Involution Ocean [Mass Market Paperback]

Bruce Sterling (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 191 pages
• Publisher: Jove/HBJ Books (1977)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 051504301X
• ISBN-13: 978-0515043013
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,359,761 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Involution Ocean - harder to get hold of than 'Flare', April 15, 2000

By 

Greg M (Adelaide, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Involution Ocean (Paperback)

This is a simple tale with a tight narrative focus. Being addicted to a rare drug has it's hazards. The main character's drug of choice, flare, is declared illegal so he and an inept junkie friend head out on a dust whale ship in a crater to extract flare from the source.

The characterisation is really very strong for such a short book. The characters are all very different and their interaction is great. The plot is simple, but hangs together extremely well. I found some of the descriptions of the alien life and the sensibilities of the locals and whalers really absorbing. There are quite a number of amusing little scenes in this book. (I think a few may be unintentional). The setting is really fascinating and has a few well chosen details that really add to the immersiveness of the book. I really enjoyed it!.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An immersing story - a never ending dream, September 18, 2011

By 

Donovan Ried - See all my reviews

This review is from: Involution Ocean (Paperback)

Involution Ocean was one of the first SciFi books I reads as a kid, a long time ago. Since I am addicted to collecting books, I still have the copy and I still read through it once every few years.

The books is a terrific example of SciFi. Deep characters, each with its own mannerisms, history and agenda. An equaly deep mystery concerning the planet they live on and its ancient history and native dwellers. Background for the characters as rich as the background for everything aboard their ship.

It's an addictive book for those who love hardcore SciFi.

There are still two very minor issues that should be mentioned. The first is some similarity to Moby Dick, especialy concerning the captain's unrelenting hunt for knowledge (instead of a deep whale), the motely crew he gathered around himself and the disastrous consequences for everyone involved.

The second issue is the history part. I would have loved it of the author would have elaborated a little moe about the planet's history, its dwellers and everything about them. As it is, we got just a small taste and I always finish the book wanting something more, something I would never get.

All in all, perhaps one of the best SciFi books I ever read. Just be ready for some dark and gloomy descriptions ...

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Peculiar & potential-filled early work from ground-breaking author, March 24, 2009

By 

J. Shurin "carnivore" (London) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

nvolution Ocean, published in 1977, is Bruce Sterling's first book. It is introduced by Harlan Ellison, who claims that the book is a "stunning tour de force" that will rock the genre and its readers. Ellison, although a great judge of talent (especially if you ask him), was either painfully incorrect or wildly prescient. Sterling did do his rocking, but it wasn't until Mirrorshades in 1986.

Involution Ocean is a far cry from the cyberpunk niche that Sterling later came to dominate (and arguably create). The setting is the far-flung world of Nullaqua. The world is defined by a single habitable crater, and that crater is filled with a heavy, perpetual mist of dust. Nullaqua is a sea-faring world, populated by a race of stoic, unimaginative sailors - all on an ocean of dust.

The book's protagonist is John Newhouse, an off-worlder. John is drawn to Nullaqua by 'Flare', a potent drug stilled from the belly of the 'dustwhale'. The story begins with the drug being declared illegal. In order to preserve his supply, John is forced to join a whaling ship, and sail the dusty seas of Nullaqua.

Besides John - acerbic, jaded and worldly - the ship carries a few other misfits. The captain is a massive and terrifying man, bent on carrying out his mysterious research. He harbors a secret vendetta against the dust and its denizens. His pseudo-scientific labors seem more like angry provocations of their environment.

Another misfit on board is an alien bat-woman - a winged scout from a distant world who has abandoned her people. Despite her disfiguring cosmetic surgery, she's far from human - and even the touch of a human being causes her physical pain.

If this seems like Moby Dick (plus a random bat-person), the comparison is intentional. In his foreword, Ellison even notes that Sterling wryly showed up with the manuscript entitled 'Moby Dust'. It is, however, a testament to Sterling's ability as a fledgling writer (he wasn't even out of college when this was published) that what starts as a SF pastiche becomes something very different by the end.

The complex relationships between the characters are at the heart of the book. Although the voyage invariably comes to a cataclysmic conclusion, everyone finds their own unique form of redemption. Sterling only has one serious lapse - an epiphany or dream sequence that reveals the origins of the dusty ocean and its sinister (and legendary) inhabitants. It is essentially six pages of Lovecraftian tomfoolery, an unpleasant and parenthetical break for world-building in an otherwise character-driven narrative.