Down There in Darkness

by George Turner

The last novel by this accomplished Australian author, who is to be posthumously honored at this year's World Science Fiction Convention, chronicles the future destruction and ultimate rebirth of human civilization.

Genres: Science Fiction

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

George Turner was born and educated in Melbourne. He served in the Australian Imperial Forces during the Second World War.

Prior to writing science fiction, he had a well established reputation as mainstream literary fiction writer, his most productive period being from 1959 to 1967, during which he published five novels. Over a decade after his previous publication of a full length work of fiction, he published his first science fiction novel, 'Beloved Son' (1978).

George Turner was named as a Guest of Honor for Aussiecon Three, the 1999 World Science Fiction Convention held in Melbourne, but died before the event.

Reviews

[Mitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book follows up the story from the Destiny Makers. (Which is good, because that one ended unresolved in an important way.)

Turner examines what would happen if, after the world population has outstripped it's sustaining resources, an elite group sterilized most of the world's people. Would civilization survive as most of her people aged and died? What would the new world look like?

Here is an Austalian writer who, if you like his style and subject material, will provide you with several novels you can enjoy.

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Apparently this is George Turner's final novel, published in 1999. It closes his brilliant collection of interconnected science fiction novels set in a future Australia on an Earth that is falling apart due to climate change and nightmarish overpopulation. Read "The Destiny Makers" and "Genetic Soldier" before tackling this one... in fact, go all the way back to "Beloved Son," "Vaneglory," and "Yesterday's Men" to fully appreciate the depth of his creation. I see now that what he created were basically two trilogies to tell this story, and I've been lucky enough to inadvertently read everything in the correct order (Goodreads doesn't seem to realize these books form a series at all). Anyway, now that I have read every one of Turner's science fiction novels I can say without a doubt he belongs in the best literary company: fans of Dick, the Strugatskys, Lem, Christopher Priest -- basically anyone who enjoys and appreciates literate, intelligent science fiction should really read everything Turner has given us.

[Catana · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last of Turner's science books stands on its own, but it's best appreciated if you've previously read Destiny Makers and Genetic Soldier. It's located in time between the recent past of Destiny Makers and the far future of Genetic Soldier. Turner creates a human panorama in which the books can be read in any order but work together as a trilogy.