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I've never saw a mention of this, but I've assumed Alpha Centauri got a lot of inspiration from Frank Herbert's Pandora Sequence [1] - specifically the native e
by ianbicking 5y ago
I've never saw a mention of this, but I've assumed Alpha Centauri got a lot of inspiration from Frank Herbert's Pandora Sequence [1] - specifically the native ecology. Book 1 and 2 are flawed but have lots of interesting ideas; book 0.5 and 3 are more a bit more iffy, though book 0.5's concept of soldering your way to the singularity is a very 60's take.
If Alpha Centauri's concept of parallel colonization by a group of rivalrous and ideological charismatic leaders is explored in a book as well, I bet that would be fun.
[1] https://www.goodreads.com/series/129586-the-pandora-sequence https://www.goodreads.com/series/129586-the-pandora-sequence
- chongli 5y agoThe book Albion’s Seed presents an historian’s theory that the United States is the result of parallel colonization by four ideologically and culturally distinct groups. Slate Star Codex had an excellent review of it [1]. [1] https://slatestarcodex.com/2016/04/27/book-review-albions-seed/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2016/04/27/book-review-albions-se...
- jerf 5y agoIIRC, Alpha Centauri's manual had a set of influences listed at the end, and Herbert was definitely in there. It is arguably the clearest single influence to the setting.
- ianbicking 5y agoOh yeah, reading the PDF [1] the first fiction book listed: "THE JESUS INCIDENT Frank Herbert A speculative and philosophical tour de force by my favorite science fiction author. You’ll probably have to search used bookstores for this one, but it’s well worth it. My favorite science fiction novel ever. A clear inspiration for the story of Planet." That manual is quite something! Moon comparisons, a long short story, tons of background material on each attribute of the planet...