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Zarathustra Refugee Planets #2
Polymath
Colonising a new planet requires much more than just settling on a newly discovered island of Old Earth. New planets were different in thousands of ways, different from Earth and from each other. Any of those differences could mean death and disaster to a human settlement. When a ship filled with refugees from a cosmic catastrophe crash-landed on such an unmapped world, their outlook was precarious. Their ship was lost, salvage had been minor, and everything came to depend on one bright young man accidentally among them. He was a trainee planet-builder. It would have been his job to foresee all the problems necessary to set up a safe home for humanity. But the problem was that he was a mere student - and he had been studying the wrong planet. (First published 1974)
156 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1963
About the author
John Brunner
562 books504 followersJohn Brunner was born in Preston Crowmarsh, near Wallingford in Oxfordshire, and went to school at St Andrew's Prep School, Pangbourne, then to Cheltenham College. He wrote his first novel, Galactic Storm, at 17, and published it under the pen-name Gill Hunt, but he did not start writing full-time until 1958. He served as an officer in the Royal Air Force from 1953 to 1955, and married Marjorie Rosamond Sauer on 12 July 1958
At the beginning of his writing career Brunner wrote conventional space opera pulp science fiction. Brunner later began to experiment with the novel form. His 1968 novel "Stand on Zanzibar" exploits the fragmented organizational style John Dos Passos invented for his USA trilogy, but updates it in terms of the theory of media popularised by Marshall McLuhan.
"The Jagged Orbit" (1969) is set in a United States dominated by weapons proliferation and interracial violence, and has 100 numbered chapters varying in length from a single syllable to several pages in length. "The Sheep Look Up" (1972) depicts ecological catastrophe in America. Brunner is credited with coining the term "worm" and predicting the emergence of computer viruses in his 1975 novel "The Shockwave Rider", in which he used the term to describe software which reproduces itself across a computer network. Together with "Stand on Zanzibar", these novels have been called the "Club of Rome Quartet", named after the Club of Rome whose 1972 report The Limits to Growth warned of the dire effects of overpopulation.
Brunner's pen names include K. H. Brunner, Gill Hunt, John Loxmith, Trevor Staines, Ellis Quick, Henry Crosstrees Jr., and Keith Woodcott.
In addition to his fiction, Brunner wrote poetry and many unpaid articles in a variety of publications, particularly fanzines, but also 13 letters to the New Scientist and an article about the educational relevance of science fiction in Physics Education. Brunner was an active member of the organisation Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and wrote the words to "The H-Bomb's Thunder", which was sung on the Aldermaston Marches.
Brunner had an uneasy relationship with British new wave writers, who often considered him too American in his settings and themes. He attempted to shift to a more mainstream readership in the early 1980s, without success. Before his death, most of his books had fallen out of print. Brunner accused publishers of a conspiracy against him, although he was difficult to deal with (his wife had handled his publishing relations before she died).[2]
Brunner's health began to decline in the 1980s and worsened with the death of his wife in 1986. He remarried, to Li Yi Tan, on 27 September 1991. He died of a heart attack in Glasgow on 25 August 1995, while attending the World Science Fiction Convention there
aka
K H Brunner, Henry Crosstrees Jr, Gill Hunt (with Dennis Hughes and E C Tubb), John Loxmith, Trevor Staines, Keith Woodcott
Winner of the ESFS Awards in 1980 as "Best Author" and 1n 1984 as "Novelist"..
At the beginning of his writing career Brunner wrote conventional space opera pulp science fiction. Brunner later began to experiment with the novel form. His 1968 novel "Stand on Zanzibar" exploits the fragmented organizational style John Dos Passos invented for his USA trilogy, but updates it in terms of the theory of media popularised by Marshall McLuhan.
"The Jagged Orbit" (1969) is set in a United States dominated by weapons proliferation and interracial violence, and has 100 numbered chapters varying in length from a single syllable to several pages in length. "The Sheep Look Up" (1972) depicts ecological catastrophe in America. Brunner is credited with coining the term "worm" and predicting the emergence of computer viruses in his 1975 novel "The Shockwave Rider", in which he used the term to describe software which reproduces itself across a computer network. Together with "Stand on Zanzibar", these novels have been called the "Club of Rome Quartet", named after the Club of Rome whose 1972 report The Limits to Growth warned of the dire effects of overpopulation.
Brunner's pen names include K. H. Brunner, Gill Hunt, John Loxmith, Trevor Staines, Ellis Quick, Henry Crosstrees Jr., and Keith Woodcott.
In addition to his fiction, Brunner wrote poetry and many unpaid articles in a variety of publications, particularly fanzines, but also 13 letters to the New Scientist and an article about the educational relevance of science fiction in Physics Education. Brunner was an active member of the organisation Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and wrote the words to "The H-Bomb's Thunder", which was sung on the Aldermaston Marches.
Brunner had an uneasy relationship with British new wave writers, who often considered him too American in his settings and themes. He attempted to shift to a more mainstream readership in the early 1980s, without success. Before his death, most of his books had fallen out of print. Brunner accused publishers of a conspiracy against him, although he was difficult to deal with (his wife had handled his publishing relations before she died).[2]
Brunner's health began to decline in the 1980s and worsened with the death of his wife in 1986. He remarried, to Li Yi Tan, on 27 September 1991. He died of a heart attack in Glasgow on 25 August 1995, while attending the World Science Fiction Convention there
aka
K H Brunner, Henry Crosstrees Jr, Gill Hunt (with Dennis Hughes and E C Tubb), John Loxmith, Trevor Staines, Keith Woodcott
Winner of the ESFS Awards in 1980 as "Best Author" and 1n 1984 as "Novelist"..
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 17, 2019
Science Fiction, first published 1974
Nette klassische Science-Fiction-Abenteuer-Geschichte, very retro. Die ursprüngliche (kürzere) Fassung ist genauso alt wie ich.
John Brunner bemüht sich offensichtlich, eine "aufregend andere" Zukunft mit professionell ausgebildeten, gleichberechtigten Frauen und vergleichsweise viel sexueller Freizügigkeit darzustellen... aber er ist nun mal ein Kind seiner Zeit, und daher scheitert er an der Emanzipation ungefähr so kläglich wie ein Shirley-Temple-Film beim Versuch, nicht rassistisch zu sein. Die 50er-Jahre-Vorstellungen mogeln sich überall rein... natürlich sind es die Frauen, die Fischernetze reparieren und sich für Krankenpflege melden (der Arzt ist selbstverständlich ein Mann). Im Leitungskommitee wird erst nach einem halben Jahr eine einzige Frau aufgenommen - und einzig mit der Aufgabe, die Männer hinsichtlich weiblicher Psychologie zu beraten! 😂😂😂 Während es im realen Leben definitiv die Männer sind, die bei Stress und Zusammenleben auf engem Raum ausrasten, sind es hier "hysterische" und "eifersüchtige" Frauen, die sich benehmen wie die peinlichsten Bitches bei GNTM oder Bachelor. Irgendwie finde ich es tröstlich, diese kindischen Phantasien zu lesen, denn es beweist, dass die Menschheit in den letzten 50 Jahren doch ein bisschen vorangekommen ist.
Wissenschaftliche Fakten werden reichlich locker gehandhabt... eine Supernova von einem Tag auf den anderen, ohne warnende Vorzeichen!? Das könnte man heutzutage nicht mehr verkaufen. Und im Universum lungern haufenweise bewohnbare Planeten rum, die man mit Raumschiffen ruckizucki in wenigen Wochen erreichen kann... der "maximum hyper-photonic drive" muss größenordnungsmäßig 300fache Lichtgeschwindigkeit liefern, wenn sie in wenigen Wochen einen Planeten erreichen können, auf dem sie die Nova am Nachthimmel "erst in 60-70 Jahren" sehen werden.
Erstaunlich und anerkennenswert: es fehlen die typischen Helden-Klischees und Gewaltverherrlichungen. Die Astronauten - üblicherweise attraktive Superhelden - sind hier beinahe Witzfiguren, die ohne ihre technische Ausrüstung hilflos und mutlos sind. Der Polymath löst Konflikte gewaltfrei, weil er überzeugt ist, dass davon die Art von Gesellschaft und Kultur abhängig ist, die auf dem neuen Planeten entstehen wird:
"...they’ll say you’re the most wonderful man who ever lived because you realized we mustn’t found our world’s history on an army, on a war, on killing….”
Er kennt sogar ökologische Verantwortung und beschließt hinsichtlich eines ziemlich gefährlichen Raubtieres:
Something would eventually have to be done to protect humans from them, though they could not be eliminated—their ecological function, obviously, was to prevent herbivores overgrazing the plants.
👍
Nette klassische Science-Fiction-Abenteuer-Geschichte, very retro. Die ursprüngliche (kürzere) Fassung ist genauso alt wie ich.
John Brunner bemüht sich offensichtlich, eine "aufregend andere" Zukunft mit professionell ausgebildeten, gleichberechtigten Frauen und vergleichsweise viel sexueller Freizügigkeit darzustellen... aber er ist nun mal ein Kind seiner Zeit, und daher scheitert er an der Emanzipation ungefähr so kläglich wie ein Shirley-Temple-Film beim Versuch, nicht rassistisch zu sein. Die 50er-Jahre-Vorstellungen mogeln sich überall rein... natürlich sind es die Frauen, die Fischernetze reparieren und sich für Krankenpflege melden (der Arzt ist selbstverständlich ein Mann). Im Leitungskommitee wird erst nach einem halben Jahr eine einzige Frau aufgenommen - und einzig mit der Aufgabe, die Männer hinsichtlich weiblicher Psychologie zu beraten! 😂😂😂 Während es im realen Leben definitiv die Männer sind, die bei Stress und Zusammenleben auf engem Raum ausrasten, sind es hier "hysterische" und "eifersüchtige" Frauen, die sich benehmen wie die peinlichsten Bitches bei GNTM oder Bachelor. Irgendwie finde ich es tröstlich, diese kindischen Phantasien zu lesen, denn es beweist, dass die Menschheit in den letzten 50 Jahren doch ein bisschen vorangekommen ist.
Wissenschaftliche Fakten werden reichlich locker gehandhabt... eine Supernova von einem Tag auf den anderen, ohne warnende Vorzeichen!? Das könnte man heutzutage nicht mehr verkaufen. Und im Universum lungern haufenweise bewohnbare Planeten rum, die man mit Raumschiffen ruckizucki in wenigen Wochen erreichen kann... der "maximum hyper-photonic drive" muss größenordnungsmäßig 300fache Lichtgeschwindigkeit liefern, wenn sie in wenigen Wochen einen Planeten erreichen können, auf dem sie die Nova am Nachthimmel "erst in 60-70 Jahren" sehen werden.
Erstaunlich und anerkennenswert: es fehlen die typischen Helden-Klischees und Gewaltverherrlichungen. Die Astronauten - üblicherweise attraktive Superhelden - sind hier beinahe Witzfiguren, die ohne ihre technische Ausrüstung hilflos und mutlos sind. Der Polymath löst Konflikte gewaltfrei, weil er überzeugt ist, dass davon die Art von Gesellschaft und Kultur abhängig ist, die auf dem neuen Planeten entstehen wird:
"...they’ll say you’re the most wonderful man who ever lived because you realized we mustn’t found our world’s history on an army, on a war, on killing….”
Er kennt sogar ökologische Verantwortung und beschließt hinsichtlich eines ziemlich gefährlichen Raubtieres:
Something would eventually have to be done to protect humans from them, though they could not be eliminated—their ecological function, obviously, was to prevent herbivores overgrazing the plants.
👍
August 21, 2024
Die Idee ist gut, aber es ist halt einfach alte sexistische Kackscheisse.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews