The World Inside
Mar 2024 · Macmillan + ORM
4.4star
12 reviewsreport
Ebook
260
Pages
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About this ebook
Earth is home to seventy-five billion souls in this Hugo Award–nominated novel: "A major work of contemporary science fiction." — Locus
Welcome to Urban Monad 116. Reaching nearly two miles into the sky, the one thousand stories of this building are home to over eight hundred thousand people living in peace and harmony. In the year 2381 with a world population of over seventy-five billion souls, the massive Urbmon system is humanity's salvation.
Life in Urbmon 116 is cherished—and highly regulated. The culture of procreation is seen as the highest pinnacle of god's plan. Conflict is abhorred, and any who disturb the peace face harsh punishment—even being sent "down the chute" to be recycled as fertilizer.
But not everyone has fallen completely in line. Jason Quevedo, a historian, searches records of the twentieth century hoping to find the root of his discontent with the perfection of Urbmon life. Siegmund Kluver, a young. ambitious administrator, strives to reach the top levels of the Urbmon's government and discovers the civilization's dark truths. Michael Statler, a computer engineer, harbors a forbidden desire to leave the building—to walk in the open air and visit the far-off sea. This is a dream he must keep secret. If anyone were to find out, he'd face the worst punishment imaginable . . .
The World Inside is a fascinating exploration of society and what makes us human, told by a master of speculative fiction and winner of numerous Nebula and Hugo Awards.
Welcome to Urban Monad 116. Reaching nearly two miles into the sky, the one thousand stories of this building are home to over eight hundred thousand people living in peace and harmony. In the year 2381 with a world population of over seventy-five billion souls, the massive Urbmon system is humanity's salvation.
Life in Urbmon 116 is cherished—and highly regulated. The culture of procreation is seen as the highest pinnacle of god's plan. Conflict is abhorred, and any who disturb the peace face harsh punishment—even being sent "down the chute" to be recycled as fertilizer.
But not everyone has fallen completely in line. Jason Quevedo, a historian, searches records of the twentieth century hoping to find the root of his discontent with the perfection of Urbmon life. Siegmund Kluver, a young. ambitious administrator, strives to reach the top levels of the Urbmon's government and discovers the civilization's dark truths. Michael Statler, a computer engineer, harbors a forbidden desire to leave the building—to walk in the open air and visit the far-off sea. This is a dream he must keep secret. If anyone were to find out, he'd face the worst punishment imaginable . . .
The World Inside is a fascinating exploration of society and what makes us human, told by a master of speculative fiction and winner of numerous Nebula and Hugo Awards.
Ratings and reviews
4.4
12 reviews
A Google user
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June 20, 2011
From the very beginning we know something is terribly wrong. A heavy foreboding hangs in the air. Loss like drops of dew drips from every encounter. Here, sex is free. No guilt. No recriminations. Love is blessed. So are the children. All of them. All the millions & millions & millions still to come. And still & still, all along you sense the despair. And perhaps that is the weakness of "The World Inside." Too much doom. Too much anomie.
Ariel Melton
- Flag inappropriate
July 16, 2018
I read this book not long after it was originally published and, 30+ years
later, desired to read it again. Just as evocative as ever. Now I need to
find "Born With the Dead" and my nostalgia will be complete.
About the author
Winner of four Hugo Awards and five Nebula Awards, Robert Silverberg is one of the giants of science fiction and fantasy. A Science Fiction Writers of America Grand Master, he has written countless short stories, nonfiction books, and novels, including Dying Inside, A Time of Changes, and the bestselling Lord Valentine's Castle. Silverberg lives in Oakland, California, with his wife, writer Karen Haber.
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