ecl@ahuta.UUCP (ecl) (01/02/85)
THE CRUCIBLE OF TIME by John Brunner Del Rey, 1983 (paperback 1984), $3.50. A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper This book has been compared to such works as Stapledon's LAST AND FIRST MEN, in its description of the sweep of history on a planet beset by massive, frequent climatic changes. I would liken it more to something like Michener's HAWAII or THE SOURCE, because it covers, not the entire course of the species' history, but just the part from the earliest scientific glimmerings to the age of interplanetary and even interstellar travel. Brunner has concentrated on science as the central theme of this book-- or rather, the scientist, constantly battling public opinion based on ignorance and superstition. While his parallels to current-day earth are at times a little heavy-handed (cults that believe in spiritual communication with beings on other worlds, and the rationality of the "clean environmentalists" versus the short-sightedness of the "full speed ahead manufacturers"), he does give us a sense of a species constantly at war with a much more hostile environment than our own. Meteor storms, ice ages, and radiation poisoning work against them at every turn, yet with the help of science/technology, they survive each crisis to rise to greater heights. If some of Brunner's earlier works seemed a bit on the pessimistic side (in particular, THE SHEEP LOOK UP, a morbidly fascinating tale of technological disaster), he has recovered from that depression and is now gloriously optimistic. The species (never actually named) is like us in many ways, but unlike us in others (the revelation of some of the major differences is best left to the context of the book). They are never fully described--we know they have mantles, and they have pressurized tubules which keep them erect, but we never get a complete picture. This is because the book is told from their point of view, and no one writes a complete biological description of a human being in a novel told from a human point of view. Their society, or rather, societies are similar, yet subtly different. We feel close to them, but we never forget their alienness. There are seven sections, covering the history from early feudal states to interstellar travel. In each, we see scientists as the main characters. Oh, they may not think of themselves as such, but they are nonetheless. From the earliest sea-farer who sees a chance to gain a profit by trading the knowledge of one area for that of another, to the biologists who solve the sterility that may be the species' biggest challenge, to the scientists who build the spaceships, the characters are interested in knowledge. While most people are still believing in astrology, the scientists are mapping the stars, noting their changes, plotting the orbits of the planets--not to predict the future, but to better understand the universe and their place in it. The quibbles I have with the book are minor. Brunner cheats on his naming of alien creatures et al. There are entirely too many "sharqs" and "mollusqs" floating around (accidental pun there!). In fact, his solution for coming up with an alien term often seems to involve merely changing one letter of the English term to a 'q'. And his planetary system is entirely too close to our own: Sunbride is a thinly disguised Venus and Swiftyouth is an even more obvious Mars, with its seasonal changes that scientists in later chapters attribute to melting polar caps. There are the two gas giants, Steadyman and Stolidchurl. Even the events mirror our own--we see an incident where two characters who have discovered/invented lenses and the telescope hold a telescope up to Steadyman (I believe) and see satellites circling it which could not be seen with the naked eye. In the end this is what prevents THE CRUCIBLE OF TIME from being another LAST AND FIRST MEN--Stapledon didn't attempt to create alien names, but he did give us a sense of strangeness throughout his work--though the race was human, it evolved into something we couldn't quite understand. Brunner, in his attempt to emphasis the strangeness of his species, overdoes it on the terminology and it shows. Yet this is a minor irritation. Stapledon, it must be admitted, concentrated more on the species than on individuals; Brunner shows us individuals and how they interact with their time in history. THE CRUCIBLE OF TIME as a whole is a well-written, well- thought-out story, full of interesting characters, exciting events, and a justification of science that is just what we need in these days of anti- technological Luddites. Evelyn C. Leeper ...{ihnp4, houxm, hocsj}!ahuta!ecl
rcb@rti-sel.UUCP (Randy Buckland) (01/03/85)
> And his planetary system is entirely > too close to our own: Sunbride is a thinly disguised Venus and Swiftyouth is > an even more obvious Mars, with its seasonal changes that scientists in > later chapters attribute to melting polar caps. There are the two gas > giants, Steadyman and Stolidchurl. Even the events mirror our own--we see > an incident where two characters who have discovered/invented lenses and the > telescope hold a telescope up to Steadyman (I believe) and see satellites > circling it which could not be seen with the naked eye. > I will admit that I have not read this book up front. (I have it on order) However, the above quibbles don't seem like problems to me. They seem like what I would expect to happen. There are theories of planitary development that would tend to indicate that a lot of systems should be a great deal like our own. Also, the development of the telescope and discovery of the moons of the gas giant should happen together. As is said somewhere (I believe it was Heinlien) When the time comes in history to Railroad, you Railroad. This can be loosely translated as when all the elements of a new discovery are available in a society. That discovery will occur. If Galileo did not invent the telescope and discover Jupiters moons, someone else in that time period would have. Randy Buckland Research Triangle Institute ...!mcnc!rti-sel!rcb