The Australian writer George Turner published
five mainstream novels before turning to science
fiction, although he had written considerable criticism in the field before his first novel, Beloved Son,
appeared in 1978. The novel describes the experiences of a group of interstellar explorers who return to Earth only to discover that it has been
devastated and largely depopulated by a global war.
The new civilization that followed has apparently
forsworn many of the sins of the past, but compliance with the new order is imposed rather relentlessly, raising new questions about the role of
science in society, particularly with regard to manipulation of human DNA. Genetic engineering
would prove to be a recurring concern in Turner’s
work, and the novel became the first of three set
against a common background, known as the Ethical Society series, although these works feature no
recurring characters and no continuing story line.
The other two titles are Vaneglory (1981) and
Yesterday’s Men (1983), both of which expand on
the issues raised in the opening volume. In the first
of these, the discovery of a means to dramatically
prolong human life complicates matters even further, and in the latter we learn that despite apparent changes, human nature is relatively immutable
and the old failings persist even under these new
circumstances. Turner’s themes are serious and
complex, and his prose often intellectualized and
demanding.
Drowning Towers (1987, also published as The
Sea and Summer) was a much more commercial
book and far more successful, but without sacrificing the depth of thought of his earlier work. The
setting is a near future in which the greenhouse effect has caused a general rise in the oceans and the
loss of much coastal land in Australia and elsewhere. Despite the climatic changes, the population has continued to increase; most cities have
become unbearably dense concentrations of increasingly desperate people. Although Turner does
not minimize the challenges facing the inhabitants
of his rather daunting future, the story is relatively
upbeat.
His subsequent novels have occasionally risen
to the same level, but none of his later work was as
consistently impressive. Brain Child (1991) considers the consequences of genetic manipulation once
again. The protagonist is puzzled by a recent suicide and becomes gradually aware of a secretive
scientific project whose purpose is to enhance
human heredity and create a subset of superior humans, among whose number the narrator somewhat unsettlingly finds himself.
The Destiny Makers (1993), like Blade Runner
(1974) by Alan E. NOURSE, postulates a future in
which overpopulation has become the largest problem facing humanity, leading to unusual measures
to curtail further growth. One law prohibits the
use of extraordinary medical treatments to save individual lives, a law that is frequently disobeyed by
the very rich. Genetic Soldier (1994) is a variation
of Turner’s first novel. This time long-absent star
travelers return to an Earth where genetic engineering has been used to create an army of enhanced soldiers whose mission is to protect Earth
from all outsiders. Turner’s last novel was Down
There in the Darkness (1999), the story of two men
who are revived from suspended animation in a future in which technology has receded, with both
benefits and drawbacks.
Turner wrote very few short stories; virtually
all of these are collected in Pursuit of Miracles
(1990). He turned to science fiction very late in
his life and in his writing career, and brought with
him a maturity of viewpoint and a refinement in
narrative and prose styling that many other writers
never master. Although his futuristic settings tend
to be grim, his work is never despairing, accepting
the complexity of the problems besetting humanity
and holding out hope that we will ultimately reach
into ourselves and find a solution.