"Perhaps what’s most striking about this science fiction parable is just how many ideas Park throws at us. If the story touches on similar themes elsewhere in recent pop culture (The Island, Repo Men) it’s because these themes are not only relevant but likely to impact mankind in our own lifetimes"
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The darker side of living past 160?

Here are the first two reviews of my new sci-fi graphic novel, MAXIMUM LIFESPAN,about a scientist who downloads himself into a computer and then into his unsuspecting son.

” I became aware that there was an enzyme called telomerase that lengthened peoples’ lifespan,” Park told CBR News. “That idea spurred a bunch of other questions, like ‘How would people treat life if they were 160, 200, 300 years old?’ What would be the problems, like replacement organs, how would they do their jobs and [what would happen to] their reproduction and families. “

——-> from Comic Book Resources (the premier website for comic-related news)

“Naturally, religion plays a part in Maximum Lifespan, and Park offers a fascinating dilemma; what would be the point in contemplating heaven when you’re unlikely to ever go there? How many people would throw aside all ethics to look thirty at sixty, or add another valuable decade to their existence? As one character ruthlessly remarks “Homo sapiens 1.0 had a good run. Isn’t it time we had an upgrade?”

———-> from a popular graphic novel review site, Shelfabuse.com

Of note, since I wrote MAXIMUM LIFESPAN in 2007, two of its fictional events have already come to pass!


1) Pet Cloning has come … and gone
page 84

2) A Nobel Prize was awarded for Telomerase Activation
Nobel prize for telomerase

And there are dozens of other predictions that you can read about before they become tomorrow’s news (consciousness storage and transfer, nanotech immunocytes, defrosting of cryogenically frozen heads for virtual communication, humanist backlash, class warfare, and many more.)

To quote Carl Doherty from Shelfabuse.com again,

Perhaps what’s most striking about this science fiction parable is just how many ideas Park throws at us. If the story touches on similar themes elsewhere in recent pop culture (The Island, Repo Men) it’s because these themes are not only relevant but likely to impact mankind in our own lifetimes.

The first edition is an attractive, Smyth sewn hardcover of 191 pages, but very few copies were printed. Order your collector’s copy before the second edition, soft cover Maximum Lifespan, is all that’s available. Request your copy at your local Barnes & Nobles, through Amazon.com or from our online store.

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