Palimpsest (novella) explained

Palimpsest
Author:Charles Stross
Country:United Kingdom
Language:English
Genre:Science fiction novel
Publisher:Subterranean Press
Release Date:31 August 2011
Media Type:Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
Pages:136 pp
Isbn:978-1596064218

Palimpsest is a 2009 science fiction novella by Charles Stross, exploring the conjunction of time travel and deep time. Originally published in Stross's 2009 collection Wireless, it won the 2010 Hugo Award for Best Novella.[1]

Subterranean Press has announced that they will be reprinting the novella separately in 2011.[2]

Inspiration

Stross has stated that Palimpsest is effectively a rewrite of The End of Eternity, by Isaac Asimov.[3]

Plot

Pierce is a police officer with the Stasis, a special institution dedicated to the preservation of humanity by its agents who are able to travel through time. After every extinction event resulting in humanity's end, the Stasis reseeds Earth with a replacement group of humans time-jumped from an earlier era. However, the Opposition, an organisation that seems to struggle against the Stasis, has been created over time, and it seems that Pierce is somehow tied to it.

Notes and References

  1. http://www.thehugoawards.org/2010/09/2010-hugo-award-winners/ 2010 Hugo Award Winners
  2. http://www.subterraneanpress.com/index.php/2011/05/11/charles-stross-palimpsest-update/ Charles Stross --PALIMPSEST update
  3. http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2011/04/last-time-i-did-this-i-lied.html "Last time I did this, I Lied"