Iain M Banks, the culture series touches on immortality and choosing / not choosing it. [edit: didn't read carefully enough. Sadly, he won't be available for interviewing]
Ask HN: Which scifi authors to interview about immortality?
41–50 of 62 posts
Re: Ask HN: Which scifi authors to interview about immortality?
#42John Wyndham and Arthur C Clarke both wrote on the topic. Good luck.
Both are dead.
Re: Ask HN: Which scifi authors to interview about immortality?
#431. Jacek Dukaj [0] - virtually unknown due to refusal to write directly in English :( "Perfect Imperfection" is imo the best sf book about trans/posthumanism there is.
"Dukaj has interesting take on post-humanism, both as a state of being and as a process. If you recall Accellerando, even though Manfred Macx was a futurist and trans-humanist he was hesitant to augment himself past certain limits. Stross pretty much drew a line in sand and said: up to here, you are human and if you rewire yourself further you will become something both incomprehensible, inhuman and frightening. Dukaj is very aware of this problem, but in his universe there is no line – there is a blurred spectrum of humanity. Yes, if you continue augmenting yourself for pure performance you may eventually lose track of your humanity." [1]
2. Hannu Rajaniemi
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_Imperfection
[1] http://www.terminally-incoherent.com/blog/2011/07/08/perfect...
Re: Ask HN: Which scifi authors to interview about immortality?
#44Peter F. Hamilton Besides writing marvelous sci-fi which I would recommend everyone to read, many of his books center around a world where humans rejuvenate. Basically you go to a clinic where your body's age is turned back to whatever age you desire (or maybe a new body is grown, can't remember). When you are there your "brain" (memories, thinking patterns etc) is backed up meaning if you are killed the clinic will…
Seconded.
Re: Ask HN: Which scifi authors to interview about immortality?
#45Greg Egan, but he probably wouldn't say yes. http://www.gregegan.net/ https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Greg_Egan
Yes, I understand he shuns the spotlight. Too bad, because he was the first one who came to my mind as well.
I haven't read most of the authors here (this thread is doing double duty, being great for finding more authors/books to read, thanks) but from what I know so far, Egan is the best at writing about true immortality. Like trillions of years to actually infinite time level.
Diaspora (my favourite book) goes so far as to just stop counting time anymore because it just goes so unimaginably far.
Re: Ask HN: Which scifi authors to interview about immortality?
#46Peter F. Hamilton Besides writing marvelous sci-fi which I would recommend everyone to read, many of his books center around a world where humans rejuvenate. Basically you go to a clinic where your body's age is turned back to whatever age you desire (or maybe a new body is grown, can't remember). When you are there your "brain" (memories, thinking patterns etc) is backed up meaning if you are killed the clinic will…
And there is in Hamilton's books, IIRC, that idea that one unique sentient entity could share it's consciousness across multiple human bodies, in real-time, so you could add new young bodies and let the older one dies and still, as a sentient entity, never really die. That works across long distances, and even when different bodies travelling at different percentage of speed of light, thus experiencing different 'spe…
Vinge as well. The Tines in "Fire Upon the Deep" were similar pack creatures. Different configurations could lead to different types of people. Though they never went near light-speed, switching to radio instead of the normal ultrasonics also affected them, as did walking in narrow canyons (due to echos) or firing a canon.
Also, the group personality is affected by the individual tines.
The traeki in Brin's Uplift universe are a related example.
Re: Ask HN: Which scifi authors to interview about immortality?
#47It is not scifi, but I think some mention of Tuck Everlasting should be made. The book was really important to my understanding of death when I was growing up.
Unfortunately it looks like the author, Natalie Babbitt, passed away last year. So they can't interview her.
Re: Ask HN: Which scifi authors to interview about immortality?
#48Richard Morgan. His first trilogy, the one that starts with Altered Carbon, is set in a society where people can move to new bodies. Rich people are effectively immortal, leading to interesting societal effects.
Strong second for Richard Morgan and Altered Carbon. The story is gangbusters action fiction, but the thought he's given to the implications are spot on.
Re: Ask HN: Which scifi authors to interview about immortality?
#49Peter F. Hamilton Besides writing marvelous sci-fi which I would recommend everyone to read, many of his books center around a world where humans rejuvenate. Basically you go to a clinic where your body's age is turned back to whatever age you desire (or maybe a new body is grown, can't remember). When you are there your "brain" (memories, thinking patterns etc) is backed up meaning if you are killed the clinic will…
His Night's Dawn Trilogy also explores souls coming back to possess the living.
Re: Ask HN: Which scifi authors to interview about immortality?
#50Although not very known outside of Russian-speaking people, I would recommend Sergey Lukyanenko. He deals with mortality/immortality in several of his novels: "Line of Delirium" [1] and "The Stars are Cold Toys" [2] dilogies immediately come to mind. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_of_Delirium [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stars_Are_Cold_Toys
Translations into English have happened in the last few years, which is why I've enjoyed several of his books.