![[October 26, 1964] A revolting set of circumstances (October 1964 Galactoscope #2)](https://i0.wp.com/galacticjourney.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/641026covera.jpg?resize=672%2C372&ssl=1)
by Gideon Marcus
If there is one constant to the universe, it is change. Appropriately, if there is one constant to government, it is that no system lasts forever. Revolutions have occurred since the dawn of history, motivated by class resentment, public outrage, and plain avarice. Some are cloaked in nobility, like the American Revolution; others started nobly but ended in darker places, like the French Revolution (whose darker points were recently spotlit on Doctor Who.) Even now, revolts roil the world — from The Congo to Vietnam, Iraq to Zanzibar, people are taking up arms to topple governments.
It's not surprising, then, that the three books I read for this month's Galactoscope all deal with some kind of revolution. Does the subject make for good science fiction? Let's find out!
Ben Bova is a fairly new phenomenon, his only previous book being The Star Conquerors, which I understand is in the same universe as Star Watchman. He is probably better known to you as the fellow who writes non-fiction articles for Amazing. So how's his fiction?
Turns out it's not bad at all. Watchman is set on an agrarian planet of the Terran Empire known to the humans as Oran VI. But to the natives (entirely human, curiously), it is the cherished world of Shinar. Their revolt against the Terran authority has already happened by story's start, and the Shinarians have invited the rapacious, cat-like Komani to help throw off Earth's yoke. But the Shinarians are about to find out that they have a tiger by the tail. The Komani plan to subjugate Shinar, and to then rally the disparate cat-people dominions into an alliance that can attack the Terrans head on.
Enter Emile Vorgens, himself a non-Terran humaniform from another Imperial protectorate world. A freshly minted Star Watchman (the Star Watch is essentially the galactic navy), he has the seemingly impossible task of defusing or defeating the revolution. At his disposal is a powerful but small flotilla of hovercraft, ranging from "scouts" to "dreadnoughts". It also turns out that there are Shinarians who are not happy with the current course and might be enlisted as allies. But it will take all of Vorgens' diplomatic and tactical skills to effect a positive resolution to the crisis.
Per the author's own afterword, "We live today in a world peppered by revolutions, and in this tale I have tried to show some of the complex forces involved in revolution and how rebellion might lead, in the long run, to a growth of freedom and a better world." Indeed, it is difficult not to look at the Shinarian case through the lens of current crises. Given the Terran name for the planet, and the French name of the protagonist, my thoughts went to the Algerian movement for independence. That one obviously did not work out as desired for the empire in question. Ditto Indochina, whose destiny is still in doubt.
In fact, I struggle to find an example of a revolution that was peaceably ended, but which resulted in a more satisfactory internal situation for the province. At least, not one that lasted any real length of time. On the other hand, while the ending of Watchman is sort of a happy one, it is also left ambiguous as to Shinar's fate after the revolt. Bova's politics, while hopeful, are not entirely naive.
But how's the book? One thing Bova does very well is portray battle and tactics. His writing is clear, never lurid, and as a wargamer, I was always able to picture the tactics described. And they seemed reasonable, too! As for characterization, Emile is a bit like C. S. Forester's Hornblower, wet behind the ears, self-doubting, but game and quite talented. I liked him, though I couldn't say he's very deep.
There is, sadly, exactly one female character. But Altai is a good one, essential to the Shinarian plans, and while there are some implied romantic chemistry between her and Emile, nothing is ever consumated. I hate it when a woman is included in a story just to be a love interest (and a prize) for the hero.
In fact, throughout the story, Altai makes it clear she knows that her contributions are less valued among the Shinarians for her being female. I'd like to think that she will lead a revolt of her own on Shinar: for more respect and recognition of women's rights. On the other hand, it's not like there are any female soldiers in either the Star Watch or the Terran Marines (which strained my credulity — hell, there was a woman Captain in the U.S. Marines just last week on Gomer Pyle). So if there is to be a women's revolt on Shinar, it probably won't get much help from the humans. Oh well.
Anyway, I enjoyed Watchman. It's not literature for the ages, but it did keep me reading. Call it three and a half stars.
Ace Double F-289
I'm pretty sure I know the genesis for this book: someone approached prolific sf scribbler, Ken Bulmer, at a pub and said (gently weaving), "Hey! What if there were a story where we were the rats, and aliens were the people?!"
Because that's the premise to Demon's World. Humans live in warrens, surviving my making daring raids into the larders of the "Demons", beings some hundreds of feet high (square-cube law be damned!) Said Demons are uncannily conventional, with familiar-looking houses, furniture, and technology. Of course, it takes us a while as readers to get the full view of the alien landscape since it's always viewed through the eyes of diminutive people.
That's the background. The setting is somewhat interesting. Humanity has no idea how it got to this world generations before — it only knows that, aside from cats and dogs, it seems to have no kinship to any of the strange creatures on the planet. Civilization has stratified into hard castes, with the Controllers on top, the Soldiers (who wage wars against other warrens of people) next up, and the Foragers (who get food) along with the Laborers occupying the bottom rungs of society. Only the Foragers ever encounter the Demons, who are widely believed to be a myth among the denizens of the warrens.
Our protagonist is an amnesiac named Stead, discovered by a squad of Foragers from the polity of Archon. He is given a Controller's education and then dispatched into the same squad that found him. This puts him in the unique position of understanding the ruling and under classes. He also knows for certain that the Demons are real. It is only a matter of time before Stead decides to lead a double rebellion: Foragers/Laborers against Controllers, and humans against Demons.
Demons World is an odd book, executed in a workmanlike fashion that suggests it was a quick draft (though without the egregious typographical errors that sometime mar Ace productions). Descriptions of people and items are particularly bland, often repetitive. We never even understand what it is the humans eat, their food invariably referred to as "food". You'd think that in a story where half the scenes involve getting sustenance, there would be a bit more emphasis on the sensuous.
Women fare better in the Bulmer than the Bova. The capable doctor, Della, is Stead's ward in Archon, and two members of the squad are women. However, despite Bulmer's preference for unadorned writing, you can bet we always known how attractive the women are and in what ways. Moreover, women in Demon World are still somewhat second-class citizens, treated like "girls" despite participating somewhat equally in society.
Unlike with Watchman, I found reading Demon's World something of a chore. Two and a half stars for this one.
Ah, but flip F-289 over, and we're in an entirely different world.
Tom Purdom is quite new to the writing scene. Over the past few years, he has been published in several of the sf mags, with stories ranging in quality from two to four stars.
Now, his first novel is out, and it's something of a revolution in and of itself.
Hundreds of years from now, after several near brushes with atomic extinction, humanity has reached the stars. Not just the nearby stars but the entire galaxy is open to our hyperspace drives. But we do not expand to conquer; Purdom subscribes to Arthur C. Clarke's notion that our species will never expand to space until we make peace with ourselves. Consistent with that, all of the other starfaring races are also peaceful beings. War is a concept confined to the planet-bound races.
With the exception of the telepathic, xenophobic Horta. On a planet 60,000 light years from Earth, they are in the last stages of subjugating the amphibian Sordini. And there to witness, perhaps even stop the event, are five humans: three women and two men. Raised in Terran tradition, they have never known want or strife. Yet they are restless, impelled by some inner desire they cannot name.
Combat with the Horta causes the death of the woman who planned the expedition. The rest, scarred by her passing, and the rigors of combat with psionic aliens, numbly continue their tour of the galaxy. They are looking for some key that will allow them to confront, perhaps defeat, the Horta before they pose a threat to the peace of the galaxy.
One possibility lies with a mysterious race called the Borg. Aliens from another galaxy, they have made it their mission to enlighten the warlike races still lacking space travel. They welcome representatives from any world to a sort of university planetoid, where they are given a decades-long course in history and philosophy whose end result is yet unknown to any of the students.
Our viewpoint humans enroll in the school, but long before their courses are complete, conflict breaks out on the planetoid. This, of course, is inevitable — most of the student races are pre-starfaring, and many are jealous of the technologies the starfarers possess. The arrival of the humans creates the catalyst for a bloody fight, a civil conflict that the Borg do nothing to stop. The Terrans demand to know the Borg's true intentions: are they really cosmic benefactors, or are they sowing the seeds of galactic strife? The answer, one way or another, promises to overturn the order of civilization.
What a fascinating book this is, by turns riproaring adventure, interesting philosophical rumination, and portrayal of an unique and plausible future for humanity. Per the author's foreword,
"I like adventure stories when it's well done…but I think…that means above all it has to be believable. For one thing, if the characters are future people, then they should be different from present day people. And their social customs and politics should be different, too. I can't believe in–which means I can't enjoy–space adventures in which the characters all seem to be people just like Twentieth Century Americans from a society just like Twentieth Century America…"
You will not find contemporary people in this story — the headstrong protagonist Jenorden, gentle Veneleo, haunted Theleo, resourceful Elinee, they are at once relatable yet different. There is no distinction or inequality between men and women, and there is a strong suggestion of polyamory amongst the crew (or at least flexible relationships without jealousy). Purdom lays out the motivations of his characters, and then lets the story flow from those precepts rather than conventional, modern-day ones.
It's not a perfect story. Purdom is not as good at depicting battle as Bova. The novel's parts don't tie together in a perfect through-line (although, to be fair, neither does life!) And the ending is a little abrupt — I understand it had to be cut from 50,000 to 40,000 words in the 11th hour.
Still, I Want the Stars is a true science fiction novel, one of my favorites of the year. What an accomplishment for the first time out!
Four stars.
Tallying the Score
Though the Bulmer is too minor and conventional a piece for recommendation, both Star Watchman and I Want the Stars show that science fiction affords a fresh look at old topics. Indeed, per Purdom, "just by telling an exciting story, I think I've ended up saying more about nuclear weapons, love, death, the meaning of life, and what it is to be human, than if I had sat down and tried to write about all those things."
Sounds like the crashing of the British "new wave" on American shores. Leave it to the youngsters to lead a revolution in our genre!
[Come join us at Portal 55, Galactic Journey's real-time lounge! Talk about your favorite SFF, chat with the Traveler and co., relax, sit a spell…]
![[September 20, 1964] Apocalypses and other trivia (Galactoscope)](https://i0.wp.com/galacticjourney.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/penultimate-cover.jpg?resize=672%2C352&ssl=1)
