3 ms·
I'm a huge fan of the Vermillion Sands anthology. A group of stories set in a future resort town populated mainly by bored celebrities, rich people, artists an
by lordfrito 3y ago
I'm a huge fan of the Vermillion Sands anthology. A group of stories set in a future resort town populated mainly by bored celebrities, rich people, artists and other oddballs... The stories center around the dystopia that emerges when technology gives these neurotic/narcissistic humans too much power and too much free time. The games bored rich people play, the traps we fall into, etc. The day to day "leisure" aspect of the stories makes the world they live in almost mundane, while at the same time its terrifyingly familiar.
Although in many ways the "future tech" in the stories is dated, the humans in the stories haven't changed a bit. Always felt these stories are relevant to the technology enabled problems we're facing today. Humans are the problem. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
- scandox 3y agoThe Vermilion Sands stories are definitely an acquired taste and I think Ballard did have a genuine and perverse attraction to high society (admittedly one of his own creation). I find them difficult to love.