Number 33 of the Science Fiction Masterworks series, Brian Aldiss’ 1958 Non-Stop is indeed a classic of the
genre (variant title: Starship). Standing well the test of time,
the story is vivid, brisk, and entertaining—facets complemented nicely by
intelligent commentary and worthwhile purpose.
Aldiss examining human nature in unusual circumstances to say the least,
the underlying assumptions nevertheless exist closer to reality than the majority
of sci-fi. Readily enjoyable on the
surface, there remain several thought provoking undercurrents waiting for the
reader to explore.
Non-Stop is the story of
Roy Complain, a disgruntled hunter of the Greene Tribe in Quarters. His brother lost to the tangles years before
and wife abducted by a neighboring tribe in the first few pages, Complain must
find a way to live without connections amongst his ragged tribe. Every person out for themselves, resources
are scarce and egos run amuck in their barbarian society kept only marginally modern
by the random objects and devices they find behind closed doors and down abandoned
corridors. Old weapons, jars of colored
dyes, technical manuals filled with schematics nobody can comprehend, little makes
sense to the people, but somehow they survive.
One day unwillingly caught in a conspiracy, Complain finds himself on a
journey through Deadways on a mission that none see the pertinence of save
their crazy guide.
I don’t feel too bad writing the
following as Aldiss never really tries to disguise the fact, not to mention
openly discusses the matter by page 30; Non-Stop
is set on a generation starship traveling in space to none knows where. Humanity having devolved to near Stone Age
levels, Complain and his fellow tribesmen survive in the most primitive of
manners, fighting and scrapping amongst themselves for food, shelter, and mates
while the massive ship hurtles through space.
The walls and ceiling around them producing a claustrophobia that seeks
release in violence and malevolence, Aldiss keeps the mood dark and lingering for
life aboard ship.
But what makes Non-Stop better than the average is Aldiss’ ability to take
advantage of the opportunities which result from the setting. The starship a nice symbol of our Earth
plunging through space, the author uses the idea to comment upon the desire
humanity has for control of its destiny, and subsequently the subjectivity of
that desire. So while Marapper, a priest
Complain encounters, has the following interpretation: “The driver or captain
of this ship is concealed somewhere, and we’re forging on under his direction,
knowing neither the journey nor the destination. He is a madman who keeps
himself shut away while we are all punished for this sin our forefather’s
committed.”, seemingly everyone else on the ship has their own ideas of what is
right and proper—the real purpose to their journey. Everything eventually devolving into chaos,
Aldiss, like Gene Wolfe’s Book of the
Long Sun, posits that individual belief and determination may be the only manner
in which to rise above the variety of mass but varied beliefs in society.
Roy Complain is highly reminiscent of
Gully Foyle from Alfred Bester’s The Stars My Destination. Both thoroughly
atypical heroes, Aldiss creates a man you’re more curious what happens to next
than empathize with, much like Bester.
Details brief but vivid, the storyline moving briskly (to put it
lightly), and the world unfolding one imaginative scene on top of another, Aldiss
never gives the reader a chance to get bogged down in the bitterness and
contempt of his main character. Complain
and the other members of the Greene tribe adhering to tenets unthinkable in
today’s society, such choice lines as “leap before you look”, “seek for
yourself so you may be freed from inner conflict”, and “never look a man in the
eye or you will lose face” permeate the unlikeable man’s tale, but what lies in
store for he and the others is just too fascinating to turn away despite the
brow-furrowing nature of their philosophies.
Non-Stop is a fast paced
story that never pauses to take a breath.
Living up to its name, Aldiss keeps the plot pedal to the floor the
entire length of the short novel (by today’s standards). Exciting, interesting, and often haunting,
walking the abandoned corridors of the ship now overgrown with bushes, swarming
with midges, pockmarked in aged signs of warfare, and with small rodents scurrying
from trapdoors in walls, it is an adrenalin pumping journey for Complain and
the reader. Culminating in nicely
organized, satisfying fashion, the story’s climax reveals everything the reader
hopes while managing to avoid being trite—not an easy task given the limited
number of options to the setting.
If Non-Stop
has any faults it would be a lack of details.
Aldiss sketches out the scenes in loose, efficient fashion, but often leaves
a certain sense of richness wanting. It
seemed more than a few opportunities were missed with regard to a “primitive”
man’s encounters with sci-fi technology.
Though the group meets with anti-gravity, a swimming pool, and a ventilation
system, there are many other aspects of life—life in a spaceship!—that seem to go
unexplored. What other tools and
implements have survived? To what
strange purpose are they put? What is the
Greene tribe’s philosophy regarding the desks and file cabinets they find
decaying? How does the group convert
ponics to edible material? Where are the
breakaway cults which seem an inevitability in such an environment? But Aldiss keeps things simple for his own
purposes, the result a story that details pace, action, and bits of
philosophizing effectively enough, just not richly.
Great review! Thank you!
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