Deep Future

by Eric Brown

Deep Future collects ten tales of the past, present and future by the award-winning author of the best selling Helix. Whether he's writing about aliens coming to Earth, virtual reality, alternate worlds or immortal men, Brown imbues his fictions with a concern for character and an abiding passion for story.

Meet Edward Sinclair, a man grieving the loss of his daughter, and the scientist who just might be able to bring her back from the dead...

Ben Henderson, a gem-cutter, and what happened one summer on a far-away colony world...

The telepathic Tavernier and his involvement with a strange alien race who will change his life forever...

Claudine Hainault, a schoolgirl who turns her back on the chance to live for ever when the Kethani come to Earth...

And many other humans - and aliens - from the imagination of one of Britain's finest SF writers.

180 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2001

About the author

Eric Brown was a British science fiction author and Guardian critic.

Reviews

[Simon Mcleish · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories are a mixture of three and four stars.

[Les · Rating 4 out of 5]

What can I say other than this is another typically good collection of shorter work from one of my all-time favourite authors. I particularly enjoyed the original Kings Of Eternity short story which was the basis for Brown's full length novel of the same name, a novel that is simply brilliant. This is a highly recommended collection that is a must-read for Eric Brown fans and any other lover of good stories.

[Sara]

The crimes of Domini Duvall
the mill of grain turn twice at me
murdered be without sound
the love havnt door any more
i want my blue eyes fav
i want my pronz moon face
strang to meet
strang to live
the truth make us afraid
at end i return sowalo the sea
i cant hold my pain
that was big than sky
i wait y the tear of jasmen
i draw y at our randevue
i miss y
after that traveled birds
i ask olive tree
i wait yr lie to beg enguh
i small tears near yr love
i miss y
love ya

[Metaphorosis · Rating 3 out of 5]

reviews.metaphorosis.com

2.5 stars

A collection of speculative fiction stories, including some related to the Kethani universe.

I first encountered Eric Brown via his novel Helix, which I thought was interesting in a Ringworld or Jack McDevitt kind of way - an intriguing alien artifact explored - while remaining lightish adventure. I picked up several of Brown's other books to find them quite different - understated speculation in a vaguely Richard Cowperish style, but without the same depth. Then a couple of drab detective SF books. Essentially, with every Brown book I read, I liked him less. Deep Future arrests the slide, but it doesn't bring the curve back up.

Many of the stories are from relatively early in Brown's career, but I didn't feel a great sense of development; I didn't like the older better than the newer or vice versa. My copy of his novel Engineman included several stories in the back. These stories read very much like those - contemplative, vaguely speculative stories that often focus on art. Occasionally, details in a story are inconsistent, or there's a large info dump, but on the whole, the prose is polished. There's nothing objectionable about the stories, but there's also little that's particularly interesting or memorable. Each story is preceded by author notes that add background about the stories' creation. If you're really keen to read fiction that considers art, or you're a serious Eric Brown fan, these may be for you. Otherwise, they're a pleasant but bland way to pass some time.

[David C. Mueller · Rating 2 out of 5]

A collection of SF short stories with the common themes of an older man dealing with lost and musings on how immortality may affect the human psyche. The stories were intended to evoke emotion and they achieved that goal even if they were a little repetitive in storyline and settings for my tastes. The best story in this collection in my opinion is the "The Kings of Eternity." Despite the title of the collection, none of the stories were set in the far future. For a great far future story by this author, see "The Rest is Speculation" found in "The Mammoth Book of Mindblowing SF" edited by Mike Ashley.