Michaelmas (novel)

Last updated
Michaelmas
Michaelmas (novel).jpg
First edition
Author Algis Budrys
Cover artistDon Brautigam
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre Science fiction novel
Publisher Berkley Putnam
Publication date
1976 (serialized); 1977 (novel)
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
Pages212
ISBN 0-445-20316-1

Michaelmas (1977) is a science fiction novel by American writer Algis Budrys, first published as a serial in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in August and September 1976, and published in revised form as a novel in 1977. Michaelmas is largely about a renowned newsman who in fact controls, rather than simply reports events thanks to his AI creation "Domino". The protagonist and narrative are loosely based on the world-protector Archangel Michael, while the book contains convincing near-future technology.

Contents

Publication

Michaelmas first appeared in the form of a two-part serial in Fantasy & Science Fiction in August and September 1976. It was published as a novel (in revised form) from Berkley Putnam in 1977, with a simultaneous British edition from Golancz. A book club edition appeared in 1978, along with the mass-market paperback edition from Berkley. A Questar (Popular Library) paperback reprint appeared in 1986.

Story

The novel is set in the near future (at least at the time of writing, now actually in past time).

The public image of the eponymous protagonist, Laurent Michaelmas, is that of a world-renowned newsman. In fact, Michaelmas controls world events just as much as he reports them. His means of influence is an immensely powerful self-aware artificial intelligence called Domino, which originated as a modest telephony appliance in Michaelmas' youth. Over the years, Domino has evolved into a digital omnipresence that can penetrate and control any electronic or computerized equipment, most notably communication networks of all kinds. Domino was created by Michaelmas, and its existence is known only to him.

Domino is also the confidante and intellectual sparring partner of Michelmas, compensating in part for the loss that Michaelmas suffered when his wife was killed in an accident many years ago.

By the time of the novel, Laurent Michaelmas has successfully used his power to create and sustain world peace. One of his achievements is the success of UNAC (the fictitious United Nations Astronautics Commission). Organizing space travel as a joint international project, UNAC is important to Michaelmas as a symbol of a more united world. When an astronaut believed to have been killed in a failed mission turns up miraculously saved, a threatening scenario starts to unfold. As the novel progresses, Michaelmas slowly learns that a possible extraterrestrial presence may be interfering with the new world he has worked so hard to create.

Themes

The novel is not only a fast-paced political/sci-fi thriller, but is also remarkable for its prescience, because it appeared less than a decade into the Internet era, long before its current prominence and ubiquity. The technical descriptions of near future technologies are very convincing and apparently well researched. Its description of journalism and its professional culture are likewise highly developed, mainly due to the late Budrys' residence near Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, which appears several times in the book.

Throughout the book, many references are made to classical works of art, theater, poetry and philosophy.

The main character, Laurent Michaelmas, bears the name of the festival honoring the Archangel Michael, a figure in Judaism that protects God's people, and in Christianity that defeats Satan in the Book of Revelation. In the novel, Michaelmas helps to protect society from itself by influencing the balances of power in the world to avoid war and maintain relative peace.

The novel incorporates features of a substantially shorter and significantly different version published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in 1976.

Related Research Articles

Donald A. Wollheim U.S. science fiction editor, publisher, and author

Donald Allen Wollheim was an American science fiction editor, publisher, writer, and fan. As an author, he published under his own name as well as under pseudonyms, including David Grinnell.

Algis Budrys Lithuanian-American science fiction author, editor, and critic

Algirdas Jonas "Algis" Budrys was a Lithuanian-American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He was also known under the pen names Frank Mason, Alger Rome, John A. Sentry, William Scarff, and Paul Janvier. He is known for the influential 1960 novel Rogue Moon.

Lester del Rey American science fiction author (1915–1993)

Lester del Rey was an American science fiction author and editor. He was the author of many books in the juvenile Winston Science Fiction series, and the editor at Del Rey Books, the fantasy and science fiction imprint of Ballantine Books, along with his fourth wife Judy-Lynn del Rey.

Robert Silverberg American speculative fiction writer and editor

Robert Silverberg is an American author and editor, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a Grand Master of SF. He has attended every Hugo Awards ceremony since the inaugural event in 1953.

Alexei Panshin is an American writer and science fiction (SF) critic. He has written several critical works and several novels, including the 1968 Nebula Award-winning novel Rite of Passage and, with his wife Cory Panshin, the 1990 Hugo Award-winning study of science fiction The World Beyond the Hill.

Berkley Books Publishing imprint of Penguin Group (USA)

Berkley Books is an imprint of the Penguin Group.

Mark Symington Geston is an American science fiction and fantasy author.

Jove Books, formerly known as Pyramid Books, is an American paperback and eBook publishing imprint, founded as an independent paperback house in 1949 by Almat Magazine Publishers. The company was sold to the Walter Reade Organization in the late 1960s. It was acquired in 1974 by Harcourt Brace which renamed it to Jove in 1977 and continued the line as an imprint. In 1979, they sold it to The Putnam Berkley Group, which is now part of the Penguin Group.

<i>Brothers of Earth</i> 1976 novel by C. J. Cherryh

Brothers of Earth is a 1976 science fiction novel by American writer C. J. Cherryh. It was the second of Cherryh's novels to be published, appearing after Gate of Ivrel, although she had completed and submitted Brothers of Earth first. Donald A. Wollheim, the editor of DAW Books, decided that publishing Gate of Ivrel first would be more commercially desirable, so Brothers of Earth was delayed until the former was released.

This is a bibliography of works by Damon Knight.

<i>The Einstein Intersection</i> 1967 novel by Samuel Delany

The Einstein Intersection is a 1967 science fiction novel by Samuel R. Delany. It won the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1967 and was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1968. The title is a reference to Einstein's Theory of Relativity connecting to Kurt Gödel's Constructible universe, which is an analogy to science meeting philosophy. Delany's intended title for the book was A Fabulous, Formless Darkness.

<i>Nebula Winners Twelve</i>

Nebula Winners Twelve is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Gordon R. Dickson. It was first published in hardcover by Harper & Row in February 1978, and reprinted in December of the same year. A paperback edition followed from Bantam Books in April 1979.

<i>The Mermans Children</i> 1979 book by Poul Anderson

The Merman's Children is a 1979 fantasy novel by American writer Poul Anderson, inspired by legends of Mermen and Mermaids from Danish folklore, in particular the ballad Agnete og Havmanden. Portions of the work had previously been published as an identically titled novella and the novelette "The Tupilak" in the anthologies Flashing Swords! #1 (1973) and Flashing Swords! #4: Barbarians and Black Magicians (1977). The complete novel was first published by hardcover by Berkley/Putnam in September 1979, which also issued two later editions, a Science Fiction Book Club hardcover edition in February 1980 and a paperback edition in October 1980. The first British editions were issued in 1981 by Sphere Books (paperback) and Sidgwick & Jackson (hardcover). It was also included in the Sidgwick & Jackson omnibus Science Fiction Special 44 in 1983.

<i>We Who Are About To...</i> 1977 novel by Joanna Russ

We Who Are About To... is a feminist science fiction novel by Joanna Russ. It first appeared in magazine form in the January 1976 and February 1976 issues of Galaxy Science Fiction and was first published in book form by Dell Publishing in July 1977.

<i>Bridge of Ashes</i> 1976 novel by Roger Zelazny

Bridge of Ashes is an experimental science fiction novel by author Roger Zelazny. The paperback edition was published in 1976 and the hardcover in 1979. Zelazny describes the book as one of five books from which he learned things "that have borne me through thirty or so others". He states that he "felt that if I could pull it off I could achieve some powerful effects. What I learned from this book is something of the limits of puzzlement in that no man’s land between suspense and the weakening of communication".

<i>Empire</i> (graphic novel)

Empire is a 1978 graphic novel written by Samuel R. Delany and illustrated by Howard Chaykin.

<i>Stepping From the Shadows</i> Fantasy novel

Stepping from the Shadows is a novel by Patricia A. McKillip. It was first published in hardcover by Atheneum in 1982, with a paperback edition issued by Berkley Books in August 1984.

<i>The Nemesis of Evil</i> 1975 novel by Lin Carter

The Nemesis of Evil is a science fiction novel by Lin Carter, the first in his "Zarkon, Lord of the Unknown" series. It was first published in hardcover by Doubleday in 1975, with a paperback edition following from Popular Library in March 1978. It was reissued by Wildside Press in 1999. An ebook edition was issued by Thunderchild Publishing in August 2017.

<i>The Best of Leigh Brackett</i>

The Best of Leigh Brackett is a collection of science fiction short stories by American author Leigh Brackett, edited by Edmond Hamilton. It was first published in hardcover by Nelson Doubleday in July 1977 and in paperback by Ballantine Books in September of the same year as a volume in its Classic Library of Science Fiction. A second hardcover edition was issued by Garland Publishing in March 1983, and Del Rey/Ballantine reprinted the paperback edition in June 1986. The book has been translated into German.

<i>The Best of John W. Campbell</i>

The Best of John W. Campbell is the title of two collections of science fiction short stories by American author John W. Campbell. The first, a British edition edited by George Hay, was first published in hardcover by Sidgwick & Jackson in February 1973, and in paperback by Sphere Books in November 1976. Sidgwick & Jackson later gathered together with The Far-Out Worlds of A. E. van Vogt (1968) into the omnibus volume Science Fiction Special 15 (1975), and with Brian N. Ball's Singularity Station (1973) and Poul Anderson's Orbit Unlimited (1961) into the omnibus volume Science Fiction Special 20 (1977). The second collection of this title, an American edition edited by Lester del Rey, was first published in hardcover by Nelson Doubleday in May 1976, and in paperback by Ballantine Books in June 1976 as a volume in its Classic Library of Science Fiction. The American edition was reprinted by Del Rey/Ballantine in February 1995, and has also been translated into German.

References