If
there is any stranglehold on literature that speculative fiction has, it’s the
lack of limitations answering the question: what if? Fantasy a complete expression of this facet,
it is science fiction which tugs lightly on the reins lest the imagination
escape reality entirely. Jupiter that
reality, in 1972 Arthur C. Clarke penned the novella A Meeting with Medusa for anyone who ever wondered what being in
the gas giant’s atmosphere may be like.
Awash with vivid visuals, it is only the fantastic elements which
threaten to run away with the story.
Howard
Falcon is a top dirigible pilot, and at the outset of the story is found
captaining the world’s largest Queen
Elizabeth IV above the Grand Canyon.
At 1,500 feet in length, piloting the massive, multi-chambered blimp is
no easy task. It is thus when scientists
plan the first manned trip to into Jupiter’s atmosphere, Falcon is their choice
for pilot. A significant percentage of
the unmanned probes having disappeared exploring the planet, Falcon is aware of
the risk but is willing to take it for the glory of being the first human in
Jovian skies. His planetary entry
successful, what he discovers thereafter belongs truly to speculative fiction.
The
greatest success of A Meeting with Medusa
is the sensuality of place. The
description of Jupiter’s atmosphere rich, Clarke gives the reader a strong
impression what it might be like traveling the chemical clouds and swirls of
gas. Electrical storms a phenomena
considered normal on the gas giant, Falcon’s experiences of St. Elmo’s fire,
radiating spokes of electrical light, and the pulses of color emanating from
deep below on the invisible surface are almost palpable, making one yearn for a
similar viewport on Earth.
But
given the novella is Silver Age material (despite being published in 1972), the
titular ‘Medusa’, when finally appearing, drains a bit of the story’s
integrity. Extrapolation becoming
speculation, exploration likewise becomes adventure. Strongly in the vein of Jules Verne’s brand
of sci-fi (particularly given the dirigible aspect), Clarke channels the
originator of such voyages extraordinaire
to effective yet unnatural effect.
In
the end, A Meeting with Medusa is a
good but not great novella rooted in hypotheses on what being in Jupiter’s
atmosphere might be like. Clarke tossing
in a couple of sci-fi conceits to spice up the story, what results is a vivid
Silver Age imagining of life on our solar system’s largest planet. Effectively building a sense of wonder, there
is even time for a little post-humanism…
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