 | |
| Author | Greg Egan |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction, Hard science fiction |
| Publisher | Tor Books |
Publication date | 2019 |
| ISBN | 978-1250313782 |
Perihelion Summer is a science fiction novella/novel by Australian writer Greg Egan, published by Tor Books in 2019. [1] [2]
Taraxippus, a double system of two black holes with the heavier one having one-tenth the mass of the sun, is discovered using gravitational lensing and observing its Einstein rings. It passes through the Solar System and shifts the orbits of the planets. Earth in particular is thrown onto a more elliptical orbit, making it roughly 10–15 degrees warmer at perihelion and correspondingly cooler at aphelion. Countries prepare, for example by enclosing entire cities under a glass dome or opening borders for refugees.
Matt and his friends build the Mandjet, a boat with a self-sustaining ecosystem to stay off land and potentially head to Antarctica. They meet other boats at sea, take people on board if needed, and form a flotilla together. Matt hears of a fire in his hometown Perth and heads back to save his parents and sister, who all previously deemed staying at sea to be too unsafe. He arrives one hour after his father died of a heart attack, which was fatal as he previously concealed the necessity for a hospital while the family fleed Perth. He also learns that his mother blames him for it and even for Taraxippus, as he didn't stop talking about it. Matt can bring his mother and sister to the Mandjet successfully, but learns it has been taken over by pirates. Together with his friends, they manage to gain control again. Matt is then forgiven by his mother. [3]
Russell Letson writes in the Locus Magazine , that the novella "is certainly more than 'just a ride': a description of how wrong things can go and how fast, a hard-SF, procedural-didactic treatment that follows its disaster from causes through effects and responses, supported by the meticulously precise observations of processes one expects from this writer." He also adds that the "early chapters also sketch in the range of social and political reactions" and that "the rest of the book unpacks the implications of political pathologies and climatological disturbances as populations face or flee the deadly extremes of ice and fire." He further thinks that "Egan always insists on examining and unfolding the way the world works and the ways we interact with those operations", that the novella "also models the rational, the possible, the decent, and the humane in its picture, as though reluctant to give in to the most melodramatic options offered by the situation" and that Egan is "modeling both an accelerated version of the future we face and a perhaps-as-unlikely kind of response to it – a rational and humane refusal to give up or give in to survivalist power fantasies and magical thinking." [4]
Kirkus Reviews called the story "more an appetizer than an entree" as well as "more than a novella yet less than a novel" and further wrote "In a series of quick, vivid sketches, Egan shows us how, for those aboard the Mandjet and their friends and relatives still on land, life—the entire planet—will change forever. As a metaphor representing global climate change, it's effective enough; more than 30 years ago, another Australian, George Turner, did something comparable in Drowning Towers. This lacks that book's weight and complexity, though it's certainly a noteworthy contribution to a debate whose implications Egan is content to leave to our imaginations." [3]
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.
Incandescence is a 2008 science fiction novel by Australian author Greg Egan. The book is based on the idea that the theory of general relativity could be discovered by a pre-industrial civilisation.
"Oceanic" is a science fiction novella by Australian writer Greg Egan, published in 1998. It won the 1999 Hugo Award for Best Novella.
83D/Russell is a periodic lost comet in the Solar System with an orbital period of about 7.5 years. On the post-1988 orbit the comet probably does not get brighter than about apparent magnitude 21. The comet might come to perihelion in late May 2021, but the uncertainty in the comet's position is a few million km.
The Best of Greg Egan is a collection of science fiction stories by Australian writer Greg Egan, published by Subterranean Press in 2019.
Dark Integers and Other Stories is a collection of five science-fiction short stories by Australian writer Greg Egan, published on 25 March 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.
"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.
"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.
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"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.
"Riding the Crocodile" is a science-fiction novella by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in One Million A.D. edited by Gardner Dozois in December 2005. The novella was included in the collections Dark Integers and Other Stories in 2008 and Oceanic in 2009. The short story is set in the same universe as Egan's short stories "Glory" and "Hot Rock" as well as Egan's novel Incandescence.
"Unstable Orbits in the Space of Lies" is a science-fiction short story by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Interzone #61 in July 1992. The short story was included in the collections Axiomatic in 1995 and The Best of Greg Egan in 2019.
"Silver Fire" is a science-fiction short story by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Interzone #102 in December 1995. The short story was included in the collections Luminous in 1998 and The Best of Greg Egan in 2019.
"Zero for Conduct" is a science-fiction short story by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Twelve Tomorrows edited by Stephen Cass in September 2013. The short story was included in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-First Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois in July 2014 as well as the collections The Best of Greg Egan in 2019 and Instantiation in 2020.
Phoresis and Other Journeys is a collection of three science-fiction novellas by Australian writer Greg Egan, published in 2023.
Instantiation is a collection of eleven science-fiction short stories by Australian writer Greg Egan, published in 2020.
Sleep and the Soul is a collection of ten science-fiction short stories by Australian writer Greg Egan, published in 2023.