Firefly: A Novel of the Far Future

by Brian M. Stableford

In the far future Earth is dying. Society has reverted to a more primitive life, much like the Middle Ages. Two men, Matthew and his brother John, who calls himself "Firefly," set out to find the time traveller, the one person who can give purpose to their existence, the one individual who can still access past technology. The Firefly, he who lights his own way, seeks the age of Man's greatness, the time when the human race once owned the stars, when great cities stood in places that have now become rust-bowls. A poignant, thoughtful, provocative, and ultimately unforgettable vision of "The Dying Earth" from a master storyteller. BRIAN STABLEFORD has written and edited over fifty books of science fiction, horror, fantasy, literary criticism, and reference, among others, many of them being published by Wildside Press. He lives and works in Reading, England.

Genres: Science Fiction

Nook

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Brian Michael Stableford was a British science fiction writer who published more than 70 novels. His earlier books were published under the name Brian M. Stableford, but more recent ones have dropped the middle initial and appeared under the name Brian Stableford. He also used the pseudonym Brian Craig for a couple of very early works, and again for a few more recent works. The pseudonym derives from the first names of himself and of a school friend from the 1960s, Craig A. Mackintosh, with whom he jointly published some very early work.

Reviews

[Karl Stark di Grande Inverno · Rating 1 out of 5]

In una nota alla fine del libro, l'autore scrive: "Questo romanzo è fondato su una serie di frammenti scritti tra il 1964 e il 1966".
Beh, io direi che si vede tutto che è un romanzo raffazzonato.
E' sconclusionato, dall'inizio alla fine. Vorrebbe darsi un tono intellettuale, ma in realtà sono pagine e pagine di seghe mentali una più grande dell'altra.
I personaggi hanno personalità inesistenti, agiscono "perché si", prendono decisioni che contraddicono quello che hanno fatto fino a una pagina prima.
L'ambientazione è debitrice della Terra Morente di Vance, ma con meno mordente e capacità visionaria.
Da ultimo, sembra che la popolazione mondiale, sia nel presente dei protagonisti sia nel futuro che loro visitano, si sia ridotta a una cinquantina di unità su *tutto* il pianeta!
Non so, davvero, come un editor sano di mente possa permettere la pubblicazione di roba così.
E' semplicemente il più brutto romanzo sui viaggi nel tempo che vi possa capitare di leggere in tutta una vita.

[Costa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brian M. Stableford isn't one of my favourite authors: I read and loved his vision of a Steampunkery-inspired, realistic, alternate history Vampires with "Empire of Fear"; I was relatively satisfied with his take on werewolves in "The Werewolves of London", but gave up on the sequels halfway through the second book, "Angel of Pain". "Carnival of Destruction" was never properly started.

"Firefly" is based on one of his own early short stories, and it is a strange novel. Stableford's unique vision of well used SciFi and Sci-fantasy devices is evident again, with an original version of time travel and far future Earth.

Trouble is, when we finally get to the time travel, I became bored. It took a long time to finish this one. Two stars for the originality of ideas - if only the characters, story and intelligibility matched.