The Child Garden
Encyclopedia
The Child Garden is a 1989 science fiction
novel
by Geoff Ryman
. It won both the Arthur C. Clarke Award
and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award in 1990.
The novel is structured as two books with a brief introduction. The first book was originally published as Love Sickness in the Summer and Autumn 1987 editions of the British literary magazine Interzone
. It won the 1988 BFSA Award and placed 8th in the Locus Poll Award for Best Novella.
cancer has been cured, but as a result the human lifespan has been halved. The novel tells the story of Milena, a young woman who is immune to the viruses which are routinely used to educate people.
It is a world transformed by global warming and by advances in genetic engineering
. Houses, machines, even spaceships are genetically-engineered life-forms.
Milena works as an actress and the story follows her attempts to stage an opera based on Dante's Divine Comedy using holograms. The opera is written by her genetically modified friend Rolfa. As she works on the opera she encounters the ruling body of the world, "The Consensus" a hive mind made up of the mental patterns of billions of children. Milena slowly discovers that this gestalt consciousness is lonely and afraid of dying and is looking to Milena as a form of salvation.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Geoff Ryman
Geoff Ryman
Geoffrey Charles Ryman is a writer of science fiction, fantasy and surrealistic or "slipstream" fiction.Ryman currently lectures in Creative Writing for University of Manchester's English Department. His most recent full-length novel, The King's Last Song, is set in Cambodia, both at the time of...
. It won both the Arthur C. Clarke Award
Arthur C. Clarke Award
The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. The award was established with a grant from Arthur C. Clarke and the first prize was awarded in 1987...
and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award in 1990.
The novel is structured as two books with a brief introduction. The first book was originally published as Love Sickness in the Summer and Autumn 1987 editions of the British literary magazine Interzone
Interzone (magazine)
Interzone is an award-winning British fantasy and science fiction magazine. Published since 1982, Interzone is the eighth longest-running science fiction magazine in history and the longest-running British SF magazine...
. It won the 1988 BFSA Award and placed 8th in the Locus Poll Award for Best Novella.
Plot introduction
In a future semitropical EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
cancer has been cured, but as a result the human lifespan has been halved. The novel tells the story of Milena, a young woman who is immune to the viruses which are routinely used to educate people.
It is a world transformed by global warming and by advances in genetic engineering
Genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...
. Houses, machines, even spaceships are genetically-engineered life-forms.
Milena works as an actress and the story follows her attempts to stage an opera based on Dante's Divine Comedy using holograms. The opera is written by her genetically modified friend Rolfa. As she works on the opera she encounters the ruling body of the world, "The Consensus" a hive mind made up of the mental patterns of billions of children. Milena slowly discovers that this gestalt consciousness is lonely and afraid of dying and is looking to Milena as a form of salvation.
External links
- The Child Garden at Worlds Without End