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"Does it open a new horizon for my thinking? Does it lead me to think new kinds of thoughts, that I would not otherwise perhaps have thought at all? These qualities are what [make] science fiction ...unique."
- Frederik Pohl
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| Scientific Reincarnation | ||
| Technology to allow a person to transfer themselves to a new, healthy body. |
In this excellent Hugo award-winning novel, Zelazny describes a planet that is set up on the same social structure as the Hinduism of 2,000 years ago. Except that, thanks to the technology brought with them to the planet, a pantheon of "gods" controls actual reincarnation for the populace.
The newly-incarnated Mahasamatman (Sam, to his friends), was determined to break the power of the ruling group, and stole the reincarnation technology.
| He burned his old body, along with all the others... While the banks of sperm and ova, the growth tanks and the body lockers could not be transported, the transfer equipment itself was dismantled... and its components were loaded under the horses of those who had fallen in the battle. |
| Technovelgy from Lord of Light,
by Roger Zelazny. Published by Doubleday in 1967 Additional resources -
|
In the story, people who support the ancient social structure, which deliberately stifles innovation, are well-served when they present themselves (old and gray) at the Hall of the Masters of Karma. They receive a healthy, young body of their choice.
However, people who have committed crimes against the ruling order can be sure to be reincarnated as animals (like dogs and apes) or be given bodies with genetically engineered defects, like epilepsy.
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More Ideas
and Technology from Lord of Light
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and Technology by Roger Zelazny
Tech news articles related to Lord of Light
Tech news articles related to works by Roger Zelazny
Scientific Reincarnation-related
news articles:
- China To Control Reincarnation Of Tibetan Buddhists
| Bacteria Turns Plastic Into Pain Relief? That Gives Me An Idea. |
| Heart Patches Grown In The Lab Repair Hearts |
| Pixel Watch 'Loss of Pulse Detection' And Philip K. Dick |
| ErythroMer Artificial Blood |
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'...small electric motors at the principal joints worked the prosthetic framework by means of steel cables...'
'Living protoplasm incorporated into the Ampek F-a2 recording system...'
'Twoflower's Luggage, which was currently ambling along on its little legs...'
'He came to as the ship went into free flight, arching in a high parabola over the plains...'
'The peculiar quality of this light, which gave it its great preeminence over all other penetrating rays...'
'The overworked leg motor would have to cool down before he could work on it...'
‘Where to, sport?’ the starter at cab relay asked.
