The Stone Gods (novel)

The Stone Gods is a 2007 novel by Jeanette Winterson.[1][2] It is mainly a post apocalyptic love story concerned with corporate control of government, the harshness of war, and the dehumanization that technology brings, among other themes. The novel is self-referential, where later characters in the story find and read earlier sections of the book itself, and where certain sets of characters’ story arcs repeat, particularly those of a Robo sapiens named Spike and her reluctant human companion, Billie. This technique sets the book in the postmodernist genre, though it is mainly used to warn against history’s tendency to repeat itself, as well as humanity’s inability to learn from past mistakes, even when these mistakes repeat across history, planets, and their respective evolutionary timelines.

The Stone Gods
First edition
AuthorJeanette Winterson
PublisherHamish Hamilton
Publication date
2007
Pages224
ISBN0-241-14395-0

Ursula Le Guin, while criticizing exposition and sentimentality, thought the novel a worthwhile and cautionary tale.[3]

Andrew Milner, a literary critic and author of Science Fiction and Climate Change, notes that this book is an early example of 'doomer' climate fiction.[4]

A novel in four parts
  • "Planet Blue" – set in a futuristic past, where humanity's destruction of its own homeworld, Orbus, seems to be fixed when they come across and terraform another viable planet.
  • "Easter Island" – set in the 18th century, a time when Easter Island's inhabitants destroyed many of the moai statues (and the last tree) on their island.
  • "Post-3War" – set in "Tech City" after World War III, with Billie educating Spike, the Robo sapiens.
  • "Wreck City" – set in the same setting, although moved to a derelict trash city where those abandoned by the corporate-controlled society struggle to live.

References
  1. Cokal, Susann (2008-03-30). "She, Robot". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  2. "The Stone Gods Book Review". Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  3. Guin, Ursula K. Le (2007-09-22). "Review: The Stone Gods by Jeanette Winterson". The Guardian.
  4. Knibbs, Kate (17 February 2020). "The Hottest New Literary Genre Is 'Doomer Lit'". Wired. Retrieved 28 April 2020.


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