Scan barcode
A review by songwind
Nova by Samuel R. Delany
5.0
My first Delaney, but not my last.
The plot itself is fairly straightforward. Lorq Von Ray, ship's captain, wants to get to a dying star before his rivals Prince and Ruby Red do. In order to do that, he hires six "cyborg studs," humans who plug themselves into the ship to run vital systems along with (and subordinate to) the captain.
One place this novel really shines is in the conception of and interaction between the characters. The history behind Van Ray and the Reds is complicated and strange. The interaction between college educated, indecisive Kinta and street-boy-made-good Mouse is fascinating in its back and forth. Two sets of siblings, one almost incestuously attached, and the other almost incapable of independent action.
The universe building is also fascinating. Draco is the established political entity which includes Earth. It's rich and powerful, and is identified strongly with the Reds. The Pleiades is the second region of habitation, and the home of the Von Rays. Finally, the Outer Colonies is the wild west of the human sphere, where the power source Illyrion stands in for the gold and land that drove people further west in the US.
The galaxy seems to be in the last stages of scarcity economics. There are the rich and the poor, but the playing field between most people seems pretty level, and there is never any mention of homelessness, starvation, and similar woes in established settlements.
The language itself is also quite beautiful.
The plot itself is fairly straightforward. Lorq Von Ray, ship's captain, wants to get to a dying star before his rivals Prince and Ruby Red do. In order to do that, he hires six "cyborg studs," humans who plug themselves into the ship to run vital systems along with (and subordinate to) the captain.
One place this novel really shines is in the conception of and interaction between the characters. The history behind Van Ray and the Reds is complicated and strange. The interaction between college educated, indecisive Kinta and street-boy-made-good Mouse is fascinating in its back and forth. Two sets of siblings, one almost incestuously attached, and the other almost incapable of independent action.
The universe building is also fascinating. Draco is the established political entity which includes Earth. It's rich and powerful, and is identified strongly with the Reds. The Pleiades is the second region of habitation, and the home of the Von Rays. Finally, the Outer Colonies is the wild west of the human sphere, where the power source Illyrion stands in for the gold and land that drove people further west in the US.
The galaxy seems to be in the last stages of scarcity economics. There are the rich and the poor, but the playing field between most people seems pretty level, and there is never any mention of homelessness, starvation, and similar woes in established settlements.
The language itself is also quite beautiful.