Book tells tale of discovery in alien world
“Far-Seer”
Robert J. Sawyer
Ace Science Fiction
Robert J. Sawyer is one of science
fiction’s newer voices. And if “Far
Seer” (Sawyer’s second book) is any
indication, it’s one voice that will be
around and winning awards for some
time to come.
Sawyer manages to do. in “Far
Seer” what many attempt and only a
few actually accomplish in a credible
manner. He creates an alien society
— culture, physiology, religion, sci
ence, politics—and brings it to life in
fewer than three hundred pages and
without going into tedious detail.
The Quintaglio home world orbits
a star called the Face of God. The
Quintaglios arc a saurian race, simi
lar to what we would call tyranno
saurs (judging from the cover art).
The IcvelofQuinlagliocivilizationis
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roughly where humanity was about
the year 1500.
Afsan, the central character, is an
apprentice to the court astrologer. As
part of a com ing-of-age ceremony, he
must journey by sea to the other side
of his world and look upon the Face of
God, which is visible only on the
night side of the planet.
Afsan sails with his best friend
Crown Prince Dybo and a captain
known for his courage and journeys.
The captain has a “far-sccr," a crude
telescope, to aid in navigation and
stargazing.
Afsan uses the telescope to make
discoveries that parallel those of
Copernicus, Galileo and Newton. The
home world is not a planet, and the
Face of God is not a star; rather the
home world is a moon orbiting a
larger, gas-giant planet that orbits a
bluish-white star.
Afsan calculates that the moon will
be destroyed by tidal forces from the
planet in a matter of five hundred
years.
Afsan persuades captain Var-Kccnir
to circumnavigate the globe, instead
of making a U-tum and heading back
to port. The voyage proves that the
world is not flat, but round.
Convincing the royal astrologer
and the ruler of the planet isn’t easy,
however, and Afsan is branded a heretic
even after his friend, the crown prince,
becomes emperor. Afsan refuses to
rccani his bclicls and is blinded as
punishment.
All is not lost, as Afsan is drafted
by a rebel group wanting to throw off
the religious authoritarianism of the
court astrologer. He agrees, and rea
son triumphs over superstition in the
end.
“Far-Sccr” is a fascinating look at
one world’s journey from medieval
ism to modernism. The plot is decep
tively straightforward, yet Sawyer
conveys the wonders of discovery
superbly. Though alien, the charac
ters are sympathetic or detestable,
having recognizable human analogs
(which may tell us that “human na
ture” is not unique to humans).
Sawyer concludes his talc with a
teaser, leaving open the possibility of
a sequel. “Far-Scer” is a yam that
almost demands a sequel.
— Sam S. Kepfield
Author tells of lost, empty generation
by portraying life of 1990s 20-year-old
Shampoo Planet
Douglas Coupland
Pocket Books
Douglas Coupland broke into the
1990s last year with “Generation X,”
a novel portraying the disillusioned
posl-80s youth.
The same generation is still lost
and wandering in Coupland’s second
novel “Shampoo Planet,’’ which gives
a glimmer of hope for the lost.
Self-styled modernist Tyler
Johnson, 20, initially has little to of
fer the reader. He lacks purpose, pat
terns himself after a millionaire and
surrounds himself with more techno
logical gadgets than people.
The reader witnesses the rise of
Tyler’s ambitions as well as their fall,
and by the end, wants to share in his
resurgence.
Tyler was a boy who, at age 11,
wanted a document shredder for his
birthday and who spends his idle time
spinning the planets in his collection
of globes.
But the same young man is respon
sive to a seemingly random assort
Courtesy of Pocket Books
“Shampoo Planet”
mcni of people and events that break
through his detached exterior.
Something is wrong in the world,
and Tyler and his generation know it.
This thing is beyond protests and
movements and stretches across all
barriers of person and place.
Coupland is adept at capturing and
presenting small paradoxes that point
lo something that runs much more
deeply. Some of the book’s most in- -
tcresting passages arc those that jux
tapose two apparently unrelated ex
tremes, finding in that placement the
openings to Tyler’s character as well
as to the reader’s interest.
Tyler travels to a now-overgrown
commune in Canada to visit his dope
rancher father and to find his still
hippie mother.
Tyler’s family dynamics arc more
fluid and entertaining than most of
his travels, but both contribute to an
unwinding of his person. The inevi
table collapse follows, as docs the
recovery that offers hope in the midst
of the despair of his generation.
Like Fitzgerald at his best, Coup
land operates on two levels, offering
a social picture of a generation lost in
lime and place, and working beneath
the surface descriptions to find deeper,
connecting structures.
Liberated by technology that en
hances travel, communications, la
bor and leisure, Coupland’s genera
tion is presented in scaring, sarcastic '
detail.
At the same time, Tyler’s life is
held before the reader in a depiction
that suggests something greater may
emerge from the wanderings of an
individual or a generation.
— Bryan Peterson
Science fiction book mixes humor; gadgetry
and retirees into adventurous space opera
“Codgerspace”
Alan Dean Foster
Ace Science Fiction
Alan Dean Foster is no newcomer
to science fiction — he first made it
big with “Iccriggcr” and his Pip and
Flinx scries back in the early 1970s.
Since then, his list of publications has
grown and even ventured into the
-!
horror and historical novel genres.
“Codgcrspacc” is not his best ef
fort, but it’s far from his worst. It
blends humor with gadgctry and grand
peril for the planet Earth — necessary
ingredients for any space opera wor
thy of the name.
It opens with a narrative reminis
cent of Douglas Adams’ “Hitchhiker’s
Guide to the Galaxy.” A leftover cheese
sandwich drips into a complicated
piece of computer equipment that
controls production of household
appliances, causing a “photonic short.”
As a result, the computer begins
seeking answers for questions nor
mally not asked by computers, such
as “How can I alter programming to
increase production?” and “Is human
kind truly the most advanced form of
life in the universe?” It begins crank
ing out appliances to begin a quest for
the Ultimate Truth.
Enter five elderly residents of a
retirement community on a future Earth
that has been cleansed of polluuon
and turned into a — well, a big retire
ment home. A kitchen robot, search
ing for the Ultimate Truth, discovers
a huge city underlying the retirement
home.
Only it’s not a city, it’s a 100
kilomctcr-long spaceship inhabited bv
an alien called the Autolhor, who
controls the ship but isn ’tcxactly sure
what its purpose is, and a Drex, one of
the race who built the ship a million
years ago.
A 100-kilomcter-long star ship is
bound to attract attention. Several
attempts are made to hijack it for the
use of one of several planetary alli
ances, before readers learn that the
true purpose of the ship was to fight
an enemy who may or may not still
exist.
“Codgcrspace” is not great litera
ture, but it’s not meant to be. It’s a
rarity these days — an enjoyable romp
by a capable author. The characteri
zations are masterful, especially those
of the elderly space travelers, and
utterly believable. The humor is wry,
occasionally Monty Pythonesque in
delivery. Best of all, it has a happy
resolution and a last line that is a
brilliant conclusion.
— Sam S. Kepfield
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