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Medusa's Children
The descendants of Earth travelers whose ship crashed on a distant watery planet, a group of aquatic humans abandon their dying planet and seek a new place to live on Earth
156 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
6 people are currently reading
167 people want to read
About the author
Bob Shaw
200 books104 followersBob Shaw was born in Northern Ireland. After working in structural engineering, industrial public relations, and journalism he became a full time science fiction writer in 1975.
Shaw was noted for his originality and wit. He was two-time recipient (in 1979 and 1980) of the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer. His short story Light of Other Days was a Hugo Award nominee in 1967, as was his novel The Ragged Astronauts in 1987.
Shaw was noted for his originality and wit. He was two-time recipient (in 1979 and 1980) of the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer. His short story Light of Other Days was a Hugo Award nominee in 1967, as was his novel The Ragged Astronauts in 1987.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
October 1, 2017
Truly cringed during most of this book. I finished this book with one impression: Bob Shaw is a very lonely, very horny man. When the book is going well, he cannot help but underscore any plot point or character development with sex. Tarrant spends half the book thinking about some girl's boobs. Myrah spends half the book being fucked.
Beyond that, Shaw lets us follow those two characters. Myrah is likable and sympathetic. Tarrant is likable to a point. It is really and truly (I'm not exaggerating) a plot point that, after ogling and getting a visible erection (??) while staring at the mother (!!) of a girl Tarrant is courting, and then being chewed out by the father of the girl he's courting, Tarrant throws a fit and decides he's done with the lifestyle of these folks and will either chase down massive squids or leave. Don't get me wrong, they come off as conservative, but this was a bizarre reaction from a character we had been lead to be on the same side as. And Myrah, the charismatic and sympathetic character we had also been following? Gets completely abandoned halfway through. We stop following her narrative altogether.
Shaw does craft a REALLY COOL underwater world and when not spending a paragraph on some female characters tits or having Tarrant low-key rape (Not kidding!) a minor character, the book is kind of neat. But like. Really. Just. Bob Shaw needs to get laid.
Beyond that, Shaw lets us follow those two characters. Myrah is likable and sympathetic. Tarrant is likable to a point. It is really and truly (I'm not exaggerating) a plot point that, after ogling and getting a visible erection (??) while staring at the mother (!!) of a girl Tarrant is courting, and then being chewed out by the father of the girl he's courting, Tarrant throws a fit and decides he's done with the lifestyle of these folks and will either chase down massive squids or leave. Don't get me wrong, they come off as conservative, but this was a bizarre reaction from a character we had been lead to be on the same side as. And Myrah, the charismatic and sympathetic character we had also been following? Gets completely abandoned halfway through. We stop following her narrative altogether.
Shaw does craft a REALLY COOL underwater world and when not spending a paragraph on some female characters tits or having Tarrant low-key rape (Not kidding!) a minor character, the book is kind of neat. But like. Really. Just. Bob Shaw needs to get laid.
July 6, 2012
Man-made climate change, the Bermuda Triangle, and a balkanised future world of feuding petty states are potent ingredients in themselves. Throw in some mutant killer squid and a telepathic monster from space and you've got an interesting mix. It sounds bonkers, but give it a try - Shaw is a wonderfully lucid and humane author who can make the weirdest premise sound convincing.
May 29, 2021
What a fun read, and the premise is amazing! I hadn't read the back cover, and the reveal was astounding. This was one of those rare finds that wandered into my life when I was perusing through half-priced books. Great story, well told. Absolutely enjoyed it!
January 2, 2025
Oh good. I finally finished the killer squid penis book.
This book was genuinely disgusting. I would have DNF'd it, but I had just DNF'd another book and wanted to persevere for the cool underwater world. Unfortunately, even that part of the novel was ripped away halfway through when Myrah and Tarrant united.
Notable factors of the plot include an underwater sect of people who solely wear belts and have sex rituals - not to mention weird age gaps and relationships otherwise within this element - and a vaguely parasitic ooze that goes into people's mouths to immerse them into its subconscious. On our usual Earth, horny Tarrant tries to get with every woman that moves and even relieves his manly problem inside an unconscious woman from another planet. Of course, none of this even begins to encapsulate the disgusting ways the giant squid kill their prey. Why did it need to be associated with SA? Couldn't they just be killer squid? The amount of sexual violence in this book is just vile.
The only saving grace of the text was that the writing style was solid and the initial aquatic world was fascinating. But as the scientific jargon and research took over the storyline, it did get harder to care and pay attention.
Ultimately, this was a hard story to read. It suffered majorly from what I call the Ethan Frome effect (a shorter book that takes forever to read), and it was oftentimes horrifying in a way that was not fun. I don't think I could ever recommend this to anyone in good conscience; it might actively make you vomit. I don't know if I'll ever stop fighting the bile from this one.
This book was genuinely disgusting. I would have DNF'd it, but I had just DNF'd another book and wanted to persevere for the cool underwater world. Unfortunately, even that part of the novel was ripped away halfway through when Myrah and Tarrant united.
Notable factors of the plot include an underwater sect of people who solely wear belts and have sex rituals - not to mention weird age gaps and relationships otherwise within this element - and a vaguely parasitic ooze that goes into people's mouths to immerse them into its subconscious. On our usual Earth, horny Tarrant tries to get with every woman that moves and even relieves his manly problem inside an unconscious woman from another planet. Of course, none of this even begins to encapsulate the disgusting ways the giant squid kill their prey. Why did it need to be associated with SA? Couldn't they just be killer squid? The amount of sexual violence in this book is just vile.
The only saving grace of the text was that the writing style was solid and the initial aquatic world was fascinating. But as the scientific jargon and research took over the storyline, it did get harder to care and pay attention.
Ultimately, this was a hard story to read. It suffered majorly from what I call the Ethan Frome effect (a shorter book that takes forever to read), and it was oftentimes horrifying in a way that was not fun. I don't think I could ever recommend this to anyone in good conscience; it might actively make you vomit. I don't know if I'll ever stop fighting the bile from this one.
February 13, 2022
Wild from start to finish, this is a quick read which will keep your mind spinning! Shaw has created something special here, and it has held up over the decades since it was published.
You won’t be able to stop thinking about it.
You won’t be able to stop thinking about it.
February 27, 2010
The Clan live in a zero-gravity undersea world, trying to survive in a harsh environment and stay safe from the deadly Horra. But a new current is bringing change...
This was an enjoyable post-(mild)apocalypse book with a nice SF Idea at its heart. The characters are just sketches, but drawn well enough that you care about them. Worth reading.
This was an enjoyable post-(mild)apocalypse book with a nice SF Idea at its heart. The characters are just sketches, but drawn well enough that you care about them. Worth reading.
May 4, 2010
This had quite an original and intriguing setup, and moved along swiftly enough to maintain my interest. In fact it moved a little too quickly and the climax in particular felt rushed and anticlimactic. It's like he hit the 150 page mark and decided he was bored and just wanted to wrap it up as quickly as possible, whereas I'd have happily read another hundred pages.
February 14, 2023
There are many important science fiction authors, and I (naively) like to think that I've read most of them. Still, there are a lot of missing gaps in my list of authorial acquaintances - especially in the British New Wave, of which I believe Shaw is included as a late comer - and, until now, Bob Shaw was one of them. Then at the end of last summer I stumbled across a Book Club edition of this for two bucks at a cute used bookstore (with cats) and had to buy it, and I'm glad I've read it because even though it's a bit uneven, it's a very well-written and interesting book.
I read this book in four sittings, so I'll give a recap of this book quarter-by-quarter (without unblurred spoilers). The first four chapters set up two story arcs: one of a woman in a strange underwater society called the Clan, which is not explained at all yet is vividly written and instantly engaging for SF readers; and one of Tarrant, a man from Earth in the mid-2300s, who defected from the air force and settled in the Pacific as an algae farmer. We're instantly treated to two worlds that are completely different yet are linked by our protagonists' sexual desires (Sea-girl is used to 'swimming' with everyone to promote population growth, and Earth-man lusts after the neighbor girl who's from a conservative family) and the themes of change (both of the oceans around them and of their want for their lives to change). One great line goes something like "It was only by sacrificing her life that she could feel any true purpose." There were so many hints of great things to come.
The second quarter wavers a bit, especially when . Besides that character irregularity, the second quarter was largely a solid extension of the exposition and ended with a psychedelic bang. Then the 3rd quarter begins with . The fourth quarter of the book, where . This section was still well-written and all, but it was a bit rushed. I honestly could've done with another hundred pages to the book, and I wish it hadn't switched its story and themes around so much. Still, it's a fast-paced and intelligent read, so it left me wanting a bit more.
I want to talk about a few of the elements of this book, and I'll start with the themes. Part of my evolution as a reader throughout the last year has been about being able to pick up on the themes and meanings behind books. I've begun to get quite tickled with some sorts of themes. I really liked how this book was set up to be about change, but then pivoted towards family + purpose, then some weird thing about sex and how social opinion of it is dictated by civilizational circumstances, and of course climate change was a large feeder of this narrative... I was a bit confused when the last few pages seemed to be strictly about . I mean, it's a theme that this worldbuilding practically begs for, but it's still not anything that was ever going to grab me.
I thought that the characters were overall solid. Tarrant was a bit all over the board - being a much cooler character in the second half - but most of the supporting cast was consistent and served the plot pretty well. I do think that the one character who was robbed was our leading woman (Myrah), who was a very interesting perspective . I definitely would've handled framing this story differently, and throwing some of her perspective in there could've given the book some extra length and time to marinate.
All of this being said, the most impressive part of the book is probably that even though I don't love how scatter-brained this book was, every reveal and revelation was seeded earlier in the text and seemed to just *fit*. Maybe not from that thematic point of view, but surely from plotting and prose points of view. The prose was pretty enjoyable too. Not stylized, just straightforward yet elegant.
Pretty good writing and worldbuilding, general decline of narrative stability, weird variety of themes... I think that's all she wrote. Well, I'm a he, and I've still got more to write, but... bottom line is: I enjoyed my time with Medusa's children and I will definitely have to keep an eye out for one of the less minor Shaw's in the wild so I can expand my appraisal of him as an author. I did enjoy this more than I expected, and it's always good to have another obscure SF novel under one's belt. Thanks for reading what must be the longest review of this book that will ever exist on Goodreads, and I hope you find at least as much interest in this book as I, your new favorite literary reviewer, did.
I read this book in four sittings, so I'll give a recap of this book quarter-by-quarter (without unblurred spoilers). The first four chapters set up two story arcs: one of a woman in a strange underwater society called the Clan, which is not explained at all yet is vividly written and instantly engaging for SF readers; and one of Tarrant, a man from Earth in the mid-2300s, who defected from the air force and settled in the Pacific as an algae farmer. We're instantly treated to two worlds that are completely different yet are linked by our protagonists' sexual desires (Sea-girl is used to 'swimming' with everyone to promote population growth, and Earth-man lusts after the neighbor girl who's from a conservative family) and the themes of change (both of the oceans around them and of their want for their lives to change). One great line goes something like "It was only by sacrificing her life that she could feel any true purpose." There were so many hints of great things to come.
The second quarter wavers a bit, especially when . Besides that character irregularity, the second quarter was largely a solid extension of the exposition and ended with a psychedelic bang. Then the 3rd quarter begins with . The fourth quarter of the book, where . This section was still well-written and all, but it was a bit rushed. I honestly could've done with another hundred pages to the book, and I wish it hadn't switched its story and themes around so much. Still, it's a fast-paced and intelligent read, so it left me wanting a bit more.
I want to talk about a few of the elements of this book, and I'll start with the themes. Part of my evolution as a reader throughout the last year has been about being able to pick up on the themes and meanings behind books. I've begun to get quite tickled with some sorts of themes. I really liked how this book was set up to be about change, but then pivoted towards family + purpose, then some weird thing about sex and how social opinion of it is dictated by civilizational circumstances, and of course climate change was a large feeder of this narrative... I was a bit confused when the last few pages seemed to be strictly about . I mean, it's a theme that this worldbuilding practically begs for, but it's still not anything that was ever going to grab me.
I thought that the characters were overall solid. Tarrant was a bit all over the board - being a much cooler character in the second half - but most of the supporting cast was consistent and served the plot pretty well. I do think that the one character who was robbed was our leading woman (Myrah), who was a very interesting perspective . I definitely would've handled framing this story differently, and throwing some of her perspective in there could've given the book some extra length and time to marinate.
All of this being said, the most impressive part of the book is probably that even though I don't love how scatter-brained this book was, every reveal and revelation was seeded earlier in the text and seemed to just *fit*. Maybe not from that thematic point of view, but surely from plotting and prose points of view. The prose was pretty enjoyable too. Not stylized, just straightforward yet elegant.
Pretty good writing and worldbuilding, general decline of narrative stability, weird variety of themes... I think that's all she wrote. Well, I'm a he, and I've still got more to write, but... bottom line is: I enjoyed my time with Medusa's children and I will definitely have to keep an eye out for one of the less minor Shaw's in the wild so I can expand my appraisal of him as an author. I did enjoy this more than I expected, and it's always good to have another obscure SF novel under one's belt. Thanks for reading what must be the longest review of this book that will ever exist on Goodreads, and I hope you find at least as much interest in this book as I, your new favorite literary reviewer, did.
January 15, 2017
This is the first work I have read of Bob Shaw. I enjoy his writing and creativity, however, the story didn't live up to his imagination. The climax of the story doesn't match the build up for me, but a good story nonetheless.
March 21, 2025
The premise is interesting and unique, while exuding classic sci-fi. I liked the way everything eventually tied together. I’m glad I read it despite the reviews, because the sexual tone throughout the book isn’t even that serious, people are overreacting. All in all, good science fiction.
June 29, 2015
Missing sentences, repeated paragraphs and typos. Not a good edition. Terrific ideas though. Worth reading some more Shaw. Predicts a drone and how it works from 1977.
February 13, 2019
I generally love books from the era when science fiction could be one and done in 200 pages. That said, Medusa's Children barely kept me going at times.
First, the elephant in the room: sex. One of our main characters is totally preoccupied, and the author is at pains to talk about sex a lot with the other main characters and setting. It gets to the point where it's distracting. Do we really need to know that a particular squid has a phallus-like tentacle?
Anyway, like all the best sci-fi it has some neat and original ideas. Like all the worst sci-fi, the characters were unrelatable, the implausibility was at times distracting and - even at this short length - it was dull in places.
First, the elephant in the room: sex. One of our main characters is totally preoccupied, and the author is at pains to talk about sex a lot with the other main characters and setting. It gets to the point where it's distracting. Do we really need to know that a particular squid has a phallus-like tentacle?
Anyway, like all the best sci-fi it has some neat and original ideas. Like all the worst sci-fi, the characters were unrelatable, the implausibility was at times distracting and - even at this short length - it was dull in places.
August 18, 2022
The underwater world is astounding. I’m not entirely sure if the science is accurate, but it’s beautiful nonetheless.
However, lord almighty this author cannot go more than five pages without sexually describing a female character’s body (he’s clearly a boobs man) which gets very annoying very fast. Like, really. We don’t need to know the breast sizes of every woman in this world.
Again, though, the world is amazing and although the story was confusing at times, I thought it was wonderfully crafted. A little hidden gem that I’m glad to have experienced.
However, lord almighty this author cannot go more than five pages without sexually describing a female character’s body (he’s clearly a boobs man) which gets very annoying very fast. Like, really. We don’t need to know the breast sizes of every woman in this world.
Again, though, the world is amazing and although the story was confusing at times, I thought it was wonderfully crafted. A little hidden gem that I’m glad to have experienced.
May 30, 2025
Starting off as two seemingly unrelated accounts, these stories merge spectacularly into one. A planetoid made of water, circling a far away planet is home to a group of underwater humans who chase air bubbles and are at the mercy of a mysterious, god-like force called Ka. On Earth in the future, Tarrant is an algae farmer whose crop is being attacked by aggressive giant squids. An incredible, man-made portal brings the two worlds together.
July 3, 2018
Apart from the silly story for me, I would think that this book was written by a 13 year old boy who just discovered what his body and opposite sex's body can do. Basically, a dull story - yet, still has the creative mind of a kid (the only props I can give) - accompanied with a very childishly sexual imagery. I had to force myself to finish the last 50 pages.
January 14, 2023
What a waste of potential.
It’s way too horny, Shawn’s views on women are pretty apparent and severely outdated.
Myrah should’ve been the central protagonist for 80% of the book, leaving Tarrant as just a side character for the Clan to discover Earth through.
The first few chapters focussing on Myrah would have been an excellent starting point for a whole series of fantasy novels…
It’s way too horny, Shawn’s views on women are pretty apparent and severely outdated.
Myrah should’ve been the central protagonist for 80% of the book, leaving Tarrant as just a side character for the Clan to discover Earth through.
The first few chapters focussing on Myrah would have been an excellent starting point for a whole series of fantasy novels…
December 31, 2013
Finally finished this masterpiece. Perhaps I'll review it someday?
April 21, 2014
Bonkers!!
April 9, 2017
3.5 stars - Metaphorosis Reviews
Humans inhabit a mysterious, low gravity marine environment at whose core is the enigmatic Ka. When the currents suddenly shift, the inhabitants find out there is much more to their precarious world than they knew.
Like Orbitsville, Medusa's Children centers around an intriguing technical premise, but focuses its attention more on the people it affects than on shiny gimmicks. There's not a great deal of depth to most characters, but the two central figures are interesting and realistic. While they're interesting to follow, the emotional arc of the story is relatively flat, and the ending lacks impact. I wish, in this case, that Shaw had done more with the technology and the worldbuilding than just sketch it in. It's a concept that deserved more attention, along with the functioning human side of the story. Shaw’s throwaways ideas here include climate change, drones, and a number of other enticing mentions. Overall, interesting, but not transforming.
Humans inhabit a mysterious, low gravity marine environment at whose core is the enigmatic Ka. When the currents suddenly shift, the inhabitants find out there is much more to their precarious world than they knew.
Like Orbitsville, Medusa's Children centers around an intriguing technical premise, but focuses its attention more on the people it affects than on shiny gimmicks. There's not a great deal of depth to most characters, but the two central figures are interesting and realistic. While they're interesting to follow, the emotional arc of the story is relatively flat, and the ending lacks impact. I wish, in this case, that Shaw had done more with the technology and the worldbuilding than just sketch it in. It's a concept that deserved more attention, along with the functioning human side of the story. Shaw’s throwaways ideas here include climate change, drones, and a number of other enticing mentions. Overall, interesting, but not transforming.
April 29, 2015
1980 grade A
2003 grade B+
2003 grade B+
April 20, 2017
To be honest, I had no idea what I was getting myself into here. I've enjoyed Bob Shaw in the past which is why I picked this one up. I found this story full of surprises, particularly as it doesn't do anything I expected it do. My best description of the book would be something along the lines of The Little Mermaid meets The Puppet Masters meets Pacific Rim. Except it's not really any of them either.
Initially the story chapters alternate between Myrah in the water world and Hal, in his boat in a future degenerating Earth. Initially, I had not idea what was going on with Myrah's alien world and wondered if this book was worth finishing. Hal's story was okay but because it was more relatable, I was happy when I got to his chapters. I'm glad I persevered as, once things started making sense to me, this really picked up. By the end, I was hooked.
The only bad thing I have to say about this book is that this particular edition had some outrageous editing errors. There were a couple of typos, but the first major problem was where some lines were jumbled like 1, 2, 3, 5, 4, 5, 6. And on two other occasions a paragraph was repeated halfway through its first run, so you'd get 3 lines, then the same 3 lines again followed by the rest of the paragraph.
Initially the story chapters alternate between Myrah in the water world and Hal, in his boat in a future degenerating Earth. Initially, I had not idea what was going on with Myrah's alien world and wondered if this book was worth finishing. Hal's story was okay but because it was more relatable, I was happy when I got to his chapters. I'm glad I persevered as, once things started making sense to me, this really picked up. By the end, I was hooked.
The only bad thing I have to say about this book is that this particular edition had some outrageous editing errors. There were a couple of typos, but the first major problem was where some lines were jumbled like 1, 2, 3, 5, 4, 5, 6. And on two other occasions a paragraph was repeated halfway through its first run, so you'd get 3 lines, then the same 3 lines again followed by the rest of the paragraph.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews