Monday, May 15, 2006

We Have a Winner!

Ran correctly guessed the identity of the Burned Book as...

{drumroll}

Earth Abides by George R. Stewart!

Ran, if you're reading this and not the comment thread, e-mail me at andrew dot wheeler at doubledayent dot com to claim your prizes. (Though I'm not sure how you'll be able to prove you are yourself.)

Thanks to everyone who played, and watch for another Antick Musings Contest...well, sometime, maybe.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I don't find it hard to believe that somebody objected to Earth Abides on the grounds that it wasn't what they expected from science fiction. Now, it's been a really long time since I read it, but I recall a bunch of quite normal people who survive entirely by chance a blitz epidemic (a virulent mutant virus? that spreads within a month or so because of air travel) and mostly don't spend their time fighting each other off with makeshift weapons but foraging for stuff to stay alive with. I think some fans would like the survivors to survive because they're Special, would like the virus to be the weapon of a maniacal villain,and would object to the mundanity of the conclusion (they just kind of go on, adapting their culture to what they have, forgetting some stuff but not other stuff).

But it's hard to believe the passion of your corespondent after 20 years. That a middle-aged person could feel this strongly about a story like that is just puzzling. Could it be because of the idea that Earth goes on whether or not we're on it?

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