The Future of Eternity

Fredericks, Casey. The Future of Eternity: Mythologies of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1982.

Includes discussions — often brief — of a number of works relevant here, including "enclosed world" stories such as Harry Harrison's Captive Universe, P. K. Dick's A Maze of Death, Michael Moorcock's Behold the Man; also cover's Brian Stableford's In the Kingdom of the Beasts, S. R. Delany's The Einstein Intersection, Robert Silverberg's "After the Myths Went Home," Henry Kuttner's The Mask of Circe; John Boorman's ZARDOZ (1973) film, Roger Zelazny's This Immortal, and Philip José Farmer's Son.

Of potential interest, Fredericks' discussion of Farmer's 1960 novel Flesh[1][2] (ch. 6, pp. 160-69) and the idea of the imposition of the bio-technological upon the human in the antlers put upon the protagonist Peter Stagg (with pun), making him a kind of male fantasy fulfillment — "unlimited [sexual] opportunity and inexhaustible ability" — and no failures, diseases, debilitating abrasions, or other complications ("I was a god!) — and making him a potentially doomed Year-King, sex slave and possible pawn in a larger scheme (Fredericks p. 163). Also: technology-mediated resurrection (Fredericks p. 167; cf. and contrast Dan Simmons' Hyperion).

RDE, finishing, 16-21Oct23