungle and a Poe-spooky Fortress of the Birds.
Cover Artist: Josh Kirby
Name: Blish, James Benjamin, Birthplace: East Orange, New Jersey, USA, (23 May 1921 - 30 July 1975
002 - Midsummer Century (frontispiece) • interior artwork by Jack Gaughan
009 - Midsummer Century • (1972)
091 - Skysign • (1968)
123 - A Style in Treason • (1970)
Radioastronomer John Martels falls 25,000 years futurewards, where, camped in the brains of a haughty, bodiless oracle, a jungle tribesman, and a powerful computer, he helps humanity battle the evolved, malevolent Birds. Highly literate, esoteric, and (after a dull start) vivid: theories of telepathy and maps of Mind to delight metaphysicists, while all will enjoy a delightfully sensuous jungle and a Poe-spooky Fortress of the Birds.
August 22, 2016
Surreal, beautiful and often very creepy, this book manages to fit into 110 pages what most novels take three or four hundred to achieve. Stemming from the era in science fiction which produced such surrealism as Moorcock's The Shores of Death, and such post-apocalyptic films as "Logan's Run" and "The Omega Man", "Midsummer Century" provides a view into a world so far in the future, and so changed as to be unrecognizable. Blish's matter-of-fact, event-driven writing bleaches emotional context from the prose: this technique serves only to highlight it in the mind of the reader. The book achieves maximum impact through its minimalist style; the images it generates are profound, and not easily forgotten.
April 30, 2009
This book actually contains one novella-length story, "Midsummer Century," and two short stories: "Skysign" and "A Style in Treason."
In "Midsummer Century," a scientist troubleshooting a radiotelescope falls into the antenna and, due to a construction error, has his consciousness projected 23,000 years into the future. (This used to be a serious hazard for characters in science fiction stories; there was a time when fictional scientists couldn't assemble a Heathkit without accidentally creating a time machine, an alien portal, or a dangerous new source of energy.) He finds birds have evolved intelligence and now dominate most of the planet, and he's now a disembodied mind in an artificial system that has become an oracle to the last remnants of humanity.
The world this story is set in is inventive, and the plot takes some surprisingly philosophical turns, although it does get a bit rushed towards the end. Blish's writing is occasionally a bit overwrought, but not enough to be distracting. On the whole this isn't at all the sort of cynical, political science fiction I normally associate with the 1970s.
Of the two short stories, "Skysign" is the lesser work. Written in 1968, it's a short story about a Tolkien-obsessed hippie who is abducted by aliens and attempts to take over their ship. It reads like a collection of 1960s tropes, and the lack of any sympathetic characters made it rather uninteresting to me. "A Style in Treason," about a professional traitor, is more successful; it's creative and suspenseful and reminded me vaguely of Harry Harrison's "Stainless Steel Rat" character.
In "Midsummer Century," a scientist troubleshooting a radiotelescope falls into the antenna and, due to a construction error, has his consciousness projected 23,000 years into the future. (This used to be a serious hazard for characters in science fiction stories; there was a time when fictional scientists couldn't assemble a Heathkit without accidentally creating a time machine, an alien portal, or a dangerous new source of energy.) He finds birds have evolved intelligence and now dominate most of the planet, and he's now a disembodied mind in an artificial system that has become an oracle to the last remnants of humanity.
The world this story is set in is inventive, and the plot takes some surprisingly philosophical turns, although it does get a bit rushed towards the end. Blish's writing is occasionally a bit overwrought, but not enough to be distracting. On the whole this isn't at all the sort of cynical, political science fiction I normally associate with the 1970s.
Of the two short stories, "Skysign" is the lesser work. Written in 1968, it's a short story about a Tolkien-obsessed hippie who is abducted by aliens and attempts to take over their ship. It reads like a collection of 1960s tropes, and the lack of any sympathetic characters made it rather uninteresting to me. "A Style in Treason," about a professional traitor, is more successful; it's creative and suspenseful and reminded me vaguely of Harry Harrison's "Stainless Steel Rat" character.
Read
September 4, 2019First of all, I love the title, without quite understanding what it means. Second of all, I love the author’s name, which may be a pseudonym. Thirdly, it’s a black hardcover book, Doubleday Science Fiction, quite thin – 110 pages, rather large print. (I found it in my garage; I have no idea where I got it.) Fourth of all, it’s a theory of history, an anatomy of the mind – and soul – plus a study of the intelligence and repugnance of birds. Its evolutionary timeline seems a little hasty, but a couple of nuclear wars might have sped up mutations. I see a big Philip K. Dick influence. The writing style is mechanistic, but with untranslated Latin quotations!
Opening the book at random:
“’Rubbish,’ Martels said, giving the word a calculatedly sneering edge. ’The loss of contact with that computer cripples you considerably, as you’ve told me over and over again. Getting back into contact with it had to be your first order of business, if it was at all possible.’”
PS James Benjamin English was his real name. Though he did have pseudonyms, like “William Atheling Jr.” and “Arthur Lloyd Merlyn.”
Opening the book at random:
“’Rubbish,’ Martels said, giving the word a calculatedly sneering edge. ’The loss of contact with that computer cripples you considerably, as you’ve told me over and over again. Getting back into contact with it had to be your first order of business, if it was at all possible.’”
PS James Benjamin English was his real name. Though he did have pseudonyms, like “William Atheling Jr.” and “Arthur Lloyd Merlyn.”
June 3, 2025
I think that the plot was definitely interesting and I liked how weird it was, but the writing itself was confusing and I had to reread a lot just to understand what had happened. It was an interesting read though. I can’t give half stars but if I could I’d do 3.5
November 5, 2020
Midsummer Century is a science fiction novella by James Blish, in which an astronomer falls off a telescope and wakes up in 23 000 years in the future, piggy-backing on various individuals' brains. It's a time of crisis, where Man's vestigial "Third Rebirth" rubs up against its Fourth, and the Fifth may result from the protagonist's clumsy interactions. But while on the surface of it, this is "modern man projected to SF world" story like the Barsoom stories or more properly Stapledon's Star Maker, the more I read, the more convinced it was actually an allegorical retelling of the history of religion. By the time, we're following three minds in one, I knew for sure. Just what this means for the story's end point, I'm not entirely certain, because I think we've by then moved on to something transcendental, possibly Buddhist, of which I know far less than the Catechism I was taught and that pervades, satirically it seems, the first two acts of the book. One for the metaphor decoders more than the fans of futurist plots.
December 23, 2010
This novel is based on a story in the April '72 edition of Fantasy and Science Fiction magazine. I read this book club edition while working, during the summer between college and seminary, at the Chicago Women's Athletic Club, downtown on Ontario just off Michigan Avenue. I was the day-time security guard, a job which required virtually nothing of me except watching the service entrance and taking deliveries. I wasn't paid much, but I read an enormous amount--hundreds of pages a day punctuated by letter writing and journaling. It was wonderful, so wonderful that I suspect I may be over-rating this novel because of its positive associations.
March 13, 2024
It would be possible to explain exactly and comprehensively what happened to John Martels instead, but to do so would require several pages of expressions in the metalanguage invented by Dr. Thor Wald, a Swedish theoretical physicist who unfortunately was not scheduled to be born until the year 2060. Sufice it to say that, thanks to the shoddy workmanship of an unknown welder, Sockette State's radical new radiotelescope did indeed have an unprecedented reach - but not in any direction that its designers had intended, or could even have conceived.
I do love an old-school pulp science fiction, especially after reading Ghastly Beyond Belief: The Science Fiction and Fantasy Book of Quotations. I picked this up because the blurb intrigued me.
A budding astrophysicist, John Martels finds his consciousness catapulted twenty-five thousand years into the future after an accident at the radio-telescope where he works. There he discovers the human race has had four near extinction events and are in the process of rebuilding in rebirth four. He find himself sharing a vessel of sorts with a higher intellect, Qvant, which has been cut off from the computer it was linked to.
Forming a plan, Martels must find a way to transfer himself into the body of one of the tribesman that visits the great Qvant for advice and travel to Antarctica where humans from Rebirth Three are maintaining the great computer. Easier said than done when Qvant is firmly against the idea!
It has a slow start but I was quickly engrossed and devoured the story. Some language is of it's time, but otherwise it is a solid science fiction that questions what makes us human and the potential of telepathy. 4 stars.
I do love an old-school pulp science fiction, especially after reading Ghastly Beyond Belief: The Science Fiction and Fantasy Book of Quotations. I picked this up because the blurb intrigued me.
A budding astrophysicist, John Martels finds his consciousness catapulted twenty-five thousand years into the future after an accident at the radio-telescope where he works. There he discovers the human race has had four near extinction events and are in the process of rebuilding in rebirth four. He find himself sharing a vessel of sorts with a higher intellect, Qvant, which has been cut off from the computer it was linked to.
Forming a plan, Martels must find a way to transfer himself into the body of one of the tribesman that visits the great Qvant for advice and travel to Antarctica where humans from Rebirth Three are maintaining the great computer. Easier said than done when Qvant is firmly against the idea!
It has a slow start but I was quickly engrossed and devoured the story. Some language is of it's time, but otherwise it is a solid science fiction that questions what makes us human and the potential of telepathy. 4 stars.
May 31, 2018
Midsummer Century is a science fiction novella by James Blish, in which an astronomer falls off a telescope and wakes up in 23 000 years in the future, piggy-backing on various individuals' brains. It's a time of crisis, where Man's vestigial "Third Rebirth" rubs up against its Fourth, and the Fifth may result from the protagonist's clumsy interactions. But while on the surface of it, this is "modern man projected to SF world" story like the Barsoon stories or more properly Stapledon's Star Maker, the more I read, the more convinced it was actually an allegorical retelling of the history of religion. By the time, we're following three minds in one, I knew for sure. Just what this means for the story's end point, I'm not entirely sure, because I think we've by then moved on to something transcendental, possibly Buddhist, of which I know far less than the Catechism I was taught and that pervades, satirically it seems, the first two acts of the book. One for the metaphor decoders more than the fans of futurist plots.
January 7, 2019
A thought-provoking one evening read for a fan of thoughtful science fiction. As usual, Blish doesn't waste time holding the hand of the reader. He plunges in expects you to keep up.
There is a bit of unfortunate talk of 'savagery' in the first few pages, but move beyond that, and the rest is an engaging tale of a human consciousness cut off from his physical origins and plunged into a life-or-death struggle with other intellects in a far future.
Blish is pushing at conceptual boundaries here, and doing a lot in a very few pages as he thrusts the reader through three epochs of human civilization. Though bound as a separate book, this is really a novella, but still satisfying in the end. If you have an open weekend evening, this will be a nice way to fill it.
There is a bit of unfortunate talk of 'savagery' in the first few pages, but move beyond that, and the rest is an engaging tale of a human consciousness cut off from his physical origins and plunged into a life-or-death struggle with other intellects in a far future.
Blish is pushing at conceptual boundaries here, and doing a lot in a very few pages as he thrusts the reader through three epochs of human civilization. Though bound as a separate book, this is really a novella, but still satisfying in the end. If you have an open weekend evening, this will be a nice way to fill it.
May 30, 2025
A great classic sci-fi author that I've been wanting to discover. At first, I wanted to discover him through A Case of Conscience or The Seedling Stars, but the summary of this book really spoke to me. It blew me away. We are in the 250th century, in the year 25,000. John Martels is accidentally teleported to this future dominated by birds, which, over the millennia, have grown giants and feed on humans. Humans who have returned to a primitive way of life. Will John be humanity's savior? Or its destroyer?
I'm surprised this novel has such a low rating (2.8/5; at the time of writing). It's certainly not its author's best novel, but it's not bad. I really enjoyed this adventure set in the 250th century.
I'm surprised this novel has such a low rating (2.8/5; at the time of writing). It's certainly not its author's best novel, but it's not bad. I really enjoyed this adventure set in the 250th century.
January 23, 2025
Its main con being its mere 100 pages run, "Midsummer Century" is admirable in that it manages to put believably together such an outrageous plot in such a short span.
The protagonist, as sometimes happens with Blish (see "...and all the stars a stage") starts as an unlikable sort, to which one forms some sort of connection that improves over time.
There are very memorable antagonists here, the likes of which can only be glimpsed at in the "Cities in flight" saga, and the references to Poe heighten the weirdness of the story.
A short but gripping read, however unusual the action in it will seem.
The protagonist, as sometimes happens with Blish (see "...and all the stars a stage") starts as an unlikable sort, to which one forms some sort of connection that improves over time.
There are very memorable antagonists here, the likes of which can only be glimpsed at in the "Cities in flight" saga, and the references to Poe heighten the weirdness of the story.
A short but gripping read, however unusual the action in it will seem.
June 9, 2018
Midsummer Century is an insanely absurd piece of science fiction with some charm in it. Its implausible story makes it difficult to engage, but interesting dialogues and characterisations makes it enjoyable. The novel also makes interesting points of philosophy about power and knowledge; and makes that philosophy quite attainable to every reader. I recommend Midsummer Century to readers who enjoy way-out science fiction with a certain depth.
October 16, 2021
What nonsense! Science Fiction is about ideas but the ideas here are far-fetched and underdeveloped. None of the events is explained in any believable fashion. The effort of giving depth to the main character is laughable. Nothing interesting is going on. A pure waste of time I only read because it is part of an SF collection I own and work my way through.
July 18, 2022
A short novel wherein a 20th century scientist falls into a radio telescope and has his consciousness project into a brain in a jar belonging to a wise oracle thousands of years into a post-apocalyptic future, where man is at war with evolved birds. This takes seemingly daft ideas and runs with them intelligently and philosophically, but the unsatisfying ending is very abrupt.
Bonus short stories: 'Skysign' is about a Tolkien obsessive, one of a group of human volunteers taken aboard an alien saucer. He escapes and rapes all his still-sleeping female counterparts. Not sure what the point of this was, unless it's to take against Tolkien readers; 'A Style in Treason' is a vividly imagined tale of far-future subterfuge and espionage, a sort of Manchurian Bond. I don't think I enjoyed it—not sure I understood more than half of it—but I can't imagine this wasn't a profound and formative influence on Iain M Banks's Culture novels.
Bonus short stories: 'Skysign' is about a Tolkien obsessive, one of a group of human volunteers taken aboard an alien saucer. He escapes and rapes all his still-sleeping female counterparts. Not sure what the point of this was, unless it's to take against Tolkien readers; 'A Style in Treason' is a vividly imagined tale of far-future subterfuge and espionage, a sort of Manchurian Bond. I don't think I enjoyed it—not sure I understood more than half of it—but I can't imagine this wasn't a profound and formative influence on Iain M Banks's Culture novels.
November 24, 2018
3.5 Intriguing Sci-fi novella, following the story of an astronomer who trips and falls into a large radio telescope. His consciousness is somehow projected many 100s of years into the future. To reside in the brain case of a conscious statue, whom the local tribesmen consult as a oracle.
June 1, 2022
My rating may be biased based on the fact that this was the very first SciFi novel I ever read, but now having re-read it years later, it is a fascinating and unique story, even if it gets side-tracked occasionally by its own cerebral-ness.
November 26, 2019
Excellent classic sci-fi.
July 19, 2020
The mind of a young astronomer is propelled centuries into a future war between indolent humans and rapacious, intelligent birds.
September 28, 2020
Goes absolutely fucking bonkers after a slow (yet still far-out) start. Off-the-rails, with an unsatisfying conclusion, but not a waste of time.
December 4, 2021
I do not recommend. meh.
February 13, 2022
Cerebral sci/fi without the lasers, spaceships, and aliens.
August 1, 2024
Read this as a teenager. Always liked it. Stills sticks in my mind.
I just wanted more birds. They were so cool. More birds!
I just wanted more birds. They were so cool. More birds!
June 2, 2025
Full of ideas but also cryptic. Blish's coinage of the word juganity didn't catch on because it's too ambiguous I suppose. The story was stimulating and worth my time. 3.5 stars
July 2, 2025
i don't even know what i read
February 4, 2026
Nothing like a short story that feels like an insane trip that you don't understand in the slightest
October 12, 2022
I was looking for something a bit lighter than "Run Silent, Run Deep"(nerve-wracking - think submarines in crisis) and found this in the sci-fi section of my rescued book shelves. The author's name is known to me, probably from reading various short story collections, but I don't think I've read a full-on novel by him before, though this is a pretty short one ... long story? ... novella? ... novellette? ... So far it seems to be right on target for what I was seeking. Kind of droll: A blue collar English scientist-engineer falls into the middle of a humungous space telescope and winds up a disembodied brain in a dusty museum exhibit 23,000 years into the future(shades of "The Time Machine"). He's joined there(literally) by a sort of super-intelligent brain-only being who acts as a sort of advisor of last resort to the local human population. Years are drifting by ... not so much for a brain to do in between the occasional visit.
- My hardbound edition from 1972 is likely from the first printing. Either it's missing the dust jacket or it's a library edition - the cover is plain black. Apparently other/later editions include a couple of short stories, but this one does not. At one time or other owned by one George A. Murray.
- I just checked out Blish's Wiki page. He crammed a LOT of writing into his 54 years. I didn't recognize any of the story titles but as I said I probably have read a number of them.
Finished up with this short read last night - stayed up JUST a BIT late to do it. This is a very odd and interesting story. Kind of "out there" for sure. In fact, it reminded me of "Solaris" in its weirdness. Much of the story is a contemplation of the possibility of existence in a non-material form, something like life after death(of the body). There's a bit of time travel musing as well. Telepathy - that's the word. I found it a bit depressing, but the the guy in the story(Martels) seems to be OK with it by the end. In this story organic beings don't live forever in a non-material form(i.e. a soul), but continue for a LONG time and gradually fade out.
- My hardbound edition from 1972 is likely from the first printing. Either it's missing the dust jacket or it's a library edition - the cover is plain black. Apparently other/later editions include a couple of short stories, but this one does not. At one time or other owned by one George A. Murray.
- I just checked out Blish's Wiki page. He crammed a LOT of writing into his 54 years. I didn't recognize any of the story titles but as I said I probably have read a number of them.
Finished up with this short read last night - stayed up JUST a BIT late to do it. This is a very odd and interesting story. Kind of "out there" for sure. In fact, it reminded me of "Solaris" in its weirdness. Much of the story is a contemplation of the possibility of existence in a non-material form, something like life after death(of the body). There's a bit of time travel musing as well. Telepathy - that's the word. I found it a bit depressing, but the the guy in the story(Martels) seems to be OK with it by the end. In this story organic beings don't live forever in a non-material form(i.e. a soul), but continue for a LONG time and gradually fade out.
May 26, 2019
this story endlessly intrigues me. i can't get it out of my mind, despite having last read it, oh, probably 30 years ago, or so. James Blish has a serious talent for writing uncomfortable tales, of which this is definitively a longer one, at 110 pages. Blish's "Common Time" and "Surface Tension" also rank at the top of my favorite cerebral Speculative Fiction writings.
for a much much shorter, much much more uncomfortable tale, read Cyril Kornbluth's "The Words of Guru." that one clocks in at a mere four brief chapters, but it ends on a note so sour, it'll shiver your timbers. i've included it in my PRESCIENCE Classic Golden Age Speculative Fiction Anthology website (https://presciencesf.blogspot.com).
for a much much shorter, much much more uncomfortable tale, read Cyril Kornbluth's "The Words of Guru." that one clocks in at a mere four brief chapters, but it ends on a note so sour, it'll shiver your timbers. i've included it in my PRESCIENCE Classic Golden Age Speculative Fiction Anthology website (https://presciencesf.blogspot.com).
January 31, 2014
Copiado do meu registro no Bookcrossing de 2003.
O livro conta a estória de um cientista que, após um acidente, acorda milhares de anos no futuro, dividindo sua mente com uma espécie de Oráculo. O mundo futurístico que serve de pano de fundo teria dado uma excelente estória, mas infelizmente o autor estava mais interessado em descrever os processos que permitem aos personagens se comunicar telepaticamente.
O livro conta a estória de um cientista que, após um acidente, acorda milhares de anos no futuro, dividindo sua mente com uma espécie de Oráculo. O mundo futurístico que serve de pano de fundo teria dado uma excelente estória, mas infelizmente o autor estava mais interessado em descrever os processos que permitem aos personagens se comunicar telepaticamente.
October 9, 2011
Interesting short SF novella, in a very different style to other Blish works I've read.
It examines the nature of consciousness as the protagonist is propelled 23,000 years into the future, into the machine-housed consciousness of a Qvant.
Slight disappointment was the rather unnecessary development of the rivalry between Man and Birds; especially when the final standoff between the two was described in about two pages. Seemed an unnecessary plot device.
It examines the nature of consciousness as the protagonist is propelled 23,000 years into the future, into the machine-housed consciousness of a Qvant.
Slight disappointment was the rather unnecessary development of the rivalry between Man and Birds; especially when the final standoff between the two was described in about two pages. Seemed an unnecessary plot device.
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