Message-ID: <297@ahuta.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 2-Jan-85 08:06:03 EST
Article-I.D.: ahuta.297
Posted: Wed Jan 2 08:06:03 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 3-Jan-85 03:55:10 EST
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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
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