In the Company of Others
Encyclopedia
In the Company of Others is a stand alone novel
written by the Canadian author
Julie E. Czerneda
. It was first published by DAW Books
in June of 2001 and distributed by Penguin Putnam Inc. In 2002 it won the Prix Aurora Award for Best Long-form work in English. The cover art of the first edition was created by Luis Royo
and Features the main character, Aaron Pardell, sliding along the cables Outside of Thromberg station.
Thromberg Station, one of a network of stations built to accommodate the traffic to the terraformed worlds, is where much of the story takes place. When the emigration is foiled, the station becomes grossly overpopulated with immigrants unable to go elsewhere. People must learn to survive when food, air, water, privacy and even reproduction necessitate strict control and compromise.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
written by the Canadian author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
Julie E. Czerneda
Julie E. Czerneda
Julie E. Czerneda is a Canadian science fiction and fantasy author. She has written at least 9 SF novels, including the Prix Aurora winner In the Company of Others, a number of short stories; and has edited several anthologies....
. It was first published by DAW Books
DAW Books
DAW Books is an American science fiction and fantasy publisher, founded by Donald A. Wollheim following his departure from Ace Books in 1971. The company therefore claims to be "the first publishing company ever devoted exclusively to science fiction and fantasy." The first DAW Book published was...
in June of 2001 and distributed by Penguin Putnam Inc. In 2002 it won the Prix Aurora Award for Best Long-form work in English. The cover art of the first edition was created by Luis Royo
Luis Royo
Luis Royo is a Spanish artist, known for his sensual and dark paintings, its apocalyptic imagery, his fantasy worlds and mechanical life forms...
and Features the main character, Aaron Pardell, sliding along the cables Outside of Thromberg station.
Setting
The story is set in a future where Earth has become crowded and Humanity prompted to expand beyond Sol system. Teams of terraformers have been sent to prepare new planets, making them suitable for sustaining humans. Space stations have been built to accommodate the flood of emigration to the new worlds. Humanity was eager to set out to their new homes and potentially make first contact with sentient alien beings until the deadly Quill effect made habitation on the terraformed worlds impossible. The Quill spread rapidly from planet to planet, mysteriously killing all in their path. Immigrants to the new worlds become stranded on the stations, unable to continue to their intended homes and not permitted to return from where they came when Earth sanctioned quarantine against all those outside of Sol system in an effort to keep the poorly understood Quill from striking at humanity's core.Thromberg Station, one of a network of stations built to accommodate the traffic to the terraformed worlds, is where much of the story takes place. When the emigration is foiled, the station becomes grossly overpopulated with immigrants unable to go elsewhere. People must learn to survive when food, air, water, privacy and even reproduction necessitate strict control and compromise.
External Links
- Julie E. Czerneda's official Site Contains an excerpt from this book, author's commentary about the theme's, and an interesting short story telling of events after those of the novel.