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Oct 1, 2012 · October 1, 2012 by Ken. The December issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction contains my story, “The Waves.”. This post contains spoilers after the break. “The Waves” is a companion to “Arc.”. Both began with the premise that human longevity is going to make us effectively immortal. In “Arc,” Lena choose not to live forever.
By Ken Liu, first published in Asimov's Science Fiction. A woman on a generation ship is offered the chance of immortality, and ultimately lives long enough to become part of subsequent 'waves' of human evolution - from man, to immortal, to machine, to pure energy - over countless millennia. Maggie is one of the original explorers on the Sea ...
Liu’s story The Waves begins with the premise that human extended longevity is going to make people effectively immortal, the waves of humanity spreading out from Earth and reaching into the whole galaxy. Each succeeding wave overtaking the one before it, the biologically immortal wave is overtaken by that of improved transhumans and cyborgs.
The Waves feels to me like the creme de la creme of short story sci-fi writing. Packed with intriguing concepts, expertly paced, juxtaposed with metaphor that eludes filler the deeper one reads, and imbues the writing with a sense of spirituality that few pieces attain.
The Waves is a portrait of the intertwined lives of six friends: Bernard, Neville, Louis, Jinny, Susan, and Rhonda. THe novel is divided into nine sections, each of which corresponds to a time fo day, and, symbolically, to a period in the lives of the characters. Each section begins with a detailed description of the course of this symbolic day.
- Virginia Woolf
- 1931
The waves crash and the spray leaps high, leaving pools inland and stranding a fish that lashes its tail as the waves draw back. All six friends have moved into midlife busyness. Louis is content, "spreading commerce where there was chaos in the far parts of the world." Also, Rhoda and Louis become lovers.
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The Waves is structurally and thematically determined by the passing of time; its organizing structure is the twin timeframes of the lifespan of the six friends and the simultaneous daytime passing of the sun over a shoreline landscape, which is captured in the italicized poetic interludes that begin each section.
