User:Planita13/Sandbox2
 First edition cover | |
| Author | Jamie Woosley |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | John Schoenherr |
| Country | Template:Country data Estmere |
| Language | English |
| Series | Firstworld series |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Published | August 1967 |
| Publisher | Broadleaf Publishing |
| Media type | Print (hardcover & paperback) |
| Pages | 341 |
| Followed by | Rimworld Fall |
Firstworld is a science fiction novel by Estmerish writer Jamie Woosley. Published in 1967, it became immensely popular and won numerous literary awards, and is widely considered to be a significantly influential work in modern Estmerish science fiction. It is the first major installment of the Firstworld Revolutions, a series of novels and short stories.
Firstworld is set in the distant future, where humanity is spread across the galaxy but cannot travel or communicate faster than the speed of light, thus planets and star systems are isolated from each other. The novel follows the story of Bradward Aia, who lives on a planet in an isolated solar systems, whose world is recovering from an apocalyptic event and the resulting technological and societal collapse. The story explores the multilayered interactions of politics, religion, ecology, technology, and human emotion in the Kose region of Ekua during a chaotic interregnum on the planet.
The novel is widely considered to be a classic example of "soft" science fiction, and is one of the most famous examinations of anthropology and political science in science fiction. A major theme of the novel is the effects of culture on politics and society, explored in particular through the collapse of a global state across Ekua and the rise of local one in Kose. The novel also explores the interactions of Aia with the people he interacts with, the biological diversification of humanity, and the future of religion.
Firstworld has been reprinted numerous times, translated into over a dozen languages, and received high praise from critics. It has won numerous literary awards such as X and X. The novel is part of the Firstworld Revolutions, a series of novels and short stories written by Woosley.