Tomorrow Happens (Boskone Books) [Hardcover]

David Brin (Author), Deb Geisler (Editor), James Burns (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Boskone Books | Publication Date: February 2003

An insightful, quicksilver romp through Brin's own mind. In the 20 essays, short stories, and little wonders in this book, David will take you from the worlds of Galileo Galilei and Jules Verne, through thoughtful explorations of Orwell and Tolkien, and on into tomorrows that just may happen.

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

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

This gathering of mostly previously published essays and short fiction also includes "The Open-Ended Science Fiction Story: A Challenge to New Colleagues," which is based on a writing-group exercise, and the previously unpublished beginning of a novel. The stories range from an unnerving meditation on the nature and the reliability of reality in "Stones of Significance" to a clever collaboration with Gregory Benford, "Paris Conquers All," that envisions the City of Light's triumph over the Martians of H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds. Brin's essays raise a number of interesting questions about such matters as the social responsibility to increase human maturity of attitude in tandem with rapidly advancing technology; the works of J. R. R. Tolkien; and the effects of proficient amateurs on various creative endeavors. An admirable showcase of Brin's multifaceted writing personality, one that, in fiction and nonfiction, enjoys raising difficult questions without claiming to have all the answers to them. Regina Schroeder
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Nesfa Pr (February 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1886778442
• ISBN-13: 978-1886778443
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,764,806 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Brin is a scientist, public speaker and world-known author. His novels have been New York Times Bestsellers, winning multiple Hugo, Nebula and other awards. At least a dozen have been translated into more than twenty languages.

His 1989 ecological thriller, Earth, foreshadowed global warming, cyberwarfare and near-future trends such as the World Wide Web. A 1998 movie, directed by Kevin Costner, was loosely based on his post-apocalyptic novel, The Postman. David's novel Kiln People has been called a book of ideas disguised as a fast-moving and fun noir detective story, set in a future when new technology enables people to physically be in more than two places at once. A hardcover graphic novel The Life Eaters explored alternate outcomes to WWII, winning nominations and high praise.

David's science fictional Uplift Universe explores a future when humans genetically engineer higher animals like dolphins to become equal members of our civilization. These include the award-winning Startide Rising, The Uplift War, Brightness Reef, Infinity's Shore and Heaven's Reach. He also recently tied up the loose ends left behind by the late Isaac Asimov: Foundation's Triumph brings to a grand finale Asimov's famed Foundation Universe.

Brin serves on advisory committees dealing with subjects as diverse as national defense and homeland security, astronomy and space exploration, SETI and nanotechnology, future/prediction and philanthropy. His non-fiction book -- The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Freedom and Privacy? -- deals with secrecy in the modern world. It won the Freedom of Speech Prize from the American Library Association.

As a public speaker, Brin shares unique insights -- serious and humorous -- about ways that changing technology may affect our future lives. He appears frequently on TV, including several episodes of "The Universe" and History Channel's "Life After People." He also was a regular cast member on "The ArciTECHS."

Brin's scientific work covers an eclectic range of topics, from astronautics, astronomy, and optics to alternative dispute resolution and the role of neoteny in human evolution. His Ph.D in Physics from UCSD - the University of California at San Diego (the lab of nobelist Hannes Alfven) - followed a masters in optics and an undergraduate degree in astrophysics from Caltech. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the California Space Institute. His technical patents directly confront some of the faults of old-fashioned screen-based interaction, aiming to improve the way human beings converse online.

Brin lives in San Diego County with his wife and three children.

You can follow David Brin:
Website: http://www.davidbrin.com/
Blog: http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DavidBrin1
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/cab801

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Brin's own version of Tomorrow is a hard SF "Tree & Leaf", February 23, 2004

By 

Jack E. Holt, III (Orlando, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tomorrow Happens (Hardcover)

Many years ago, I first read J.R.R. Tolkien's Tree & Leaf, a book composed of Tolkien's essay on fairy stories and a demonstration of that theory in a short story called "Leaf by Niggle".

Tree & Leaf came as a surprise to me, because I had thought Tolkien's predominant interests were philological rather than philosophical. Before reading Tree & Leaf, I suppose I saw Tolkien as a clever scholar out on a literary lark, rather than as an author with a decided viewpoint or message. After reading Tree & Leaf, I thought of Tolkien in a new, more conservative light.

In some ways, Tolkien's attempts to halt progress seemed misplaced to me. Also, it was the first time I became aware of Tolkien's religious world view (which I found more appealing). But, regardless of how I responded to the themes of the book, I finally understood the GRAVITY of the themes that lurked under Tolkien's longer works.

So, Tree & Leaf changed how I looked at the author's work forever.

This volume is much the same. It takes some excellent short stories and highlights Brin's own literary, scientific and socio-political themes against a series of speculative essays and comments. We also get to see a teaching tool Brin has used in writers' workshops.

The short stories are fine. One is about Uplift, another about humans becoming divine (in a different way from that described in Kiln People). A third records the details of what has to be the first environmental lawsuit I have ever seen in a space opera story. Brin & Benford together take a turn pretending to be Jules Verne in one.

But, the highlight for me was one essay in which Brin questions the wisdom of creating a fantasy view of feudalism (one of the most execrable forms of economic oppression ever created) as he takes on Tolkien's fantasy. Brin makes a case for looking at the positive results of the Enlightenment and the modern Information Age. He gently prods at the sentimental longing for a lost age of paternalism and "security". He asks a pertinent question in a world where Presidents talk about inclusive governments: "Would Aragorn's coalition cabinet include orcs and trolls?"

From Aragorn's point of view, it may be good to be a king, but the world runs better when everyone has a voice of some kind.

Tomorrow Happens contains some of Brin's best thoughts on how information is carried on from person-to-person and from generation-to-generation. He explains things he thinks make a good science fiction story. And he shows us why we should never be afraid to try a new spin on an old idea.

In a strange way, I think this is almost Brin's "answer" to Tolkien's Tree & Leaf. If Tolkien's book extolled the virtues of religion, faerie (the mythical land subbing for irrationality and romanticism) & lore, Brin's book preaches a different approach to literature and life. Brin's worlds are about optimism, innovation, and information.

Worth a serious look.