Seveneves
by Neal Stephenson
science fiction
copyright 2015
read in November 2016
rated 6/10: read to pass the time
This is hard science fiction: lovingly detailed descriptions of the applied science, cardboard characters, paper-thin plot. If you read Arthur C. Clarke purely for his science predictions then this book is for you. Read it to pass *a lot* of time.
I like a bit of story. Well, okay, there is a bit of story... Just a bit. Enough that I read to the end. Little enough that I am unimpressed.
True to its science fiction genre, Stephenson takes a what-if and explores it. What if the Moon were to explode? Well, people try to survive. Humanity separates into distinct groups. The groups meet each other and... That's it.
This is hard science fiction. No reader will care what happens *after* the various survivors meet...
Well, unfortunately, I care. Yes, they survived. That was obvious, right from the start. So what?! Will humanity survive? Or will the various groups wipe each other out? No idea... Though it does look as though there will be a few centuries of war...
In fact, there's a whole lot of war, in the one group which is followed. Depressing, really. The Moon explodes, humanity is almost exterminated, the few survivors attempt to kill each other. Oh well. Realistic, probably.
Then there's that annoying title: Seveneves. Written, on the cover, as SeveNeves. My best guess is that it is SeveNeves in an attempt to hide what would be obvious -- a major point of the plot, two thirds of the way through -- without that deliberate mis-typing.
Look, if the title gives too much away -- look for another title. The Day the Moon Blew Up, for example, would only spoil the surprise of page two. (Sorry for that spolier.)
So there's a gradual build-up, with lots of scientific detail. If that's what you like then this is a great book. The use of Lagrange Points is explained so clearly that I finally understand why they are so often used. On the other hand, one character travels -- slowly -- through several rooms on the space station, just so that we can have each room and its purpose explained. In detail.
Then the action builds up. Battles, heroics, strong use of science. I'm thinking, This is better! Next chapter... an entire chapter which could be summarised as, She flew from the Earth to orbit. Sigh.
The book is easy enough to read. Just skim over the bits that don't interest you: the scientific detail or the actual story. Don't expect character development. Don't hope for shared danger to bring humanity together. Be pleasantly surprised by the rather interesting ideas on societal development.
It's not a "bad" book ! Just too much science and not enough fiction.
Although...
When it's obvious that humanity will need to rebuild from a very small number of survivors. When it's obvious and clearly stated that rebuilding of humanity will depend on having as many working wombs as possible and just a few jars of mixed sperm. Why is the space habitat loaded with more men than women ?!
Okay, there are more men than women in the astronaut and science fields. (True or false, I can live with that assumption.) Then every racial group is allowed to provide... wait for it... one male and one female! Come on! What about two females and one test-tube?! The actual selection is secretly rigged... Yet still, no-one thought to send up more women than men! Sheesh.
We only meet one of these couples. They are expected to spend a year in training, several years just surviving as unskilled passengers. (They will spend a few years in sardine tins, while the science and space crew save their bacon.) Then these passengers will spend the rest of their lives breeding like rabbits.
So (a) Why are the selected couple on their mid-twenties?! For weight and adaptability and time available for breeding -- teenagers would be better. Or even pre-teens, with just a few supporting adults. And (b) Do you believe that not one baby was born in those first few years ?! Wow!
Stephenson has written a good science primer. With just enough action and plot development to class it as a novel.
To me, a lot of it is interesting. But then, I subsequently read Wikipedia on Lagrange Points and epigenetics. Unfortunately there is too much science primer. And not enough science fiction novel.
Read it to pass a *lot* of time. If that's what you want.
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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
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"Omne ignotum pro magnifico est" … Tacitus: Agricola
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