#152 The last city: Cinnabar (1976) by Edward Bryant

Entropic tales from the end of time 

It is a bit of a truism to say that people are entranced by imagining the end of the world. But what about the end of time? In this immensely distant scenario, entropy has had its way with the universe, life has withered away, and all change and incident has ceased. A true entropic scenario leaves little room for story-telling, and so SF writers tend to cheat, finding ways to keep some eccentric humans alive at the end of time.

Cinnabar is a 1976 collection of linked stories by the US author Edward Bryant. Set in the last city on a ruined Earth, it is a showcase for Bryant's speculations about the deep future of humankind, and for his New Wave writing style. What does Cinnabar have to say about a world seemingly without a future, and a city run by a suicidal AI? 

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Transcript

In the far future, Cinnabar is the only city that remains on a ruined Earth. At its core is the sentient supercomputer Terminex, powered by the vast energies of a captured black hole. The city's people are few, but long-lived - with the time and resources at their disposal they can plumb the depths of hedonism, or pierce the veil of time itself. The world may be an entropic wasteland, but change can still occur - and with Terminex losing its mind, even ageless Cinnabar can die.

Born in New York state, Edward Bryant (1945 - 2017) was a writer with associations with both the UK and US branches of New Wave SF. A short fiction specialist, his only novel was a collaboration with Harlan Ellison. Originally published in 1976, Cinnabar is a collection of short stories set in a troubled city at the end of time. 

Mostly previously published in several anthologies and issues of Vertex magazine, the stories reflect the transgressive experimentalism of the New Wave. Dealing with sex, ennui, celebrity, and time travel, the Cinnabar stories also have intriguing connections with British SF, including the works of Arthur C. Clarke, J. G. Ballard, Michael Moorcock, and Iain M. Banks.

Edward Bryant began publishing in 1970, with the story “Sending the Very Best” appearing in an issue of the UK magazine New Worlds edited by Charles Platt. By 1971, his work was appearing frequently in US magazines and particularly anthologies. The first Cinnabar story, “Jade Blue”, appeared in Universe 1 edited by Terry Carr. 

City at the end of forever

Surrounded by a vast desert, Cinnabar is the setting for all of the stories in the collection. The city is described as a kind of nexus of times and possibilities, a sort of clearing house for the detritus of timelines. Bryant was likely influenced by Diaspar, Earth's final city in Arthur C. Clarke’s The City and the Stars (1956). Cinnabar and Diaspar are both presented as the last cities on Earth, have decadent citizens enjoying advanced technology, and both are controlled by a powerful supercomputer. Bryant also stated that he was influenced by J. G. Ballard’s collection Vermilion Sands (1971).

The stories involve a small cast of characters, several of whom recur and are known to each other. This gives Cinnabar the feeling of a story cycle, especially as the stories gradually build to a reckoning over the fate of the city. The characters are an unusual lot, moulded by their lives at the end of time. This connects them with the decadent cast of the Dancers at the End of Time series (1972 - 1981) by Michael Moorcock. Bryant was clearly familiar with Moorcock’s work, and includes a reference to “Gerry Cornelius”.

Jade Blue is a cat-like creature, a product of Cinnabar science designed to act as “cat-mother” to a child who has been engineered never to grow up. Tourmaline Hayes is a sex-star, a popular celebrity figure and something of an adventurous free spirit. Obregon is her on-off lover, a non-specialised scientist who is equally absorbed by petty rivalries and his tinkering with the space-time continuum. 

Gradually, these figures and others are drawn together into a quest to visit Terminex, the city’s controlling intelligence which is considering destroying itself - and all of Cinnabar with it.

End of the road

The stories in Cinnabar fit within the established dying Earth and end of time sub-genres of SF. The SFE describes it as “one of the very best of the rather common books of this description, largely perhaps because of the sophisticated interplay between Utopia and Dystopia which structures it.” Bryant’s future world is a spent force, a dried-up boneyard populated by decadent oddballs. Few real concerns occupy these figures, who need new contrivances to occupy their long lives. Hayes attends a party to celebrate the star of a TV show which has run for hundreds of series, and Obregon uses his advanced science to play god, for lack of anything better to do.

Obregon’s tinkering is the trigger for what is arguably the best story. In “Hayes and the Heterogyne”, the scientist’s meddling with time pulls a young man out of the deep past. Specifically, he is plucked from 22 November 1963, the day of John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Hayes takes the young man under her wing, taking him on a tour of Cinnabar on her personal airship. He proves more significant than anyone realises.

Before the Culture

As it draws to a close, Cinnabar becomes more plot driven. While the SFE describes this as “somewhat reductive plottiness”, Bryant’s conclusion allows him to draw his characters together into a conclusive quest that wraps up his themes. When Hayes, Jade Blue, Obregon and others confront Terminex, they are also confronting the question of whether their city, their lives, and humanity itself should continue. 

One striking impression that Cinnabar leaves is its various resonances with British SF published both before and after it. The end of the story cycle drives home a similarity with the Culture series by Iain M. Banks. Terminex, an eccentric AI entrusted with the lives of decadent humanoids, is a clear precursor to Banks’ Minds and helps Bryant to explore some of the same ideas. In this way and others, Cinnabar is an intriguing entry in 1970s New Wave SF, and to the body of stories about humankind and the far future.