Slashdot Mirror

The wide-ranging, erudite Duncan Lawie goes where few Slashdot reviewers have gone before, exploring books on the fringes of Science Fiction and wacky speculation in the interest of expanding your mind and his own. This time, he reports on Stanislaw Lem's classic work Solaris, first printed in English 30 years ago, and in Russian nearly 40. Read more to find out if it sounds like your kind of page-turner.

Solaris author Stanislaw Lem pages ~200 publisher Harcourt Brace (USA) rating 7.5 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0156837501b summary Deeply thoughtful, vastly different science fiction from beyond the English language.

The height of Stanislaw Lem's science fiction production was in the 1950s and 1960s though he has continued to produce lucid, powerful work since. Writing in Eastern Europe (in Polish), his influences were vastly different from those of Commonwealth and American authors of the same period. Access to his work in English first came years after it was written, some of them via another language. This has resulted in a delayed effect as his influence on the science fiction of the West fed in over the course of a generation. Despite - or perhaps because of - this, Lem is one of the most important science fiction authors of the twentieth century writing outside the English language and his works, including over a dozen novels and several short story collections, have been published in over 30 languages.

Solaris is one of Lem's early works of mature science fiction, differing significantly in focus from the Russian film based upon it and perhaps totally unrelated to Sun Microsystems' Unix. It tells of an episode in the continuing quest by humanity to understand an alien planet. This planet orbits two stars and yet maintains a regular path. It is a ocean-world and science believes that it is the action of this mass - which is not water -- which controls the planet's motion. The planet, which itself is called Solaris, has been studied by science for generations and a large part of the book is concerned with a form of literature review, telling the history of the highs and lows in that research and relating dozens of theories generated through the decades. The style is such that the book manages to relay all this scientific opinion without indicating any genuine support for any particular theory, though most observers seem to accept, to varying degrees, the idea that the ocean may be "alive."

The narrator, Kelvin, is a Solarist by training and has come from Earth to obtain his own first hand experience of the planet. In this period of declining research, he arrives at the research station to find it in disarray; the station leader dead and the other occupants utterly preoccupied with matters they will not explain and which Kelvin cannot understand. The development of Kelvin's character is central to the book. His history is related in tandem with that of Solarist research as he attempts to come to terms with himself and with events on the station. Kelvin is the rational man of science, attempting to understand the apparently incomprehensible. His story recapitulates the scientific journey to the heart of incomprehension as he attempts to handle the impossibly real experiences the planet seems to be imposing on him. Beyond this bulk of complexity, there is a clear perspective on Kelvin's position in the final pages which shows how far this ghostly story has come, and how far our species has yet to travel.

Given the origin of its author, and the vintage of the novel, it is hardly surprising that Solaris is so far removed from the American tradition of science fiction. The mood of the book is passive and thoughtful, building a paranoiac atmosphere through understatement and calm description. The alien environment of the planet is described in the language of science and yet manages to remain largely incomprehensible. The book appears to avoid any kind of extreme; no event so great as triumph or disaster is ever described as such. This approach can make it difficult to care about the characters but it sustains the quiet, brave despair at the heart of the novel. Perhaps in this it is a reflection of the Eastern European experience of the communist regime of the period? Science has failed to comprehend Solaris so utterly that it seems humanity must be in retreat. Even as the book closes there is no certainty regarding Solaris beyond phenomenology - or has the book displayed something of the spirit of the planet? Solaris is one of the most alien places in science fiction, at least for the Western Anglophone reader, whilst Solaris goes right to the heart of the questions that good science fiction should be exploring.

Purchase this book at ThinkGeek.

Duncan Lawie, our resident science fiction book reviewer takes a look at John Brunner's The Shockwave Rider this week. The book centers on a near future world where access to data means power - sounds like it's taken from today's headlines. The Shockwave Rider author John Brunner pages 280 publisher USA: Ballentine Del Ray UK: Methuen (1975) rating 8.5 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0345324315 summary A near future dystopia centred on information technology where access to hidden data is the means to power

John Brunner is one of the great names of science fiction with a writing career stretching from the 1950s to the 1990s. Whilst he wrote close to 70 novels, his near future dystopias of the 1960s and 1970s were his most successful - including Stand on Zanzibar, for which he won a Hugo award. It is ironic that much which he had warned of came to pass within his own lifetime, robbing him of an audience for his later works.

The Shockwave Rider is the culmination of Brunner's near future prescience. Written in the early seventies, he explicitly acknowledges Alvin Toffler's Future Shock - an influential discussion of the change brought on by technology - though Brunner had already published a number of novels on the catastrophic effects of humanity's approach to the world and each other. The difference with this work is the far closer focus on North America and the decision to drive the plot through a single central character. The book continues to use the cut-up style Brunner had developed, with a variety of techniques used to offer other viewpoints, but this is essentially the story of Nicky Haflinger, a brilliant individual attempting to transform the "plug-in society".

The social etiquette of American society in this book expects everyone to move from one job to another and across the country once or twice a year.The rapid, repeated changes result in disconnection from any sense of genuine community and a tendency to make belongings and relationships interchangeable - a plug-in society. The inability of the average person to cope with this rate of change and the resulting loss of loyalty, commitment and real relation is solved by the use of drugs - primarily prescription tranquillisers which ameliorate the continual shocks of life. A comprehensive communications network, which started as a corollary to this mobile society has become central to its continuance, storing vast detail of each individual in the databanks. Such use of and reliance on computer data leads to the central paranoia of this world - a fear of what the records might contain and what might be used to your detriment by someone who has better access to data. In a world where no one is more than the sum of their computer records, Haflinger's ability to re-engineer his persona through reprogramming the data banks allows him to escape the government agencies and sample lifestyles at many levels of society. However, much of the story is framed as an interrogation so it is clear that his capture is inevitable. The extant powers fear his skill and the potential it has to give him great power. Yet, Haflinger's journey is not a search for power but for wisdom.

The book is set about forty years after it was written, placing it little more than ten years in our own future. This kind of near future writing tends to date very badly but Brunner has done such an excellent job that The Shockwave Rider seems to be in the process of moving genres from science fiction to social realist or techno thriller. The plug-in society which he describes has much in common with modern life in the Western world whilst the technology is generally kept sufficiently vague that it fits in easily with a present-day mental picture. The terminology for the data net seems a little dated, but what Haflinger programs into the system sounds terribly familiar: Brunner describes worms which make their way through the system, reading and transforming data; and phages, more dangerous constructs, some of which are reputedly capable of comprehensively shutting down the whole network if activated. Haflinger has made a life for himself by perverting the data on which the continued functioning of North America relies. Almost a decade before Neuromancer, the "hacker" with a mission was already well defined.

The writing is occasionally rather indifferent, particularly early in the book, but there are also passages of incandescent writing. The author's passion shines through when describing the depths of despondency and paranoia descending from such a dehumanised system and when discussing the alternative possibilities. He is no Luddite - the solutions proposed require a similar technological baseline but result from placing the tools in the hands of the most capable, making them the means to a humane society. However, his agenda is rarely allowed to get in the way of the story, which develops rapidly, making the book seem much shorter than it is. In addition, his characters are as rounded and believable as the society they exist in. Brunner dedicated much of his best writing to warning of the dangerous direction our society is heading and developing ideas for a technologically literate future which still has room for people to be people. That he does this whilst writing accurately and entertainingly is a mark of true excellence - and The Shockwave Rider is a remarkable example.

Purchase this book at Fatbrain.

Returning with another science fiction review, Duncan Lawie takes a look at Revelation Space. Written by Alastair Reynolds, this is the author's first book length effort - and it looks good. Revelation Space author Alastair Reynolds pages 470 publisher USA: To Be Published by Ace rating 8.5/10 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0575068760 summary Fiercely intelligent hard science fiction, bursting with ideas and rich with plot.

Alastair Reynolds is one of the breed of science fiction writers who is also a professional scientist. Originally from Wales, he has a PhD in astronomy from St Andrew's University in Scotland and lives in the Netherlands, where he works on scientific data analysis, primarily for the European Space Agency. He has taken the traditional route into publication through short story writing, having been published in magazines such as Interzone and Asimov's in recent years. Much of his work can be categorised as "radical hard science fiction", a style of writing which has helped revitalise the British science fiction scene. Revelation Space is his first novel.

As the book opens, Volyova is a senior officer on a lighthugger - several kilometres of malfunctioning, self-repairing starship capable of accelerating almost to the speed of light. She is experiencing a little local difficulty with her gunnery officer, who is trying to kill her. Khouri is a soldier who was frozen and shipped 20 light years away from her war and the only world she knew as a result of a clerical error. She has taken up assassination as an appropriate employment since she is "good with weapons". Sylveste is the leader of a scientific colony/expedition which has suffered rebellion and the departure of its only lighthugger. He is more interested in excavating the relics of an alien civilisation almost a million years dead.

These principal characters focus the large cast and the author's first objective is to get them all into the same time frame. This manipulation becomes apparent through the diverse range of settings and time periods in the early chapters - to the extent that it becomes a treatise on working within the boundaries that nature - or Einstein - has set. The complex machinations introduced set up the plot drivers for the book as a whole, though this does not mean that the story is simply revealed to the reader. Much of the intelligence of the novel is derived from the exposure of deeper plot motives as the book progresses. Some revelations are gently foreshadowed whilst others burst from the page. One of the central concerns of the book is the conundrum at the heart of the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence: if we are not alone, where is everybody else?

The story unfolds within a universe populated with enigmatic aliens, bizarre technology, conspiracies, death, world threatening weapons and post-human races. The definition of human has expanded away from the Homo sapiens norm, some becoming machine-human hybrids, others adapting to the new environments the galaxy has to offer. The technological background of the novel is creatively engineered and inventively described. This complex universe pervades the atmosphere of the book without Reynolds having to draw demonstrating the protagonists' limited views. Revelation Space develops as a product of interaction between characters and through increasing understanding of the external world and the history of the galaxy. Though the plot never begins to feel predictable, the central characters become increasingly well defined through development and disclosure. Reynolds' inventiveness combines with a fondness for science fiction tropes to produce a picture of a rich and true human universe five centuries hence.

Alastair Reynolds: home page

Returning with another science fiction review, Duncan Lawie takes a look at Revelation Space. Written by Alastair Reynolds, this is the author's first book length effort - and it looks good. Revelation Space author Alastair Reynolds pages 470 publisher USA: To Be Published by Ace rating 8.5/10 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0575068760 summary Fiercely intelligent hard science fiction, bursting with ideas and rich with plot.

Alastair Reynolds is one of the breed of science fiction writers who is also a professional scientist. Originally from Wales, he has a PhD in astronomy from St Andrew's University in Scotland and lives in the Netherlands, where he works on scientific data analysis, primarily for the European Space Agency. He has taken the traditional route into publication through short story writing, having been published in magazines such as Interzone and Asimov's in recent years. Much of his work can be categorised as "radical hard science fiction", a style of writing which has helped revitalise the British science fiction scene. Revelation Space is his first novel.

As the book opens, Volyova is a senior officer on a lighthugger - several kilometres of malfunctioning, self-repairing starship capable of accelerating almost to the speed of light. She is experiencing a little local difficulty with her gunnery officer, who is trying to kill her. Khouri is a soldier who was frozen and shipped 20 light years away from her war and the only world she knew as a result of a clerical error. She has taken up assassination as an appropriate employment since she is "good with weapons". Sylveste is the leader of a scientific colony/expedition which has suffered rebellion and the departure of its only lighthugger. He is more interested in excavating the relics of an alien civilisation almost a million years dead.

These principal characters focus the large cast and the author's first objective is to get them all into the same time frame. This manipulation becomes apparent through the diverse range of settings and time periods in the early chapters - to the extent that it becomes a treatise on working within the boundaries that nature - or Einstein - has set. The complex machinations introduced set up the plot drivers for the book as a whole, though this does not mean that the story is simply revealed to the reader. Much of the intelligence of the novel is derived from the exposure of deeper plot motives as the book progresses. Some revelations are gently foreshadowed whilst others burst from the page. One of the central concerns of the book is the conundrum at the heart of the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence: if we are not alone, where is everybody else?

The story unfolds within a universe populated with enigmatic aliens, bizarre technology, conspiracies, death, world threatening weapons and post-human races. The definition of human has expanded away from the Homo sapiens norm, some becoming machine-human hybrids, others adapting to the new environments the galaxy has to offer. The technological background of the novel is creatively engineered and inventively described. This complex universe pervades the atmosphere of the book without Reynolds having to draw demonstrating the protagonists' limited views. Revelation Space develops as a product of interaction between characters and through increasing understanding of the external world and the history of the galaxy. Though the plot never begins to feel predictable, the central characters become increasingly well defined through development and disclosure. Reynolds' inventiveness combines with a fondness for science fiction tropes to produce a picture of a rich and true human universe five centuries hence.

Alastair Reynolds: home page

In the book world, new and good are not exclusively linked. Classic books may get short shrift, but that doesn't mean they're not worth sampling. Even -- or especially -- in the world of SciFi, for a book to be worth reading 25 years later is an impressive feat. In that spririt, Duncan Lawie brings you another retrospective book review, this time of Bob Shaw's Orbitsville. Orbitsville author Bob Shaw pages 190 publisher Pocket Books (out of print) rating 8 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0671698168 summary Classic science fiction sense of wonder with an enlightened investigation of the effects of discovery.

Bob Shaw grew up in Northern Ireland and rose from the ranks of fan fiction in the 1950s. His varied career began with structural engineering and aircraft design. As writing became a more significant part of his career, he moved into industrial public relations and journalism. Orbitsville was published in 1975, the year that Shaw finally became a full-time writer. It was later sequelised -- Orbitsville Departure -- and finally became a trilogy with the publication of Orbitsville Judgement in 1990. This review is of the original stand-alone novel but it is worth noting that the second book suffers the common problem of sequels which attempt to reopen the original closure, while the third novel is an excellent conclusion to the story, reinvigorating the themes of both foregoing novels. His other work shows similar creative approaches to ideas from science and a tendency to rework earlier themes, with his characterisation skills becoming stronger as his career continued.

Orbitsville is set in a new Elizabethan Age, and it soon becomes clear that this Elizabeth is a tyrant. She is the president of a monopolistic company which controls interstellar exploration and owns the ships capable of reaching Earth's only extra-solar colony. The novel's protagonist, Garamond, is the captain of one of her faster-than-light "flickerwings," but is soon fleeing her empire in the hope of reaching an almost-mythical refuge. The conveniently discovered system, which soon becomes known as Orbitsville, is utterly unlike anything previously thought possible: a massive Dyson sphere completely enclosing a sun in a shell only centimetres thick. The internal surface area - greater than that of 625 million Earths -- is a vast land of grass-covered hills and valleys which seems perfect for colonisation. It was constructed using methods incomprehensible to its human discoverers and the only access port is surrounded by the remnants of alien fleets.

With a constrictive human society and an mysterious yet invaluable resource under the nominal control of a refugee, the book has the tension and potential to go in any direction. Shaw has difficulty balancing the desire to go exploring in the vast volume of Orbitsville with the need to investigate its human consequences. Garamond is forced to apply all his wit to playing an unfamiliar political game against a resourceful and experienced opponent, and is repeatedly thrown off balance by Elizabeth's manoeuvres. At the same time, he wants to be in the midst of every revelation about Orbitsville. The sphere itself is a classic science fiction 'sense of wonder' trope, perceptible but apparently indefinable. The idea was not new when the book was written -- it invites comparison with Larry Niven's Ringworld -- but the author's attention to physical detail brings an inconceivably large object into telling focus. The novel is strengthened further by going beyond this engineering approach to consider the potential this discovery has to affect the entire human race.

The author's primary concerns in this work are the "big dumb object" and its grand effects. As a result, the characterisation is efficient rather than elaborate -- the personal actions of individuals sometimes seem to follow the requirements of the plot rather than flowing from the nature of the characters. Nevertheless, the large-scale repercussions of strategic decisions by both Garamond and Elizabeth are beautifully played out. The gradual definition of Orbitsville is also well told and the direction of the plot is cleverly perturbed by information gleaned about the structure. Orbitsville is an excellent example of the New Wave approach to classic science fiction, reviving familiar ideas through greater sophistication and new perspectives.

Orbitsville may be out of print, but harrass Fatbrain enough and perhaps they'll demand another printing.

Duncan Lawie has sent a review of John Wyndham's The Chrysalids. It's known by its alternate title Re-birth. One of the most popular science fiction authors in the British Commonwealth in the 1950s and 1960s, Wyndham looks at the nature of humanity. The Chrysalids (aka Re-birth) author John Wyndham pages 200 publisher Caroll & Graf, 11/1993 rating 9/10 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0786700416 summary An excellent novel investigating the nature of humanity, set in a blighted Earth fearful of deviation from the righteous path.

John Wyndham was probably the most widely read science fiction author in the British Commonwealth in the 1950s and 1960s. This was largely due to his being publicised outside the genre and for his attention to the interests and attitudes of a wide audience unfamiliar with science fiction tropes. The first half of his career - before the Second World War - was undistinguished. He wrote under a number of names, usually variations on John Beynon Harris, but settled on Wyndham when he returned to writing after the war. At this time he developed a type of science fiction often referred to as "cosy catastrophe", where disaster strikes and the world is plunged into chaos which the protagonists must survive so that they can begin to rebuild.

The Chrysalids is an example of Wyndham at the height of his powers. It is set centuries after Tribulation ended the world as we know it. The population of Labrador seeks to rebuild the society of the Old People with the aid of the Bible and writings from the time of Tribulation which codify the Image of Man. Any being which does not match the True Image is `hateful in the sight of God' and must be destroyed as an abomination or exiled from human society. This position extends to all known flora and fauna and is enforced by government inspectors. It quickly becomes apparent that this is an attempt to keep the genetic stock pure after a massive nuclear war. The book's narrator, though outwardly normal, has an ability along with a number of others to "think together". As the book opens, he has no real awareness that he is any different from anyone else. As he grows older he comes to the realisation that the memorised lines from the Sunday service have a real relationship to the world around him and his place in it. He has the good fortune of an uncle who offers him advice that fires the instinct for caution into active self preservation. Gradually, events put the group under suspicion and they face significant trials with scant possibility of survival.

The Chrysalids is skilfully written, displaying the increasing danger and frustration for a hidden community of telepaths in a society which prizes normalcy above all else. Their striving for "averageness" despite an ability which allows them insight far beyond their fellows and in the face of widespread communal fear of the different strikes a chord with generation after generation of reader. There is also clear advocacy for change in this novel. While accepting that any creature will fight to preserve itself and its type, there is an emphasis on the importance of change as the only means of improvement and a belief that evolution has no ultimate end point. This leads to the thesis that it is inherently right that humanity give way to those who come after us. This Darwinian perspective may seem reasonable in the long view but the book draws into renewed sharpness questions which have been debated for decades.

The final pages are almost overwhelmed by Wyndham's need to state his position clearly, but the novel does regain equilibrium. As a whole, the book achieves considerable complexity of idea and action whilst maintaining straightforward language. The story progresses primarily through character development, which allows a natural flow and shape in the plot. It is a book which rarely pulls its punches and this is a contributing factor to its continued success and validity almost 50 years after its original publication. The Chrysalids is a tight, well developed novel from a master of a peculiarly English style of science fiction.

Pick this book up at Fatbrain.

Duncan Lawie has sent a review of John Wyndham's The Chrysalids. It's known by its alternate title Re-birth. One of the most popular science fiction authors in the British Commonwealth in the 1950s and 1960s, Wyndham looks at the nature of humanity. The Chrysalids (aka Re-birth) author John Wyndham pages 200 publisher Caroll & Graf, 11/1993 rating 9/10 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0786700416 summary An excellent novel investigating the nature of humanity, set in a blighted Earth fearful of deviation from the righteous path.

John Wyndham was probably the most widely read science fiction author in the British Commonwealth in the 1950s and 1960s. This was largely due to his being publicised outside the genre and for his attention to the interests and attitudes of a wide audience unfamiliar with science fiction tropes. The first half of his career - before the Second World War - was undistinguished. He wrote under a number of names, usually variations on John Beynon Harris, but settled on Wyndham when he returned to writing after the war. At this time he developed a type of science fiction often referred to as "cosy catastrophe", where disaster strikes and the world is plunged into chaos which the protagonists must survive so that they can begin to rebuild.

The Chrysalids is an example of Wyndham at the height of his powers. It is set centuries after Tribulation ended the world as we know it. The population of Labrador seeks to rebuild the society of the Old People with the aid of the Bible and writings from the time of Tribulation which codify the Image of Man. Any being which does not match the True Image is `hateful in the sight of God' and must be destroyed as an abomination or exiled from human society. This position extends to all known flora and fauna and is enforced by government inspectors. It quickly becomes apparent that this is an attempt to keep the genetic stock pure after a massive nuclear war. The book's narrator, though outwardly normal, has an ability along with a number of others to "think together". As the book opens, he has no real awareness that he is any different from anyone else. As he grows older he comes to the realisation that the memorised lines from the Sunday service have a real relationship to the world around him and his place in it. He has the good fortune of an uncle who offers him advice that fires the instinct for caution into active self preservation. Gradually, events put the group under suspicion and they face significant trials with scant possibility of survival.

The Chrysalids is skilfully written, displaying the increasing danger and frustration for a hidden community of telepaths in a society which prizes normalcy above all else. Their striving for "averageness" despite an ability which allows them insight far beyond their fellows and in the face of widespread communal fear of the different strikes a chord with generation after generation of reader. There is also clear advocacy for change in this novel. While accepting that any creature will fight to preserve itself and its type, there is an emphasis on the importance of change as the only means of improvement and a belief that evolution has no ultimate end point. This leads to the thesis that it is inherently right that humanity give way to those who come after us. This Darwinian perspective may seem reasonable in the long view but the book draws into renewed sharpness questions which have been debated for decades.

The final pages are almost overwhelmed by Wyndham's need to state his position clearly, but the novel does regain equilibrium. As a whole, the book achieves considerable complexity of idea and action whilst maintaining straightforward language. The story progresses primarily through character development, which allows a natural flow and shape in the plot. It is a book which rarely pulls its punches and this is a contributing factor to its continued success and validity almost 50 years after its original publication. The Chrysalids is a tight, well developed novel from a master of a peculiarly English style of science fiction.

Pick this book up at Fatbrain.

Our Science Fiction Reviewer in house, Duncan Lawie has sent a review of Ken MacLeod's The Star Fraction. One more interesting point to this review - Duncan sent it from vacation, offshore of Antarctica - off of Cape Royds on Ross Island. That's about 77 degrees south, for the geographers in the crowd. It's a near future setting - 21st century dealing with politics. Click below to read more. The Star Fraction author Ken MacLeod pages 341 publisher Tor Books rating 9/10 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 1857238338 summary Summary: A fervent, visceral, exciting venture into a 21st century transformed by inventive politics.

Ken MacLeod's vision of the 21st century - and beyond - is highly politicized. He has won two Prometheus awards for libertarian science fiction despite his positive appraisal of much of the Left in his writing. His four published novels involve a society very different politically from our own. His work has fanned out from his first novel, The Star Fraction to offer alternative viewpoints - often sympathetic but possibly contradictory - on where humanity could be heading. The breadth and cross-pollination between the books gives each a greater depth, regardless of the order in which they are read.

The Star Fraction opens around the middle of the 21st century. Britain has been fractured by turbulence at home and abroad. Division on every issue and the failure of central government has left independents of every stripe in enclaves throughout the country, from London to the Scottish Highlands. Many of these have a broad sympathy for the former Socialist government and the attitudes of the Left but are involved in feuds at the expense of the dream of a re-united Republican Britain. A Royalist government retains power over the rump of the country, but their power is further limited by the U.S./UN. The U.S./UN itself maintains global power through space based weaponry and control of new technology which has paralyzed the development of biotechnology and artificial intelligence.

The primary underlying "science" of this science fiction is politics. The interference patterns created by such a thought experiment are the very lives and livelihoods of the people in the book. Characters include a communist mercenary who works for a collective protecting (capitalist) property, a university researcher and a programmer/stockbroker from a Christian fundamentalist group. These people are powerfully realised. They care deeply about the society they live in and their political beliefs are a deep and genuine expression of their concern. The process of exploring politics through character makes the factional complexity of ideology more accessible. It also results in a visceral experience rather than a novel of ideas.

The speculative elements of The Star Fraction are in no way limited to politics. Space is a place where people go to work. This is significant, both for the influence that this all-seeing perspective offers the major powers and for the increasing freedom from Earth of those above. On the ground, the Green movement is seen to be deeply affected by global warming - what can they do when the environment is so clearly falling apart and it seems that still too few respect Gaia? There is also machine consciousness which works its way towards full artificial intelligence. The centre of this novel has much to say about artificial intelligence and its possible relationships with humanity. The idea of a life form springing from the silicon is opposed by those - both ignorant and computer literate - who fear the potential power of AI.

In the final third of the book the plot languishes somewhat as the populus works to reach a future bright with possibility. This final outcome remains open to re-interpretation and revelation. This novel brims with political pizzazz, wry humor and unusual insight. The struggle of the masses is brought to life in a manner which matches its fervency for a better world with brilliant action and convincing description.

It's only availible overseas, however.

Duncan Lawie, our in-house science fiction book reviewer has returned from Christmas, this time with a look at Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End. With the recent appearances of Clarke in AfterY2k, I'm almost afraid to put anything up by him *grin*. Nonetheless, click below to read more about this somewhat flawed novel. Childhood's End author Arthur C. Clarke pages 200 publisher Pan, 1953/1990 rating 7/10 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0345347951 summary Alien visitation leads to transformation of the human race in a novel. Arthur C. Clarke has become an "elder figure" in this age of the Western World: each pronouncement he makes on the future is widely reported; he is generally credited with the invention of the communications satellite; he was knighted in 1998; there is a British science fiction award named after him. His career in science fiction has lasted 50 years and many of his novels are considered classics of the field. His early work has a distinctly different flavour to that of his American contemporaries whilst 2001:A Space Odyssey propelled his career to a whole new level.

Childhood's End was Clarke's fourth novel and is one of the books on which his career is founded. It was originally published in 1953 and republished with an introduction and a radically altered first chapter in 1990. It is a novel of visitation by aliens and the vast changes in humanity which result. Of course, many science fiction stories of every vintage could be summarised identically. Clarke displays his awareness of this early in the book when he outlines many of the alternative paths the novel could take and dismisses these possibilities. The story told is profound in comparison with much of the science fiction which had come before. However, the preconceptions which the modern reader is likely to have of this author will jar with the tale told. The original edition states that "the opinions expressed in this book are not those of the author". From reading his new introduction, it would appear that Clarke's subsequent development has distanced him from an even larger proportion of those opinions.

The first chapter discusses the coming of the aliens. The original version posits a space race between the Soviets and America entering the final stages of take off for the moon when alien spaceships appear in the sky. At the time of publication, the setting is clearly twenty years in the future. Because it is also clearly now in our past, Clarke has updated this with a prelude involving Russian and American co-operation for a Mars mission. The subsequent story is unchanged. Having read the original version, I feel that the new-grafted root might make the story even more dated in it's handling of emotion and interrelation between the sexes. However, perhaps these simply form part of the story environment for a reader unfettered by knowledge of the book's antiquity.

After the scene-setting arrival, events skip forward several years to describe the consolidation of the new order. The alien Overlords put backbone into the United Nations and bring about a genuine world government with widespread peace and prosperity despite fears regarding the nature of the aliens, who refuse to reveal themselves. This is followed by a time where humanity, under guidance, transforms the planet into a utopia. The populace of this new era is faced with the question of what to do next. The answers offered by the Overlords are as unpalatable as the physical form of the aliens would have been at the time of their arrival.

The structure of the novel reaches this point without faltering greatly. However, the requirement for continued human narrative is fractured by Einsteinian physics and by the paranormal. The author's desire to escape from the confines of Earth and offer a greater perspective complicate the story but offer intimations of the future awaiting the human race. This future is developed through paranormal mechanisms and disappears into realms undescribable, providing a lyricism at odds with much of the rest of the novel. The characters are often stilted and rather formal. Even in the worst extreme, their emotional life is considerably less interesting than their intellectual activity. The book almost overflows with ideas, making it "archealogically" interesting: it's influence can be sifted from much work of subsequent generations, from 'V' to The X Files. . This contributes to the reading experience but it is not a gripping book. Childhood's End will be worthwhile principally to those interested in the history of science fiction and the development of one of it's leading authors.

Unofficial Arthur C. Clarke homepage: http://www.lsi.usp.br/~bianchi/clarke/

You can purchase this book at fatbrain.

Duncan Lawie, our in-house science fiction book reviewer has returned from Christmas, this time with a look at Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End. With the recent appearances of Clarke in AfterY2k, I'm almost afraid to put anything up by him *grin*. Nonetheless, click below to read more about this somewhat flawed novel. Childhood's End author Arthur C. Clarke pages 200 publisher Pan, 1953/1990 rating 7/10 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0345347951 summary Alien visitation leads to transformation of the human race in a novel. Arthur C. Clarke has become an "elder figure" in this age of the Western World: each pronouncement he makes on the future is widely reported; he is generally credited with the invention of the communications satellite; he was knighted in 1998; there is a British science fiction award named after him. His career in science fiction has lasted 50 years and many of his novels are considered classics of the field. His early work has a distinctly different flavour to that of his American contemporaries whilst 2001:A Space Odyssey propelled his career to a whole new level.

Childhood's End was Clarke's fourth novel and is one of the books on which his career is founded. It was originally published in 1953 and republished with an introduction and a radically altered first chapter in 1990. It is a novel of visitation by aliens and the vast changes in humanity which result. Of course, many science fiction stories of every vintage could be summarised identically. Clarke displays his awareness of this early in the book when he outlines many of the alternative paths the novel could take and dismisses these possibilities. The story told is profound in comparison with much of the science fiction which had come before. However, the preconceptions which the modern reader is likely to have of this author will jar with the tale told. The original edition states that "the opinions expressed in this book are not those of the author". From reading his new introduction, it would appear that Clarke's subsequent development has distanced him from an even larger proportion of those opinions.

The first chapter discusses the coming of the aliens. The original version posits a space race between the Soviets and America entering the final stages of take off for the moon when alien spaceships appear in the sky. At the time of publication, the setting is clearly twenty years in the future. Because it is also clearly now in our past, Clarke has updated this with a prelude involving Russian and American co-operation for a Mars mission. The subsequent story is unchanged. Having read the original version, I feel that the new-grafted root might make the story even more dated in it's handling of emotion and interrelation between the sexes. However, perhaps these simply form part of the story environment for a reader unfettered by knowledge of the book's antiquity.

After the scene-setting arrival, events skip forward several years to describe the consolidation of the new order. The alien Overlords put backbone into the United Nations and bring about a genuine world government with widespread peace and prosperity despite fears regarding the nature of the aliens, who refuse to reveal themselves. This is followed by a time where humanity, under guidance, transforms the planet into a utopia. The populace of this new era is faced with the question of what to do next. The answers offered by the Overlords are as unpalatable as the physical form of the aliens would have been at the time of their arrival.

The structure of the novel reaches this point without faltering greatly. However, the requirement for continued human narrative is fractured by Einsteinian physics and by the paranormal. The author's desire to escape from the confines of Earth and offer a greater perspective complicate the story but offer intimations of the future awaiting the human race. This future is developed through paranormal mechanisms and disappears into realms undescribable, providing a lyricism at odds with much of the rest of the novel. The characters are often stilted and rather formal. Even in the worst extreme, their emotional life is considerably less interesting than their intellectual activity. The book almost overflows with ideas, making it "archealogically" interesting: it's influence can be sifted from much work of subsequent generations, from 'V' to The X Files. . This contributes to the reading experience but it is not a gripping book. Childhood's End will be worthwhile principally to those interested in the history of science fiction and the development of one of it's leading authors.

Unofficial Arthur C. Clarke homepage: http://www.lsi.usp.br/~bianchi/clarke/

You can purchase this book at fatbrain.