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Architects of Emortality

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Brian Stableford launched an ambitious future history series last year with Inherit the Earth, to wide spread praise. "Stableford has created in this novel a totally believable world, and wrapped it around a series of mysterious events, surprise revelations, double crosses, confused motivations, rumors, lies, plots, and counterplots....Tightly controlled and suspenseful throughout " said Science Fiction Chronicle. Library journal said, "The ethical questions posed by the prospect of conquering the aging process underscore this fast-paced SF adventure, adding depth to a story that will appeal to fans of high-tech SF and conspiracy theories." This future world is a complex society obsessed with the technology of life extension and on the brink of creating true immortals.

Now, in Architects of Emortality, Stableford gives us a story set hundreds of years in the future, filled with people who can hope for three-hundred-year lifespans and a fortunate few whose lives will be in the thousands of years. This society is on the edge of radical change, where people have the time to develop eccentric lifestyles and personal obsessions, a world sometimes reminiscent of the distant future of Michael Moorcock's Dancers at the End of Time series. And there has been a series of murders that threaten the future stability of the world, murders executed by bioengineered flowers. Police officers Watson and Holmes investigate, but the central figure quickly becomes the amateur detective Oscar Wilde, a student of history who has taken on the persona of his namesake. And the question is not so much who the murderer is, but how and why.

Filled with memorable characters and powerful and striking images of the richly altered world of the future, Architects of Emortality is a satisfying and complete story that also adds depth and detail to the evolving series.

Cover art by Donato

Published 1st September 1999 by Tor.
ISBN:0-312-87207-0

Dedicated to Jane, and all who nourish fond remorse.
  Brian Stableford is back with a first-class hard SF adventure in the same future universe as INHERIT THE EARTH.

Five hundred years in the future, there is a murder in New York City by the agency of genetically altered flowers and a rejuvenated plant designer named Oscar Wilde must help Charlotte Holmes of the NYPD investigate.

Cover art by Donato

Published 1st May 2000 by Tor.
ISBN:0-812-57643-8

  Translated into Japanese.

Review by Ian Braidwood

Main Characters:
Oscar Wilde, Charlotte Holmes, Hal Watson, Michael Lowenthal, Walter Czastka.

There is a beautiful woman stalking the future, whose kiss impregnates her victims with the seeds of a plant, which in turn consumes their very flesh. All that remains is a skeleton entwined within a bush that sprouts black flowers. All that links the victims is that they were all alumni of Wollongong University around 2322/3.

This is the mystery, which faces Charlotte Holmes, but before she can even start, the murderer involves plant designer Oscar Wilde and the elite of the mega - corporations lumber her with Michael Lowenthal.

The story is a bit like Seven, in that the murder leads the three investigators along a predetermined trail, though thankfully, not as gruesome as the one as in that film.

You can tell Brian had a lot of fun with this one, with Holmes, Watson and he plays Wilde for all he's worth, which is rather a lot. I had a lot of fun reading it and it would have been interesting to see what Donato would have made of the spectacular final scenes of this book, rather than produce standard cyberpunk clichés.

To read David Langford's review of this book, click HERE
A New York Times review is available HERE
A review by Clinton Lawrence is online HERE

The Brian Stableford Website