ecl@ahuta.UUCP (ecl) (01/08/85)
Circumpolar by Richard A. Lupoff
Timescape, 1984, $15.95.
A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper
Yes, it's yet another alternate history novel! But whereas most AH
novels are content with a single historical change, this one insists on
straining credulity with two (although, strictly speaking, only one is of an
historical nature).
Premise #1 is that the earth is not a sphere, but a disk (a thick disk,
but a disk nonetheless) with the "North Pole" in the center. At the "North
Pole" is the Symmes Hole, through which pour torrents of water from the
earth's oceans. (Why all the oceans haven't drained to the other side by
now is unclear. How gravity works is even less clear. We won't even deal
with centrifugal force.) The "South Pole" is (apparently) the rim of the
disk and consists of an enormous ice wall.
Premise #2 (the historical one) is that this earth's history is
identical with ours up until the One Year War, which took place in 1912. In
1912, Theodore Roosevelt was elected and the Germans decided to start the
war then instead of waiting two years, and as a result, were quickly
defeated.
Now how this earth's history could be the same (including conquistadors
et al) given how different the geography is) is totally unclear to me.
Lupoff glosses over the obvious differences by concentrating his discussion
of politics on Europe and the United States, but what about places like
South America and Africa, which lie mostly below the equator on our earth
and hence would be enormous on the disk described above?
The plot has Baron Von Richtofen, his younger brother, and the Princess
Irina Lvova (of still-Tsarist Russia) in a "circumpolar" airplane race with
Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, and Howard Hughes. ("Circumpolar" in
this case means over the rim and back through the Hole, or vice versa.)
Everyone is a stereotype. The Baron and his brother are evil Teutonic
types, the Princess is an overly religiously superstitious Russian, the
American are noble and inventive. The Germans, in their flight, first meet
up with a Teutonic race on the other side of the disk, who live in medieval
style castles and have flying machines like look like horses. The Americans
meet the descendants of the continent of Mu, who are technologically and
politically advanced. There's never any question about who the good guys
are or who the bad guys are.
Except for the interesting premise (which does not bear close
scrutiny), this book has little to recommend it. Aficionados of early
manned flight might find some of the aviation descriptions interesting, but
otherwise it's nothing special.
Evelyn C. Leeper
...{ihnp4, houxm, hocsj}!ahuta!eclberry@zinfandel.UUCP (Berry Kercheval) (01/09/85)
In article <336@ahuta.UUCP> ecl@ahuta.UUCP (ecl) writes: > Circumpolar by Richard A. Lupoff -- Timescape, 1984, $15.95. > > [...] this book has little to recommend it. [...]it's nothing special. **SIGH**. Not at ALL what I'd expect after SPACE WAR BLUES. Gotta pay the rent, though... -- "Take this //JOB and run it!" Berry Kercheval Zehntel Inc. (ihnp4!zehntel!zinfandel!berry) (415)932-6900