EarthChild [Paperback]

Sharon Webb (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1983

When all the people of Earth become immortal through the Mouat-Gari process, Kurt Kraus, minister of World Culture, realizes that all creativity has died, and he must find a way to restore it.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Bantam Books (Mm) (November 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553236660
• ISBN-13: 978-0553236668
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,240,432 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars My memory surpasses the reality..., July 6, 2000

By 

Spring Lea E. Henry "Ellorien" (Colorado Springs, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Earthchild (Library Binding)

Sharon Webb's trilogy was something I experienced years ago as a YA. I loved the idea of living forever and the way the futuristic society was portrayed. However, a recent reunion with these books has brought out some of the flaws in her writing. While the characters are still as real to me as they were, the plot suffers from lack of action and from a couple of spots where she loses my suspension of disbelief. I would recommend these books to YA's who are just getting into science fiction reading but not to anyone with more sophisticated tastes.

5.0 out of 5 stars Revisiting EarthChild, November 6, 2010

By 

TMP in NOVA (DC Metro Area) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: EarthChild (Paperback)

I read this book for the first time in 1984, just before I turned 13. Revisiting it in 2010 at the age of 39 provided an interesting contrast between the two readings. The memory of this short novel has haunted me for years, and I have often considered the dilemma that it presents: whether to choose an immortality of one's body or of one's art.

A pleasant surprise of rereading this book was that it wasn't "dated" by a firm anchoring in a specific year. I remembered that this book seemed to be set in the 21st century, but the exact year wasn't clear to me; it still isn't. The novel's political overtones were not as clear to me in 1984 as they were in 2010: one-world government, unilateral decisions about public health (the Mouat-Gari Process implementation specifically).

What I found refreshing was that technology was not depicted as a panacea. In fact, technological progress evoked a lingering sadness for what humanity lost in the bargain for physical immortality.