Outnumbering the Dead
Several centuries in
the future, human society has reached a state of near-utopia. All
communicable diseases have been eradicated and people live affluent,
fulfilled lives. Lukewarm fusion provides almost limitless energy
supplies, making space travel, even travel to far-distant stars, cheap
and easy. And people have time for such pleasure cruises now, for a
simple prebirth operation ensures the body will not age. Other than
fatal accidents, there's every reason to expect to live forever.
Perfect - except perfection somehow never includes everyone, and Rafiel's
perfect world is marred by the fact that he is aging and he will die.
In a peaceful world of ten trillion immortals, what is it that gives life meaning?
Poignant and insightful, Outnumbering the Dead is a tale of quiet beauty, gentle humor, and exceptional brilliance from one of the greatest science
fiction writers of this century.
Frederik Pohl
Frederik George Pohl, Jr. (1919-2013) was an American science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career spanning over seventy years. From about 1959 until 1969, Pohl edited Galaxy magazine and its sister magazine If, winning the Hugo for if three years in a row. His writing also won him three Hugos and multiple Nebula Awards. He became a Nebula Grand Master in 1993.
Frederik Pohl used these pseudonyms: Edson McCann, Jordan Park, Elton V. Andrews, Paul Fleur, Lee Gregor, Warren F. Howard, Scott Mariner, Ernst Mason, James McCreigh, Dirk Wilson, Donald Stacy and James MacCreigh.