review of
John Christopher's Fireball
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - November 1, 2020

Having recently read & reviewed Christopher's 'Tripods' Trilogy I was aware, I suppose, that they were probably targetted at young adults but that was even more apparent w/ Fireball. The protagonists are, once again, young males w/ some competition between them, Simon & Brad.

"What bugged Simon was that while he had been prepared to make allowances, lend a helping hand and all that, he found no taker for his generosity. And while he had been determined not to say or do anything which might make his American cousin feel inferior or embarrassed, it was more than slightly galling to have evidence of the other's superiority thrust down his throat instead. The day after Brad's parents left he overheard Yankee Granny telling her sister about Brad. His IQ was 150, he had an incredible photographic memory so that he could recite whole pages out of an encyclopedia, and it wasn't a . . . you know . . . narrow talent." - p 10

Then along comes the fireball wch sends them on their hero's journey.

""What is it?"

"Brad didn't answer. It was roughly spherical, eight or ten feet across, blindingly white—a whiteness of sunlight reflected dazzlingly from mist or ice. Except that there was no sun. It appeared to float a foot or so above the ground. Thunder growled, and a heavy drop of rain splashed Simon's face. He said 'It's what they call a fireball, isn't it? I've read about them.'

"The progress had slowed and now halted. It hovered a dozen feet away from them. That was some relief, but he still didn't like the look of it. He was trying to reassure himself by adding: 'A form of ball lightning. Quite harmless.'

"Brad said slowly: I guess it has to be ball lightning. Only ball lightning's supposed to be coloured — red or yellow. And nothing so big — no more than inches across.'" - p 17

Of course the fireball envelops them & there goes their old life.

"It had to be the fireball that had caused it. Not by picking them up and putting them down, like a playful typhoon, but in some quite different way. A gateway? Could they have passed through it and come out in a different place? But a place where you got run down by barbarous-looking horsemen with swords. Place — or time? A gateway to the past. Or maybe to the future, and a new Dark Age after the world had blown itself up as thoroughly as some people had suggested it might." - p 25

I must admit that this sudden-event-that-dramatically-changes-the-characters-lives trope is very common in SciFi & I don't think I've gotten tired of it yet. The boys end up in what seems to be ancient Roman times but they get separated & the British boy is captured to be used as a slave &/or gladiator. It's unclear, at 1st, what the fate of the American boy is. Simon is fortunately championed by one of the most feared & respected gladiators so he's saved from being beaten to the bottom of the hierarchy.

"The advantages were manifold. Bos took him to get fitted with boots and tossed aside the first pair offered as unsatisfactory; the man issuing them was quick to produce another pair, over which Bos, after a close examination and some twisting of the leather with his powerful fingers, nodded satisfaction. And Simon noticed that when they queued for food, it was not only Bos who was given larger and better portions, but he as well.

"Gradually he was picking up the language. Bos seemed to find his ignorance amusing. he willingly supplied the Latin name for things Simon pointed out and was patient in repetition." - pp 43-44

Simon's situation is bad enough but at least he's young & healthy — what about those older & weaker ones?

"Simon thought about the five who had crouched naked beside them throughout that broiling afternoon, especially of the little old man who had been in the cellar with him. What was going to happen to them? he asked Bos.

"Bos shrugged. 'Damnati ad bestias.'

"Simon had enough Latin to know what that meant. Condemned to the beasts — sent out into the arena, weaponless, to be savaged and eaten by starving lions, for the amusement of spectators. He almost did feel he was lucky." - p 46

Where's a fireball when you need one?

In the meantime, Brad has fared better. W/ a better knowledge of Latin he's ingratiated himself to an open-minded rich Christian, a minority religion barely tolerated.

"'Then, as we went on talking, the discrepancies started to crop up. Like dating. They date the way the Romans did before Christianity — A.U.C. not A.D. Ab urbe condita — from the founding of the city. And I discovered this Rome had been founded two and a half thousand years ago. And that Britain had been a Roman province for nearly two thousand years, not a couple of hundred. He got to it almost as soon as I did. Once you've accepted that someone has come from the future, I guess it's not too difficult switching that to a parallel world. As I say, he's open-minded for a Roman." - p 66

[Insert completely silly irrelevant comment here.]

The boys are believed when they explain that they're from a parallel universe & they're put into the worldly bishop's hands.

"'It was a decree of the emperor Julian that free men should shave their faces, but that slaves might not. He did not name Christians slaves, but I have chosen that title. We may worship our Lord in private, but not proclaim Him in public. That is slavery. We may walk the streets, but not go in procession to celebrate our faith. That is slavery. And we have grown used to our fetters, which is the worst slavery of all.'

"He stared at the boys and then, disconcertingly, smiled, but the smile was not reassuring.

"'That which can be used for good is counted good. At last God has sent a sign! A miracle brought you here, and God's wonders are not worked for nothing. Nor must they be wasted. This generation is blessed, but only if it seizes its blessing and uses it.'" - p 75

I've got news for you, Bishop (Hear ye, hear ye!), not being permitted to proclaim your religion in public isn't slavery — it's censorship. Just be glad you're not required to wear a mask. that might drive you fucking crazy.

Apparently, Christopher's presentation of Julian's beard policy is part of his alternative universe view of this history. Now I'm interested in Julian (aren't I already, ahem, a little overwhelmed by an excess of interests as it is?!).

"Julian (Latin: Flavius Claudius Julianus; Greek: Ἰουλιανὸς, Ioulianòs; 331 – 26 June 363) was Roman emperor from 361 to 363, as well as a notable philosopher and author in Greek. His rejection of Christianity, and his promotion of Neoplatonic Hellenism in its place, caused him to be remembered as Julian the Apostate by the Christian Church."

[Really, guy?! Neoplatonic Hellenism?! That's so old-fashioned! I'd sooner worship Neosocratic Troyism.]

[..]

"The Misopogon (or "Beard Hater") is a light-hearted account of his clash with the inhabitants of Antioch after he was mocked for his beard and generally scruffy appearance for an Emperor. The Caesars is a humorous tale of a contest among some of the most notable Roman Emperors: Julius Caesar, Augustus, Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, Constantine, and also Alexander the Great. This was a satiric attack upon the recent Constantine, whose worth, both as a Christian and as the leader of the Roman Empire, Julian severely questions." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_(emperor)

Personally, one of the greatest disappointments in my life is that the Misopogon hasn't become a popular genre, like horror or romantic comedies. It's oh-so-desperately needed right now to set the world aright.

"The Misopogon, or Beard-Hater, is a satirical essay on philosophers by the Roman Emperor Julian. It was written in Classical Greek. The satire was written in Antioch in February or March 363, not long before Julian departed for his fateful Persian campaign.

"Glanville Downey says of the text:

""Julian vented his spleen in the famous satire, the Misopogon or Beard-Hater, in which, by pretending to satirize himself and the philosopher's beard which he wore in a clean-shaven age, he was able to pour forth his bitter anger against, and disappointment with, the people of Antioch.""

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misopogon

Well, one thing leads to another (except for, y'know, that one thing over there that got missed somehow) & the boys give the Christians an advantage w/ their alternate universe knowledge & the next thing you know..

"There must have been not one firing party, but several. One after another the temples turned to torches. They watched because there was nothing else to do, and the scene had a terrible beauty. From the temples the fire raisers turned to palaces and public buildings. As dusk fell, the flames were brighter still as they burned to ashes the ancient heart of Rome." - p 119

See what happens when you empower Christians? Where are they going to display Imelda Marcos's shoe collection?!

"Immediately following the return from Rome, the pendulum had been set up in the high-ceilinged state room of the governor's palace, where it swung its murderous arc from wall to wall. Murderous, because its bob was a heavy cylinder of lead, with a sharp blade of iron set in on either side. An Altar, surmounted by the figure of Christ, had been set up just in front of the point where the bob, at the lowest point in its arc, swept some four feet off the ground.

"And at that point a small wooden enclosure had been built, big enough for a man but granting him only sufficient freedom of movement to be able to drop to his knees in front of the altar before the bob came down. Some of the more agile were able to sway their bodies just enough to have the bob miss them - on the first few swings anyway. Escape became continuously more difficult, as the pendulum swung to and fro, and fatigue in the end made it impossible. The one time Brad and Simon had been there they had seen bystanders laughing and laying bets as to which would be the killing stroke, before they turned away, sickened." - pp 121-122

Give me Neoplatonic Hellenism anyday. ( )

Tercera parte de la trilogía de los trípodes, una de mis primeras incursiones en la CF. Años después, leyendo a Greg Egan, en la historia en la que al cumplir 18 años de cambian el cerebro por uno de silicio, me acordé de esta novela, en la que una raza invasora a bordo de robots (los trípodes) hacen que al llegar a la mayoría de edad todos los jóvenes se implanten un chip. Los que no lo hacen se convierten en fugitivos y deben huir. Una novela de ciencia ficción para jóvenes que me gustó mucho. ( )

Loved it! ( )

This first volume of a trilogy of young-adult s.f. novels finds Simon and Brad, two cousins from our own 20th-century, transported by a mysterious portal (or fireball) to an alternate Earth where the Roman Empire never fell. Simon, following his capture, enslavement, and brief employment as a gladiator, is reunited with Brad, who has been adopted by a Christian patrician family. The two use their other-worldly knowledge to aid a Christian revolt against the Empire, and, when things don't turn out as planned, leave Europe for further adventures across the Atlantic. This is a cleanly-written and smoothly-plotted story, and one of the first young-adult novels (to the best of my knowledge) to explore the theme of alternate histories. Christopher's willingness to create flawed heroes, and the moral ambiguity of his novel's denouement, make FIREBALL a satisfying read for adults as well. ( )

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