Poul Anderson | Catawrayannis Base

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The Harvest of Stars Future History

"Before the Synthesis . . . was the World Federation. And before the World Federation old men — 'governments,' they were called — had somehow, again and again, compelled young me to kill each other, along with vast incidental destruction, for causes that the old men claimed were important. Governments had also robbed, regimented, and terrorized their subjects, often in the most incredible fashions. Toward the end, they generally did it in the name of something called 'democracy.'"
— Poul Anderson, The Fleet of Stars

The Anson Guthrie or Fireball novels chronicle the expansion of the human race into the Solar System and the nearby stars, as well as the development of the cybercosm, a global network of seemingly-benevolent, intelligent machines. The Synesis, the combination of the cybercosm and human society, stands in stark contrast to the society of the genetically-altered Lunarians. Meanwhile, human civilization on the interstellar colony worlds of Demeter (at Alpha Centauri) and Amaterasu (Beta Hydri) takes a very different turn, developing global, organic intelligences called Life Mothers evolved from human consciousnesses "downloaded" into the terraformed planetary flora. One character, Anson Guthrie, founder of Fireball Enterprises, the company that led the early exploration of the Solar System, plays several key roles throughout the centuries of these stories by virtue of having been one of the first humans to have his consciousness "downloaded" into a computer.

Bibliography

Image - Harvest of Stars cover illustration

Illustration by Vincent Di Fate

A comprehensive list of Fireball stories and novels, including reprints, in internal chronological order, beginning with Harvest of Stars (1993), including the story "Renascence" (Analog, March 1995) and concluding with The Fleet of Stars.

Gallery

Image - The Stars Are Also Fire cover illustration

Illustration by Vincent Di Fate

Cover and interior llustrations from Fireball works, including reprints and foreign editions.

Chronology

Image - The Fleet of Stars cover illustration

Illustration by Vincent Di Fate

A chronological complilation of major Fireball future historical events.

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