Book Review - "The Boat of a Million Years"

I’d rather re-read a book I’ve loved than slog through something new that doesn’t inspire me. For example, in spite of it’s being Elon Musk’s favorite novel, I gave up on Neal Stephenson’s “Seveneves” after less than a hundred pages. It’s like my 20-minute rule for movies; blame short attention span or just my slow, deliberate reading style, but I want language that’s thrilling to read, not just cool ideas. Stephenson says his book about an exodus from a doomed Earth was inspired by a book he read long ago, the title of which he’s forgotten. I’m pretty sure he’s talking about “Exit Earth” by Martin Caidin, which was way cool. (I especially loved the use of bamboo as a renewable and strong building material within the Caidin’s ark!)

But I put “Seveneves” down and picked up - for the third time - “The Boat of a Million Years” by Poul Anderson, a gorgeously-evocative history of civilization as witnessed by a handful of people who just happen to have an “immortal” gene, not aging past 25 and whose bodies are also highly resilient. They can be killed like anyone else, but, barring that, they have to deal with watching their loved ones fade and pass away, over and over. They also have to reinvent themselves, because their agelessness eventually cause whatever community they’re in to begin to regard them as something evil. The idea of beginning over many times through the centuries sounds exhausting, but these few are always 25, a pretty resilient, energetic and lusty age. Most of the book deals with how they find each other, and it ain’t easy, because of their need for secrecy, and simply because the world - from ancient Greece, the Roman empire, the barbarian invasions, the middle ages and even more modern times - is disconnected and dangerously brutal. What I found so impressive were the characters and their environments, which are described with an abundance of descriptive skill, such that you can imagine being in these ancient places and times.

“The Boat of a Million Years” came out in 1989, so recent history isn’t part of the story. I imagine a movie version that would incorporate our digital world, leading to the coming singularity of A.I. and nanotechnology, when man and machine may be integrated in some form of intellectual immortality. This idea is addressed in the story, but without the perspective we have now. It provides the plot point for a final, futuristic phase for our immortals. But for me, the delight of this book is the glimpses of past civilizations and lives. Read it as history, not just science fiction.

Use the link below to purchase the book. Once you do, you'll see that used copies are less than $2.