Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Melville in the Future, June 17, 2003
I have a feeling this is going to be my summer of Delany. I read Nova on the heels of his short story collection Aye, and Gomorrah and the virtues that I found in that collection are also to be found in this novel in spades. Delany writes with an attention to detail, prose and character that is astounding, and in doing so he creates a scifi world that is truly natural and lacks the self-consciousness of much of the genre. Nova is to be compared with the great works of literature, both in theme and achievement. The story centers around a reckless quest by starship captain Lorq Von Ray, a figure reminiscent of Melville's Ahab in his oversized dimensions and emotional complexity. Von Ray hires a crew of "cyberstuds", men who interface with machines to navigate the vast distances between the worlds of their interspace confederation. The mission is to enter a sun as it novas, during the first few hours, to gather an element that is used as the basis of space travel. The element is mined on planets, but rarely found. However, in the core of a sun during a nova, the element is found in great abundance. As the quest continues though, Von Ray's darker obsessions become evident and the tale plumbs deeper themes of revenge, political freedom and the search for the Holy Grail. From the outset of the novel, Delany captures you with the originality of his prose style and the deeper resonance of his characters. Most of the tale is told through the eyes of a gypsy musician, the Mouse and his friend Katin, who is collecting notes for a novel he is destined not to write. These characters are fully drawn, but set up parallels to Melville's Ishmael and Quee Queg. Von Ray is introduced carefully, first by reputation, as an old mad former crewman in a bar describes him. The ties to Coleridge are unmistakable. Then, when Von Ray makes his appearance, he is already clothed in the stuff of myth that makes him such an unforgettable character. His nemeses in the book, Prince and Ruby Red, are every bit as oversized and yet as believable as Von Ray. Prince is rage personified, while Ruby is both sympathetic and devious. This is a work that will haunt the mind for days afterwards. And yet, it is also a first rate scifi yarn as well. Delany's attention to technology, and consistency within the world he creates is remarkable. Delany writes as if we too inhabit this world, artfully showing us the parallels to our own and pointing out the differences with elegance and wit. Anyone who enjoys scifi should make the acquaintance of this author. But even if you don't like the genre, Delany is a writer than should be read. His craft is impeccable and the themes underlying the book are universal, as all great literature should be.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic rollercoaster ride, June 5, 1998
By A Customer
It seems extraordinary that this seminal novel should be out of print. Perhaps Delany is out of fashion, or maybe readers have beeen put off by the reputation produced by books like Dhalgren that he is hard to read.Nova is a giddy dash across a shiny future civilisation where economic forces are about to act on a large scale to change people's lives. If the quest of Captain Lorq von Ray succeeds, energy prices will plummet and power will shift from one ruthless faction to another. The stakes are high and both sides will stop at nothing. Into this situation, add some more ingredients. Nearly everyone, aristocrats to lowlife, is equipped with neural sockets which allow then to jack into any machinery from starships down and inhabit a virual reality where the machinery becomes an extension of themselves. Yes - cyberpunk fans will be amazed at how much of their genre Delany foresaw/invented. Throw in a synasthaesic musical instrument, an overheated love affair and a pysychotic or two and the brew is starting to bubble nicely. Add a sense of history, the Tarot and a hint of decadence and the pot is starting to look as if it will boil over. It very nearly does. Delany's style, which dazzled when the book was first published in the mid-'60s, now seems more flashy than brilliant and there's rather too much exposition for a book of this kind. In the end, though, bravado carries all and the reader's irritation gives way to exhilaration. It's a wonderful ride on the Roc with Lorq von Ray and his motley crew. If only it were longer...
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stellar (Dis)-Integration, November 11, 2001
I consider Nova to be one of Delany's best works. While written comparatively early in his career (1968), it shows maturity in handling of both language and character. The narrator, the Mouse, is Delany's typical nail biting, one shoed foot outsider from civilization (gypsy like, in this case), who, while intriguing in his own right, makes an excellent contrast to Prince Red, spoiled, rich, and equipped with an artificial hand that he is extremely sensitive about, and Captain Lorq von Ray. The plot is near space opera, with a race to visit a star in the first stages of nova to collect trans- uranic elements, commonly referred to as Illyrion, that are the power basis of the stellar economy, and also the basis for the high level political/corporate battle. Illyrion is also used to power one of the most unique gadgets I have come across in SF, the sensory- syrynx, which can produce music (or any type of sound), moving holographic images, and scents, all under the control of a single player. This instrument figures prominently in the final climatic scene where Prince gets his just dues. The book also introduces the idea of socket inserts in humans, allowing anyone to plug into any machine and control the machine as an extension of his body.But beyond the simple, near-cliched plot line lies a deeper level of meaning, when each of the characters, gadgets, and indeed even the portrayed socioeconomic structure is viewed as a symbol or metaphor for larger items. Careful reading and thinking about this book will reward the reader with some unexpected insights into courage, environment versus heredity, the use and abuse of power, the influence of 'little people' on the course of history, and many other items. His control of language is illustrated by this quote: He was an old man.
He was a strong man. As the Mouse pulled his hand to the edge of the table, the derelict lurched forward. Hip
banged the counter. Long toes struck a chair leg: the chair danced on the flags. Old. Strong. The third thing the Mouse saw: blind. He swayed before the Mouse's table. His hand swung up; yellow nails hit the Mouse's cheek.
(Spider's feet?) "You, boy..." The Mouse stared at the pearls behind rough, blinking lids. A finely crafted book rich in ideas and well drawn, idiosyncratic characters, told with near-poetic style.
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