Stefen’s Bookclub – September

Norstrilia by Cordwainer Smith

This month’s book is roughly contemporary with our last book, The Man Who Fell to Earth, but a very different read. Norstrilia is actually two linked novellas presented in a single volume. They are set, as is much of Cordwainer Smith’s short fiction, in a far future galaxy spanning human society generally referred to as ‘The Instrumentality’. In Norstrilia, Smith explores ideas of immortality, disparities of wealth and power, but does it with a unique mix of the absurd and the insightful. I think of books like this as ‘Big Universe’ science fiction, and I’m a fan of its modern exponents like Iain Banks, Alastair Reynolds and Peter F Hamilton. In many ways this is the sort of book that made much of the stuff I like possible, and I’m looking forward to hearing what comes out of our reading of it.