"Mortimer Gray's History of Death" is a science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 novella

Novella

A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...

 published in 1995 by Brian Stableford

Brian Stableford

Brian Michael Stableford is a British science fiction writer who has published more than 70 novels. His earlier books were published as by Brian M. Stableford, but more recent ones have dropped the middle initial and appeared under the name Brian Stableford...

. It was nominated for the 1996 Nebula Award for Best Novella

Nebula Award for Best Novella

Winners of the Nebula Award for Best Novella. The stated year is that of publication; awards are given in the following year.-Winners and other nominees:-External links:**...

. The story takes place in an updated version of Stableford's 1985 future history

Future history

A future history is a postulated history of the future and is used by authors in the subgenre of speculative fiction to construct a common background for fiction...

, The Third Millennium: A History of the World AD 2000-3000

The Third Millennium: A History of the World AD 2000-3000

The Third Millennium: A History of the World AD 2000-3000 is a 1985 book written by Brian Stableford and David Langford. It is a fictional historical account, from the perspective of the year 3000, giving a future history of humanity and its technological and sociologial developments.Some of these...

.

Plot summary

The story follows Mortimer Gray, a man who has extended his life for several hundred years. It begins as Mortimer is involved in a ship wreck and narrowly escapes death. This experience prompts him to write several volumes about the subject of death and humanity's war with it. The novella is divided into several small chapters which alternatively describe the adventures of Mortimer's life and the reactions of the public to his latest volume of The History of Death.

External links

• Mortimer Gray's History of Death at BestScienceFictionStories.com - a review of the novella.