The Boat of a Million Years

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may require copy-editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone or spelling. You can assist by editing it. (April 2008)

The Boat of a Million Years
Cover of first edition (hardcover)
Author	Poul Anderson
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Science fiction novel
Publisher	Tor Books
Publication date	November 1989
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	470 pp
ISBN	0-312-93199-9
OCLC Number	20355757
Dewey Decimal	813/.54 20
LC Classification	PS3551.N378 B6 1989

The Boat of a Million Years is a science fiction novel by Poul Anderson first published in 1989 and nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel that same year.^[1] It was also nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel and the Prometheus Award in 1990.^[2]

Contents 1 Plot introduction 2 Timeline 3 Immortal Physiology 4 Notes 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Plot introduction

The novel follows a group of ten immortals from the ancient past to the semi-distant future. Most of the novel follows the various immortals throughout their lives as they try to find others like themselves, avoid being killed, and remain quiet about their gift. Gradually, the immortals begin to meet across the world and form a family of sorts. After sharing their secret of immortality to the rest of humanity, the ensuing years results in a human culture they no longer relate to or fit in with. Consequently, they create and crew a starship to explore new civilizations within the galaxy.

[edit] Timeline

• ~2000 B.C.(perhaps a bit earlier) Birth of Nornagest.
• 1000 B.C. Birth of the immortal Hanno, a Phoenician sailor.
• 310 B.C. Hanno hears that a philosopher named Pytheas is looking for a sailor to lead an expedition to locate a possible sea-route to the far North to avoid the dangers from the Gauls. Hanno meets with him and agrees to head the expedition from Massalia (ancient Marseilles) to the north seas.
• 27 B.C. Patulcius, an immortal, is born to a family of equestrian class in Rome. He takes a job in the Roman Empire's bureaucracy; when it is time for him to retire, he moves far away and simply starts his career anew with a new identity, repeating the process as needed.
• 79 B.C. Tu Shan, an immortal, is born in the Three Great Rocks district.
• 1 A.D. Hanno lives as a trader in Britannia.
• 19 A.D. Tu Shan wanders from village to village in China preaching Taoist philosophy. He is approached by the Emperor of China's men who want him to serve in the emperor's court. He refuses and begins to travel eastward, eventually arriving in Tibet.
• 279 A.D. Hanno and Rufus' estimation of the time of Rufus' birth.
• 330 A.D. Patulcius moves to Byzantium with Constantine I.
• 359 A.D. Hanno has moved to Burdigala (Bordeaux) and become a successful merchant. During the decline of the Roman Empire he befriends Rufus. Rufus and Hanno flee Bordeaux and start to travel around Europe looking for others like themselves.
• 641 A.D. Aliyat is forced to leave her people out of fear that they will kill her for never aging.
• 698 A.D. Nornagest tracks down another immortal, a Viking warlord, Starkadh. He attempts to get Starkadh to join him, but Starkadh is more interested in plunder and glory. Starkadh later dies in battle.
• 998 A.D. After getting baptized, Nornagest chooses to die by consciously stopping his heart.
• 1068 A.D. Patulcius is in Anatolia when it is conquered by the Great Seljuq Empire.
• 1170 A.D. Asagoa is born in Japan.
• 1072 A.D. Hanno, under the alias Cadoc, tracks down Aliyat who is living as a high-class prostitute under the name Athenais in Constantinople.
• 1453 A.D. When the Ottoman Turks captured the city Oktay Saygun returns to join the civil service again.
• 1540 A.D. Hanno leaves a box containing a physical description of himself in a church, with instructions not to be opened for a hundred years, to prove his immortality.
• 1570 A.D. Tu Shan and Asagoa meet in Tibet, marry and have a child who dies shortly after being born.
• 1572 A.D. Tu Shan and Asagoa leave the Tibetan village and journey out into the world.
• 1640 A.D. Hanno, as Jacques Lacy of Ireland, meets with Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu to discuss the possibility of revealing their existence.
• 1710 A.D. John Wanderer leaves his tribe.
• 1872 A.D. Going under the name of Tarrant, Hanno pursues a Native American named Peregrino (who later takes the name John Wanderer) as Hanno believes that Wanderer is also an immortal. In the pursuit Rufus is killed trying to save a family from a native American attack.
• 1908 A.D. Patulcius works as a low-level bureaucrat in Turkey.
• 1925 A.D. John Wanderer locates and identifies Tu Shan and Asagoa. He meets with them in Tibet and speaks to them through an interpreter. At the time he is only able to hint at his true identity (as an immortal) and his belief about their identities. He proposes to return in fifty years.
• 1938 A.D. Hanno, as Kyrie McCready, meets Patulcius, as Oktay Saygun, having located him by placing an advertisement written by John Wanderer which reads, "Those who have lived so long that our forefathers are like brothers and comrades to them." Patulcius admits to Hanno that he is an immortal and agrees to keep in touch but makes it clear that he likes his life and doesn't want to join up with Hanno.
• 1975 A.D. John Wanderer makes good on his promise and returns to Tu Shan and Asagoa. Tu Shan and Asagoa reveal that their children are all mortal despite the fact that they have two immortal parents. Wanderer convinces them to join him and Hanno in America. Hanno has been placing ads asking other immortals to join him. He has also founded a research team to find out how to grant immortality to everyone.
• In the future, everyone is immortal, and the Immortals have long ago revealed themselves. There is no civil service, so Patulcius is no longer employable. Tu Shan has tried to return to a primitive life and failed, as there is no longer a market for his handicrafts. They, mostly Hanno, convince the government to build them a ship with which to explore the universe.
• (some time later) They are on a near light speed ship to find other intelligent life. During the voyage, Hanno goes against the wishes of the crew and turns the ship in another direction. He spends an unspecified amount of time being ostracized by them for this.

[edit] Immortal Physiology

Immortals age to about 25 years and then stop. When their teeth wear out or are knocked out, they regrow. Immortals receive no permanent scars. They also seem to never get sick. At some point, they go through a period when they have to train their minds to deal with the large amounts of memory they have accumulated. They remain fertile for as long as they live. They are not impervious to mortal wounds. They are able to recover completely from serious, and even life threatening injuries, but are not capable of recovering from (for example) a stab to the heart, or decapitation. It is possible to break bones, and sustain other serious injuries, however they do recover from them, healing completely.

[edit] Notes

Chapter 3, "The Comrade," was originally printed in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact in June of 1998

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The Boat of a Million Years at Worlds Without End