The Seedling Stars (Magill’s Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature)
At a glance:
- Author: James Blish
- First Published: 1957
- Type of Work: Stories
- Type of Plot: Science fiction—future history
- Time of Work: Various times from the near to the distant future
- Setting: Earth and other planets
- Genres: Short fiction, Science fiction
- Subjects: Future, Other worlds, Space flight or travel, Bioengineering or biotechnology, Earth
- Locales: Earth, Fictional planets
The Plot
The central idea of The Seedling Stars is that it is preferable to adapt human beings genetically to different planetary conditions (pantropy) rather than making the planets habitable for humans (terraforming). In the first story, this idea is considered to be criminal by the Greater Earth Port Authority, which, in the near future, controls space travel and wants to terraform Mars in order to collect landing fees and to get rid of part of the pullulating masses of Earth. Sweeney, a genetically altered man brought up in total isolation in a Moon laboratory, is...
[The entire page is 880 words long]
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