Isolation Science Fiction
After reading Spin, I seem to keep running into “cut off from the rest of the universe” fiction. This review of Axis, the sequel to Spin, mentions that earlier books (Blind Lake) by Robert Charles Wilson also dealt with smaller scale tales of isolation. There’s Stephen Kings forthcoming Under the Dome of which I know little, but would seem to cover some of the same ground. The most exciting example that I discovered was Quarantine by Greg Egan. I’ve loved everything I read by Egan, so I snagged a used copy. Anyone have know other examples of this sort of large scale “isolation fiction?”
Quarantine just arrived, and the first sentence hooked me. “Only my most paranoid clients phone me in my sleep.” Immediately I’m assuming I’ve got some Noir on my hands, and because it’s Egan, I’m betting I’ll have another book to add to my Speculative Fiction Noir List.
Not complete isolation, but degrees of it, is important in “A fire upon the deep” by Vernor Vinge.
(I just found your blog btw, and I’m enjoying it.)
Vinge is on my to-read list for many reasons at this point. A general theme like “isolation” isn’t something that we normally classify fiction by, so it’s very neat that it can still evoke a good suggestion. Thanks!
And I’m glad you found the site.