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VI: Bob Shaw, Orbitsville (1975)
Probably my fourth or fifth read of this, and still it holds up - the Dyson sphere novel, in which a spaceship captain, fleeing a tyrannical CEO and an overcrowded Earth, finds enough real estate to make room for all of humanity and more. Oddly I'd had the impression that it was a neo-British empire, given the Elizabeth and Raleigh dynamic in the opening chapters, but it's a MNC, based in Iceland. Cod war relevance? Virgin queen iciness? Interesting commentary on the economics of colonialism and emmigration - less comfortable on the women - all mothers or would be mothers, one's a psychopath, one's dim.
VII: Christopher Priest, Inverted World (1974)
Priest's deconstruction of the BDO, if that wasn't nonsense. The object isn't that big, but it is enigmatic, as is the world it trundles through on constantly rebuilt and reused railway lines. It also has an interesting series of moments of conceptual breakthroughs, just not necessarily of the protagonist Helward Mann (and you thought Hiro Protagonist was heavy handed - it must be taking the piss, yes?).
On the ending - of which circumspection rules for now - I wrote this week: "Given the choice between two opposing options, Priest's protagonist chooses a third option." Wonders if these is true of his other novels.
VIII: Arthur C. Clarke, Imperial Earth (1975)
Clarke does Bicentenniel, or the five hundred year equivalent, as the clone Makenzie travels from Titan for a celebration bash, and to get a clone of his own. There are political and scientific shenanigans along the way, but Clarke seems more interested in the travelogue. Some odd moments with an African American professor Samboing up, and a throwaway line about all the races ending up the same light brown colour, and hints at bisexual/homosexual characters. But Makenzie is more interested in the space drive than his sex drive.
IX: Arthur C. Clarke, The Fountains of Paradise (1979)
Might as well complete the set of Clarke Huge/Nobblies of the 1970s, and here we have the story of the building of a space elevator, an idea hinted at in Imperial, and here stretched to 200 pages. All problems have a technological solution, and there's always something you've forgotten - which will have a technical solution. At first it seems set up for a science vs religion debate, as the best site for the lift is Sri Lanka, and a holy mountain on Sri Lanka, but an act of god, or well placed plot device, disposes of the opposition. As I say, technical solution. There's a last minute burst of suspense - akin to the feel of the end of Defying Gravity - but here you don't really care about the characters.
12800 / 100000 words. 13% done!
Probably my fourth or fifth read of this, and still it holds up - the Dyson sphere novel, in which a spaceship captain, fleeing a tyrannical CEO and an overcrowded Earth, finds enough real estate to make room for all of humanity and more. Oddly I'd had the impression that it was a neo-British empire, given the Elizabeth and Raleigh dynamic in the opening chapters, but it's a MNC, based in Iceland. Cod war relevance? Virgin queen iciness? Interesting commentary on the economics of colonialism and emmigration - less comfortable on the women - all mothers or would be mothers, one's a psychopath, one's dim.
VII: Christopher Priest, Inverted World (1974)
Priest's deconstruction of the BDO, if that wasn't nonsense. The object isn't that big, but it is enigmatic, as is the world it trundles through on constantly rebuilt and reused railway lines. It also has an interesting series of moments of conceptual breakthroughs, just not necessarily of the protagonist Helward Mann (and you thought Hiro Protagonist was heavy handed - it must be taking the piss, yes?).
On the ending - of which circumspection rules for now - I wrote this week: "Given the choice between two opposing options, Priest's protagonist chooses a third option." Wonders if these is true of his other novels.
VIII: Arthur C. Clarke, Imperial Earth (1975)
Clarke does Bicentenniel, or the five hundred year equivalent, as the clone Makenzie travels from Titan for a celebration bash, and to get a clone of his own. There are political and scientific shenanigans along the way, but Clarke seems more interested in the travelogue. Some odd moments with an African American professor Samboing up, and a throwaway line about all the races ending up the same light brown colour, and hints at bisexual/homosexual characters. But Makenzie is more interested in the space drive than his sex drive.
IX: Arthur C. Clarke, The Fountains of Paradise (1979)
Might as well complete the set of Clarke Huge/Nobblies of the 1970s, and here we have the story of the building of a space elevator, an idea hinted at in Imperial, and here stretched to 200 pages. All problems have a technological solution, and there's always something you've forgotten - which will have a technical solution. At first it seems set up for a science vs religion debate, as the best site for the lift is Sri Lanka, and a holy mountain on Sri Lanka, but an act of god, or well placed plot device, disposes of the opposition. As I say, technical solution. There's a last minute burst of suspense - akin to the feel of the end of Defying Gravity - but here you don't really care about the characters.
