Subject: (whorl) GenStarShips and their Colonies

From: Michael Andre-Driussi <mantis at sirius.com>
Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1999 10:01:51 +0000

Long, long ago, we were chatting about generation starship stories and
stories about the colonies that result.

Because the subject matters are so big, the two types are not usually
combined. The ship stories are usually about: what stage of the journey are
we in; "journey, what journey?"; etc.

=GENERATION STARSHIPS=
ORPHANS OF THE SKY by Heinlein
CAPTIVE UNIVERSE by Harry Harrison
NON-STOP by Aldis
THE STAR SEEKERS by Lesser
PHOENIX WITHOUT ASHES by Bryant (based on Ellison)
THE BOOK OF THE LONG SUN by Wolfe
etc.

=COLONIES FROM GENERATION STARSHIPS=
GIFT FROM EARTH by Niven (the caste system, with crew on top)
THE PROMISED LAND by Stableford (I don't remember this one)
THE EYE OF THE HERON by Le Guin (well, they are isolated . . . )
etc.

Stableford wrote a series of novels (the Daedelus series) about
recontacting isolated colony worlds.  While there is ftl involved, still,
the isolation of the colonies makes them quite similar to what I'm talking
about (what =am= I talking about?  I'm actually not =talking=, I'm keying .
. . well, to tell the truth I am talking, and too loudly.  The neighbors
might call the police.).

Aside: does anybody know of a book or books similar to the Daedelus series?

Anyway, as an experiment while we wait for the Short Sun books to
materialize into our hot little hands, I was toying with the idea of
looking at all the generation starship stories that we collectively know,
and if consider them all as case studies, come up with a flowchart or
likely outcome model for any colony ship setting out today.

Likewise, a study of colonies that have been established by generation
starships (and this includes suspended animation or "sleeper" ships--as was
the case in GIFT FROM EARTH, iirc).

=mantis=

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---

From: Robert Patterson <rpatterson at promus.com>
Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1999 12:58:14 +0000

Don't forget

Samuel R. Delany: THE BALLAD OF BETA 2

This would fall sorta into the "Colonies from " category, though like Long
Sun, the colonists still live in the ship.