Donald Moffitt (1) (1931–2014)

I had to trudge through this one. The second and final (? it is for me at least) part of the 'Mechanical Sky' sequence, a direct continuation of 'Crescent in the Sky'. It is hard science fiction, to the extent that the science is the main show and the characters are just whisked around to be in the right place at the right time. Abdul Hamid-Jones, the half British, half Arabic protagonist is a catspaw of so many political groups that it comes across as kind of farce or joke, and he doesn't help matters by being socially awkward in a very British way.

This is one of the Islamic-influenced science-fictions I've read recently. I think from the outside, the religion of Islam appears still bundled up with the medieval governments of its origin time - the Caliphs, Emirs, Pashas; the hand chopping for theft etc, and that is the case with this book. However I think it makes for a poorer understanding of the religion, and comes across as a satire.… (plus d'informations)

The future solar system is Islamic. Abdul Hamid-Jones is a half English half Arabic geneticist working for the Royal Clonemaster of Mars. Hamid-Jones gets himself caught up in increasingly crazed palace politics.

The Islamic Mars depiction was interesting but it was a little bit too much like an all-too common despotic Arab tyranny on Earth. There were Bedu on genetically engineered six-legged camels riding out in the wastelands of Mars, tyrannical despots, eunuchs and Assassins. The ubiquitous religion seemed forced upon the people rather than embraced by them. Hand and head chopping were common punishments (although cloned hands could be regrown).

I found the explanation of why the world embraced Islam -- simply a matter of numbers -- a little weak, especially with all of this medieval despotism on display. Hamid-Jones is an awkward and foolish fellow, with the social awkwardness of his English side on full display. He falls into many farcically dangerous situations, only to be rescued by his infinitely suspicious sidekick Aziz.

This volume contained a preview of the first few chapters of the 2nd installment of the 'Mechanical Sky' which looks better and slightly more science-fictional.… (plus d'informations)

The story opens with Torris, a young man of a Neolithic-level tribe living in a giant tree on a comet in the Oort Cloud, about to undergo his tribe's rite of passage. I didn't initially find this encouraging; how many previous books have I read featuring humans in the far future reverted to primitivism in unlikely settings? It was well done, however, and I kept reading.

And that was a good thing, as I discovered the starship Time's Beginning, in orbit around a planet named Rebirth, in a distant galaxy. Joorn Gant, captain of Time's Beginning, and his friend Delbert Karn, the ship's leading astrophysicist, have dramatically different views of what Time's Beginning should do, once this latest human colony is firmly established. Two of the oldest members of the crew, among a dwindling number born on Earth before departure, Gant wants to lead the Homegoing faction back to Earth, where Sol, now a red giant, will be shrinking again, with Earth emerging from its photosphere, while Karn wants to lead his even smaller faction of hardcore astrophysicists on an expedition to the edge of the universe, where the earliest galaxies formed--the original intent of the ship's name, before this became an expedition to seed human colonies as widely as possible, to ensure the survival of the species.

The colonists would prefer neither of these expeditions to happen; they want to keep the ship and dismantle it for its resources, including its remaining habitats, which increase the survival odds of the new colony by providing additional secure living spaces while they terraform.

The colonists don't prevail.

Gant and Karn reach a bargain, to take the ship back to Earth, and leave the Homegoers with some of the habitats, while the scientists take the ship and the remaining habitats off on their voyage of scientific discovery.

It's not that simple, of course, and the conflicts of competing interests reaches to the Sol system, and encompasses even the comet dwellers and their trees. There's also the conflict between Torris's tribe and the tribe on their nearest cometary neighbor, currently approaching close enough that bride raids are imminent.

Both the ship culture and the cometary culture are interesting, and the characters are interesting and worth getting to know. There's also a solid plot that keeps moving. A completely enjoyable light read.

Recommended.

I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.… (plus d'informations)