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''Marooned in Realtime'' is a 1986
murder mystery Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a profession ...
and
time-travel Time travel is the hypothetical activity of traveling into the past or future. Time travel is a concept in philosophy and fiction, particularly science fiction. In fiction, time travel is typically achieved through the use of a device known a ...
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
novel by American writer
Vernor Vinge Vernor Steffen Vinge (; October 2, 1944 – March 20, 2024) was an American science fiction author and professor. He taught mathematics and computer science at San Diego State University. He was the first wide-scale popularizer of the technolo ...
, about a small, time-displaced group of people who may be the only survivors of a
technological singularity The technological singularity—or simply the singularity—is a hypothetical point in time at which technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseeable consequences for human civilization. According to the ...
or alien invasion. It is the sequel to the novel ''
The Peace War ''The Peace War'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Vernor Vinge, about authoritarianism and technological progress. It was first published as a serial in ''Analog'' in 1984, and in book form shortly afterward. It was nominated for th ...
'' (1984) and the novella '' The Ungoverned'' (1985). Both novels and the novella were collected in ''Across Realtime''. ''Marooned in Realtime'' won the
Prometheus Award The Prometheus Award is an award for libertarian science fiction given annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society. American author and activist L. Neil Smith established the Best Novel category for the award in 1979; however, it was not award ...
in 1987 and was also nominated for the
Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...
for Best Novel that same year.


Plot summary

A bobbler is a device that can create a "bobble", a spherical stasis field in which time stands still for a specified length of outside time, allowing what is essentially one-way time travel into the future. The bobble can also be used as a weapon, a shield against other weapons, for storage, for space travel (combined with
nuclear pulse propulsion Nuclear pulse propulsion or external pulsed plasma propulsion is a hypothetical method of spacecraft propulsion that uses nuclear explosions for thrust. It originated as Project ''Orion'' with support from DARPA, after a suggestion by Stanislaw ...
), and other purposes. People whose bobbles burst after a certain date in the 23rd century find the Earth completely devoid of human life, with only ambiguous clues as to the cause; possibilities include alien attack and humanity transcending to a new level of existence as a result of a
technological singularity The technological singularity—or simply the singularity—is a hypothetical point in time at which technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseeable consequences for human civilization. According to the ...
. The "low-techs" — those who bobbled earlier — have roughly late-21st-century technology. The "high-techs" — those who had the advantage of ever accelerating progress — have vastly superior technology, including cybernetic enhancements, faster and thought-controlled bobblers, personal
automaton An automaton (; : automata or automatons) is a relatively self-operating machine, or control mechanism designed to automatically follow a sequence of operations, or respond to predetermined instructions. Some automata, such as bellstrikers i ...
extensions of self, space ships, medical technology to allow practical
immortality Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some species possess "biological immortality" due to an apparent lack of the Hayflick limit. From at least the time of the Ancient Mesopotamian religion, ancient Mesopotamians, there has been a con ...
(barring accidents or fatal injuries), and individual arsenals greater than those of entire 20th century countries. Of the high-techs, even those who bobbled at slightly different times have significantly different technology levels. The protagonist is Wil Brierson, a
detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...
who is also the protagonist of the preceding novella, '' The Ungoverned''. Some time after the events in ''The Ungoverned'', Brierson was unwillingly bobbled 10,000 years into the future while he was investigating a routine theft, cutting him off forever from his wife and children. Yelén and Marta Korolev, a high-tech couple, have spent 50 "megayears" (million years) gathering together all the survivors they can find to rebuild civilization, with the ultimate goal of creating their own technological singularity. They calculate that they will have just enough
genetic diversity Genetic diversity is the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species. It ranges widely, from the number of species to differences within species, and can be correlated to the span of survival for a species. It is d ...
to keep humanity from going extinct once the bobble containing about a hundred members of the Peace Authority bursts. When everyone bobbles ahead to the time that particular bobble will burst, and Marta is excluded from the automated bobbling due to the hacking of the Korolevs' computers. She is left stranded in "realtime", cut off from all advanced technology. Worse, the hacker extended the duration of the bobbling far beyond what was intended, and Marta dies alone on a deserted Earth. When the "murder" is discovered, Yelén Korolev recruits the low-tech Brierson, the only person with expertise in crime-solving, to find the killer. It has to be one of the seven high-techs (Brierson does not rule out Yelén herself as a suspect). Della Lu, a high-tech who was an agent of the Peace Authority during ''
The Peace War ''The Peace War'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Vernor Vinge, about authoritarianism and technological progress. It was first published as a serial in ''Analog'' in 1984, and in book form shortly afterward. It was nominated for th ...
'', agrees to assist Brierson with the technical aspects of the case. In the millions of years since the disappearance of humanity, Della had spent most of her 9,000 years alone, exploring the galaxy. She discovered that intelligent life is extremely rare, and there were parallel vanishings in the two long-gone civilizations she found, but no definitive proof of the cause. Singularities are implied to be an explanation for the
Fermi Paradox The Fermi paradox is the discrepancy between the lack of conclusive evidence of advanced extraterrestrial life and the apparently high likelihood of its existence. Those affirming the paradox generally conclude that if the conditions required ...
. The novel thus deals with the investigation of two parallel locked room mysteries: the murder of Marta Korolev, and the "locked planet" mystery of the fate of the human race. Brierson interviews each of the high-techs, seeking evidence of any motive for murder while discussing their views on why the human race vanished. When he makes the killer think he is getting too close, Brierson, Korolev and Della Lu are horrified to discover that ''all'' of the high-tech systems, except Della's, have been taken over. The combined, hijacked forces attack. Della is victorious, but at a ruinous cost: much of their equipment and about half of what remains of humanity are lost. Brierson not only unmasks the murderer, he reveals the identity of another monster in their midst. The latter had sabotaged the Korolevs' medical equipment and a
zygote A zygote (; , ) is a eukaryote, eukaryotic cell (biology), cell formed by a fertilization event between two gametes. The zygote's genome is a combination of the DNA in each gamete, and contains all of the genetic information of a new individ ...
bank, which they had planned to use to repopulate the world. Through skillful maneuvering (and a good deal of luck), Brierson manages to seize the monster's own hidden zygote bank and birthing equipment when the latter is forced to flee for his life, making it possible to restore the human race. Korolev devises a novel punishment for the killer.


Reception

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
commented "as a mystery, this is a bust, in large part because only a few central characters are more than stick figures." However,
Kirkus ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, non ...
delivered an opposite review stating that the novel was:
A marvelous extrapolative tale, to which no summary can do justice, with a gripping blend of high-tech razzle-dazzle and good old-fashioned murder-mystery--all spiced with that unique and awe-inspiring new twist on the time-travel theme.


References


External links

*
2009 review
by
Jo Walton Jo Walton (born 1964) is a Welsh-Canadian fantasy and science fiction writer and poet. She is best known for the fantasy novel '' Among Others'', which won the Hugo and Nebula Awards in 2012, and '' Tooth and Claw'', a Victorian-era novel w ...

Marooned in Realtime
at Worlds Without End {{DEFAULTSORT:Marooned In Realtime 1986 science fiction novels Transhumanist books 1986 American novels Novels by Vernor Vinge Novels about time travel Novels first published in serial form Works originally published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact American post-apocalyptic novels Novels about extraterrestrial life Speculative crime and thriller fiction novels Novels about technological singularity