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A review by weaselweader
Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge by Mike Resnick
5.0
A dark and disturbing view of humanity's history
SEVEN VIEWS OF OLDUVAI GORGE posits a distant future in which Man is long extinct. Having arisen as a deceptively small and to all appearances harmless bipedal ancestor of the earliest pro-simian species, Man evolved into a violent and powerful predator who was master of his planet. Technological advancements allowed Man to travel to the stars colonizing a million planets and enslaving or eliminating all those he met who posed any threat, real or imagined. Notwithstanding his powerful position astride the top of the galactic food chain, as it were, mankind has slipped into extinction. Five millennia after the last known representative of our species died, an alien planet has sent a scientific archeological team to earth to study man's rise and fall by a careful examination of the artifacts they find in the location now known as the birthplace of our species - Olduvai Gorge.
SEVEN VIEWS OF OLDUVAI GORGE is a series of seven short stories commenting on man's violent and aggressive nature ranging in time from our earliest pre-history as a species that could hardly be graced even with the term "caveman" to a hypothesized galactic superpower with technological skills that included interstellar travel and domination of a million other planets. The stories are all told by "He Who Sees", a member of the alien archeological team who has the uncanny ability to see, hear, feel and completely experience the history of an artifact by subsuming it into his own body and absorbing its history into his mentality.
This collection of stories, which won the 1994 Nebula Award for best novella, portray a bleak, dismal and disappointed view of an aggressive, violent and self-centered humanity. Perhaps the most disappointing thing of all about this fine book is that, as a reader of the book and a member of the race under discussion, I can find no reason to dispute Michael Resnick's hard-hearted view of our history.
It would be most unfair to disclose the point of the final story to a potential reader. But, suffice it to say, although Michael Resnick's cynicism remains obvious at the close of his novel, it is just possible - barely - that we could make something of ourselves if we had another chance.
SEVEN VIEWS OF OLDUVAI GORGE is short, sweet and compellingly powerful. Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
SEVEN VIEWS OF OLDUVAI GORGE posits a distant future in which Man is long extinct. Having arisen as a deceptively small and to all appearances harmless bipedal ancestor of the earliest pro-simian species, Man evolved into a violent and powerful predator who was master of his planet. Technological advancements allowed Man to travel to the stars colonizing a million planets and enslaving or eliminating all those he met who posed any threat, real or imagined. Notwithstanding his powerful position astride the top of the galactic food chain, as it were, mankind has slipped into extinction. Five millennia after the last known representative of our species died, an alien planet has sent a scientific archeological team to earth to study man's rise and fall by a careful examination of the artifacts they find in the location now known as the birthplace of our species - Olduvai Gorge.
SEVEN VIEWS OF OLDUVAI GORGE is a series of seven short stories commenting on man's violent and aggressive nature ranging in time from our earliest pre-history as a species that could hardly be graced even with the term "caveman" to a hypothesized galactic superpower with technological skills that included interstellar travel and domination of a million other planets. The stories are all told by "He Who Sees", a member of the alien archeological team who has the uncanny ability to see, hear, feel and completely experience the history of an artifact by subsuming it into his own body and absorbing its history into his mentality.
This collection of stories, which won the 1994 Nebula Award for best novella, portray a bleak, dismal and disappointed view of an aggressive, violent and self-centered humanity. Perhaps the most disappointing thing of all about this fine book is that, as a reader of the book and a member of the race under discussion, I can find no reason to dispute Michael Resnick's hard-hearted view of our history.
It would be most unfair to disclose the point of the final story to a potential reader. But, suffice it to say, although Michael Resnick's cynicism remains obvious at the close of his novel, it is just possible - barely - that we could make something of ourselves if we had another chance.
SEVEN VIEWS OF OLDUVAI GORGE is short, sweet and compellingly powerful. Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss