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Bob Shaw was a Hugo nominee,
and an ardent fan as well as being a fine science fiction writer.
His stories are known for their ability to make the reader aware
of the implications of the story idea and development. One does
not read a Bob Shaw story without thinking .... or worrying ....
about the well-delineated possibilities presented ... One
Million Tomorrows holds out hope like a poisoned apple ...
COVER BLURB:
THE PRICE OF ETERNAL
LIFE
In the 22nd Century,
no one had to die of old age: an immortality drug was available
to all. its only drawback was the side-effect that ended a man's
sex drive, so most men waited till their youth was fading before
they took the final step and became "cools".
But Will Carewe became
the first man to test a new variety of the drug ... one without
any side-effects at all. The limitless future, a million tomorrows,
stretched before him with golden hope ..... until a series of
accidents made him realize that someone was trying to murder
him.
As an immortal Carewe
had an infinitely greater stake in staying alive.So he began
a battle to find out who was after him .... and why ....
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About Bob Shaw (from
WIKIPEDIA):
Bob Shaw (1931 - 1996) was a science fiction author and fan
from Northern Ireland. He was noted for his originality and wit.
He was two-time recipient (in 1979 and 1980) of the Hugo Award
for Best Fan Writer. His short story "Light of Other Days"
was a Hugo Award nominee in 1967, as was his novel The Ragged
Astronauts in 1987.
Shaw was born and raised
in Belfast, one of three brothers. He originally trained as a
structural engineer, but also worked as an aircraft designer
and journalist. He and his first wife Sadie and their children
left Northern Ireland for Ulverston, England in the mid-1970s,
because they were worried about the political situation.
He is perhaps best known
for "Light of Other Days", the story that introduced
the concept of slow glass, through which the past can
be seen. (Shaw expanded on the slow glass concept in the novel
Other Days, Other Eyes.) His work ranged from essentially
mimetic stories with fantastic elements far in the background
(Ground Zero Man) to van Vogtian extravaganzas (The
Palace of Eternity). Later in his career he began writing
trilogies: The Land trilogy (The Ragged Astronauts, The Wooden
Spaceships, and The Fugitive Worlds) was set on a
world with no metals. (Because the inhabitants had no way of
knowing what they lacked and thus could not discuss it, Shaw
asked his publishers to mention the lack of metals on the cover.)
Most of Shaw's novels are
serious, but he was known in the fan community for his wit. Every
year at the British science fiction convention Eastercon, he
would deliver a humorous speech (often part of his famous series
known by the tongue-in-cheek label of "Serious Scientific
Talks"); these were eventually collected in The Eastercon
Speeches (1979) and A Load of Old Bosh (1995). With
Walt Willis, he was the author of the allegorical The Enchanted
Duplicator, an oft-reprinted 1954 piece of fiction about
science fiction fandom explicitly modeled on John Bunyan's The
Pilgrim's Progress. He was also (with Brian Aldiss and Harry
Harrison) co-president of the Birmingham Science Fiction Group.
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