Customer Reviews

Hot Sky at Midnight

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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...

A bit of skyward soap opera here complete with love and lust. The Author presents cast of characters all submerged in the dystopian world of lust within environmentally ruined cities. Global warming has flooded the seacoasts, nearly destroyed Japan and turned the good old days on its head. To finalize this headlong dive into dystopia many of the characters are blown up in an ill fated plot to conquer a space station, get rich quick and live happily ever after.

There were a few flaws in this story where irrelevant questions were given high priority. For example, one big question posed was whether company S or company K would make the adapto metabolic breakthroughs, thus allowing for a new species of man who could breath methane rather than oxygen. Such a successful process would allow either company to one day control the world. This reader didn't see what difference it would make who the winner was.

The stories most novel idea was that faster than light space travel will render ordinary human sight useless, requiring man to develop trick vision in order to pilot space ships to new worlds. Even the brilliant character, Farcas, who develops a new kind of sightless vision, must be sacrificed to the plot's need to end the story. Another main character is led through a series of failures so mind shattering that he volunteers for the flight to outer space with no other hope but to erase the memory of his life on planet earth. With no dreams there will be no further disillusionment.

In Hot Sky at Midnight, thoughtless human activity has created a 24th Century that sits on the brink of disaster that threatens to make the planet unlivable. Some lucky folks have escaped to large satellites in earth orbit, while others are left to cope with desertification, rising seas, and foul air. Top executives of powerful Japanese corporations, cast adrift in a diaspora since Japan's lowlands were swamped by rising oceans, compete with one another for the means to save and perhaps enslave humanity.
Robert Silverberg appears to have written the book that jump started Al Gore's headlong rush into his ideological crusade for climate change. Reader's that loved The Day After Tomorrow will be at home here. If this scenario makes you twitchy, don't wring your hands over the evils of the Industrial Revolution and Western civilization, its what got you sitting in your climate controlled quarters in front of your computer. Do make good choices for efficient transportation and other energy intensive purchases.
But don't just sneer at the people driving the Hummer, cluck your tongue at Al Gore for his energy intensive lifestyle.

This book has the writing style of the author going for it, which is always a plus, but this is not Silverberg's best work. The central characters are fairly well developed, and the scenario of a "greenhoused" earth is convincingly depicted, but the story itself is rather episodic and ultimately has no really profound point to make. A good, but not great read.