GENESIS

Cover art by Jim Burns

Born in the Yukon Territory, Christian Brannock was a son of Earth who dreamed of the stars. He became a cybernetics engineer and attained his dream, contributing to the domed city in the Sea of Copernicus, the Asteroid Habitat, the orbiting antimatter factory, and the Grand Solar Laser that sped interstellar probes on their way. It was the twenty-third century on Earth, and solar-system travel was routine. So too was artificial intelligence at a nearly human level, such that partnerships and even friendships were feasible. AIs, more tolerant of the harsh conditions found in space, were immensely valuable to the exploitation of that region.

In due course he grew old. A colleague had informed him that within a decade or two it would be possible to upload human personalities into robot bodies. Brannock was offered that choice, one of the first to receive it. It was a difficult decision for one who loved Earth, and loved being a man. But interstellar travel is not for organic humans, and he did upload. Thereafter his career took him to places unimaginable.

But the true heroes of this tale are really the artificial intelligences far beyond human level, managing Earth and preserving it in the face of hazards both human and cosmic. Over millennia, they established themselves on many planets, ever expanding their scope and capabilities.

Some 1,700 years beyond Christian Brannock's uploading, human life on Earth had rebounded, achieving a society of barbaric pageantry and potentates, rife with the sort of overt and covert rivalries we know today. It is an interlude. The main story takes place far in Earth's future, when Gaia, the AI in charge of the planet, grows evasive in her communications with the other galactic guardians. Finally, a ship is dispatched with emissaries charged with real-time interaction, intended to resolve the mystery. The human component of that mission, in a robot body, is Christian Brannock. His challenge is formidable. Gaia will use every means at her disposal to prevent the secret from becoming known.

This tale, written perhaps one or two years before Poul Anderson's death in 2001, is not one of his best. It represents a significant shift in viewpoint from The Avatar, in which Joelle Ky loses essential parts of her humanity by interfacing too much with electronic systems giving her augmented senses. Here, artificial inteligences have achieved a sort of apotheosis, becoming the wise rulers of galactic affairs, responding to threats that won't manifest themselves for millennia and imposing privations in aid of those responses. It is reminiscent of C. S. Lewis's Perelandra trilogy in which Earth cuts itself off from the other solar system planets. The barbaric interlude doesn't advance the author's message, and overall the sequence of events is hard to follow. Also, the cover art doesn't reflect any events in the text. Still, Genesis is a gripping tale and well worth reading. I give it a 4.5 score.

Poul Anderson (1926-2001) was one of the most prolific authors in the SF pantheon. This is the first work of his I've reviewed, but I've read many of them: Brain Wave; People of the Wind; Orion Shall Rise; Tau Zero; The Avatar and more. His talent was unique and will be greatly missed.

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This page was last modified on 16 July 2022.