Architects of Emortality(1999)

Brian M. Stableford

Brian Stableford launched an ambitious future history series with Inherit the Earth , to widespread 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 300-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.