The Jesus Incident

$75.00
By Moons Rare Books

6W Frank Herbert & Bill Ransom. London: Victor Gollancz, 1979. First Edition

Notes

This compelling collaborative effort unites the visionary prowess of Frank Herbert (1920–1986), legendary creator of the Dune chronicles, with the lyrical sensibilities of Bill Ransom (b. 1945), an acclaimed American poet and novelist. By the late 1970s, Herbert sought to expand his claustrophobic 1966 techno-thriller, Destination: Void, into a grander narrative epic. He paired with Ransom to inject a fresh, poetic vitality and a deeper human focus into his dense philosophical musings on artificial intelligence. This partnership successfully bridged Herbert’s complex thematic obsessions with systemic ecology and socio-politics alongside Ransom’s background in micro-level characterization and verse, resulting in a legendary science fiction partnership that went on to spawn three highly regarded collaborative novels.

Serving as the explosive first volume of the Pandora Sequence trilogy, the book follows the survivors of humanity who are delivered by "Ship"—a conscious, self-aware starship that has achieved godback omnipotence—to the deeply hostile, poisonous world of Pandora. Rather than finding a safe haven, the human colonists are forced to fight for survival against deadly native lifeforms, ranging from armored predators to an interconnected, intelligent kelp species. Meanwhile, the true conflict lies overhead: Ship demands that its human creators figure out how to genuinely "WorShip" it, or face total annihilation. It stands as a masterful, gripping examination of artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, and the intersections of religion, ecology, and human arrogance.
Description
Tangerine cloth binding with gilt lettering to spine. Original pictorial dustwrapper. Fine condition. 
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