Into Darkness (novelette)

Last updated
"Into Darkness"
Short story by Greg Egan
Country Australia
Language English
Genre(s) Science fiction
Publication
Published in Asimov's Science Fiction
Publication type Periodical
PublisherTTA Press
Media typePrint
Publication dateJanuary 1992

"Into Darkness" is a science-fiction novelette by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Asimov's Science Fiction in January 1992. The novelette was included in the collections Axiomatic in 1995 and The Best of Greg Egan in 2019. [1] [2]

Contents

Plot

A strange wormhole is randomly jumping around on the surface of the Earth, but seems to be drawn to crowded areas. No reason for its sudden appearance is known, but some assume it to be an experiment by aliens from the future to get into the past with both ends of the wormhole accidently collapsing towards their common barycenter in spacetime. The wormhole is composed of two shells, the outer with a radius of one kilometer being called "The Intake" and the inner one with a radius of two hundred meters being called "The Core". Going over "The Intake" forces macroscopic objects like people (with microscopic expections like the flow of blood possible) to only travel further towards "The Core", which allows to leave the wormhole. Every living being inside it during the moment of jump to a new place is killed. Like radioactive nuclei, the duration of the stay of the wormhole at a certain place follows the mathematical law of a half-time of eighteen minutes. The short story follows John Nately, a high-school science teacher, on his eleventh journey from "The Intake" to "The Core", who again risks his life to save that of others.

Translation

The novelette was translated into Czech by Blanka Vykoukalová and Petr Kotrle (1997), Hungarian by József Békési (1999), Romanian by Mihai-Dan Pavelescu, Japanese by Makoto Yamagishi (2000), Spanish by Luis G. Prado (2002), Italian (2003), Spanish (2006), French by Francis Lustman and Quarante-Deux (2006), Chinese (2023) and Korean by Kim Sang-hoon (2024). [1] [2]

Reception

Reviews

Russell Letson, writing in the Locus Magazine , claims that "the story framework is a tense and effective physical adventure, while at the same time the narrator recognizes the metaphorical properties of the space he is traversing." [3]

Karen Burnham writes in Greg Egan (Masters of Science Fiction), that the short story is "a pure puzzle-solving story."

Awards

The novelette was a Locus Award Nominee for Best SF Novelette in 1993 and reached the 5th place. It also reached the 2nd place of Asimov's Reader Poll in 1993. [4] [5]

Literature

Related Research Articles

Greg Egan is an Australian science fiction writer and mathematician, best known for his works of hard science fiction. Egan has won multiple awards including the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, the Hugo Award, and the Locus Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Esther Friesner</span> American novelist

Esther Mona Friesner-Stutzman, née Friesner is an American science fiction and fantasy author. She is also a poet and playwright. She is best known for her humorous style of writing, both in the titles and the works themselves. This humor allows her to discuss with broader audiences issues like gender equality and social justice.

"The Planck Dive" is a science fiction novelette by Australian writer Greg Egan, published in 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oceanic (novella)</span> 1998 novella by Greg Egan

"Oceanic" is a science fiction novella by Australian writer Greg Egan, published in 1998. It won the 1999 Hugo Award for Best Novella.

<i>Nebula Awards 27</i> 1993 anthology edited by James Morrow

Nebula Awards 27 is an anthology of science fiction short works edited by James Morrow, the second of three successive volumes under his editorship. It was first published in hardcover and trade paperback by Harcourt Brace in April 1993.

Suzanne Palmer is an American science fiction writer known for her novelette "The Secret Life of Bots", which won a Hugo Award for Best Novelette in 2018. The story also won a WSFA Small Press Award and was a finalist for the Theodore Sturgeon Award.

"Axiomatic" is a science-fiction short story by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Interzone 41 in November 1990. The short story was included in the collection The Best of Greg Egan in 2020.

Dark Integers and Other Stories is a collection of five science-fiction short stories by Australian writer Greg Egan, published in 2008 by Subterranean Press. One of them, "Oceanic", won the Hugo Award for Best Novella, while two others were nominated.

Oceanic is a collection of 12 science fiction short stories by Australian writer Greg Egan, published on 16 July 2009 by Gollancz.

"Luminous" is a science-fiction short story by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Asimov’s Science Fiction in September 1995.

"Dark Integers" is a science-fiction short story by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Asimov's Science Fiction in October/November 2007. The short story was included in the collections Dark Integers and Other Stories in 2008, Oceanic in 2009 and The Best of Greg Egan in 2020. It was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novelette in 2008. It is a sequel to the short story "Luminous".

"Reasons to Be Cheerful" is a science-fiction short story by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Interzone 118 in April of 1997. The short story was included in the collections Luminous in 1998 and The Best of Greg Egan in 2020.

"Crystal Nights" is a science-fiction short story by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Interzone 215 in April 2008.

"Lost Continent" is a science-fiction short story by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in The Starry Rift edited by Jonathan Strahan in 2008. The short story was included in the collections Crystal Nights and Other Stories in 2009 and Oceanic in 2009. It also appeared in the anthology The Time Traveller’s Almanac edited by Ann VanderMeer and Jeff VanderMeer in 2013.

"The Cutie" is a science-fiction short story by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Interzone #29 in May/June 1989. It was his first to be published in Interzone. The short story was included in the collection Axiomatic in 1995. It also appeared in the anthology Interzone: The 4th Anthology edited by John Clute, David Pringle and Simon Ounsley in 1989.

"Appropriate Love" is a science-fiction short story by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Interzone #50 in August 1991. The short story was included in the collection Axiomatic in 1995 and The Best of Greg Egan in 2019.

"Learning to Be Me" is a science-fiction short story by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Interzone 37 in July of 1990. The short story was included in the collections Axiomatic in 1995 and The Best of Greg Egan in 2019.

"Chaff" is a science-fiction novelette by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Interzone #78 in December 1993. The novelette was included in the anthology The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Eleventh Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois in 1994 and in the collections Our Lady of Chernobyl in 1995, Luminous in 1998 and The Best of Greg Egan in 2019.

"Mitochondrial Eve" is a science-fiction novelette by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Interzone #92 in February 1995. The novelette was included in the anthology The Best of Interzone in 1997 and in the collection Luminous in 1998.

"Border Guards" is a science-fiction novelette by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Interzone 148 in October 1999. The novelette was included in the anthologies The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Seventeenth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois in 2000, Year’s Best SF 5 edited by David G. Hartwell in 2000 and Beyond Singularity edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois. It was also published in the collection Oceanic in 2009.

References

  1. 1 2 "Bibliography". 2024-04-09. Retrieved 2024-04-17.
  2. 1 2 "Summary Bibliography: Greg Egan" . Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  3. ↑ Letson, Russell (2019-06-14). "Russell Letson Reviews The Best of Greg Egan by Greg Egan". locusmag.com. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  4. ↑ "Locus Awards 1993" . Retrieved 2024-07-29.
  5. ↑ "Awards Summary". sfadb.com. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.