Book 85 - Samuel R. Delany "Nova"
Nov. 21st, 2018 04:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jazzy_daveSamuel R. Delany "Nova" (Gollancz)
It is easy to forget that one of the joys of science fiction is the immersion into worlds. The old Golden Age of Science Fiction (think Campbell, et al) was often nothing more than immersion and the science of dreams. And it is just as easy to forget that the immersion into strange, incomprehensible worlds that reflect our fears of what will happen to us did not start with the cyberpunk movement. In another golden age of science fiction (think Ellison, et al) authors were exploring new ideas in science, in the mind, and in writing. The balance of all these parts was often unachievable (depending on the ability of the writer) but, when executed, made the finest writing.
All this to preface a book that does a good job at all. Nova is not Delany’s greatest work, but it is a very good book. This is the story of a rich captain trying to fly his ship through a nova to obtain one of the rarest things in the universe and, consequently, bring down his main rivals. Others who have read this may quibble with me on some of my word choices in this brief description, but that speaks to the complexity of this relatively short novel, and the layers of understanding that can be brought to bear. What leaps this above the standard science fiction novel is that it does not so much focus on the destination, but on the journey, and on the people taking that journey. The trip in the star does not even occur until the last twenty pages. But, by then, the star and the destination are not important. Instead, what is important is what makes up this civilization, and the people that inhabit it. And what you will notice is that you are now a part of that civilization; of that universe. And even some throwaway ideas (those ideas that seem to help the verisimilitude of the author’s universe) come back to be important points At times I couldn’t help but think that this is the writing that gave William Gibson his base. And that Delany would have written cyberpunk back then if computers were what they are now. This is not a light breezy read but worth the time to explore.
It is easy to forget that one of the joys of science fiction is the immersion into worlds. The old Golden Age of Science Fiction (think Campbell, et al) was often nothing more than immersion and the science of dreams. And it is just as easy to forget that the immersion into strange, incomprehensible worlds that reflect our fears of what will happen to us did not start with the cyberpunk movement. In another golden age of science fiction (think Ellison, et al) authors were exploring new ideas in science, in the mind, and in writing. The balance of all these parts was often unachievable (depending on the ability of the writer) but, when executed, made the finest writing.
All this to preface a book that does a good job at all. Nova is not Delany’s greatest work, but it is a very good book. This is the story of a rich captain trying to fly his ship through a nova to obtain one of the rarest things in the universe and, consequently, bring down his main rivals. Others who have read this may quibble with me on some of my word choices in this brief description, but that speaks to the complexity of this relatively short novel, and the layers of understanding that can be brought to bear. What leaps this above the standard science fiction novel is that it does not so much focus on the destination, but on the journey, and on the people taking that journey. The trip in the star does not even occur until the last twenty pages. But, by then, the star and the destination are not important. Instead, what is important is what makes up this civilization, and the people that inhabit it. And what you will notice is that you are now a part of that civilization; of that universe. And even some throwaway ideas (those ideas that seem to help the verisimilitude of the author’s universe) come back to be important points At times I couldn’t help but think that this is the writing that gave William Gibson his base. And that Delany would have written cyberpunk back then if computers were what they are now. This is not a light breezy read but worth the time to explore.
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