Alan Marshall (New Zealand author)

[10] The Times Higher Education review of Ecotopia 2121 stated "very few academics ever produce anything as stunning and imaginative as this",[11] whilst National Geographic UK,[12] Al Jazeera,[13] ZMEScience,[14] Lithuanian Radio Television, Forbes,[15] and Publishers Weekly[16] variously declared it "curious and creative", "adventurous", "impressive", "visionary", and "monumental".

[20] In late 2015, Marshall began a new project in urban ecology called Frankencities[21] which details the worst-case scenarios of emerging environmental problems in a series of cities around the world whilst comparing them to the insights offered by the Frankenstein story.

[29] As part of this project, Marshall authored a book titled Sheeplands and also made on-screen contributions to a two-hour Arte / NDR TV documentary about the history of sheep farming.

[37] His writings on the latter subject have been cited as insightful but are usually regarded by scientists and engineers as being too radically "environmental"[38] especially his calls for the protection of the Martian landscape.

Along with Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, This Pointless Thing Called Life was nominated for a Vogel Award in the category "Best Long Form dramatic science fiction and fantasy production made in New Zealand in the year 2002".

The sequel to This Pointless Thing Called Life was another award-winning full-length radio feature broadcast in four parts on XM Satellite and by some NPR stations in 2003.