1. EachPod

#138 Death is no obstacle: The Ophiuchi Hotline (1977) by John Varley

Author
Andy Johnson
Published
Fri 03 Jan 2025
Episode Link
None

Hundreds of years from now, there is not a single human being on Earth. The species has been exiled to the moon, Mars, and other worlds of the solar system. A powerful alien race has reserved the planet we think of as "ours", and given it over to the real intelligent life: dolphins and whales. Fortunately, humankind has mysterious friends in high places, who offer powerful technological fixes. 

John Varley's debut novel The Ophiuchi Hotline (1977) is a story of a changed and changeable human future in which transplants are trivial, body modification is easy, and death is optional - but in which our species may be running out of time.

Get in touch with a text message!

For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andyjohnson.xyz. To get free weekly classic SF updates, sign up here.

Share to: