# GenStarShips and their Colonies *The Whorl list — 2 messages, 2 voices, 29 Apr 1999* > Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright > in each message remains with the person who wrote it. > Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original > archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than > retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact. --- ### Michael Andre-Driussi *29 Apr 1999, 10:01* 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= *This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun. --- ### Robert Patterson *29 Apr 1999, 12:58 · follows Michael Andre-Driussi* 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. *This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun. ---