Beyond the Doors of Death

In 1974, SFWA Grandmaster Silverberg (Tales of Majipoor) published a novella, “Born With the Dead,” detailing the tragic love of a husband for his newly resurrected (aka “rekindled”) wife. Jorge Klein, unable to let Sybille go, tracks her movements and even infiltrates a colony of rekindled, until Sybille’s new companions put an end to his attempts at reunion. What Silverberg left unanswered, Australian critic Broderick (Science Fiction: The 101 Best Novels, 1985–2010) explains in “Quicken,” which picks up after Jorge has died and been resurrected. He becomes a spokesman for the rekindled and is pulled into the struggles to uncover the origins of rekindle technology, as the living stage an inevitable revolt against an unaging undead aristocracy. While Broderick does not recapture the intimacy of Silverberg’s original, which is included in this volume, he does add broad, intriguing speculation on human evolution and first contact. (June)