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Far Future Calling
Science fiction has its immortals - authors whose impact was so tremendous that they belong in a class by themselves. Olaf Stapledon extended the boundaries of science fiction to the infinite, and there are few of the major authors who do not directly or indirectly owe him a great debt.
This volume of his short science fiction and fantasy includes in addition to the five stories, an uncollected radio script from which this volume takes its title and an uncollected 1948 address to the British Interplanetary Society.
This volume of his short science fiction and fantasy includes in addition to the five stories, an uncollected radio script from which this volume takes its title and an uncollected 1948 address to the British Interplanetary Society.
147 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1979
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About the author
Olaf Stapledon
101 books562 followersExcerpted from wikipedia:
William Olaf Stapledon was a British philosopher and author of several influential works of science fiction.
Stapledon's writings directly influenced Arthur C. Clarke, Brian Aldiss, Stanisław Lem, C. S. Lewis and John Maynard Smith and indirectly influenced many others, contributing many ideas to the world of science fiction.
William Olaf Stapledon was a British philosopher and author of several influential works of science fiction.
Stapledon's writings directly influenced Arthur C. Clarke, Brian Aldiss, Stanisław Lem, C. S. Lewis and John Maynard Smith and indirectly influenced many others, contributing many ideas to the world of science fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 7, 2009
After the publication of “Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future” in 1930, Olaf Stapledon worked on something which was close to impossible, a radio dramatization of the book, a book without characters and driven by ideas. This radio play was called “Far Future Calling, and Stapledon completed it in 1931. Though never produced, it is a remarkable effort, and those who appreciate Stapledon’s other works may find some enjoyment in reading this as well.
Not surprisingly, the radio play is significantly different than the book, and a lot of what is in the book is removed. The premise of the play is that a regular program, involving a actor and actress and a story which takes place a few hundred years in the future is interrupted by two members of the Last Man (one male and one female). After the actor and actress talk about how they are forced to cooperate, they describe and react to what they are seeing, which is images of the Last Men, and other images which come to them from some of the future races of men.
As with the book, the narrative takes the listener/reader far into the future, but the story is a bit more jumbled. The discussion of the end of the world is one of the first things discussed, as is the Last Men’s motivation for informing the past. The two Last Men reveal their appearance to the actor and actress who describe them as a combination of human and beast, monstrous but beautiful.
The story then jumps to man on Venus, man at this time is “almost batlike, and no bigger than an eagle.” These, of course, are the Seventh Men from the book. From there they seem to travel back to Earth and the future of the First Men for some quick sounds of a future war and the use of chemical weapons. From there they move to the time of the Fourth Men, who are little more than giant brains who were served by those who created them. From there, the actors are brought to the time of the 18th Men, i.e. the Last Men. The rest of the program deals with describing the aspects of that future race and their lives on Neptune.
“Far Future Calling” is a decent attempt at creating a radio drama to explore some of the ideas advanced in “Last and First Men”. Of course, it cannot come close to the detail and the sheer number of ideas which existed in the book. Many of the more negative aspects about the future from the book, i.e. the Martian Invasion, the use of biological warfare to commit genocide of the Martians, and the taking of Venus and the killing of the natives there are absent from this treatment. The jumping forward and backward makes for an interesting change in presentation as well. Overall, it is good attempt and moving the ideas from one media to another, but not a great work in and of itself.
Not surprisingly, the radio play is significantly different than the book, and a lot of what is in the book is removed. The premise of the play is that a regular program, involving a actor and actress and a story which takes place a few hundred years in the future is interrupted by two members of the Last Man (one male and one female). After the actor and actress talk about how they are forced to cooperate, they describe and react to what they are seeing, which is images of the Last Men, and other images which come to them from some of the future races of men.
As with the book, the narrative takes the listener/reader far into the future, but the story is a bit more jumbled. The discussion of the end of the world is one of the first things discussed, as is the Last Men’s motivation for informing the past. The two Last Men reveal their appearance to the actor and actress who describe them as a combination of human and beast, monstrous but beautiful.
The story then jumps to man on Venus, man at this time is “almost batlike, and no bigger than an eagle.” These, of course, are the Seventh Men from the book. From there they seem to travel back to Earth and the future of the First Men for some quick sounds of a future war and the use of chemical weapons. From there they move to the time of the Fourth Men, who are little more than giant brains who were served by those who created them. From there, the actors are brought to the time of the 18th Men, i.e. the Last Men. The rest of the program deals with describing the aspects of that future race and their lives on Neptune.
“Far Future Calling” is a decent attempt at creating a radio drama to explore some of the ideas advanced in “Last and First Men”. Of course, it cannot come close to the detail and the sheer number of ideas which existed in the book. Many of the more negative aspects about the future from the book, i.e. the Martian Invasion, the use of biological warfare to commit genocide of the Martians, and the taking of Venus and the killing of the natives there are absent from this treatment. The jumping forward and backward makes for an interesting change in presentation as well. Overall, it is good attempt and moving the ideas from one media to another, but not a great work in and of itself.
June 24, 2019
This book has so much going for it.
Top notch non-fiction background from esteemed science fiction historian, Sam Moskowitz.
Illustrations by Stephen Fabian (an all-time favorite) and the classic Frank R. Paul.
The superb writing-style and imaginative concepts of the great Olaf Stapledon.
So, what's wrong?
Well, the thing is that Stapledon appears to need room to maneuver and is best when writing sweeping epics. In writing shorter prose, it seems that invariably his endings are abrupt and anti-climatic.
Top notch non-fiction background from esteemed science fiction historian, Sam Moskowitz.
Illustrations by Stephen Fabian (an all-time favorite) and the classic Frank R. Paul.
The superb writing-style and imaginative concepts of the great Olaf Stapledon.
So, what's wrong?
Well, the thing is that Stapledon appears to need room to maneuver and is best when writing sweeping epics. In writing shorter prose, it seems that invariably his endings are abrupt and anti-climatic.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews