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Moran, Daniel Keys

Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.

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(1962-    ) US author who began publishing sf with "All the Time in the World" in Asimov's for May 1982, a tale which he expanded with other material into his first novel and the first volume of the projected Tales of the Great Wheel of Existence series, The Armageddon Blues: A Tale of the Great Wheel of Existence (fixup 1988). The story begins in an unremarkable Ruined Earth America featuring a not unusual Mutant barbarian female who hunts for a living; but, on her discovery of a Time Machine left by Aliens, the plot soon begins to move in complicated leaps through time and space, engaging both the protagonist, and an entropy-reversing long-lived Superman (whom she discovers in 1968), in a long arduous campaign to prevent the end of civilization. Also supposedly falling under the aegis of Tales of the Great Wheel of Existence is The Ring (1988), despite this also being connected to an unmade film version of Wagner's Ring cycle; it places its Gods (rationalized as Genetically Engineered superbeings) in a Space-Opera venue.

A second series, Tales of the Continuing Time was projected in the 1980s to extend to thirty-three volumes, although only three have appeared to date: Emerald Eyes (1988), The Long Run (1989) and The Last Dancer (1993). They feature the campaign – which again might be described as long and arduous – of a group of Genetically Engineered telepaths (see Telepathy) to maintain their Pariah Elite existence in a world of hostile normals. Increasingly through the three published volumes Moran develops a sophisticated modelling of the interactions between worldwide Computer-dominated information webs and individual humans; in the third volume, human participants in the vast plot forge Avatars to handle their interactions with the Virtual Realities that have begun to proliferate; these avatars are known technically as "image codes", but present as projected entities, and were clearly destined to play an ever-larger role in the ongoing epic.

Moran displays very considerable energy and some Humour, shows a fine van Vogt-style recklessness with superman plots; he may have been a direct influence on writers like David Marusek and John C Wright. Moran early on demonstrated a copious ambition that has unfortunately gone unrecognized in today's market. It is understood that several further novels remain unpublished in book form, though portions of some are available through his site [see links below]. [JC]

Daniel Keys Moran

born Los Angeles, California: 30 November 1962

works

series

Tales of the Great Wheel of Existence

Tales of the Continuing Time

individual titles

  • Terminal Freedom (Sherman Oaks, California: Queen of Angels, 1997) with Jodi Moran [hb/Daniel Keys Moran]

collections

links

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