"The Pressure of Time"

Title"The Pressure of Time"
Year for Search1970
AuthorsDisch, Thomas M[ichael](1940-2008)
Secondary AuthorsKnight, Damon [Francis](1922-2002)
Secondary TitleOrbit 7: An Anthology of Brand-New SF Stories
Pagination171-95
Date Published1970-78
PublisherG. P. Putnam's Sons
Place PublishedNew York
KeywordsMale author, US author
Annotation

All the stories explore immortality. In “The Pressure of Time,” after a plague, some people are perceived to be immortal, although they may just be very long lived, and since they still procreate, the population is growing. But for some, even among the mortals, the world is a better place because no one starves and, economically, there is no lower class. Still, the mortals resent the immortals, and the immortals hope the mortals die out. “Things Lost,” set in 2084-2085, continues the themes of the first story, as does “Mutability”; and “Chanson Perpétuelle,” set in 2098, focuses on one of the remaining mortals.

Additional Publishers

Rev. Illus. Frank Kelly Frease. Triquarterly, no. 49 (1980): 213-57.

Info Notes

Intended as part of a forthcoming novel that was never published together with “Things Lost.” In Again, Dangerous Visions Again, Dangerous Visions: 46 Original Stories. Ed. Harlan [Jay] Ellison (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1972), 592-612 with an “Introduction” (589-91) by Ellison and an “Afterword” (613) by Disch; “Mutability.” Anticipations. Ed. Christopher Priest (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1978), 107-26; and “Chanson Perpétuelle.” In Immortal: Short Novels of the Transhuman Future. Ed. Jack Dann (New York: Harper & Row, 1978), 1-56. 

Holding Institutions

PSt

Author Note

(1940-2008)

Full Text

1970-78 Disch, Thomas M. (1940-2008) “The Pressure of Time.” In Orbit 7: An Anthology of Brand-New SF Stories. Ed. Damon Knight (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1970), 171-95; rev. Illus. Frank Kelly Frease. Triquarterly, no. 49 (1980): 213-57. Intended as part of a forthcoming novel that was never published together with “Things Lost.” In Again, Dangerous Visions Again, Dangerous Visions: 46 Original Stories. Ed. Harlan [Jay] Ellison (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1972), 592-612 with an “Introduction” (589-91) by Ellison and an “Afterword” (613) by Disch; “Mutability.” Anticipations. Ed. Christopher Priest (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1978), 107-26; and “Chanson Perpétuelle.” In Immortal: Short Novels of the Transhuman Future. Ed. Jack Dann (New York: Harper & Row, 1978), 1-56. PSt

All the stories explore immortality. In “The Pressure of Time,” after a plague, some people are perceived to be immortal, although they may just be very long lived, and since they still procreate, the population is growing. But for some, even among the mortals, the world is a better place because no one starves and, economically, there is no lower class. Still, the mortals resent the immortals, and the immortals hope the mortals die out. “Things Lost,” set in 2084-2085, continues the themes of the first story, as does “Mutability”; and “Chanson Perpétuelle,” set in 2098, focuses on one of the remaining mortals.