Fool's Hill

by Richard A. Lupoff, Peter Elson (Illustrator)

FIRST EDITION, Dell #5419, (c) February 1976. Paperback original, so stated. Cover “In a domed city of easy sex and drugs, love could destroy them all…” Original $1.25 cover price. Spine 00-440-05419. Paperback, 207 pages, 18 cm.

Genres: Science Fiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Richard Allen "Dick" Lupoff (born February 21, 1935 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American science fiction and mystery author, who has also written humor, satire, non-fiction and reviews. In addition to his two dozen novels and more than 40 short stories, he has also edited science-fantasy anthologies. He is an expert on the writing of Edgar Rice Burroughs and has an equally strong interest in H. P. Lovecraft. Before becoming a full-time writer in 1970 he worked in the computer industry.

Reviews

[Graham P · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps one of the most 'padded' novels I've read within the genre, THE CRACK IN THE SKY confuses genuine narrative with no-fizz info dumps on ecological and social disasters, and then goes on to pretend-a-novel with a cast of diverse characters who aren't all that different from one another besides their last names -- the same cardboard stock betrays their age or ethnicity, and the dialogue meant to carry the story forward is littered with cops and layabouts watching one TV broadcast after another, occasionally telling a story from when the 'days were good', occasionally fucking their wives and husbands while the Edgar Rice Burroughs Hour plays another episode on primetime. Really, it's like reading a book about people popping a tab and watching TV and then spouting inane and inept dialogue that had me wishing the crack in the dome would come much sooner than later. Oh yeah, there's also a warring revolution between two groups, and get this, there's also been communication established with aliens somewhere in some Alphafuckcluster galaxy. Really, I guess this is supposed to be a gloomy satire of sorts. And while I was cheering you on, Lupoff, it really feels like the end result is a tepid rip of Delany's DHALGREN, Disch' 334, and Brunner's STAND ON ZANZIBAR written over some lost weekend in 1975.

The Revolution shall not be televised.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a novel of dystopian satire, with a bit of black humor tempered by a somewhat hopeful ending. It seemed short, as if it weren't as fully fleshed-out or developed as it should have been. The characters aren't too memorable, but it was an interesting page turner at the time.

[Fabio · Rating 1 out of 5]

La ridefinizione di un limite. Ovvero, lo zero
Pensavo di aver letto brutti libri.
Pensavo di aver letto pessimi libri.
Ho pure letto - per auto-sfida - l'intera saga di Twilight. A ripensarci, non era poi così male.

Questo libro ha spostato verso il basso la mia asticella di "pessima lettura": trama quasi inesistente, ambientazione insensata (anche se va riconosciuto un merito all'autore, quello di aver puntato il dito sui danni ambientali causati dall'uomo), personaggi piatti e poco interessanti, sesso e droghe inseriti per attirare l'attenzione.

Un'opera di siffatto valore avrebbe potuto essere salvata solo dal ridicolo (volontario o involontario): purtroppo non è questo il caso - e dire che di libri (o film) talmente brutti da acquistare fascino è pieno il mondo. Quando uno è fortunato...

Finito giusto perché mi scoccia lasciare un libro a metà, per quanto privo di ogni attrattiva. Ora sto riconsiderando questa scelta di vita da lettore.

Uno zero infinitamente migliore (ma son passati già così tanti anni? Argh) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wk7C...

[Federico · Rating 1 out of 5]

Penso che anche per persone abituate a questo modo di scivere, col narratore completamente esterno, questo sia un pessimo libro.
Gli unici due pulviscoli di interesse sono generati dal fatto che tutte le persone hanno i servizi minimi garantiti; e che ci si può sposare in più persone (per quanto ovviamente sia sempre tutto eteronormato). Questa utopia, che sembrava portare il worldbuilding in una direzione interessante, viene travolta da una banalissima distopia capitalista in cui, per non si sa quale motivo, c'è suddetto pulviscolo di sensatezza.
Trama disgustosamente vuota, personaggi disgustosamente piatti e con cui non si riesce a empatizzare (anche perché mancano tutte le reazioni emotive!), tropi che diventano cliché della peggior specie. Due piccoli faretti di risata: siamo nel futuro, nel lontano 2000 d.C; e a un certo punto un personaggio si butta da un'altezza elevata senza un buon motivo, all'improvviso, ma in maniera un po' comica.
Per il resto, sono contento che finisca tutto male, nessuno qui (in quanto libro) meritava un finale felice.

[Pete · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is more a sketch for a novel than an actual novel. The situation is a polluted earth with everyone forced to live in domes. The domes are overcrowded so the major problem is keeping everyone content. This is achieved by drugs, sex and mindless entertainment (the most popular TV channel is dedicated to Edgar Rice Burroughs series). A minor wrinkle to the plot is that a message received from space is finally decoded as alien in origin, and there is some hope that the aliens could save humanity if we can get a message to them. Of course, politics prevents this from happening, and at the end of the novel it seems likely that most of humanity will perish. Needed to be significantly longer with richer characterization to work. Alternatively, this could have used black humor similar to Philip K. Dick. Lupoff has done much better.

[Charlie Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book hit so many real truths that are happening today, the world collapsing, a big divide in community and government. All the problems the author mentioned in the late 70s, translated into a dystopian hard scifi future might as well be a documentary of today’s life and our political, ethical and ecological situations going on today.

A short and sweet emotional sci fi filled with gloom and the theme of hopelessness in adversity of impossible odds, the characters felt real and their narrative purposed was done perfectly.

Top notch read

[Ammy · Rating 2 out of 5]

initially picked this up bc i loved the cover, and the subject matter reminded me of robot by snerg. hard agree to whoever else on here said it reads more as a draft than a complete novel. just seemed like a bunch of loose ideas haphazardly strung together without spending enough time on any one of them. interesting world building and political commentary but far too short to achieve anything meaningful. could easily be doubled in length and i would’ve been #sat. i did enjoy following along as the earth and civilization deteriorated over time.

[Nicola Strangis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classico libretto Urania di quegli anni: la traduzione è ballerina, ma anche un ottimo lavoro di localizzazione non avrebbe più di tanto cambiato l’esito finale. La storia è una distoglia in cui l’umanità, avendo reso inabitabile il pianeta terra, si confina in città-cupole sovrappopolate. Il testo è caratterizzato da un certo humor che sottende una critica sociale. Non c’è un happy ending è questo è un bene. Diciamo che al più è una lettura estiva, da ombrellone, senza troppe pretese.

[Michael Mallory · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dark and frighteningly prophetic view of the future, laced with some cynical humor, by a master storyteller. It also serves to show how a skillful author can pack an awful lot into a slender volume.

[jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, written in the 70s, was no different than my Twitter timeline in 2016!

Will we ever learn?!