Genesis

Poul Anderson

Christian Brannock and Laurinda Ashcroft are two humans from different eras. He lived in our near future. She lived a billion years later. Yet they share an unusual destiny. They both have had their soul downloaded into a machine. His roams the universe. Hers governs Earth.

This book chronicles their lives throughout the epochs, from the time they still live in their flesh bodies until they meet near the end of Earth's time. They observe what happens to humans and Earth over the ages. They have to decide if it is time to let it end or not.

This book kept losing me. Anderson expounds his theories of the far future as Earth shifts through more ice ages and retreats. He looks to the millenia ahead when Earth is ready to die. He makes occasional stops along the way to get a glimpse of the changes that happen to society and how it is affected when controlled by a well-meaning machine. Usually it lost my interest. Sometimes it lost an understandable story line. They way it jumps from one age to the next can be confusing. Most of it is understandable when pulled together at the end, but the end does not justify some of the scenes we have read. They make no appreciable difference to this muddy story.

Since Anderson is writing, it is not too bad. His writing is still good and is what helps keep the book going. But there are other novels out there by him. If you are looking for his work, try one of those instead.