Prelude to Space - Arthur C. Clarke

Prelude to Space by Arthur C. Clarke is my second read in the 2012 WWEnd Grandmaster Reading challenge. Last month I read Poul Anderson's Tau Zero (1970), which is one Anderson's better known novels. For my second read I picked something a little less high profile. Prelude to Space is the first novel Arthur C. Clarke wrote and is generally not considered as good as Childhood's End (1953), probably the most famous of Clarke's early novels. The publication history of this story is not unusual for the period. Clarke wrote the novel in the space of a month in 1947 but it wasn't until 1951 that the whole novel was published in magazine format by Galaxy Science Fiction. It was followed by a hardcover edition in 1953. What is atypical about it, is that the novel does not appear to be based on one of Clarke's short stories. Although one of Clarke's lesser works, it has been reprinted numerous times. The edition I have read was printed in 1977 and includes a "Post Apollo Preface", as Clarke himself puts it, written in 1969.

In the year 1978 humanity is ready to for the next step in exploration, the first manned mission to the Moon about the leave Earth. Historian Drik Alexson is sent to London, where the headquarters of Interplanetary, the non-profit organization coordinating the mission, is located. He is to document the event, that will no doubt be considered one of the turning points in human history. Although Alexson is supposed to be an impartial observer, he can't help but by swept away by the magnitude of the effort and the impact it will have on human society. As the launch date nears, Alexson realizes that this event will be his life's work as a historian.

Although science fiction is much more about exploring ideas and what they might mean to society than actually predicting the future, seeing how many details Clarke got wrong in this novel is still almost as interesting as the story itself. Where Clarke goes for private enterprise as the driving factor and assumes the memory of Second World War will change the way people see armed conflict, in reality is was the tension between East and West that gave space exploration a huge boost. The need for the US to prove it could outdo their Soviet rivals resulted in a moon landing nine years before the one Clarke describes, using very different rockets to get there. Many of Clarke's novels describe futures where science, logic and reason triumphs over the petty squabbles, religious dogmas and ideological differences to achieve a peaceful and stable way of running the planet. In Prelude to Space this is treated as inevitable. Would that Clarke had been right on that point.

Another thing that struck me about Clarke's scenario is the use of atomic energy to power these rockets. These days, radioactivity makes people very nervous, and rightly so as recent events in Fukushima have shown us. Some horrendous experiments were carried out testing nuclear devices in the 1950s, clearly showing that the long term impact of radioactive substances released into he environment was still very poorly understood at the time this novel was written. The radioactivity around the launch site in the Australian desert is mentioned several times but not considered a matter of great concern. It might be technically possible to limit the risk of radioactive contamination, even in the event of a launch failure, but somehow I think it be very hard to convince the general public that it'd be safe these days.

Clarke's futures are generally pretty optimistic, sometimes even utopian, and this novel is no exception. Prelude to Space is something of a cross between a love letter to and an advertisement for space exploration. Clarke carefully connects the historical desire to travel to the stars, early science fiction and lots of technological developments, all leading to this one momentous occasion. The moment when humanity will finally leave its cradle and first set foot on a strange world. A first step on a path from which there will be no turning back. Where that path will lead, Clarke doesn't dare predict but he seems to be quite sure it is one we must take to ensure survival of the species. The author may overdo it a little in the text but his enthusiasm is contagious. It was almost enough to make me wonder why the hell we are not on our way to Mars already.

This is the tenth novel by Clarke I have read, spanning his entire career, and from those is seems obvious that Clarke didn't change his approach to writing a whole lot during his seven decades as a published author. Some sections of the novel are highly technical, with the science of space travel the main character. Alexson is the vehicle that allows Clarke to show the events leading up to the launch from up close, but he seems to have very little interest in the man himself (perhaps not altogether surprising, he strikes me as a bright but not very interesting fellow). You don't read Clarke for his well rounded characters or complex plots but for the hard science and Clarke's visions of what they may mean for future society.

Sixty-five years after it was written Prelude to Space is badly dated in just about every aspect of the story. From the technical developments to the blatant sexism that plagued science fiction in those days. On top of that, Clarke wrote a novel that reads like propaganda for a space program. It is very effective propaganda though. Despite all the novel's flaws, you can't help but be caught up in the excitement of the enterprise and the possibilities of space travel, many of which still haven't been realized. Clarke's optimism has been proven unfounded in some ways but the drive to explore space is still there. This novel might well have been an inspiration to some teenager in the 1950s to pursue a career in physics or astronomy. Clarke has gone on to write more challenging novels but for a debut, it's a decent read.

Book Details
Title: Prelude to Space
Author: Arthur C. Clarke
Publisher: New English Library
Pages: 176
Year: 1977
Language: English
Format: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: unknown
First published: 1951

The Heaven Makers - Frank Herbert

Frank Herbert is one of my favourite authors, and I don't mean just his Dune novels either. Unfortunately many of his books are out of print. Recently Tor reissued a bunch of them but despite keeping an eye out for them I am still missing some. The Heaven Makers was one of those still missing, it has not been in print for quite some time as far as I can tell. So when I came across it on a second hand book site last year I couldn't resist. The Heaven Makers is one of Herbert's lesser known work. The story first appeared in two parts in Amazing Stories Magazine in 1967 and first appeared in book form in 1968. My copy is a very cheap New English Library paperback (number 2684), probably printed in 1970, and for sale for 30p at the time. Whoever bought it must have been very careful with his books, it is still in pretty good shape.

In The Heaven Makers Herbert shows us a contemporary world where events are being controlled by the omnipotent Chem, an immortal alien older than the solar system. For these immortal creatures boredom is a mortal enemy (a notion Herbert also used in The Eyes of Heisenberg) and entertainment a necessity. In humans they have found a nearly endless supply of fascinating stories. Director Fraffin, running earth's story ship, is one of the most successful Chem in his business. His success has not gone unnoticed though. An investigation into possible breaches of the law has been launched.

In the mean time Fraffin continues to create new stories by subtly influencing events without the knowledge or consent of his actors. One such actor is the psychologist Androcles Thurlow, who sees one of the most important men in town and father of Ruth, the woman he is still in love with, butcher his wife. A crime he predicted in an psychological evaluation of the killer. Thurlow is severely shaken by the even but even more so when he starts to see alien observers where no one else can.

The cover they stuck on this edition must the most awful I have seen this year. I have absolutely no idea what the publisher was thinking. It vaguely resembles a scene in the book, the crash test dummy is supposed to be Ruth, but that's the only thing positive I can say about it. The publisher wisely omitted the name of the artist. I imagine whoever created it will want to forget it as soon as possible. I did not let that distract me from the story however.

The book is quite short, only 141 pages in this edition. Barely novel length. Herbert does not have a lot of space to stuff in lots and lots of science and philosophy like he does in other works. It is also not as densely written as his later none Dune works. The main theme of the novel is of course the morality of what the Chem are doing to the human population to earth. Humans are little better than pets in their eyes, hopelessly primitive, violent and short lived. I'm not sure if it is intentional but I thought the way Herbert describes them almost comical. They're the little green men everybody thinks about. The flying saucer inhabiting kind that is accused of kidnapping unsuspecting people for strange experiments (they actually do some of that in the book), the kind of creatures that populate countless ridiculous UFO stories.

The Heaven Makers was a quick read and it is a little dated. I rather enjoyed it though. Herbert is much more occupied by the idea of our alien overlords and the consequences of immortality than the development of his characters, a failing of several of his early novels. With it's rather straightforward plot, is not Herbert's most memorable work. I very much doubt it will see print again any time soon. That being said, it is far from his worst either. If you like Herbert's work, you'll not want to skip this one. Hard to find as it may be it.

Book Details
Title: The Heaven Makers
Author: Frank Herbert
Publisher: New English Library
Pages: 141
Year: 1970
Language: English
Format: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: unknown
First published: 1968