With “43/53”, Barry Redhead opens the gateway to the expansive science-fiction universe of “Paradise 4.0”. The prequel explores the historical turning point at which humanity’s future is no longer an abstract possibility, but an unavoidable decision: will humankind remain on a dying Earth – or dare to seek a future among the stars?

The title “43/53” refers to Resolution 43/53 of the United Nations General Assembly, adopted on 6 December 1988. The resolution recognised climate change as a common concern of humankind and called for timely international action to protect the global climate for present and future generations. In Barry Redhead’s science-fiction vision, this political warning becomes the starting point for a bitter question: what happens when humanity is warned early enough, but acts too late?

The year is 2098. The world as humanity once knew it has become a decaying memory. Where blue oceans and vibrant megacities once defined the planet, the murky anthracite of a global graveyard now prevails. The air is heavy with soot and regret. Environmental agreements identified the danger, but signatures alone could not prevent the catastrophe. Amid the final breath of civilisation, the Aurelia is born: an interstellar vessel constructed from graphene and desperation, driven by scientific ambition and the last remaining hope of a species on the brink of extinction.

Commander Peter Prendergast and his crew embark on a voyage across 1,400 light-years to the mysterious planet Kepler-11f. They are not travelling alone. Watching over them is ECHO, an artificial intelligence that understands more about the darkest depths of the human soul than its creators would care to admit. As the Aurelia disappears into the infinite darkness of space, a shadow war rages on Earth over humanity’s final lifeboats: the arks ADAMANT and EVE. On the northern coast of Scotland, Joanna Deveroe fights corruption, betrayal and the cold greed of those who see the end of the world as one last business opportunity.

Kepler-452b is no new Eden. It is a world that breathes, but only shallowly – a world that remains silent, yet appears to be listening. After landing, the crew confronts a terrifying truth: humanity cannot conquer the universe while refusing to face the monster in its own reflection. “43/53” is more than a science-fiction prequel. It is a dramatic warning about political failure, corporate power, technological arrogance and social denial. It is also a story about lost honour, fragile love in the face of annihilation and the question of whether humanity deserves to survive among the stars. “The stars remain unmoved by our sins. Whether we reach them or become cold ash in the void is irrelevant to the universe. But to us, it is everything.”

Before the age of “Paradise 4.0” could begin, humanity first had to cross the ruins of the old world. “43/53” reveals the roots of human expansion, the creation of new systems and the dark secrets upon which the later world of “Paradise 4.0” would be built. The prequel combines political science fiction with ecological warning, artificial intelligence, interstellar space travel and social analysis. It tells of a departure born not from adventure, but from the failure of a civilisation that ignored its own warning signs.

© 2025 Barry Redhead – www.redhead.de