Last and First Men

LAST AND FIRST MEN (1930) I re-read Olaf Stapledon’s Star Maker recently, so when Mefi discussed Last and First Men (1930) I decided to re-read that too. It’s out of copyright so you can read it here. Last known address: Neptune Overall verdict: Star Maker is far better, go read that instead. Last Men is mind-blowing in its own way, but it does tend to be repetitive. I appreciate Stapledon’s sense of the precariousness of civilization, which reads better today than the gung-ho ’50s Super-America of most classic SF. But there’s only so many ways you can repeat the theme of the rise and fall of civilizations. (On the other hand, isn’t that the aesthetic effect of Ravel’s Bolero, too?) Don’t read the abridged version, which removes the entire beginning and end chapters. I mean, come on, it’s half the size of Game of Thrones. But admittedly the beginning chapters on the First Men– i.e. us– are the worst. They’re based on weird ethnic stereotypes, and surely even if there was such a thing…