NOVELS OF McDEVITT
Idiot plots; ie a story that can
only occur because so many characters act in a stupid way or the basic
background universe is badly flawed – eg. imagine if had a story set in late 20th
century in which mule drawn carts were used for interstate transport [& it
wasn’t an alternate world or post-apocalyptic story, but supposed to be an
accurate prediction]. Now such a story
might barely possibly be written in late 18th century, but not in 20th
century.
The universe of ‘Hutch’ Hutchins is
supposed to be a couple of centuries in future with high tech such as FTL, yet
don’t have much basic tech and procedures that we NOW have or will shortly have
– so no oxygen recycling or food regeneration, for instance [air regeneration
exists on nuclear submarines, and as a former navy officer Jack McDevitt should
be aware of this; also as an SF author he should be aware of this. What is it with so many book authors and TV
script writers that they used this hackneyed plot idea of people running out of
air? Also, they have when life support
goes down (no backup?) that it gets cold – more likely to have a heat buildup].
SF
CRITICISM – THE PRISCILLA ‘HUTCH’ HUTCHINS NOVELS OF JACK McDEVITT
[THE OMEGA
GALAXY SERIES]
It’s a very
strange universe that you’ve created Master Jack
No hard
feelings if I launch this attack
You’ve
written very strange books Master Jack
But we
don’t thank you in looking back
INTRODUCTION
PLANETARY
EXPLORATION IN SF
There has
been through the decades many tales of planetary adventures and exploration;
some good, some bad, some dreadful.
In modern times, one would expect
writers to be able to get it right, yet many recent novels have had it less
right than old-style authors writing in mid- or even early-twentieth century.
An example was a novel by Kevin
Randle. Another was ‘Lifeform’ by Alan
Dean Foster (in retrospect, this probably wasn’t too bad).
And now Jack McDevitt – as can be
seen from the names, not inexperienced authors, not newbie beginners, but
people whom one would expect to have some nous.
[These books are the equivalents of
the slash horror stories such as Friday the Thirteenth in which a bunch of
inexperienced, defenceless high school teenagers go into the bush and get
themselves killed one by one by a mad killer.
If any survive, they do not learn from the experience and will die in
the next movie in the series].
PART ONE SYNOPSIS OF A TRAGEDY [THE STORY, NOT EVENTS DEPICTED]
NOTE: DIRECTLY QUOTED SENTENCES FROM
THE NOVEL(s) ARE HERE PUT IN BOLD.
Today’s “lesson” is about Jack
McDevitt’s ‘Deepsix’ [ironically, I read this just after reading Roger Levy’s
‘Reckless Sleep’, its author’s debut novel, and a much more accomplished read,
that also has aspects related to planetary exploration, and does a much better
job of it; however, it is a story mainly on Earth in the future].
In the 23rd century, one
would expect our technology to be much more advanced [provided no penultimate
disasters occur], and in this novel that commences with events in the year
2204, they do have FTL space travel, and so one would expect commensurate
advanced technology in other areas, and also advanced procedures.
In the 10 page prologue to the main
story, ‘amateur hour’ prevails – if this prologue had been written by a teenage
wannabe SF writer, I would, if I was an editor, reject it as puerile garbage.
Let us examine this prologue in
detail –
[preliminary note – the prologue
deals with the first exploration of a newly discovered, biologically
advanced world (ie it has an ecosystem with a variety of lifeforms,
including large animals)].
It starts with the discovery that 3
members of the expedition have wandered off by themselves, unnoticed
temporarily by anyone else – this is poor team discipline.
Apparently this wandering group had
encountered some danger, as the remainder of the expedition have a sound
recording of shots from stingers (a type of weapon of unspecified
nature) and screams of the team members.
Questions immediately arise about
the technology of this group – don’t they have advanced exploration suit? (one
soon learns that they are wearing some sort of designated suit, but it is
obviously, as we learn, not very good in its protective rating); what about
weapons?, and most importantly communication and surveillance equipment ? [in
the 1950s’ movie ‘Forbidden Planet’ they had communication
devices that included a visual element; today we have mobile
phones with such]. We further learn
that their equipment doesn’t even include GPS or any simpler location
indicating device or beacon [sure they don’t have a satellite network in orbit
for such a network, but they should as a standard operating procedure].
The rest of the ‘scientists’ decide
to look for the missing three:
“They proceeded cautiously, drawing
together again, weapons at the ready.
But these were researchers, not trained military types. To his knowledge, none had ever fired a stinger
in anger.”
It would be better, if have a group
of people, say three, to have only one armed, who knows how and when to use a
weapon, than three armed, none of whom have weapon expertise. Further, why is it in bad written SF and in
so many TV shows that they only have one type of hand weapon when exploring a
planet [‘Star Trek’ phaser; ‘Deepsix’ stinger]; one should have
different weapons for different purposes, or at the least a multi-purpose
weapon. [Players of RPGs (almost) never
make this mistake].
[Additional note inserted later:
also why is it in bad, modern SF [contrast and compare with classic SF with its
scientist-heroes (the written SF of pre-1960s, and movies of 1950s)] that
scientists have no paramilitary training, weapons expertise or military
experience (of course in the Omega universe no one, not even soldiers, has any
military experience – peace rules, man).
Hell, even Mr Spock, the scientist
of Star Trek, is a phaser use expert].
“Biney Coldfield, the starship’s
captain and pilot of the third lander, broke in to inform him she was
approaching and would join the search as soon as she was down.”
Nightingale [the mission commander]
asks the search party, “ “Do we have a woodsman, by any chance?” They looked at one another.”
A mission commander should have full
profiles on his crew. Also they should
all be trained in planetary exploration, if that is what is what they are going
to do. [Also the ‘lander’ should have a pilot of its own, not the starship
captain].
“ “Wait a minute,” Sherry said. “What?” demanded Nightingale. She raised her hand for quiet. “There’s something behind us.” They whirled as one and weapons came up.”
You should always have people also
looking forward; they have no sort of motion detector or any other device, not
even a tricorder or its equivalent in their technology. [say a simple rear view
video camera]. Weapons should already
be raised.
“Then he stepped into a glade and
saw them. All three were lying
still. Their force-field envelopes were
filled with blood. Their faces were
frozen in expressions of terror and agony.”
Several times there is mention of
them ‘scanning’ but with what is not stated, and whatever it is [something
built into their suits?] has little capability – less effective than the Mark
One scanner.
They also do not appear to have a
camera to record the bodies, or any forensic capability, and not even much
equipment – no stretcher, no vehicle [and no Star Trek like transporter device
to provide some justification for the lack of vehicles].
“All the blood was trapped inside
the Flickinger fields, so it was difficult to make out details of the wounds.”
What is the point of their
force-fields if can’t stop anything? [seems just to keep air & body heat in
(and of course blood)].
Apparently the team of three had
been attacked by birdlike creatures [reminiscent of ‘The Birds’]; there was a
short ‘battle’ that the birds won!
Their suits can’t even protect
against bird beaks!!!
Also the behaviour of the birds is
abnormal – they also later attack the main group. Attacking large animals, especially when those animals have some
strange form of counterattack [the stingers] is not normal behaviour for small
creatures. Oh sure they’re ‘alien’; but
must still have motivation. These
‘birds’ behave like creatures from a fantasy story world, not an SF world.
[Still let us accept it as
reasonable, then surely it would be of great scientific interest and human
curiosity satisfaction to investigate these ‘birds’ as well as rest of the
planet but as we find out, exploration of this planet is abandoned; which becomes
even weirder to understand when one learns early in main section of book that
twenty two years after the exploration party landed on the planet the planet is
due to be destroyed by a rogue planet (and it is known at that earlier time)
– one would then think that exploring this planet would be a scientific and
social priority, especially when it is one of only a handful of planets
discovered to have advanced lifeforms].
“She (Biney) arrived with the full
complement of her team, two men and a woman, all with weapons drawn.”
This statement, “with weapons drawn”
is a lazy and inept way to describe the arrival of a ‘military unit’ [or of any
group of armed personnel, no matter how inadequate they are in ability or
armament].
What is happening here?
Biney is the captain of a starship.
Her full ‘military force’ consists
of herself and three other ‘soldiers’.
They are armed with laser cutters,
which aren’t actual weapons, but a tool.
[as we shortly find out, these are
not soldiers, simply more ‘researchers’ and only Biney has a laser cutter].
“She directed Tatia and Andi (two of
the researchers) to stand guard, and assigned everyone else to construct slings
from branches and hanging vines. When
the slings were ready they laid them on the ground, placed the bodies within,
and began the cumbersome effort of withdrawal.”
Wouldn’t it be better to assign two
of the soldiers to guard duty?
[because, it appears that the new people that the captain brought with
her apparently aren’t soldiers, but just more ‘researchers’ or perhaps
technicians (it isn’t stated what they are)].
They have to construct stretchers
[slings as they are called]?!!!
How do they know if it is even safe
to cut the tree branches and vines?
Why didn’t the lander bring a jeep
to carry the bodies away?
[or even better of course, an APC to
take everyone back]
SPECIAL NOTE: If say the word
‘researcher(s)’, do it with a sneer [as they are “soft Earthers”].
“…, but there’d be no further
investigation on this world.”
“He knew that Biney would insist on
allowing no one to return to the surface until this incident had been reported
to the Academy. And he knew how the
Academy would react. They’d have no
choice, really. Come home.”
This after just three deaths!?, and
further these deaths being due to incompetence and unpreparedness in training
and equipment of the exploration group.
And even if this ‘Academy’ is so
dickless as to no longer wish to explore this new world, you can bet that there
would be lots of private groups/companies that would – to their huge advantage.
[example – the search for new
pharmaceuticals; to increase bioscience knowledge]
What is the redbirds normal food?
In the attack against the main group
three more die, including Biney.
By examining names I have worked out
how many people in this main group, as actual number never stated by author
Three in original team (all killed)
are ‘Cappy’ Capanelli, Al White, an unnamed
Other members of original research
group are Randall ‘Randy’ Nightingale, Sherry,
Cookie (a lander pilot), Tatia, Andi.
Also ‘Tess’ [an AI]
Biney’s team are Biney, Hal Gilbert, two unnamed [later learn one
called ‘Remmy’]
The author does a poor job of
letting the reader know who is in the exploration party – some of them are unnamed,
and they almost all are not ascribed as to what their expertise is supposed to
be.
Those whose names I have put in red are ones killed.
Also aboard the starship is Wilbur
‘Will’ Keene [ship’s MD].
On second last page of prologue it
is revealed that Cappy’s group had its own lander [called ‘Tess’; that
we were previously told was the name of an AI] and Sherry was apparently one of
that lander’s complement. Nightingale
had a (unnamed) lander (and unnamed AI) and a group.
So there must have been two groups
of four, with each four-group having its own lander:
q
Randall
‘Randy’ Nightingale, Cookie (a lander pilot), Tatia, Andi.
q
‘Cappy’ Capanelli, Al White, an unnamed, and Sherry [which of four the pilot unknown].
It also turns out that Cookie is the
surviving member of the ‘command’ crew.
Also, Cappy’s lander, a no doubt
valuable piece of equipment, is abandoned. [this is part of a setup by the
author for the main plot ].
The captain of the starship should
not go down onto the planet [this is reminiscent of the Sulako in ‘Aliens’;
which basically doesn’t seem to have a crew].
Biney’s real name is Sabina.
MORE ON NOVELS OF McDEVITT
Boring characters waffling on; could
be halfway decent if cut size in two.
No way comparable to Asimov or
Heinlein – sparse, taut writing by them.
Idiot plots; ie a story that can
only occur because so many characters act in a stupid way or the basic
background universe is badly flawed – eg. imagine if had a story set in late 20th
century in which mule drawn carts were used for interstate transport [& it
wasn’t an alternate world or post-apocalyptic story, but supposed to be an
accurate prediction]. Now such a story
might barely possibly be written in late 18th century, but not in 20th
century.
The universe of ‘Hutch’ Hutchins is
supposed to be a couple of centuries in future with high tech such as FTL, yet
don’t have much basic tech and procedures that we NOW have or will shortly have
– so no oxygen recycling or food regeneration, for instance [air regeneration
exists on nuclear submarines, and as a former navy officer Jack McDevitt should
be aware of this; also as an SF author he should be aware of this. What is it with so many book authors and TV
script writers that they used this hackneyed plot idea of people running out of
air?]
MORE ON DEEPSIX
If sending a limited # of people and
supplies to a near-death planet, wouldn’t waste a couple of lander slots on two
useless journalists [this and the next item should both be prevented by Space
law & Regulations].
If only two landers available – one
should have been kept in reserve as an emergency rescue vehicle; not to send
inessential journalists to the doomed planet, as if it was a pleasure jaunt –
that’s Space Procedure (ie it would be in any sensible universe).
Space travellers should have
training in planetary survival.
If have engineering skill, then
should be able to adapt a ship to land.
p104 – if (as should be) there is
such a Law, then (a) it applies whether Hutch can quote it or not (or reference
its code); (b) should have electronic PADD that can provide the info [wrist
comp or similar].
[NOTE: IN MY GD UNIVERSE – MACHINES
RARELY JUST FAIL – NORMALLY IT TAKES A MORE POWERFUL FORCE TO DEFEAT THEM].
p135 – even if could break window it
would be a stupid thing to do.
p140 – why don’t they have personal
transponders?
If
the Boardman loses its lander, then how does Dr Helm expect to get onto
Quraqua?
p134 – what sort of primitive tech
is the lander, that when an earthquake occurs causing fissuring
under it, instead of floating it
falls into the hole?
And also how fragile is other
lander, if quake ‘shakes it to pieces’?
p167/8 – Nightingale should know
specs of Tess.
p185/6 – they knew it was a cold
world, yet didn’t have winter clothing [nor sleeping bags, space
blankets, etc].
p186 – don’t the spaceships of the
future have any way to drop/deliver supplies to someone on a
planet? [it would also be nice to
have an ATV].
p192 – has a toothbrush?!!
p206 – blankets, towels ?!?
The shuttle mentioned on p188 could
drop supplies.
If such a once ever event – should
have had more monitoring probes, satellite networks, etc.
Basic physics prevents the cable
scheme – apart from material strength, there is velocity differences.
Even if ignore these – how could
they climb the rope?
p191 – what happened to Rescue
Patrol ships?
DEEPSIX and CHINDI
Very compressed plot summaries of
these two novels:
‘Deepsix’ – a group of explorers
land on a planet, get attacked by a flock of birds – 6 humans die [now this is
only the prologue, but this sets up the events of the rest of the book; ie.if
this event hadn’t happened, neither would any of the other events of the novel,
so therefore this really is the heart of the plot].
‘Chindi’ – a smaller group of
explorers land on a planet, get attacked by a bunch of big birds – 2 humans die
[sure, this is only a minor incident midway in the book, but it is indicative
of the author’s obsession with humans being killed by birds; and like the
incident in the previous novel is the result of outrageous stupidity and
unpreparedness by key characters].
MORE ON JACK McDEVITT
He is no hack writer, he is quite
competent; his ‘Infinity Beach’ is an enjoyable novel.
So why has he written ‘Deepsix’ the
way he has? It’s a matter of choosing
to write for a particular audience – not your typical SF reading reader, but
the denizens of medialand – who love a “good” disaster story with incompetent
“heroes”.
The ‘Alien’ movies are enjoyable,
but also have idiot plotting [though nowhere near as bad as these novels].
MORE ON DEEPSIX/CHINDI
The main characters keep repeating
mistakes. In Deepsix, the characters go
onto a planet where they know there are dangerous animals [as result of
previous failed expedition featured in the Prologue], with basically no weapons
and no protective suits [the e-suit is a vac suit, unarmoured – provides no
physical protection see Chindi p ?].
Then go down on’Paradise’ without
weapons [except Hutch’s laser cutter that is almost as dangerous to user’s
companions as to enemies].
[Also make assumptions that because
‘Angels’ are ‘beautiful’, they are therefore harmless].
[Their behaviour in these alien
encounters is letting the side down – losing face for the human race]
Next, although one ship already
destroyed straight after taking an alien ‘X’ satellite aboard, another ship
does the same with naturally the same result.
Also, isn’t their tech up to having
12 months food supply on board, &/or food synthesis or recycling?
p93 not in human nature not
to have weapons.
Ever heard of automation? – re:
alien burial
These novels are the flip side of
modern action movies – in which the hero(es) does (do) near impossible things,
and is very smart, very cunning, brave and lucky, and often extremely competent
– a virtual superman (or superwoman).
The characters in these novels are
brave, but stupid & unlucky.
Also no instrumentation (heldheld)
for analysis. Hutch is a pilot but is
poor on celestial mechanics.
What is point of looking for aliens
if you don’t have the experts with you – contact specialists, archaeologists,
biologists, scientists, “cameramen”, bodyguards; and the resources. Be Prepared.
The ‘sons of the bird’ in these
novels need an art critic, a Jonathan Hoag, to erase them.
CHINDI
With all their entering ships and
alien bases, why don’t they have portable airlocks ready to use?
p256 – “How can somebody be
coming?” “We’re in a vacuum.”
Duh!?! – vac suits, vehicle,
machine, are possible answers to this very stupid question that one of the
characters asks.
Also, they don’t have light
intensifiers, infrared, microradar, etc. imagers.
Nor cameras to record things for
posterity & analysis.
p258 – “It was like no creature
he’d seen before.” Cliché
Has some interesting encounter
ideas.
Also don’t have jetpacks, steering
jets units.
p402 – Loss of retreat Library –
massive incompetence – should have had it distributed amongst several ships,
and also pissweak technology.
Many references to ‘the world’. What world?
Presumably Earth. Aren’t there
other human occupied worlds?
Doesn’t seem to be any governments
or police or big corporations.
With ‘Deepsix’ and ‘Chindi’ in both
a rare archaeological (& general scientific) interest planet is lost – one
destroyed by cosmic event (giant rogue planet), the other by (needless and
illogical) terraforming. To lose one is
a mistake (carelessness, negligence, dereliction of duty), to lose two is a blunder.
If a person with a hammer kills
another person – the hammer is the agent or tool, but the person is the
killer. In these novels it is not alien
machines or hostile alien creatures that kill the characters; these are simply
agents of the real killer – their own stupidity.
THE ENGINES OF GOD
This is another ‘Priscilla “Hutch”
Hutchins’ novel, and is set before and also was written before the other two
[‘Deepsix’ and ‘Chindi’]. It has some
of the same flaws plus many of its own.
It, like the others, is set in a
‘delusional’ universe – as there is no system of interstellar governance, and
yet a court on Earth believes that it can make a decision relating to another
planet (and what’s more, everyone else in the universe goes along with this!!).
Certain governments on our realworld
Earth (eg US) have same delusion, but can make it a shared delusion because
they have military power (unlike in “Hutch” universe).
One armed ship (“Hutch” universe
ships are unarmed) could change the balance - & prevent the terraforming of
Quraqua [which is a stupid idea anyway because it already has an earthlike
ecosystem; terraforming is usually conceived as something to do to non-living
worlds].
[There is a paradox also in this –
doing the terraforming shows a lack of vision, but undertaking a project that
will not produce any viable result for over 60 years requires an extreme
long-range viewpoint that requires a lot of vision].
In an unknown, potentially hostile
universe it is prudent to show some caution & it is wise to be armed.
To quote from Poul Anderson’s ‘For
Love and Glory’ [Chapter XXIII; p129/130]:
““Police need weapons against
contumacious lawbreakers. Indications
were that your ship is of a heavily armed type.”
“That is true, madam, but it doesn’t
mean that we want to menace anybody or throw our weight around.” No more than we’ve got to. “You have had a good look at us. If your databanks are complete, you’ve
recognized the model and know more or less what firepower we carry. You should also know why. This vessel is for
exploration, where unpredictable demands on her can always come out of nowhere.”
“You do not need nucleonics against
primitive natives, sir, and when have starfarers attacked you?”
“Never, madam. And we devoutly hope none ever will. Certainly the owners, the House of Windholm,
have no such intention. But an expedition just might run into, ah, parties willing to
violate civilized canons. Far more
likely, of course, nature
may suddenly turn hostile.
Antimissile magnetohydrodynamics deflect solar flare particles. A warhead excavates where a shelter is to be
built. An energy beam drills a hole
through ice, for geologists and prospectors to reach the minerals beneath. Besides work like that, this ship took a
large investment. People protect their investments.””
& also Chapter X, p60 ““Explorers have an old,
old saying, that adventure is what happens to the incompetent”.”
I think that McDevitt, should
rewrite these books – chuck out the rubbish, retain the good seed ideas, and refurbish
the plots.
The internal evidence from ‘TeoG’
& its sequels, is a universe with only a small # of spaceships, only
several handfulls of researchers on other planets, no space habitats in Solar
System, and an inward-looking, doomed society.
And yet on p49/50 there is an
‘Editorial’ of ‘The Boston Globe’ of May 22, 2202 [showing that even in early
23rd century TBG still getting it wrong as in late 20th
century, just like ‘The Baltimore Sun’].
This ‘Editorial’states that Earth
has ‘18,000 researchers in extrasolar stations’.
Of course, this ‘editorial’ is an
almost direct crib from 20th century anti-space newspaper articles
(that make stupid, false claims).
However, it also insults India,
Pakistan and China, by claiming that they will be a burden on rest of world
over the next 200 years, unable to look after their own people and solve their
own problems,
They are now working on
solving their problems (and succeeding).
There are written languages on
Earth, where we have samples of the writing but that is all, and we don’t know
what they mean.
Yet in TeoG they are translating an alien
language(s).
You know the childhood books – ‘A is
for apple’ and there is a picture of an apple?
If one had one of these one could
know the English alphabet and the names of 26 objects in that language. BUT that would be all – cannot know what a
27th word means that isn’t shown in book; cannot know any verbs,
proper names, abstract concepts; nor even how the letters and words are
pronounced.
Also there is mentioned in TeoG of a
handweapon that is apparently quite common, general issue type, called a
‘pulser’, that seems to have disappeared when later novels written [note that
although ‘Deepsix’ written later, the prologue that had ‘stingers’ in it would
be relating to events prior to the present of TeoG, and therefore possibly
before ‘pulsers’ existed (but I wouldn’t bet on it), and this doesn’t explain
why no ‘pulsers’ in main parts of the other two novels].
Also, in ‘Deepsix’, shuttles can
only go between ships [landers needed to go to and from planets]; yet in TeoC,
shuttles can land on planets (ie perform role of landers).
It is hard to lose heat from a
spaceship. Only 6 people on an
exploratory expedition – small ships in this universe. [although later a ship
turns up that is carrying 100 people?!!]
If had spacesuits, could wear them
to keep warm -or use shuttle heaters to
warm air.
Machinery has to have a reason to
fail. [and when it does, one should have a crewmember who knows how to repair
small equipment failures, and a workshop to enable repairing, and materials and
tools to perform repairs].
TeoG repeats the concept of a
spaceship running short of air.
p297 – to solve this problem [““The
space station,” she said. “How stable
is its orbit? How long would you say it’s been here?””] – take readings,
feed into an astrogational computer, ask the question – out pops the answer.
TeoG is too “old-fashioned”
storytelling, but without the virtues of such.
p309-10 This suicide theme also reused in ‘Chindi’ with the serpentlike
aliens.
p317 – NAU military ?!?! (1)
what about other nations?
(2)
what
military? – there doesn’t seem to be a military in this universe.
p322-324 More insanely hostile lifeforms, ala ‘Deepsix’.
p324 – travois?!! - also reminiscent of ‘Deepsix’.
p332 – no remote control summoner?
[re: getting to shuttle when on ground]
p335 -or at least a homing device. [ditto]
p344 “well-armed” !? Bosh !!
ill-equipped, inapplicable weaponry, no armor, no planet exploration
suit.
p345 – why didn’t the ‘crabs’ attack
the “heavily armed (sic) landing
party”? (my italics).
Microorganisms
are a more realistic and deadlier danger; but they take no precautions against
these [not that their ‘protective measures’ against large lifeforms is any
good].
Real
drama does not require people to foolishly die [nor to constantly act
stupid, and repeat fatal mistakes].
These
‘crabs’ are like the ‘birds’ of the other two novels cited, in that they launch
insanely suicidal attacks (which reminds me that some ‘bats’ in one of the
novels did a similar thing). The
behaviour of these creatures is consistently unEarthly and also unnatural. [During the 1980’s and 1990’s my friends and
I played the ‘Stormbringer/Elric’ RPG, and sometimes when starting an adventure
with new characters they would be attacked by Clakars or
Baboons or Dharzi Dogs or some other pack creature, and these also attacked powerful human
adventurer parties with suicidal frenzy (on rare occasions as with the ‘bats’
in McDevitt’s novel some survivors might flee).
Clakars are winged, flying apelike
creatures, Dharzi Dogs are doglike creatures with birdlike heads, the Baboons
are more intelligent versions of Earthly baboons. These are fantasy creatures, and sometimes their behaviour is
fantastical as well (or their actions are initiated or controlled by an
intelligent being, a sorcerer); however, in an SF setting where Natural Law is
supposed to prevail, then unless one can provide a very good reason, then
natural creatures should behave naturally [no matter what planet they are on –
but if very Earthlike creatures on a very Earthlike world, then they better
behave like Earthly creatures unless one can provide a rationale for their
behaving radically differently – note that actual Earth creatures do not behave
in a manner that is ‘Earthly’ simply due to being on Earth, but because they
are behaving as appropriate to their evolution and environment
(note that many Earth creatures
behave differently to each other, but not to what nature imposes on them)].
Note that
in Poul Anderson’s novel ‘For Love and Glory’ that the characters (especially
the main character – Lissa Davysdaughter Windholm) are involved in similar
activities to those of ‘Hutch’ – planetary exploration, finding new things and
investigation of space anomalies. But
are much more competent.
‘Hutch’
(and her fellows) are the most incompetent bunch of explorers to ever be
unleashed on any universe. And this
isn’t even a comedy like say ‘Red Dwarf’ [in which the characters are actually
better prepared and equipped, as have the most powerful exploration weapon of
all – brains (truly one can say of the ‘Hutchiverse’ residents that “a mind is
a terrible thing (to waste)”].
Imagine if any of the parties in the
‘Hutchiverse’ landed on David Drake’s and Karl Edward Wagner’s planet Zuyla [from
their novel ‘Killer’] – they wander around aimlessly in their usual fashion –
they would quickly all die.
In contrast, if Zuyla was in
my GD universe it would be a proscribed planet (as it obviously would also be
in ‘Killer’ though that is not specifically stated, but heavily implied; but in
‘Hutchiverse’ it would be simply an unknown world as they have little
exploration done) with monitors guarding it, etc. [Note that I have deliberately put ‘done’ after ‘exploration’
instead of before ‘little’].
However, imagine in GD that it is an
undiscovered planet and then one of the
races finds it – they wouldn’t go down on the surface – they would observe –
and once they saw how deadly life on the planet is – ala Harry Harrison’s
‘Deathworld’ – they would report back to their bosses, would not land on
planet.
However, if an expedition was sent
down to the planet – they would be at the least an MI squad, or preferably
‘Ogres’ {Terran} or other-race nearest equivalent to ‘ogre’, ‘werewolf’ or ‘troll’ squad. Whatever was sent down to the planet would be a group of highly
disciplined, well protected, ‘well-heeled’, personnel with a specific mission.
Of course, the limited character
lifespan also applies to similar ‘exploration groups’ in other universes to
those of the ‘Hutchiverse’.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPECIAL INTRUSIVE NOTE on ‘Mother of
Demons’ [novel by Eric Flint]
This is okay – the human characters
aren’t total idiots – however, as a plot device it uses the common assumption
in many stories that if a starship of earth colonists goes to a planet and an
accident befalls their starship, leaving them stranded on the planet without
access to its resources, that the only knowledge they will have is that that
the characters retain in their memories, and would therefore lose all knowledge
of and use of technology.
As it is an essential part of the
plot that an historian character be important I am prepared to be ‘lenient’ as
it creates an interesting story.
However, this (the general concept
underlying this and similar novels) ignores possibility of books, teaching
machines, portable computers (solar-powered), and also that in next 100 years
before we develop starships (ie in 21st century) that we should and
therefore would develop an area of scholarship concerned with the concept
of tech retention in unusual
circumstances.
Indeed, one could have a novel where
characters are stranded who happen to have embedded information ie their brains
have a memory/skill chip that is coded
to provide information in circumstances where the person is cut off from society
by such an accident/event, and turns the group of survivors into a bunch of
well-informed, skilled experts.
ADDITIONAL NOTE MORE SUPPORTIVE EVIDENCE ABOUT SHIP ARMAMENT
From Homeward Bound by Harry
Turtledove. Page 70.
“The Admiral Peary was
armed. A ship that went to strange
places had to be.”
PART TWO WHAT SHOULD REALLY HAPPEN
SECTION ONE AN INVESTIGATION OF AN UNKNOWN WORLD
To make this seem more ‘relevent’,
let us assume someone has arrived at the Solar System 10 million years
ago. Let us call these beings the
Extrovians.
When the Extrovian ship was beyond
the orbit of Pluto it launched a probe satellite; this assumed orbit of the sun
at a distance similar to that of Pluto; its purpose was to check for radio
signals, any sign of spacefaring in the alien stellar system, and to do a
general survey of the system.
A week later, its upload of data
having been analysed, and no sign of EEI [extra-extrovian intelligence] having
been detected, phase III of the exploratory protocol was enacted, and several
probes were launched to explore nearer to the alien sun, whilst the ship
advanced towards the inner asteroid field.
One probe went into orbit of Mars, another of Earth and a third of
Venus.
When the probes reported the
inhospitability of Venus and Mars, and the primitiveness of Earth, the next
Phase went into full swing. Specialists
in the exploration of Mars-like worlds went to that planet, whilst the major
exploration group, whose interest was Extrovianlike worlds such as Earth had
that assignment.
Two smaller ships left the mother
ship, which stayed in the asteroid field.
One proceeded to Mars, the other to Earth.
The Mars ship had one exploration
group [21 specialists] and one military caste sub-unit [12 soldiers] and the
ship’s crew [9]. Its equipment included
an exploration shuttle, a spare exploration shuttle, a military shuttle and two
fighters; two sets of communication/observation satellite arrays; various
ground and air transport vehicles [all lightly armed and armoured].
The ship itself had heavy armour,
force screens and weapons. All
personnel were highly trained for their specific tasks, and in addition all
personnel had cross-training, which included military training for ALL
personnel.
The mission protocol directives
included that the ship’s crew did not leave the ship.
The Earth ship was bigger, and had
more and/or bigger of everything, than the Mars ship.
It had six exploration groups [each
with 42 specialists], eight military caste units [each 24 soldiers] and the
ship’s crew [36]. It had 12 big
exploration shuttles, 16 military shuttles, 12 fighters; 6 sets of
communication/observation satellites; many ground, air and sea craft.
One exploration ship landed in
Northern Africa, one in North America, one in Australia, one in central Asia,
one in South America and one in Western Europe.
Robots came out of the ships and set
up base stockades for the specialists, surrounded by sensor networks. Meanwhile satellites in orbit maintained a
constant stream of information to the main ship, which was at geostationary
orbit position and to the three bases and exploration ships. these reports had meteorological,
seismological, etc data and also monitored all movement near the bases.
When the specialists were ready to
do the actual field work, after full atmospheric and soil analysis had been
done near where they were stockaded; they proceeded in their vehicles, each
accompanied by a demi-unit [6] of soldiers.
The soldiers had a large array of
lethal and non-lethal weaponry, and the specialists themselves each had the
specific weapons in which they had trained and been found most competent to
use.
One exploration party [9 specialists
and 6 soldiers] and their vehicle found an area that they considered would make
a good site for further exploration, and so a stockade was setup there.
Then the specialists went into foot
mode – sub-groups of three specialists, 2 soldiers and a guardian robot would
seek out what interested them most – whether it be rocks, plants, animals, etc.
Each “field foot group” had its own
small vehicle that they could use to travel around, and also to safely store
samples in each day prior to returning to the stockade.
As well as four field groups, each
exploration group had a lab section of 6 specialists who analysed all samples
in advanced equipment – analysing viruses, bacteria, gases, etc, etc.
One field foot group was attacked by
a large group of stinging insects – these couldn’t penetrate their explorer
suits tough material, but just to be on the safe side a soldier with a gas gun
sprayed the area that included the group with a non-lethal sleeping gas – they
themselves were unaffected as could instantly switch to internal air supply for
the few minutes required for the gas to subside.
SECTION TWO A
PROBABLE FIRST CONTACT SITUATION
It is the year 2005. An Extrovian ship arrives beyond the Solar
System; it detects much radio wave activity.
Two ships leave it, one goes further out – this is a observation/relay
ship –its task is to observe if anything happens to the mothership and report
it to the second ship, which goes even further out and is a fast, stealthy
courier – ready to take a warning and data back to an outpost of the Extrovian
Extent.
Much of the rest of what happens is
similar to above – launch of some satellites; what is different is the approach
to Earth. Contact specialists and
diplomats are sent.
[Note that scenario two involves the
concept of ‘extrovians’ that are contemporaneous with humans; NOT that the
Extrovians have a civilisation 10 million plus years old – ie. this is a
different species of explorers that have given same generic name].
SUMMARY
As one can see by the comparison of
what happens in the novels – contrived ‘excitement’ due to unbelievable idiocy
[which robs the story of reader interest and ability to relate to the story and
the characters within it], and the ‘thought experiment’, there is a huge gap in
credibility between a probable scenario and the novel ‘Deepsix’ [incidentally,
the title of the novel has little relevence either – maybe the author was
‘inspired’ by the movie ‘Deepstar Six’!!!]
Afterthought: Deepsix, though the
‘name’ of the planet, may be meant to be a self-referential reference to the
number of explorers stranded on the doomed world.
Will have to check how many people
in the group – from memory it seems more than six [maybe this is the number
that survived; in which case the characters would wish the planet was called
Deepten instead].
{One thing is certain about the name
‘Deepsix’ – it does not refer to the intellectual calibre of the group – this
is no ‘deep’ ‘six’ (‘mentally advanced’ ‘group of six persons’)].
COMMENTS ON BLURBS ON THE NOVELS’
DUST JACKETS
‘DEEPSIX’
“A spellbinding epic adventure of
discovery, catastrophe, and survival from one of the most masterful
storytellers in speculative fiction.”
Whoever wrote that should be done
for false advertising, hyperbole and various crimes against reality. The catastophe is the novel itself. Survival is what the reader has done when he
puts the book down. Discovery is of how
woeful this novel is.
There are several quotes from other
SF authors [Stephen King, Michael Swanwick and Robert J. Sawyer] on back, in
relation to Jack McDevitt’s previous novel ‘Infinity Beach’. If the comments by these authors are
accurate, then McDevitt’s writing has gone a lot downhill since writing
‘Infinity Beach’.
‘CHINDI’
“One of the most satisfying writers
in the field.” – Charles Sheffield
“You should definitely read Jack
McDevitt.” – Gregory Benford
On back cover:
‘Praise for Jack McDevitt’s previous
novels
Deepsix
“A bold journey across a fascinating
landscape.” – The Denver Post
Infinity Beach
“Will hold readers in thrall.” – Publishers
Weekly (starred review)
Moonfall
“Care with characterization, careful
research, and an irresistible story line take Moonfall out of the
thriller genre into classical territory.” -
Booklist (starred review)
The Engines of God
“Not since Arthur C. Clarke’s Rendezvous
with Rama has discovery of artifacts of alien intelligence been treated so
skillfully.” – The Baltimore Sun
Some comments about these quotes:
If the novel is so good why does it
need these praises for previous novels of the author?
The Baltimore Sun – wow, that’s a real major SF
criticism source!!!!!
Apropos novels about alien artifacts
– there have been a number of good ones since RWR
Some of these novels may be actually
good or quite good – which begs the question of why these more recent ones are
so dreadful.
Another question is why it hasn’t
been noticed by the editing department of the publisher how bad they are –
perhaps they don’t care – so long as they have a book to publish, by an
established author. This is a general
sin of publishers – published authors are let get away with writing rubbish
because the publishers allow it (they mightn’t realise how bad it is as they
lack expertise in book analysis).
[Pocket Books with their Star Trek books are the major offender in this
regard. Contrast this with the superior
Star Wars books].
On a personal note – the universe
depicted in the ‘Hutch’ Hutchins novels is vastly inferior to that of my gaming
and proposed novels series universe of ‘Galactic Domination’.
SLOW LIGHTNING
This is a British publishing retitling
of the novel Infinity Beach [and which on the public library’s computer network
is listed as Omega IV]
The back cover has a long, glowingly
praising blurb by Stephen King:
“Jack McDevitt is that splendid
rarity, a writer who is a storyteller first and a science fiction writer
second. In his ability to absolutely rivet the reader, it seems to me that he
is the logical heir to Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke. If you’ve never read McDevitt before, you
couldn’t find a better book to start with than SLOW LIGHTNING, a nail-biting
neo-Gothic tale that blends mystery, horror, and a fascinating look at how
first contact with an utterly alien species might happen.
I simply couldn’t put it down – I
was up until long past midnight and loving every minute of it.
Kim Brandywine is one of McDevitt’s
most engaging characters, both real and appealing. Snatch this baby up, all right? You’re going to love it even if
you think you don’t like science fiction.
You might even want to drop me a
thank –you note for the tip before racing out to your local bookstore to pick
up the Jack McDevitt backlist.”
And on the pre-title page is
something said that is incredible –
“He is widely considered by his
peers to be one of the finest science fiction writers in the USA.”
COMMENTS ON THE ABOVE TWO STATEMENTS
How come Stephen King’s praise
refers to the book by the UK title?
Editing.
a “ splendid rarity”?! there are
many writers who are good storytellers, and a lot who aren’t.
“ a science fiction writer second” –
rather 4th, and a storyteller 3rd.
“logical heir” – ““Illogical,
Captain”, says Spock”.
Clarke and Asimov are writers
and SF authors.
If you do like science
fiction you won’t like McDevitt’s novels much.
“a thank-you note”?! nay, rather a
curse.
don’t race, crawl; better yet, get
the book free from your public library, you’ll then get your money’s worth.
what peers are these – his family?
“one of the finest science fiction
writers” – not by a long shot, not even “in the USA”.
I have a theory – Charles Sheffield,
Gregory Benford, Stephen King – they have all been hypnotised by evil aliens –
it’s about the only thing that makes sense in regard to their pronouncements on
McDevitt’s novels.
Omega
– the fifth Omega series novel.
A story of the Omega clouds
It is a very strange universe JM has
made. Every planet that humans discover
that has or had intelligent life (usually with a civilization of varying tech
level), suffers a huge extinction event shortly before or after human explorers
arrive.
Moonlight in Omega has both – an extinction
catastrophe before, and an Omega cloud attack after.
In McDevitt’s universe, space travel
is controlled by the American Congress [Omega
p17] – this doesn’t make sense.
There are about 200 nations in the world. In the 23rd century either space travel will be
common, which means most nations will have it, or it will be rare – in which
case UN would have substantial control.
No one nation would be allowed to have a monopoly – as a matter of justice
and for their own protection/preservation: because if they did attempt to have
such a monopoly, then a bioplague would wipe them out (an inevitable result of
such a policy).
Omega – a universe of dumb people
[one possible exception is the Omega Society].
The clouds are reminiscent of Piers
Anthony’s destroyers in Macroscope [however, as we find at end of novel –
nowhere near as noble an endeavour].
Jack makes an attempt in this book
to explain away some of the flaws of this and previous novels in the series, by
suddenly positing that it is not the NAU [North American Union] and the Academy
controlling space travel and exploration, but a ‘just created for this novel’
World Council, for which the Academy acts as agent. [p79 – “Any world shown
to have sentient life automatically came under the purview of the World
Council, but its agent in such matters was the Academy.”].
One of few references (none
detailed), (others are p21, 42) to this body (World Council) in the novel].
Also on p142 again tries to justify
the spaceships being unarmed [this is clearly and unequivocably refuted by the
previously quoted Poul Anderson book reference that I quoted earlier]:
“Sky had grown up with the notion
that evil inevitably equated to stupidity.
The symbol of that idea was embodied in the fact that superluminals were
not armed, that no one (other than fiction writers) had ever thought of
mounting a deck gun on an interstellar vessel.
It was a nice piece of
mythology. But mythology was all it
was.”
If evil = stupidity, then the people
of the Hutchiverse are very evil.
Not simply in having unarmed
spaceships [despite experience showing the necessity with their having frequent
hostile encounters], but also having such small, ill-equipped and unprepared
crews.
[Where do they recruit their
space personnel from – Dummies ‘R’ Us ?!]
p150 “ … some of the biggest egos
on the planet.” – what planet is that?
In the Hutchiverse, despite interstellar travel being fairly common,
there are no human (permanent) settlements other than on Earth.
One cannot decipher a language by
simply listening to it – hearing language samples [admittedly they later tie it
to visual data; this is more realistic; but the smart thing to do is spy on
school lessons, and to copy books (or scrolls in case of this society) from the
library – a dictionary or encyclopedia would be handy, but if they don’t have
those, any illustrated scrolls and anything that can indicate what their
written alphabet is, and its correlation to the spoken word].
Such sources are of course ignored
by the “intrepid” explorers of ‘Omega’ (until later in the novel).
Contact (on Nox or Lookout) should
be done by professionals, subject to discipline.
They send a spaceship the furthest
humans have ever gone and it only has 4 people on board, no specialists of any
sort. Should use a big ship with a big
crew for such a long-range mission (or even their shorter ones) [such as the
cargo ship that is later shown to exist, despite lack of any concept of commercial
space travel in any of the previous novels in the series].
All these ships with crews of just
2, 3 or 4 people; what universe is this – something from 1930s/ 1940s ?
The Protocol that is constantly
talked about – what is its legal authority – seems like just an idea of some
people without binding power.
An example of the dumbness of the
characters:
One of the crewmen encounter a
native who panics, shouts ‘Morghani’, and runs like hell chasing after
them. Morghani is obviously ‘demon’ or
similar, but they don’t figure it out.
When later a black-robed figure
comes to the spot he is obviously a priest there to do an exorcism, but only
one of them (partly) figures it out and he is very slow on the uptake; the
others put up ridiculous theories.
One note of praise – the idea of the
clouds and the hedgehogs is reasonably creative.
[Incidentally, the aliens might be a
bit pissed that their handiwork is being sabotaged by humans, who are
prematurely exploding the clouds before they reach their positions].
Priscilla’s full name is Priscilla
Maureen Hutchins [and in this novel she is married to the artist Tor, whom she
encountered in a previous novel].
The information on the lightbenders
is contradictory – it is said they make the wearer invisible, but contradicts
this by saying that their eyes are visible – which is right?
Anyhow, there is a way around this
difficulty – use cameras for vision, then can be totally invisible.
Incidentally, the lightbender tech,
the superfast intragalactic radio and some of their other tech is beyond that
of their everyday space travel tech and way beyond what their everyday
abilities [viz incompetence] are.
How does a guy die from being
jostled in a crowd? – again the e-suits are useless [also can not even keep out
an insect bite].
Compared to the Hutchiverse, the
Star Trek universe consists of ‘super-competent’ people who realistically
travel in exploration ships that have 00’s of personnel (of course, there are
also a number of similarities – internal security sucks in both universes, but
at least the Star Trek ships and personnel make a token effort to be armed and
trained].
‘Omega’ if one ignores its typical
Hutchiverse faults is not too bad a read.
CHRONOLOGY
THE ENGINES OF GOD (OMEGA I) Prologue
2197 Main body 2202
DEEPSIX (OMEGA II) Prologue
2204 Main body 2223
CHINDI (OMEGA III) Prologue Main body
INFINITY BEACH [SLOW LIGHTNING] (OMEGA IV) Prologue
2983 Main body 3009
OMEGA (OMEGA V) Prologue
2230 Main body 2234
A flaw of both the Omega universe
and Star Trek is that the characters use hand torches to see in dark.
Have you ever watched any of the
nature documentaries where spying on baboons or lions and they use small
infrared light (thermal) cameras, or where characters such as in ‘The Silence
of the Lambs’ use light intensifiers [current tech, yet in 23rd
century don’t have; and even if stuck with using torches wouldn’t it be better
to have them shoulder mounted (like a “predator’s” energy gun) rather than
losing use of one hand?]
Some speculative ‘plot proposals’ of
my own, for your amusement:
THE NEW ADVENTURES OF HUTCH AND CO
Landing in their lander on a new
planet Hutch and her three companions exit their lander, enclosed in their
e-suits, and not carrying anything.
As they pass near a screen of bushes
something lashes through the air, then quickly withdraws, leaving one of their
number dead, with a red slash mark on their face.
They are shocked by this, and mill
around. Then another of them goes down,
and a third, leaving only Hutch alive.
She rapidly runs back to the lander and takes off – another failed
mission to report to the Academy – another planet, that despite its otherwise
perfect potential as a human colony site, must now be off-limits. The triffids now own this planet.
THE NEWER ADVENTURES OF HUTCH AND CO
Select any planet from classic SF
ventures of the 20th century, where intrepid explorers from Earth
arrive and explore – all of these missions would be too dangerous and fatal for
those from the Hutchiverse, as McDevitt’s characters are too unprepared in
every way – small in numbers, undertrained, ill-equipped, unsuitable
personalities to be planetary explorers.
For them stobor would be everywhere
and they would be unable to compete against it.
Also, if Hutch and co faced not
alien creatures and monsters, but simply humans from many other universes they
would be in danger.
ADDENDUM:
In ‘Promised the Moon: The Untold
Story of the First Women in the Space Race’ (Author Stephanie Nolen) on page 3
is the following:
“Harris knew the pair, and he
introduced Jerrie to them: Donald Flickinger and Randy Lovelace.
Every pilot in the country in 1959
probably knew those names – these were two of the most important men in
aerospace medicine. … And she knew Flickinger was an air force
brigadier general, a pioneer in aviation medicine who had led the tests that
told the National Aeronautics and Space Administration that a human might
survive spaceflight.”
And on page 87:
“Flickinger, an air force general
and flight surgeon, was best known for a series of jumps he made in the Pacific
theater in World War II, when he was parachuted in to tend to survivors from
plane crashes and then lead them out to safety. In 1951, his friend Randy Lovelace recommended him for the job of
chief of Human Factors (official speak for pilots) in the Air Research and
development Command (ARDC), the experimental branch of the air force. “Flick”, as the doctor was known, was an
innovator in aerospace medicine, and he rose rapidly through the ranks at
ARDC.”
There you have it – Flickinger is
the name of a very competent man, who with his friend Dr Randolph Lovelace II,
was responsible for a series of stringent, rigorous tests of fitness and
competence for space travel, and he gets his name attached to and associated
with a flimsy suit worn by incompetent space travellers. What an honour, NOT.
Also note that Flickinger told NASA
“that a human might survive spaceflight” – not in the Hutchiverse – chances are
you will die a stupid death [except for the title character; she who always
emerges safe whilst almost all (or some anyway) around her die].
Also note that “Flickinger … then
lead them out to safety” – but if wearing a ‘Flickinger suit’ then you are
pretty unsafe, as it provides little in the way of protection – safer in
medieval chain mail, or a motorcyclist’s leather clothing.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTARY ON THE
‘UNARMED SHIPS’ POLICY OF THE HUTCHIVERSE:
Space and space exploration aren’t
for the fainthearted; even Star Trek (which in its manifestation as ST:TNG was
a bit namby-pamby) recognises the need to ‘walk softly and carry a big stick’.
It is ‘political correctness’, soft
unrealism, to have unarmed explorer ships (if they are unarmed should have
armed escorts, and at least some internal defences).
Another reason, of course, to be
armed is that weapons can also function as a tool – for example to save a ship
if it is buried under a rockfall or to avoid collision with a wandering space
rock.
The classic example of this is an
inversion – the fusion torch ships of Larry Niven’s ‘Man-Kzin’
universe used a tool as a
(defensive) weapon.
This is another important point to
understand – being armed doesn’t mean you are an aggressor; it can be for
defensive only intent.
It is ironic that in a nation like
USA where ill-educated citizens with no self-control are allowed to have
handguns and even military grade weapons, that the idea of unarmed explorer
ships should be advocated.
The lesson of history, and also of
science fiction literature, is that one must make an effort to be prepared for
a hostile universe – hope for the best, expect the worse.
Another thing – the negative
depiction of scientists as incapable of properly being able to use a hand
weapon. In Star Trek, and in a sensible
future universe, cross-training is the norm – scientists/engineers will also
have training in exploration protocols and weapon handling.
The real astronauts weren’t simply
pilot jocks – they also all had science or engineering degrees.
FINAL COMMENT
In football, the aim is to attack
the ball, not the man [but of course sometimes one has to attack the man to get
the ball].
My aim has not been to attack Jack
McDevitt, but rather his performance – it is like a coach who tells the player
he has underachieved – not performed to his potential. We are all guilty of this failure, but with
an author it is more visible.
Jack McDevitt has a vision – of a
universe without weapons – it is a noble vision, but until the bastards that
the universe always throws up are deleted it is not realistic.
Jack – here is my challenge – do the
unthinkable, and revise your books.
POSTSCRIPT
Humans have been exploring Earth for
thousands of years in huge numbers, and yet there is much about our planet and
its life that we still don’t know (some that we may never know). During the past couple of centuries this
exploration has often been done by trained scientists with the latest
technology available at time it was done.
And yet in so many SF stories a
small number of semi-qualified people, poorly equipped, and only spending a
little time, and with a poor exploration strategy, and no preliminary
inspection and analysis, arrive at a completely alien planet and wander around
on it and call this exploration.
Imagine these people were exploring
an island on Earth, they wouldn’t find out much, and there one is dealing with
a place that has so much in common with the rest of Earth. What makes an alien planet alien is that it
is not Earth and we know little about it – the other planets of our Solar
system are semi-alien – we have spent a relatively long time studying
them remotely.
An alien planet, that one has no
previous knowledge of, is full of surprises, as are the other bodies in our
Solar system and even unknown lands on Earth.
It requires systematic approach to
explore other planets – preparation of personnel, a plan of exploration, proper
equipment, advanced prior surveillance, etc.
It is alright for characters in a
movie or TV show, where the aim is suspense and adventure and entertainment of
the audience, to go cackhanded onto an alien planet.
It is not suitable for a serious SF
novel. Consider what a qualified
Antarctic explorer must do; or what about David Attenborough – he has a film
crew with him, and must spend months prior to each nature series he does
planning the activities. They monitor
via various instruments for months or even years a habitat and its
occupants. Also the people in ‘Big Cat
Diary’ do this.
But what about excitement and
adventure and thrills?
There are thrills enough in an alien
environment even for a well prepared large group, if the author has the wit and
imagination.
Some of my favourite space
exploration adventures are those of Eric Frank Russell with his Jay Score
stories [‘Men, Martians and Machines’], and A.E. van Vogt with his ‘The Voyage
of the Space Beagle’ story compilation/fix-up novel. In both of these a well prepared, trained crew of specialists
(and well armed) in an excellent spaceship do exploration.
The Beagle also has a Nexialist, and
the Marathon has Martian crew also, as
well as the robot Jay Score.
Others I like are the Bob Shaw ‘Ship
of Strangers’ and also Brian Stableford’s ecology explorers.
Of course I also like Chandler’s
Captain Grimes series, but that is set in a universe that has already been
basically explored, so requirements are different [if travelling around a
country on Earth one doesn’t need what would need on an alien planet – no
protective suit, no weapons, etc (but often do first need certain injections);
naturally I am excluding war zones or pirate or brigand infested areas – enter
at own risk].
There are 8 “conditions” I put
forward as exemplifying a proper exploration series, and each of the above
would fulfill about 70 - 80% - a ‘distinction’ pass mark.
Even Star Trek [which I extensively
criticise and mock elsewhere] fulfills most objectives. What are these:
1.
A nice
big exploration ship with adequate subsystems such as labs, armory, etc.
2.
A nice
big crew of trained professionals.
3.
Armed
and well trained security types.
4.
Auxiliary
vessels (air and ground) for planetary exploration.
5.
Adequate
equipment – ship system and personal – for recording events and encounters.
6.
Adequate
internal monitoring.
7.
When
on a planet wear suitable gear, be properly armed and equipped.
8.
That
the ship be armed (or if not armed have good protective field/armor).
NOTE: Several of the ships above are
not armed – but this is due to the nature of the universe that they are in –
where prior exploration over a long period has shown that they are in a
universe that has no space travelling hostiles.
It is true that the crew of the Marathon
(M,M&M) are captured on planets, etc. but recall that their ship was an
experimental vessel that accidentally went on a journey of exploration.
Star Trek (the Original series)
fulfills conditions 1, 2, 5, 8, and partially fulfills conditions 3, 4,6,7.
The ‘Beagle’ fulfills conditions 1,
2, 3, 4 (?), 5, 6, 7, and though not armed has good screens.
In the movie ‘Forbidden Planet’ [the
original Star Trek movie] their expedition fulfills conditions 1, 2, 3,
4, 5, 7, and in addition they have Robbie the robot (and though not armed, good
screens).
Dr Who doesn’t fulfill most of these
conditions but has special attributes instead – fate on his side, luck,
genius. The Tardis does have suitable
scientific analysis equipment, and is indestructible.
The concern in Babylon 5 is not
exploration but political intrigue, but the B5 station does fulfill all the
conditions.
Blake’s Seven is also not an
exploration ship series, per se, but fulfills conditions 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, and
considering the types of places they visit (human colonised planets and
bases/stations) also 7, with 2 and 4 not being necessary. It also has the bonuses of Zen and Orac (and
later Slave), the Teleport bracelets, and a crew that though it is small each
is a specialist in the top of their league:
The Original Seven (note that Zen is
the seventh):
Blake – leadership
Avon – computer systems, security
cracking
Vila – thievery, security system
breaking
Gan – strongman, ethics
Cally – telepathy
Jenna – piloting
The Replacements:
Tarrant – piloting
Dayna – weapons
Soolin - gunslinger
Avon,Tarrant, Dayna and Soolin are
very good gunmen.
Stargate SG1 fulfills most of the
conditions generally, though of course most of their travel is by stargates not
ships.
Since writing all of the above I
have been reading Peter F. Hamilton’s ‘Pandora’s Star’ [an excellent novel that
I recommend, first in a duology].
Just over a fifth of the way through
this book an investigation of a new stellar system is initiated [via wormhole
exploration technique, but the actual transport system used is not of relevence
to this discussion (p170-179)]. An
Earthlike world they name Chelva is checked by the explorers. The caution, comprehensiveness and large
scale resource allocation used is similar to the approach that I have outlined
above. It is well justified, as the planet’s
life is much more deadly than that on any of those encountered by Hutch and co,
as it is widespread plantlife of various types that kill animals by use of
highly corrosive acids. They do not
lose any human life in finding this out.
Also in ‘Pandora’s Star’, on page
369, is the following (referring to a starship that is going to investigate a
system):
“ ‘I understand you’re taking a lot
of weapons on your flight,’ Thompson Burnelli said.
‘The great debate,’ Wilson said, not
quite mocking. ‘Do we shock culturally superior species with our primitive
warlike behaviour, or do we go into the unknown with sensible protection that
any smart alien will understand.’
‘Given what they’re facing, a degree
of self-defence is appropriate,’ Nigel said.
‘Huh,’ Thompson snorted. ‘What do
you believe, Captain? Is the barrier a defence against some psychopathic race
armed with superweapons?’
‘We’ll find out when we get there,’
Wilson said mildly. ‘But I’m not taking a crew anywhere unless I stand a chance
of bringing them back alive.’ ”
Peter F. Hamilton has adopted the
same approach on these issues as I advocate – caution with boldness backed by
strong protective and offensive deterrents.
Caution in that you do not simply
charge in unprepared and ill-equipped and ignorantly.
Boldness in that one one attempts to
achieve the mission objectives by taking some well-considered risks.
** this
is an ‘in-joke’; it refers to the publishing of a review of an A.E. van Vogt
story by Damon Knight (this review can be found in Damon Knight’s amusing book
‘Anatomy of Wonder’ (am I recalling this title correctly??)). This allegedly ‘destroyed’ A.E.van Vogt (of
course it did nothing of the kind).
Despite his faults A.E.van Vogt is ten times the author/storyteller that
Jack McDevitt is.