science fiction in Deep Time |
My first answer is rather boring. When I wrote Isaac Asimov into one of my stories, I imagined that he had a "close encounter" with aliens. This life-altering event for Asimov occurred in Deep Time. Within the Exodemic Fictional Universe, "Deep Time" has a special meaning: it does not mean "long ago". Instead, events in "Deep Time" are events that took place in a previous Reality. And "Reality" means what Asimov intended it to mean within his time travel novel, The End of Eternity.
original cover art by Hubert Rogers |
In The End of Eternity, "Eternity" is not simply a time machine, it is a constructed space/time bubble, a kind of parallel universe where the Eternals can reside and plan changes to Time without fear that those changes will erase or alter the Eternals themselves.
our Reality Chain |
With the help of aliens, Asimov became a time traveler and helped engineer another Reality Change that ended the Foundation Reality. In the next Reality, the time-traveling Asimov was able to mentor his younger self and boost his own career as a science fiction story writer. In that new Reality, the Asimov Reality, Earth suffered a devastating nuclear war.
A Second Answer
source |
In the Ekcolir Reality, the science fiction genre developed along a slightly different track compared to what happened in our Reality (the Buld Reality). In the Ekcolir Reality, Helen Gernsback was an influential science fiction author who helped prepare the people of Earth to understand the role of artificial life forms in shaping the secret history of Earth.
Two Hugos
source |
According to Gohrlay, just as there were "two copies" of Asimov in the Asimov Reality, there were two copies of Hugo Gernsback working together in the Ekcolir Reality to shape and guide development of the science fiction genre. The "second copy" of Hugo in the Ekcolir Reality was known as Sidney Gernsback, Hugo's brother.
mathematics from Deep Time |
When the Time War was finally ended, the Trysta-Grean Pact was built around the idea that in the Final Reality, the science fiction genre had to be altered. Unlike the Ekcolir Reality, in the Buld Reality there would be no tight coupling between the scientific reality of alien technology and the stories told by science fiction authors. Instead, science fiction would play the role of a "safety valve" by which true stories about alien visitors and the secret history of Earth would be viewed by casual readers as fiction. This would allow a few select individuals such as The Editor to be tricked into staying on Earth.
Next: 7 years, 7 collaborators
visit the Gallery of Book and Magazine Covers |
No comments:
Post a Comment