So I’m a fan of Mark Stiegler’s short story “The Gentle Seduction” and I read another story later on that was similar in feeling (dealing with immortality, the “Singularity”, and transhumanism) to that one and I cannot remember the name of it or who wrote it or how it ended. I have a feeling I was interrupted while reading it and never got to the ending. The story was something like this:
A couple who survived a very long time into the future past the point of “transhumanism” experienced everything they’d thought they’d want to experience, living on a distant planet of their dreams yet becoming bored because there was nothing more left to do, started making plans for their death. But, delaying their plans, the woman of the pair somehow got involved with an exploration of a part of space that allowed no signals through. It was thought this was an area governed by an alien civilization. She volunteered to travel through this region of space and came out the other side with some sort of revelation. I can’t for the life of me remember the rest of the story. I think it was a short story or novella but I’m not sure. I hope someone can help.
Did this story come out after “The Gentle Seduction” came out? That would limit when it was published. Do you remember if you read it in a magazine or a book? Do you remember how long it was?
Yes I think it was later, and I read it in electronic format from the internet. I’m sure it was a few years ago. I wish I could remember how I came across it.
“The Gentle Seduction” came out in 1990. According to the ISFDB, Steigler only has two publications since then: “Kath in Winter” (1995) and “Variations in Dreampaint” (1997), both in Analog (which has an electronic version).
I think what Rusalka was saying was that the story was by someone else but was similar to the Mark Stiegler story.
That sounds familiar – interstellar travel was by more or less uploading your personality and having that algorithm transmitted across space, right? The no-signal portion of space was presumed to be controlled by some alien civilization, and IIRC, the aliens would pass signals through their space to the other side, once humans had figured out the right network protocols to use. Then the couple had themselves sent through alien space. I can’t remember the end though.
Quercus, your description reminded me of a short story by Michael Swanwick, Ginungagap. It’s about travelling through a black hole as some kind of polymer thread with your information, and the aliens on the other side will “spin” you back together again. Don’t ask me about any details though, it’s been a very long time since I read it, and I can’t find much about it online.
Here’s a review for “Gravity’s Angels”, the collection that contains the story:
https://www.challengingdestiny.com/reviews/gravitysangels.htm
I don’t think it’s the same as the OP’s story though.
Quercus, Yes! That’s it! Was it a short story or a novella? It’s funny that neither of us remember the ending…
The story I read was similar in style to the “Gentle Seduction”. I don’t think it was by the same author.
I looked up Ginungagap. That’s not it.