2012, Zombies & the Singularity
by morgan on Sep.09, 2009, under Paolo Bacigalupi
Three trendy cataclysms in current speculative fiction disaster stories are zombie invasion, the 2012 “Mayan Prophecy” and the singularity (when artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence, which theoretically translates into Terminator-style Doomsday).
Each has been turned into some very cool books. Max Brooks’ World War Z, Brian D’Amato’s In the Courts of the Sun and Charles Stross’ Accelerando, to name a few.
Zombie infestation feels more metaphorical. 2012 is more mystical, sort of like a prophecy in a fantasy novel. The singularity is the only one that has a hardcore Science Fiction feel to it. It feels like there’s some plausibility there.
Do you see the trends changing? Are environmental disaster and resource limitations going to be bigger and bigger pieces of Science Fiction in the years ahead?
On the other hand, maybe the environmental piece has been there for a long time, from Waterworld to Stephen Baxter’s Flood. Paolo, do you have any favorites or recommendations, other than your own, for fans wanting to explore these issues in SF?
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January 28th, 2011 on 1:00 pm
“In The Courts of the Sun” is much more than just the standard science fiction/fantasy/history/adventure story. Besides being eminently readable (although in certain areas Mr. D’Amato does go overboard on certain subjects), these spots can be skipped over without any loss of momentum to the story line. The minute details of Mayan living breathe life and credibility into the tale, and pull you on to the surprising (actually, perhaps not so surprising) ending. I’ve read it twice to soak up nuances that I missed in the initial read, and am waiting for March, and number two in the trilogy with great anticipation. Ed Patt, epatt@wi.rr.com