Science Fiction and Other Suspect RuminationsShort Book Reviews: Margot Bennett’s The Long Way Back (1954) and Mack Reynolds’ The Earth War (1964)
Note: My read but “waiting to be reviewed pile” is growing. Short rumination/tangents/impressions are a way to get through the stack before my memory and will fades. My website partially serves as a record of what I have read and a memory apparatus for future projects. Stay tuned for more detailed and analytical reviews.
1. Margo Bennett’s The Long Way Back (1954)
- Uncredited cover for the 1955 edition
3.25/5 (Above Average)
I’m always on the lookout for lesser-known SF works by female authors. And Margot Bennett’s The Long Way Back (1954) certainly fits the bill. Bennett (1912-1980), a Scottish-born screenwriter and author of primarily crime and thriller novels, lead a fascinating life before her writing career. During the Spanish Civil War, she volunteered for Spanish Medical Aid, and was shot in both legs. Afterwards, she continued to participate in various left-wing political causes such as the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
The Long Way Back manifests, with satirical strokes, her critical stance on nuclear war and British colonialism. In a future collectivized Africa ruled by a calculating machine that grades the population, Grame, a “mechanical-repetitive worker” (7), dreams of a career in physics. Instead, the machine shuffles him off on an ill-fated expedition to the ruined remains of Britain post “Big Bang” (nuclear blast). On the way he falls in love with the leader of the expedition, Valya, who serves as a virginal Bride of the State (24). After their sea plane lands, they are beset by a bizarre range of mutations–ferocious dogs, micro-horses, etc. Eventually they discover a tribe of hairless white survivors holed up in primitive caves. Grame teaches the brightest arithmetic. Valya sets about measuring and applying pseudo-scientific theories to understand white society, religion, and conception of the world i.e. parroting all the pseudo-science and racist theories posed by British explorers of Africa. As they attempt to find a lost city, Hep, the third surviving member of the expedition, imagines the potential exploitation and colonization Africa might implement—“Yellow America” is on the rise and resources will be needed. History threatens to re-cycle through the horrors of the past in more ways than one.
The Long Way Back fits into a genealogy of British and American disaster novels that imagine future African supremacy and eviscerate the colonial mentality: two later works immediately come to mind, John Christopher’s The Long Winter (1962) and Norman Spinrad’s “The Lost Continent” (1970). If you know of more, let me know. While not a lost masterpiece, The Long Way Back remains an interesting experiment, especially if you’re interested in science fictional takes on Africa and post-apocalyptic nightmares.
2. Mack Reynolds’ The Earth War (1964)
- John Schoenherr’s cover for the 1st edition
2.75/5 (Below Average)
First serialized as “Frigid Fracas” in the March, April, and July 1963 issues of Analog, ed. John W. Campbell, Jr. I am unsure how much was modified for the 1964 novelization.
In part due to my recent focus on science fiction that references the organized labor movement, I decided to return to Mack Reynolds after a fourteen-year hiatus. Reynolds’ radical political affiliations intrigue me. Recently I’ve been searching through his vast oeuvre for references to unions and sending them off to Olav at the Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog to add to his list. Writing reviews of my contributions to the list is a much slower process!
The Earth War (1964), the second in Reynolds’ sequence that charts the adventures of a mercenary named John Mauser, charts our hero’s attempt to marry the woman of his dreams and win promotion to “that one per cent on top” (17). The Sov-world and the West-world no longer fight the Cold War through proxies or nuclear fear. The Universal Disarmament Pact removed all possibility of conflict. Instead, the desire for blood within the West-world is satiated by televised conflicts between various corporate entities fought entirely with weapons predating 1900.
In the first section, Mauser enters into an alliance with Freddy Soligen, a crafty advancement-seeking television man, to craft a heroic TV persona (replete with theme music) to advance both of their careers. After Mauser heroically represents United Miners in a brutal televised fight, he runs afoul of global law and falls from grace. In the second half, Mauser becomes a military representative conducting a clandestine operation in the Sov-World (USSR). As expected, the narrative points predictably slot into place and opportunities for fascinating battle sequences and thrilling undercover action tail off with little impact.
As expected, the oddly bland, unbalanced, and unrealized plot, plays second fiddle to Reynolds’ political ruminations. Reynolds posits a post-scarcity dystopia of People’s Capitalism (i. e. “Industrial Feudalism” combined with “Welfare State”) in which a rigid class system dominates society and the masses gobble up brutal entertainment. Only a few classes–in particular Military and Religion–provide an opportunity for advancement. I found the crafting of Mauser’s persona, and all the clubs and heroic (memeable) moments, the most interesting moments of the story. Unfortunately, Reynolds’ radical shift in plot–in order to ruminate on the evolution of the USSR’s futuristic communism (of which he is equally critical)–diminishes all forward momentum.
And the unions? Reynolds positions unions as part and parcel of the capitalist state in the relentless drive for profit. Rather than force for radical change, the unions and companies put mercenaries in the field to violently litigate differences (37). Mauser is hired by United Miners to fight against Carbonaceous Fuel (44). The union, as contracts only exist for two years, periodically enter fights to win a larger share of the corporate profit (45). Reynolds posits that historically “strikes [were seldom] held to better the condition of the individual union members” and instead were designed to increase coffers at the disposal of their “despotic” leaders (46). In Mauser’s day, the unions retain little of their original purpose as few working class jobs even exist due to automation (46). As unions collect a slice of each ton mined, with more effective technology the coffers grow exponentially and are utilized by union bosses instead of divided out among unemployed miners (46). I wonder if Reynolds’ was inspired partly by the McClellan select committee investigations (1957), watched by more than a million viewers on live television. I need to read more about the hearings in order to make more explicit parallels between negative SF takes and contemporary events.
Interesting only the for political discussions about the need to break from the cyclicality (Marxist-inspired) of history to escape new manifestations of age-old oppression. Reynolds struggles to craft the battle sequences and instill any thrill into the proceedings.
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Michael Hanscom
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