David Brin is truly a science fiction luminary. Among his notable works are "Earth," "The Practice Effect," "Glory Season," "The Postman," and the award-winning Uplift series. Brin's latest book is "Heaven's Reach," which completes the second Uplift trilogy. He's also just published a nonfiction book about privacy called "The Transparent Society." Brin stopped by Amazon.com's offices to chat with us about "The Transparent Society." We asked him all kinds of questions, but none quite like the ones you'll find below in this mock interview he wrote for our Science Fiction and Fantasy e-mail subscribers.
The book featured on this page is David Brin's "Heaven's Reach"
The real Amazon.com interview with David Brin is here.
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My Amazon.com Interview... ?
by David Brin
Amazon.com: You are sometimes called a modern Bard of
Optimism. But is optimism valid any longer in today's
society?
David Brin: I have good reasons for thinking things are
getting better. From the Neanderthal era until just a few
generations ago, an opinionated contrarian like me would
most likely have been burned at the stake. But in this
culture I'm well paid and respected for spinning scenarios
about the future ... and nobody even gripes when my
prophecies sometimes prove wrong! I get to criticize icons
of authority in every direction, without fear. Is it any
wonder that I appreciate getting to live in such times?
I grew up watching missiles streak into the heavens,
wondering if some might return to blast everyone to bits. I
was vaccinated against diseases that crippled cousins of my
parents' generation. I spent scores of hours tormented in a
dentist's chair, a common experience in my day that kids
today cannot even imagine. I've seen a nation teeter on the
edge of chaos (the sixties) and come back more honorable
than before. I've also seen science unroll blueprints of the
universe before our eyes. (I even got to help unroll the
plans a little.) We live in an era of change. How people
deal with it, for well or ill, seems a worthy topic that no
genre handles better than science fiction. And much of the
change we've seen offers some reason for hope.
Alas, many people who benefited from this marvelous young
civilization call it "decadent." They say our ancestors were
better than we are ... as if that statement honors past folk
somehow. In fact, we are a mightier, wiser, better people
... exactly as our ancestors would have wanted us to be. And
if our great-grandchildren aren't vastly better than us, I
plan to come back and haunt them!
Don't call that optimism. Call it reasonable ambition. If
you want a real optimist, look up Ray Bradbury. Guy's nuts.
He actually likes people.
Amazon.com: You claim you may be the last great science
fiction author ... because of modern dentistry?
Brin: Fillings. Young folks don't have as many nowadays.
Turns out they're radio antennae to Zone X, where all the
great story ideas come from. I hears 'em all night long.
Unless that's the country station next door, frying my
neurons at 50,000 watts ... urk.
Amazon.com: Some readers find it hard to believe the same
person wrote "Glory Season," the humorous "Practice Effect,"
and "The Transparent Society." Are the worlds of fiction
and nonfiction that different?
Brin: I may be best known for big, brash space adventures
like "Heaven's Reach." But I like to alternate the gaudy,
far-future stuff with works that are more intimate and close
to home. "The Postman" wasn't even marketed as science
fiction. As for the dilemma of secrecy that I discuss in
"The Transparent Society," I also talked about it in
"Earth." But sometimes a topic is just too complex and
important to handle in a novel alone. Nonfiction is ten
times the work, for a tenth of the money. But you get to
work out an idea in some detail without having to interrupt
it with the next car chase or love scene.
Still, all told, I'll stick mostly to fiction. For one
thing, my characters can't sue me, no matter what I put them
through!
Amazon.com: Is there an overall theme one can see in every
book?
Brin: I try not to be repetitive or boring, but I'd have to
guess that all my works are in some way about growing up.
Peter Pan sounds romantic and all that. But in the long run
we'll win far greater rewards by looking the universe in the
eye, and accepting responsibility for taking care of part of
it. I guess you could compare our situation to being a
parent. Serious ... and it can be loads of fun.
Featured on this page:
"Heaven's Reach"
by David Brin.
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