Science Fiction Writer Reawakened from Cryosleep
I would have read this story between 1995 and today, almost certainly in anthology format. I'm not sure when it was written; some of the story elements in my memory feel modern to me, but some have kind of a golden age feel as well (the narrator has a number of politically incorrect attitudes).
A science fiction writer is frozen in the current day (possibly due to being terminally ill). He is defrosted in the far future.
Society has entered a near-utopian state as a result of scientific advancement and automation. An internet-type system controls the society's infrastructure, and the society's skilled workers know how to run that internet-type system but no longer have the skills to run the infrastructure directly.
The science fiction writer is chagrined to learn that he has no skills that would be useful in this society and there is no function he can fulfill. But he remembers that "there is one occupation with no real job requirements" or something to that effect, and somehow tricks others into rigging the internet-style system to self-destruct while giving himself a dead man switch to control that destruction. This allows him to force the citizens of the future society to make him King - the only job a person with absolutely no skills can do.
story-identification
edited Mar 7 at 17:38
Jenayah
21.1k5103139
asked Mar 7 at 17:35
tbrooksidetbrookside
1,2891614
add a comment |
I would have read this story between 1995 and today, almost certainly in anthology format. I'm not sure when it was written; some of the story elements in my memory feel modern to me, but some have kind of a golden age feel as well (the narrator has a number of politically incorrect attitudes).
A science fiction writer is frozen in the current day (possibly due to being terminally ill). He is defrosted in the far future.
Society has entered a near-utopian state as a result of scientific advancement and automation. An internet-type system controls the society's infrastructure, and the society's skilled workers know how to run that internet-type system but no longer have the skills to run the infrastructure directly.
The science fiction writer is chagrined to learn that he has no skills that would be useful in this society and there is no function he can fulfill. But he remembers that "there is one occupation with no real job requirements" or something to that effect, and somehow tricks others into rigging the internet-style system to self-destruct while giving himself a dead man switch to control that destruction. This allows him to force the citizens of the future society to make him King - the only job a person with absolutely no skills can do.
story-identification
edited Mar 7 at 17:38
Jenayah
21.1k5103139
asked Mar 7 at 17:35
tbrooksidetbrookside
1,2891614
1
Pretty sure I've read that one. Was there hypnosis involved? Niven, possibly. The writer character was maybe based on Heinlein, hence the non-PC mindset. His fans had paid for his suspension, not himself.
– Emsley Wyatt
Mar 7 at 19:40
1
I don't remember hypnosis being involved, but my memory doesn't exclude that, either. I also don't remember the detail of his fans paying for the cryofreeze - but I think I remember that waking up at all was a surprise for the narrator, so that may have been why he was surprised.
– tbrookside
2 days ago
Another possible author for this story might be Spider Robinson. He was a big admirer of Heinlein.
– Emsley Wyatt
2 days ago
add a comment |
I would have read this story between 1995 and today, almost certainly in anthology format. I'm not sure when it was written; some of the story elements in my memory feel modern to me, but some have kind of a golden age feel as well (the narrator has a number of politically incorrect attitudes).
A science fiction writer is frozen in the current day (possibly due to being terminally ill). He is defrosted in the far future.
Society has entered a near-utopian state as a result of scientific advancement and automation. An internet-type system controls the society's infrastructure, and the society's skilled workers know how to run that internet-type system but no longer have the skills to run the infrastructure directly.
The science fiction writer is chagrined to learn that he has no skills that would be useful in this society and there is no function he can fulfill. But he remembers that "there is one occupation with no real job requirements" or something to that effect, and somehow tricks others into rigging the internet-style system to self-destruct while giving himself a dead man switch to control that destruction. This allows him to force the citizens of the future society to make him King - the only job a person with absolutely no skills can do.
story-identification
edited Mar 7 at 17:38
Jenayah
21.1k5103139
asked Mar 7 at 17:35
tbrooksidetbrookside
1,2891614
I would have read this story between 1995 and today, almost certainly in anthology format. I'm not sure when it was written; some of the story elements in my memory feel modern to me, but some have kind of a golden age feel as well (the narrator has a number of politically incorrect attitudes).
A science fiction writer is frozen in the current day (possibly due to being terminally ill). He is defrosted in the far future.
Society has entered a near-utopian state as a result of scientific advancement and automation. An internet-type system controls the society's infrastructure, and the society's skilled workers know how to run that internet-type system but no longer have the skills to run the infrastructure directly.
The science fiction writer is chagrined to learn that he has no skills that would be useful in this society and there is no function he can fulfill. But he remembers that "there is one occupation with no real job requirements" or something to that effect, and somehow tricks others into rigging the internet-style system to self-destruct while giving himself a dead man switch to control that destruction. This allows him to force the citizens of the future society to make him King - the only job a person with absolutely no skills can do.
story-identification
story-identification
edited Mar 7 at 17:38
Jenayah
21.1k5103139
asked Mar 7 at 17:35
tbrooksidetbrookside
1,2891614
edited Mar 7 at 17:38
Jenayah
21.1k5103139
asked Mar 7 at 17:35
tbrooksidetbrookside
1,2891614
edited Mar 7 at 17:38
Jenayah
21.1k5103139
edited Mar 7 at 17:38
Jenayah
21.1k5103139
edited Mar 7 at 17:38
Jenayah
21.1k5103139
21.1k5103139
asked Mar 7 at 17:35
tbrooksidetbrookside
1,2891614
asked Mar 7 at 17:35
tbrooksidetbrookside
1,2891614
asked Mar 7 at 17:35
tbrooksidetbrookside
1,2891614
1,2891614
1
Pretty sure I've read that one. Was there hypnosis involved? Niven, possibly. The writer character was maybe based on Heinlein, hence the non-PC mindset. His fans had paid for his suspension, not himself.
– Emsley Wyatt
Mar 7 at 19:40
1
I don't remember hypnosis being involved, but my memory doesn't exclude that, either. I also don't remember the detail of his fans paying for the cryofreeze - but I think I remember that waking up at all was a surprise for the narrator, so that may have been why he was surprised.
– tbrookside
2 days ago
Another possible author for this story might be Spider Robinson. He was a big admirer of Heinlein.
– Emsley Wyatt
2 days ago
add a comment |
1
Pretty sure I've read that one. Was there hypnosis involved? Niven, possibly. The writer character was maybe based on Heinlein, hence the non-PC mindset. His fans had paid for his suspension, not himself.
– Emsley Wyatt
Mar 7 at 19:40
1
I don't remember hypnosis being involved, but my memory doesn't exclude that, either. I also don't remember the detail of his fans paying for the cryofreeze - but I think I remember that waking up at all was a surprise for the narrator, so that may have been why he was surprised.
– tbrookside
2 days ago
Another possible author for this story might be Spider Robinson. He was a big admirer of Heinlein.
– Emsley Wyatt
2 days ago
1
1
Pretty sure I've read that one. Was there hypnosis involved? Niven, possibly. The writer character was maybe based on Heinlein, hence the non-PC mindset. His fans had paid for his suspension, not himself.
– Emsley Wyatt
Mar 7 at 19:40
Pretty sure I've read that one. Was there hypnosis involved? Niven, possibly. The writer character was maybe based on Heinlein, hence the non-PC mindset. His fans had paid for his suspension, not himself.
– Emsley Wyatt
Mar 7 at 19:40
1
1
I don't remember hypnosis being involved, but my memory doesn't exclude that, either. I also don't remember the detail of his fans paying for the cryofreeze - but I think I remember that waking up at all was a surprise for the narrator, so that may have been why he was surprised.
– tbrookside
2 days ago
I don't remember hypnosis being involved, but my memory doesn't exclude that, either. I also don't remember the detail of his fans paying for the cryofreeze - but I think I remember that waking up at all was a surprise for the narrator, so that may have been why he was surprised.
– tbrookside
2 days ago
Another possible author for this story might be Spider Robinson. He was a big admirer of Heinlein.
– Emsley Wyatt
2 days ago
Another possible author for this story might be Spider Robinson. He was a big admirer of Heinlein.
– Emsley Wyatt
2 days ago
add a comment |
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1
Pretty sure I've read that one. Was there hypnosis involved? Niven, possibly. The writer character was maybe based on Heinlein, hence the non-PC mindset. His fans had paid for his suspension, not himself.
– Emsley Wyatt
Mar 7 at 19:40
1
I don't remember hypnosis being involved, but my memory doesn't exclude that, either. I also don't remember the detail of his fans paying for the cryofreeze - but I think I remember that waking up at all was a surprise for the narrator, so that may have been why he was surprised.
– tbrookside
2 days ago
Another possible author for this story might be Spider Robinson. He was a big admirer of Heinlein.
– Emsley Wyatt
2 days ago