The Child Garden | The Child Garden

At a glance:

Author: Geoff Ryman
First Published: 1989
Type of Work: Novel
Type of Plot: Science fiction—extrapolatory
Time of Work: The near future
Setting: Czechoslovakia, London, and outer space
Genres: Long fiction, Science fiction
Subjects: Homosexuality or homosexuals, Future, Cancer, Lesbianism or lesbians, London, Bioengineering or biotechnology, Immunity, Intellect, Czechoslovakia or Czechoslovakians, Angels, Viruses
Locales: Space, London, England, Czechoslovakia

The Plot

In the futuristic London of The Child Garden (subtitled A Low Comedy), bioengineered viruses infect people with common knowledge. Babies can add, and five-year-olds quote William Shakespeare. The viruses were designed to cure cancer. Unfortunately, the cure is worse than the disease, because cells now lack the ability to reproduce after a person reaches the age of thirty-five, halving the normal human life span.

The Consensus governs. It comprises personality copies of all the people who are “read” into it. Reading usually occurs when a person...

The Child Garden | The Child Garden

At a glance:

The Plot

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