Inherit the Earth (1998)

I had never read anything else by Brian Stableford, but this book had an interesting premise, so I gave it a shot. The book is about the earth in the near future when immortality (or emortality, which is as close as we can get) is available to everyone. Well, the rich first, of course. The book manages to be a mystery/adventure story while at the same time really drawing out all the conclusions of the premise in a logical way. By the end of the book, I was really thinking, "This is inevitable," when it comes to overpopulation and its effects. All in all, glad I tried this one out and now I look forward to finding the rest of the books in this series and the author's other books as well. ( )

ZB5 ( )

Well, in varioues blurbs, we are told that this is "a gripping multi-level thriller" (Stephen Baxter) and "a complex, hard-SF tale of nanotechnology and life extension... contains provocative speculations about the effect of extreme life extension on society, is an enjoyable and challenging piece" (Publisher's Weekly).

The thriller elements were satisfying enough, although since the thriller genre is not something I read per se, not entirely gripping for me. That's a personal quirk, though - that part of it was good.

I wasn't really satisfied by the biotechnology/nanotechnology aspects, though - I don't think I was particularly convinced or provoked by the technology or the exploration of its implications. And as that's principally what I read in this genre for, I was left feeling kind of hollow.

I'll probably still give the other book of his set in this universe, Architects of Emortality, a read, since I own it already, but I suspect I may not be buying any more of them after that.

(Comments can be left at: http://weblog.siliconcerebrate.com/cerebrate/2007/09/two-books-inherit-the-earth... ) ( )

Quite preachy and pedantic by the end, but a relatively good read. Some interesting thoughts on biotechnology, nanotechnology and their implications. More fun to read than a position paper, at least. ( )