I have read almost all the works of the Master—Isaac Asimov, the works of Frank Herbert (and indeed, several of his sons), Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Frederik Pohl, William Gibson, Octavia Butler, Ursula K. LeGuin, et al. I am a sci-fi head. Yet few works have moved me as deeply, as thoroughly, as Terry Bisson’s Fire On The Mountain. Part of it is sheer fascination, the fruit of all well done sci-fi, for if all fiction is creative, sci-fi goes another step further into worlds known and unknown, into that undiscovered country of the future. But Bisson’s work breaks into a future that rarely raises its head in this genre. Again, I say this as a true head, who has not only read classics, but viewed the film versions of such works with a critical eye. Have you noticed how much of sci-fi is not so much futuristic, as it is a projection of a future where whites are many and people of color are few? Have you ever watched a movie such as Logan’s Run, and spent the first two-thirds of the movie wondering where all the black folks are?
What do You think about Fire On The Mountain (2009)?
