In the Distance, and Ahead in Time by George Zebrowski

First published in 2002; published digitally by Open Road Media on May 19, 2015

The need for balance is a theme that dominates this collection. The stories set in the near future emphasize the need to balance progress against its environmental consequences. Stories set in a more distant time emphasize the need to balance imagination and reality.

The stories tend to be cautionary but they generally avoid becoming preachy. To some extent, they use familiar themes of science fiction to address questions of philosophy. Some of the stories feature recurring characters. Others are set in different points of the same unfolding future that provided the setting for the novel Macrolife. An introduction explains where the stories fit into George Zebrowski’s development as a writer.

The collection was first published in 2002. It contains stories written between 1970 and 1996.

Five bleak stories are set in the near future:

“The Water Sculptor” - Two friends, orbiting the Earth in space stations, contemplate the nature of art and the future of mankind.

“Parks of Rest and Sculpture” - A man who is about to make a life among the stars mourns an ecologically devastated Earth that is on the verge of being abandoned by its population.

“Assassins in Air” - In the battle between man and machine (specifically, pollution-generating cars), it isn’t clear who will win.

“The Soft Terrible Music” - In a post-plague world, a man goes to great lengths to conceal a crime, but concealing his feelings of guilt is a more difficult task.

“The Sea of Evening” - When Artificial Intelligence is finally developed, will alien civilizations finally think that mankind merits contact?

Three stories are set in a more distant time:

“Heathen God” - An imprisoned alien explains the creation of humanity and gives a priest a new mission in life. This is probably Zebrowski’s signature short story, having been anthologized as a Nebula-nominee.

“Wayside World” - On a distant Earth colony that has lost the old knowledge, a man wanders from library to library until he is given new knowledge by people who have come to rebuild the colony -- but is the data in their computers the kind of knowledge that will restore a civilization?

“In the Distance, and Ahead in Time” - Colonists are given the chance to leave a world before they have a catastrophic impact upon the development of its native species. The story illustrates two differing philosophies: humans have no right to interfere with the natural development of life on other planets vs. humans have the right to compete with other life forms for supremacy.

The last two are set in the far future:

“Transfigured Mind” - People live long lives, then change and live different lives. They see life as a game and self-consciousness as a painful experience that is best avoided. They choose not to remember the past. An outsider asks whether experiencing a more tangible reality would be more fruitful, but the search for new knowledge does not interest the humans who dwell on Earth.

“Between the Winds” - Set in the same future as “Transfigured Mind,” the remaining inhabitants of an Earth that is coming back to life are living a Matrix-like existence. The story again explores whether it is better to live in virtual reality or actual reality.

“Transfigured Mind” makes a self-conscious effort to be literary. Like “Between the Winds,” it doesn’t hold up as well as the other stories, perhaps because other writers have taken the notion of virtual reality to loftier heights. Still, this is a strong collection by one of the genre’s more philosophical writers.

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