bought it for the cover art artist: Robert Gould

At the end of time, millions of years into our future, the people of planet Earth have changed. They have the ability to alter their environments at will, even the color of the sky, the weather, and geological formations. Their wardrobe consists of anything they want to conjure into existence or nothing at all. They can alter their appearance, to appear as an animal, an alien from another planet, or a human of the opposite sex. Speaking of sex, it is available at the drop of a hat, and your partner can be anyone who catches your fancy at the moment. Most shocking is the habit of the citizens of Earth to collect, not books, but sentient beings. Their favorites are space travelers and time travelers, whom they place in their menageries. Jherek Carnelian is one of these last surviving humans of Earth.
The book's title comes from a poem by Theodore Wratislaw, "Hothouse Flowers," "...flowers glass-hid from frosts and snows For whom an alien heat makes festival." Jherek is like a hothouse flower, so powerful and god-like in his own environment, yet innocent of the knowledge of right and wrong, evil and virtue, that could help him when he is faced with the world of his beloved Mrs. Amelia Underwood, unwilling time traveler from late 1800's England. I enjoyed this book. ( )

http://tortue-geniale.over-blog.net/a... ( )

The first book of one of science fiction's great trilogies, "The Dancers at the End of Time", "An Alien Heat" introduces the story of the remaining members of the human race in the distant future, where death is unknown, birth very rare, and the humans live in a very rich and decadent culture of their own whims by virtue of their power rings, telekinetic focal points of the power drawn from Earth's crazy, jewelled cities. Jherek Carnelian decides to "fall in love" with Mrs. Amelia Underwood, an unwilling time traveller from Victorian London. The pose becomes reality when she is whisked back to her own time, from whence he determines to rescue her. An astonishing and frequently hilarious work of fantasy and social commentary and satire. ( )

The End of Time is a place that we would call decadent. To those that inhabit it, it is just normal. They are immortal, they can immense powers, and they can pretty much do anything they want. However, what they do mostly is get bored.

A time traveller from the late 19th century changes this, and Jherek Carnelian's relationship with this woman grow in ways he is not used to, or even sure he understands.

http://superprose.blogspot.com/2006/1... ( )