Early in the 21st Century – this book was written in 1977 so we’ll cut it some slack – ward of state Daniel Frome is sent to the Moon on an important mission. Trained in cybernetics from an early age he has helped to develop an Artificial Intelligence device called a Golem. The publicised plan is to house it in a probe shortly to be sent to Jupiter. However, on reaching the lunar surface he is told the real story. Year’s earlier astronomers had discovered an alien spacecraft slowly approaching the Solar System from deep space. The plan is to use the Golems in defence platforms in case the alien craft proves to be hostile. Meanwhile on Earth the political situation deteriorates to such an extent that nuclear war is a real possibility. The situation is mirrored on the Moon as factions fight, and kill, for positions of power – and day by day the alien gets closer.
I never thought of the 1970’s as a great time for SF. Partially because they seemed to be full of doom and gloom reflecting, I guess, the spirit of the time. In some respects this novel was no different with the threat of nuclear annihilation ever present. Where it bucked the trend was its interesting political infighting within the lunar administration and there was a creditable stab at aliens actually being quite alien. The main character was pretty well drawn as were some of the leading lights of the moon colony. The psychological impacts of the alien approach and the possibility of war on Earth were likewise handled well. For a first novel – I’m unsure if he actually wrote anything else – and one (with my already stated bias) written in the late 70’s this wasn’t half bad. It didn’t say much I hadn’t heard a hundred times before but was constructed well enough to keep me turning pages. Reasonable.
5 comments:
It's always interesting to read a little older sci-fi to see how it holds up. I've always meant to re-read some of the stuff I grew up on (Heinlein, Clarke, Niven).
I read most of the classics from that period and before back in my 20's which is why you don't see many older books reviewed here.
I do have a few books by the classic authors - Blish, Harrison and so on - yet to read though.
As to returning to old books - that's very rare for me. There are far too many new books to read I'm afraid.
Yep, I got some Blish, Harrison, Farmer, etc. Like you, I seem to buy books faster than I read them.
I am *trying* to buy less books - honest..... [grin
Just read your Andrew M Stephenson Nightwatch blog. I read Nightwatch when it came out in '77. His second and only other book was 'A Wall of Years' also published by Orbit (in UK)Very enjoyable read, time travel/old England history/future devastated planet kind of thing.
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