Ray
Bradbury’s “The Rocket Man”, while not on the list of short stories many
consider canonical, remains a poignant piece about a husband and father at war
with himself. The joy and excitement he
experiences traveling and working in space offset by the despair of spending
time away from his wife and children, the resulting heartache is the
centerpiece of the story—a heartache easy for a person to relate to looking up
at the night sky in amazement and yet be grounded with love and life invested
in their family. Layering on the
technical details of the space program and adding a pinch of Genre 101 to spice
things up, Ian Sales’ The Eye with which
the Universe Beholds Itself (2013) is the second of a projected four
alternate histories of the Apollo program.
Like Adrift on the Sea of Rains, an
astronaut is the main character of TEwWtUBI. Brigadier General Bradley Elliot the first
human to set foot on Mars, one half of the narrative is devoted to describing
the mission, and all its ups and downs.
Elliot’s nine days Mars-side anything but standard, a bizarre discovery
has a direct effect on mankind’s next steps in the solar system, and
beyond. The trip also affects the relationship
with his beloved wife on Earth. Elliott
now in his late fifties, the other half of the narrative (interwoven in
alternating scenes with the first) finds the man once again suiting up for
space. This time, however, his mission
is top secret. After arriving at a
system orbital, he is whisked away to the planet Gliese 876 where a mysterious
occurrence has top layers of US government astir, even down to Area 51. His relationship only deteriorating in the time
since the Mars’ mission, it is with heavy heart Elliot sets out for what is to
be his final mission.
Where
AotSoR clung as tightly as possible
to realism (for a work of science fiction, that is), TEwWtUBI moves further from the mimetic to genre of a more standard
facade. Elliot’s time on Mars, while
easily within range with what one might expect humanity’s first steps on the
red planet to be, features one scenario that requires a significantly larger
suspension of disbelief than the reader has yet been called upon to perform. Eventually coupled with the usage of FTL, the
plot devices Sales’ employs, while standard for mainstream genre, may have the
hardcore hard sf fans up in arms.
But
within the context of the familiar genre elements, Sales builds anticipation
subtly. Elliot’s discovery on Mars
blinks like a neon Dan Brown light, but its consequences, and particularly
Elliot’s later mission, possess a light sense of mystery that needs to be
answered. Considering much of the
surrounding content regarding setting and technology is hyper-realistic, the
fact Sales was able to pull off such a palpable feeling of suspense is worth
noting. After all, knowing realism is
the aim narrows the scope of explanations for what has happened on Gliese 876.
But
regardless of the technical or ‘scientific’ perspective, Sales once again
renders a very human tale. Like
Bradbury’s characters, Elliot is someone the reader can sympathize with. Starting with the classic image of a pilot
wedging the photo of his girl into the dashboard, Sales delicately works the
man’s ego to produce a balanced character that is not entirely a sad puppy
(i.e. his situation feels more realistic than manipulative.) Thus, as AotSoR
comes recommended for character, so too does TEwWtUBI.
In
the end, The Eye with which the Universe
Beholds Itself is a story that, in a couple of ways, feels more
conventional than the previous novella, but retains at its core something
wholly human. Elliot, while present for
some of the major milestones of mankind in space, remains an empathetic character
who suffers for as much as he is rewarded for his pursuit of desire and
duty. Technical detail (the novella is
again one-quarter glossary and bibliography) and prose style the same as Adrift on a Sea of Rains, AQ2 only makes the reader more curious
regarding the two facets to the Apollo program not yet revealed.
No comments:
Post a Comment