What do You think about Worlds (1990)?
At the end of the twenty-first century, half a million people have gone to live in orbit around the earth. They live in forty-one satellites (each called a World), some to get away from religion persecution, and others trying to create the perfect ‘World’. The largest of the Worlds is New New York. New New (as the inhabitants call it) is a captured asteroid that has been hollowed out. Each year, a few candidates are chosen to be sent to Earth for a year. In that year they learn about the economics that exist between the Worlds and the major earth countries. Marianne O’Hara has been chosen because she plans on being an Earth liaison specialist. During her stay on Earth, she gets involved in two movements. One group is contemplating declaring the Worlds a Republic; the second is planning a third American Revolution.The power in America is concentrated among a few privileged families. Because of this oligarchy the average citizen has little or no control over their own life. There are many groups who want to overthrow the government but their plans for a new America are at different ends of the political spectrum. Should this third revolution take America’s eye off the SSU (the successor to the Soviet Union), there is a chance that the SSU will strike against their age old enemy.Thinking that Worlds have gotten to independent, there is also a group who want to ‘teach the Worlds a lesson’, and put them in their ‘place’. Marianne having grown up in a closed World, is a naïve waif on this planet of radical politics. She is unwittingly brought into a conspiracy that could be destructive to both America and the Worlds.Much of this book, the first in a trilogy, is spent explaining to the reader the relationship of Earth to the Worlds (both economically and politically) and between the Worlds. It’s well thought out and explained, and is reasonable to a point. I’ll have a better opinion after I’ve started the second book.Zeb Kantrowitz zworstblog.blogspot.com
—Zeb Kantrowitz
Somehow I missed that this is a re-issue of a 1981 novel--which is actually kind of a relief as a number of scenes just seemed dated or out of place in a way I can't fully articulate. I've read several of Haldeman's other books--the classic Forever War with its sequel Forever Free and analog Forever Peace (which I think is actually the most interesting of the three). There's something about the set-up of the Worlds/Earth culture clash that now seems kind of retro to me, though I enjoyed it for most of the book.I especially enjoyed the way the novel was told in disparate pieces through diary entries, correspondence, one-sided calls, etc. though this same way of storytelling made it difficult for me to "get to know" the characters; they always seemed at arm's length in a way they weren't in other Haldeman novels. That said, I think this book is especially interesting for how it describes futuristic culture-clash, and would definitely recommend it on that basis.
—Cait
I've always liked this author and some of his novels are classics of the genre, but this was something of a disappointment. The premise is a common one in Sci-Fi: in the future, humanity has gradually expanded into the solar system and, over time, the off planet colonies and orbital habitats begin to experience increasingly tense relations with the home planet. However, the political tensions are mostly kept to the background of the novel as Haldeman focuses on one citizen of the New New York habitat as she travels to Earth to spend a postgraduate year of study. Unfortunately, most of her experiences aren't very interesting. She meets a few men, sleeps with a number of them, does a little sight seeing, etc. Some time is spent in the beginning of the book in describing a few of the orbital habitats and their cultures, but it's mostly a missed opportunity to delve into the truly bizarre. The one hedonistic culture comes across more staid and boring than shocking. Another problem is that the book was written in the early 80's when the PC hadn't really taken off in popularity and smart phones and the internet were in their infancy. Because of this, there are things in the novel that are anachronisms in this day and age, let alone a society in 2082. For example, a suicide note was left in a TYPEWRITER, in order to find out the latest news, the main character hunted down a newspaper rack and dropped some coins in it to buy a paper, to talk with the folks back home, people sit down with a pen and paper to write a letter to be mailed, etc. All in all, not one of his stronger efforts.
—Jon
