Brian Stableford

Architects of Emortality

Justin Jerome Price

In the strictest sense, Architects of Emortality by Brian Stableford is a whodunit. Its premise a relatively simple one. In the twenty-fifth century where death is rare and murder rarer, a long lived, famous, and influential architect has been murdered. And while that may sound mundane for a science fiction story, it is the manner of weapon which draws the attention of the U.N. World Police and a powerful cabal of Capitalists derisively known as MegaMall: flowers. Flowers that have been discovered to be genetically engineer to implant itself within their specific host anddevour the flesh, leaving behind only a skeleton intertwined with black flowers, delivered with a kiss by a femme fatale. And yet the story is more than a mere whodunit. The story touches upon the theme of creativity repressed leading to regret versus creativity unbounded by conventional norms. Upon themes of what does it mean to be a human being that can live--through the use of nanotechnology and rejuvenation treatments—about two hundred and forty years before their minds decay due to the treatment among the next generation of human beings tha have been genetically engineered as an embryo to live indefinitely. In short to live knowing one is obsolete due to mere chance. In many ways, this story is not so much a whodunit, but a whyhedunit. And regardless if one agrees with or disagrees with the suggested motive for the murder, it is very captivating nonetheless.

Architects of Emortality

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