Hot Sky at Midnight [Paperback]

Robert Silverberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1999

Humankind's soul is at stake in a futuristic tale of an earth bordering on ecological collapse, from which the only escapes are genetic adaptation or emigration to satellite cities in the sky. By the author of Kingdoms of the Wall.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Silverberg's latest is his best novel in some time, returning from the extraterrestrial travelogues he offered in The Face of the Waters and Kingdoms of the Wall to Earth of the relatively near future, which has been polluted almost to uninhabitability. Even in the best areas, people wear breathing masks and inject a product called Screen, which darkens their skin as protection from the sun. Victor Farkas, operative of the megacorporation Kyocera-Merck Ltd., is blind but gifted with hypersensitive "blindsight." He comes to the massive orbital habitat Valparaiso Nuevo in search of a renegade geneticist of legendary skill. On Earth, Nick Rhodes wrestles with a midlife crisis and moral uncertainty as head of Samurai Industries, which is attempting to breed humans that can thrive in the horrendous conditions expected to prevail on Earth. Silverberg focuses on his characters and their ruined world, providing a convincing portrayal of life in a greenhouse effect-cursed future. In the background looms the efforts to save the human race, whether by emigration or transformation. The plot may tie up too neatly, but Silverberg delivers powerful images of a world blighted by ecological abuse, and a satisfying novel as well.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Silverberg's best-selling sf novels have netted four Hugo and five Nebula awards. In this apocalyptic morality tale, humankind fights extinction after damaging the environment beyond repair.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 266 pages
• Publisher: E-Rights/E-Reads Ltd (December 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0759225869
• ISBN-13: 978-0759225862
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,853,086 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ecological mistakes lead to a world of difficult choices, October 1, 2001

By 

Dave Deubler (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hot Sky at Midnight (Paperback)

In a not too distant future the ecological mistakes of the 20th Century will have led to disaster. The melting of the polar ice cap will have flooded low-lying cities and initiated a cycle of climatic changes that mankind's technology will be unable to break. As a result, most of the U.S. will be covered by desert, pollution will make the air almost unbreathable, and ozone depletion will make even the sun dangerous. These are simple facts of everyday life in this compelling novel of intrigue by sci-fi master Robert Silverberg.

Amidst numerous twists and turns, the story focuses on a plot to overthrow the ruling government of the artificial satellite world called Valparaiso Nuevo. A shadowy figure known as the Generalissimo runs this environmental paradise as a safe haven for any who can pay for its protection. But no one can foresee the catastrophic effects of the actions of a tiny group of men who plan to oust the Generalissimo for their own selfish purposes.

Paul Carpenter is the most sympathetic of these characters, a salaryman who takes a position as a sea captain in his eternal quest for promotion in the Japanese megacorporation that controls half the world's business and industry. His fortunes decline dramatically after a mutiny on the high seas leaves him unemployable. His childhood friend, Nick Rhodes, a brilliant geneticist who is collapsing under the weight of his own ethical dilemma, introduces him to an acquaintance of his driven, opinionated girlfriend Isabelle, the seductive Jolanda. A talented sculptor and even more talented lover, Jolanda is the lynch pin of a plot that includes Enron, an Israeli spy, and Farkus, a genetically altered agent of a rival corporation. Together, their greed, suspicion, ambition, stupidity, and insatiable lust lead to a dramatic conclusion that stands as a brilliant metaphor for the destruction man has wreaked upon his own planet.

This novel features powerful, realistic characters, crushing descriptions of a ravaged earth, and a series of intense situations. Silverberg warns us that our present day course will shortly lead us to a time and place where tough decisions will routinely have to made, and their often tragic consequences accepted, simply because no better alternatives are available. The science is carefuly thought out, but includes plenty of radical surprises as well. This is a fine selection for all fans of science fiction, and a must for those who are interested in how incremental ecological changes can have enormous effects on our future.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Something wasn't quite right, April 22, 2003

By 

Rebecca Drayer (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hot Sky at Midnight (Paperback)

Something about this book just didn't click for me. Hot Sky at Midnight takes place in the not-so-distant future, when humans have ruined the ecology to such an extent that they will die out unless genetically modified. The modifications needed to save the race would be so extreme that the survivors might not even be human anymore.

With this as a backdrop, we meet Nick Rhodes, a brilliant but naive geneticist struggling with the ethics of his work. We also meet Paul Carpenter, a very junior exec who is trying to move up in the corporate world. Mr. Silverberg does a very good job at the beginning of introducing these characters and the decisions they struggle with. However, about halfway through the book, he has the characters do things "out of character." Paul, supposedly a moral anchor who does the right thing out of instinct, makes an incredibly stupid and callous decision which kills people. Nick, an indecisive incipient alcoholic, is able to make up his own mind to remove a monopoly on genetic technology.

It seemed that halfway through the book, Mr. Silverberg needed to find a way to finish it. He did so, but not in a satisfying way.

3.0 out of 5 stars Lush with a tech edge, September 25, 2007

By 

Armitage "Armitage" (Maine) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hot Sky at Midnight (Mass Market Paperback)

Gideon's Fall: When You Dont Have a Prayer, Only a Miracle Will Do In tone it reminded me of tower of glass. A more tech feel to it than most silverberg's but still had the lushness that is silverberg's hallmark. Think of that...