Paired Review, William Barton, When Heaven Fell
Peter D. Tillman
William Barton, When Heaven Fell (1995)
The short version: The first & second time I read WHF, I thought it was
terrific. I didn't like it as much this time, but it's still a good, and
unusual, book. Perhaps my personal tolerance level maxed at two. No
serious spoilers follow.
WHF is one of the few SF novels to consider what would happen if hostile
aliens *really* invaded Earth, which is to say it would be like 16th
century Aztec warriors vs. the 21st century US Army. Not much doubt
about the outcome -- although Barton has humans inflict 600,000
casualties on the invaders, who killed 8 billion humans. So a better
comparison would be Zulus vs. British, or Apaches vs. the USA: no hope
of victory for 'our' side, but we're strong enough to inflict casualties
and win skirmishes. After conquest, it got nastier than any of these
examples -- James once used the Congo under King Leopold as an analog.
This is not a cheerful book.
It turns out that the invaders, the Kkhruhhuft, sentient velociraptors
(+/-), are mercenaries (janissaries really), conquered long ago by the
Master Race. The Masters appear to be some sort of emergent AI's --
their hosts/companions/creators(?) are a group-mind made of carnivorous,
UV-loving, blue froggy 'poppits'. The Masters' taste for galactic
conquest is inexplicable, but they're very good at it. Evil Overlords,
yes, but inscrutable, *alien* EO's. Perhaps conquering planets is how
they keep score.
Rigorously-selected humans can join the Masters' mercenary armies. Since
Earth's civilization has been smashed, volunteers aren't hard to find.
The viewpont character is a successful merc officer, coming home on
leave for the first time since his enlistment.
Jemadar-major Athol Morrison takes up with his high-school girlfriend,
in the shanty-town remnants of Chapel Hill, NC. She turns out to be
involved with a half-assed Resistance cell. Athy turns them in, but
manages to save her from execution (or worse). Athy's really a pretty
decent fellow, for a slave-army mass-murderer. What choice does he have?
The Resistance play-actors were about to be picked up, anyway. There are
plenty of other mercenaries ready to take up his work, if he loses the
taste for it. And rebellious worlds are exterminated, if they become too
troublesome. He's a moral person, making difficult but reasonable
choices with the hand he's dealt.
These are pretty pampered mercs. Between mass-killing campaigns, they
live in comfortable bases on nice planets. The officers have personal
servants, cooks, sexual consorts -- Athy has three burdar bedservants, a
cook and a batman. The burdars enlist for a fixed term, are payed well
and get a sizeable bonus for completing their enlistment -- they will
return home rich, by local standards. There's a queasy fascination to
this, and to the whole setup. The mercs try to maintain good training
and discipline, but are under no illusions as to their role, which is
brutal conquest and enforcement of Master rule. This usually involves
smashing the local civilization, and killing 99% of the planet's
population.
The book is quite matter-of-fact throughout, and is less depressing than
it sounds. Life does go on, through the most awful circumstances, and
people cope as best they can (or die). There's even a thread of hope
that the Evil Overlords will someday get their comeuppance. The bad news
is, the conquered races are likely to be exterminated too...
Review copyright 2003 by Peter D. Tillman <til...@aztec.asu.edu>
Read more of my reviews:
http://www.silcom.com/~manatee/reviewer.html
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/cm/member-reviews/-/A3GHSD9VY8XS4Q/
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/iplus/nonfiction/index.htm#reviews
http://www.sfsite.com/revwho.htm
Peter D. Tillman
> William Barton, When Heaven Fell (1995)
Forgot to add a note -- James & I decided to pair reviews of this
interesting book. We'd talked about it months (years?) ago, and finally
did it.
His is much better than mine. Sigh.
Cheers -- Pete Tillman
Book Reviews: http://www.silcom.com/~manatee/reviewer.html#tillman
James Nicoll
Peter D. Tillman <til...@aztec.asu.edu> wrote:
>> Paired Review
>> William Barton, When Heaven Fell (1995)
>
>Forgot to add a note -- James & I decided to pair reviews of this
>interesting book. We'd talked about it months (years?) ago, and finally
>did it.
>
>His is much better than mine. Sigh.
Well, tastes differ. I note neither one got hordes of follow-ups.
It might be interesting to more paired reviews, of worthy but
rarely discussed books.
--
"About this time, I started getting depressed. Probably the late
hour and the silence. I decided to put on some music.
Boy, that Billie Holiday can sing."
_Why I Hate Saturn_, Kyle Baker
Htn963
>In article <tillman-A5EB9F...@news.fu-berlin.de>,
>Peter D. Tillman <til...@aztec.asu.edu> wrote:
>>> Paired Review
>>> William Barton, When Heaven Fell (1995)
>>
>>Forgot to add a note -- James & I decided to pair reviews of this
>>interesting book. We'd talked about it months (years?) ago, and finally
>>did it.
>>
>>His is much better than mine. Sigh.
>
> Well, tastes differ. I note neither >one got hordes of follow-ups.
Well, I was about to say that you both convinced me never to read this
book.. The conjunction of highflown space opera themes with irredemiable
pessimism sounds weirdly jarring. I think the only other instance of this I
think I have seen is the (terribly acted) movie _Event Horizon_, where
<spoiler> we learn from an FTL ship that just returned from its voyage that
what lies outside of the boundary of this known physical universe is Hell.
> It might be interesting to more paired reviews, of worthy but
>rarely discussed books.
Yea, and might I suggest for entertainment value you disagree and call each
other names, like (the late) Siskel and Ebert.
--
Ht
|Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore
never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
--John Donne, "Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions"|
Peter D. Tillman
htn...@cs.com (Htn963) wrote:
> James Nicoll wrote:
>
> Well, I was about to say that you both convinced me never to read this
> book.. The conjunction of highflown space opera themes with irredemiable
> pessimism sounds weirdly jarring. I think the only other instance of this I
> think I have seen is the (terribly acted) movie _Event Horizon_, where
> <spoiler> we learn from an FTL ship that just returned from its voyage that
> what lies outside of the boundary of this known physical universe is Hell.
>
Well, you'll miss an interesting book. Which is less depressing than we
made it sound, but then again, hardly cheerful.
> > It might be interesting to more paired reviews, of worthy but
> >rarely discussed books.
>
> Yea, and might I suggest for entertainment value you disagree and
> call each other names, like (the late) Siskel and Ebert.
>
Sorry, we're both far too polite for that. You decadent pig . . . you
thieving pile of albino warts. [note 1] <g>
Cheers -- Pete Tillman
1) -- letter, Hunter S Thompson to Tom Wolfe, c. 1975
Mark 'Kamikaze' Hughes
> Well, I was about to say that you both convinced me never to read this
> book.. The conjunction of highflown space opera themes with irredemiable
> pessimism sounds weirdly jarring. I think the only other instance of this I
> think I have seen is the (terribly acted) movie _Event Horizon_, where
><spoiler> we learn from an FTL ship that just returned from its voyage that
> what lies outside of the boundary of this known physical universe is Hell.
This is one that always baffles me when people pan it so hard. Sam
Neill and Laurence Fishburne were very good. The rest of the cast were
competent to average, and the script had some problems, but the ship and
the visuals are excellent, and it's a very effective horror movie. It's
paranormal horror in space, not hard science fiction, but anyone who
liked George R.R. Martin's _Nightflyers_ should like it.
However, I think you've misunderstood what happened. It's not
actually Hell that the FTL drive takes them to, and Sam Neill says as
much at one point. The alien intelligence(s) in hyperspace can read
your mind and show you whatever you fear. It either enjoys torturing
people, or is just poking the humans with a stick to see what happens.
Its behavior looks more like inhuman curiosity than intentional malice
to me.
Cordwainer Smith's _Game of Rat and Dragon_ has just as nasty a
hyperspace, but people eventually learned how to survive it.
What troubles a lot of people is that this isn't all laid out in an
"As You Know, Bob" exposition at the end. You have to think about it
and put 2 and 2 together yourself.
Plus, there's a scene that's clearly a _Dark Star_ homage. How can
anyone not love that?
--
<a href="http://kuoi.asui.uidaho.edu/~kamikaze/"> Mark Hughes </a>
"We remain convinced that this is the best defensive posture to adopt in
order to minimize casualties when the Great Old Ones return from beyond
the stars to eat our brains." -Charlie Stross, _The Concrete Jungle_
Htn963
> This [_Event Horizon_ movie] is one that always baffles me when people pan it
so hard.
No, it has its moments.
> Sam Neill and Laurence Fishburne were very good.
Eh, I thought Fishburne was just adequate while Neill alternately
sleepwalks and hams his way throughout the role...an embarrassing performance.
>The rest of the cast were
>competent to average, and the script had some problems, but the ship and
>the visuals are excellent, and it's a very effective horror movie.
The premise was certainly horrifying.
>It's paranormal horror in space, not hard science fiction, but anyone who
>liked George R.R. Martin's _Nightflyers_ should like it.
>
> However, I think you've misunderstood what happened. It's not
>actually Hell that the FTL drive takes them to, and Sam Neill says as
>much at one point. The alien intelligence(s) in hyperspace can read
>your mind and show you whatever you fear. It either enjoys torturing
>people, or is just poking the humans with a stick to see what happens.
>Its behavior looks more like inhuman curiosity than intentional malice
>to me.
Arg, no, not another alien mindfuck fest -- that would just downgrade this
movie for me. I *like* the audacious, horrifying premise that the final
frontier is Hell. But I've only see the movie once and I'll have to see it
again to verify your interpretation, especially since you're one to poopoo the
actual existence of Hell to begin with.
> Cordwainer Smith's _Game of Rat and Dragon_ has just as nasty a
>hyperspace, but people eventually learned how to survive it.
>
> What troubles a lot of people is that this isn't all laid out in an
>"As You Know, Bob" exposition at the end. You have to think about it
>and put 2 and 2 together yourself.
"Tyrone, use a sentence with the word 'before'."
"Uh, two and two 'before'".
> Plus, there's a scene that's clearly a _Dark Star_ homage. How can
>anyone not love that?
Which one is that?
Steve Taylor
> Well, I was about to say that you both convinced me never to read this
> book.. The conjunction of highflown space opera themes with irredemiable
> pessimism sounds weirdly jarring.
I haven't read any Barton, but I've had my eye out for this for years,
as it sounds like a nice interesting combination of elements.
> Ht
Steve
Htn963
Well, yes, I'd think anyone who can actually *enjoy* _Red Mars_ would
find this just his cup of tea. Happy reading!
Steve Taylor
>>I haven't read any Barton, but I've had my eye out for this for years,
>>as it sounds like a nice interesting combination of elements.
> Well, yes, I'd think anyone who can actually *enjoy* _Red Mars_ would
> find this just his cup of tea.
You remembered or googled for that? Or was it just a lucky guess?
What do you see as the resemblance between the two books? They don't
sound terribly close to me.
> Happy reading!
Thanks. If I ever spot a copy...
> Ht
Steve
Htn963
>Htn963 wrote:
>
>>>I haven't read any Barton, but I've had my eye out for this for years,
>>>as it sounds like a nice interesting combination of elements.
>
>> Well, yes, I'd think anyone who can actually *enjoy* _Red Mars_ would
>> find this just his cup of tea.
>
>You remembered or googled for that? Or was it just a lucky guess?
You've replied more than once to me that you just luv' _Red Mars_. I
don't google just to reply to a message and the chances of guessing right is
pretty slim, so I "guess" it must be my memory.
>What do you see as the resemblance between the two books? They don't
>sound terribly close to me.
They both seem to have vile, unsympathetic characters engaging in small
scale acts that are petty and disgusting, and large scale acts that proves
ultimately futile...as history repeats itself.
>> Happy reading!
>
>Thanks. If I ever spot a copy...
Oh, I forgot you're in Australia. I'll just change that to "Good luck!"
then. Muwahahaha!
Andrew Plotkin
> 06 Apr 2003 05:15:02 GMT, Htn963 <htn...@cs.com>:
>> Well, I was about to say that you both convinced me never to read this
>> book.. The conjunction of highflown space opera themes with irredemiable
>> pessimism sounds weirdly jarring. I think the only other instance of this I
>> think I have seen is the (terribly acted) movie _Event Horizon_, where
>><spoiler> we learn from an FTL ship that just returned from its voyage that
>> what lies outside of the boundary of this known physical universe is Hell.
> This is one that always baffles me when people pan it so hard. Sam
> Neill and Laurence Fishburne were very good. The rest of the cast were
> competent to average, and the script had some problems, but the ship and
> the visuals are excellent, and it's a very effective horror movie. It's
> paranormal horror in space, not hard science fiction, but anyone who
> liked George R.R. Martin's _Nightflyers_ should like it.
I loved _Nightflyers_. I was hoping _Event Horizon_ would be
_Nightflyers_, and I hated the movie for disappointing me in that
regard.
Just so you know where my biases come from. :)
> However, I think you've misunderstood what happened. It's not
> actually Hell that the FTL drive takes them to, and Sam Neill says as
> much at one point. The alien intelligence(s) in hyperspace can read
> your mind and show you whatever you fear.
Does he say that? It didn't make any impression on me.
You can argue that, but I don't think it's an enlightening position.
It doesn't make the movie make any more sense. Okay, something makes
them believe stuff from Hell is materializing. So what? How does that
differ from actual demons from Hell?
It's not like any of the visual yuckness advanced the plot. The plot
was there to provide an excuse for yuck.
In _Nightflyers_, the baddie has straightforward motivations, and a
clear science-fictional premise behind its existence and actions. And
the resolution ties right back into that. It's all one story, and it's
a SF story. I like it because GRRMartin was able to pull this off
while still presenting it in the form of supernatural horror.
--Z
"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
*
* Make your vote count. Get your vote counted.
David Kennedy
>> think I have seen is the (terribly acted) movie _Event Horizon_, where
>><spoiler> we learn from an FTL ship that just returned from its voyage that
>> what lies outside of the boundary of this known physical universe is Hell.
It's not really badly acted; it just has a terrible script.
> This is one that always baffles me when people pan it so hard. Sam
> Neill and Laurence Fishburne were very good. The rest of the cast were
> competent to average, and the script had some problems, but the ship and
> the visuals are excellent, and it's a very effective horror movie. It's
> paranormal horror in space, not hard science fiction, but anyone who
> liked George R.R. Martin's _Nightflyers_ should like it.
True story; I trooped along to the cinema with some friends
& actually thought I _was_ watching a hard SF film. I was
prepared for it to go _Alien_ later on perhaps, but I
didn't expect _Hellraiser-In-Space_... I'm thinking of
going to see all my films completely cold like that; it's
interesting!
--
David Kennedy
Jordan179
> Well, I was about to say that you both convinced me never to read this
> book.. The conjunction of highflown space opera themes with irredemiable
> pessimism sounds weirdly jarring.
When I read what you said (and I've read the book too) it occurred to
me that in E. E. "Doc" Smith's _When the Sky Fell_ might well have
been about the experience of a mid-tech planet in the Second Galaxy
when it was discovered and conquered by Boskone. And that in turn made
me think on the fact that the "tone" of a universe is very much
determined by what the author chooses to focus on -- we think of the
Lensman universe as a cheerful happy one, but this is largely because
Smith chose to focus on the successes.
One of the reasons I found _When the Sky Fell_ so dark is because it
was obvious to me that, whatever happened, the liberal democratic
culture of the West was dead, never to be resurrected. If Humanity
eventually rose in that universe, it would be as ruthless, nasty
janissaries within the power-structure of the alien empire, or
building an equally-nasty successor state.
THAT is what I think makes the story so dark -- the hopelessness of
the human future. Not even to be exterminated, but to be reformed into
something out of dark nightmares that we thought we'd outgrown.
Sincerely Yours,
Jordan
Htn963
>Htn963 wrote:
[snip]
>>>Thanks. If I ever spot a copy...
>
>> Oh, I forgot you're in Australia. I'll just change that to "Good luck!"
>> then. Muwahahaha!
>
>It's pretty tricky, as a lot of books mentioned here will only sell a
>couple of dozen copies through the three local SF specialists, so if you
>miss them at the time, it takes a lot of digging through secondhand
>bookshops.
The market for overseas Sf in Australia is still slim, isn't it? I was
surprised to find out that _Farscape_, my favorite sf show, which was produced
in Australia with largely Australian talent, isn't even televised there because
of lack of viewers.
Steve Taylor
>> You remembered or googled for that? Or was it just a lucky guess?
> You've replied more than once to me that you just luv' _Red Mars_.
That's overstating a bit, but I certainly like it.
> I don't google just to reply to a message
I find myself doing it more and more - not checking people's past
postings, but fact checking and research. In the middle of typing a
sentence I'll pop off into the net and do the type of research that
would have taken me a couple of days to do twenty years ago, then go
back and finish my sentence. In a quiet unflashy way (no brain implants
or VR glasses) life is getting quite science-fictional. It kinda sneaks
up on you.
> They both seem to have vile, unsympathetic characters engaging in small
> scale acts that are petty and disgusting, and large scale acts that proves
> ultimately futile...as history repeats itself.
Well - history does that kind of stuff. Big events always involve a
mixture of nobility, squalor and vileness, and people just trying to get
by. The existence of one doesn't invalidate the other.
I thought Red Mars had plenty of flaws - some ethnic stereotyping, some
clumsiness with the way the multinational corporations were handled,
that windmill thingy that everyone loves to pick on - but it never
struck me as particularly downbeat.
>>Thanks. If I ever spot a copy...
> Oh, I forgot you're in Australia. I'll just change that to "Good luck!"
> then. Muwahahaha!
It's pretty tricky, as a lot of books mentioned here will only sell a
couple of dozen copies through the three local SF specialists, so if you
miss them at the time, it takes a lot of digging through secondhand
bookshops.
Oh sure - I could order them through abebooks.com, but that would be
cheating, and I can usually find what I want within a decade or so.
Major frustration: after many years of looking, I finally found a copy
of Gene Wolfe's second 'Latro' book - about a week before they reprinted
the two books in a compendium. Grr.
> Ht
Steve
Htn963
>When I read what you said (and I've read the book too) it occurred to
>me that in E. E. "Doc" Smith's _When the Sky Fell_ might well have
>been about the experience of a mid-tech planet in the Second Galaxy
>when it was discovered and conquered by Boskone. And that in turn made
>me think on the fact that the "tone" of a universe is very much
>determined by what the author chooses to focus on -- we think of the
>Lensman universe as a cheerful happy one, but this is largely because
>Smith chose to focus on the successes.
Well, to a degree. But if those successes are merely stepping stones to
an ultimate failure...
>One of the reasons I found _When the Sky Fell_ so dark is because it
>was obvious to me that, whatever happened, the liberal democratic
>culture of the West was dead, never to be resurrected. If Humanity
>eventually rose in that universe, it would be as ruthless, nasty
>janissaries within the power-structure of the alien empire, or
>building an equally-nasty successor state.
I haven't read Smith's book, but that outcome doesn't make a good case for
the long term viability or inevitability of a liberal democratic culture, does
it? Surely, if such a system is so right, true, and desirable, it would
eventually be resurrected and supplant whatever tyrannical regimes which
inspired its needs to begin with? Note that I'm not saying that this is
necessarily true: the current world political state could just be an anomalous
blip in history.
>THAT is what I think makes the story so dark -- the hopelessness of
>the human future. Not even to be exterminated, but to be reformed into
>something out of dark nightmares that we thought we'd outgrown.
Ah, but who is to say that the liberal democratic culture itself is not
many others' dark nightmares?
[WARNING: those who attempt to expand this into another OT Political Thread
will be summarily tried and executed]
Steve Taylor
> The market for overseas Sf in Australia is still slim, isn't it?
Oh it's not all that bad - it's just that books which weren't huge
sellers, but which have acquired a reputation, like _The Fortunate Fall_
for instance are hard to track down. Anything that sells fairly well is
easy to find. There are some differences - Bujold is hard to find and
Banks is everywhere, which I believe is the opposite of the US.
> I was
> surprised to find out that _Farscape_, my favorite sf show, which was produced
> in Australia with largely Australian talent, isn't even televised there because
> of lack of viewers.
I'm not sure what the status is - it's certainly been on, as I've
watched a few. I think it may have been taken off the air, and then come
back at some stage.
> Ht
Steev
Michael Stemper
>When I read what you said (and I've read the book too) it occurred to
>me that in E. E. "Doc" Smith's _When the Sky Fell_ might well have
>been about the experience of a mid-tech planet in the Second Galaxy
>when it was discovered and conquered by Boskone. And that in turn made
>me think on the fact that the "tone" of a universe is very much
>determined by what the author chooses to focus on -- we think of the
>Lensman universe as a cheerful happy one, but this is largely because
>Smith chose to focus on the successes.
What's this? A Smith book that I haven't read? I can't find any reference
to it in the ISFDB. Details, please?
--
Michael F. Stemper
#include <Standard_Disclaimer>
Time flies like an arrow.
Fruit flies like a banana.
Jordan179
> Jordan179 wrote:
>
> >When I read what you said (and I've read the book too) it occurred to
> >me that in E. E. "Doc" Smith's _When the Sky Fell_ might well have
> >been about the experience of a mid-tech planet in the Second Galaxy
> >when it was discovered and conquered by Boskone. And that in turn made
> >me think on the fact that the "tone" of a universe is very much
> >determined by what the author chooses to focus on -- we think of the
> >Lensman universe as a cheerful happy one, but this is largely because
> >Smith chose to focus on the successes.
>
> Well, to a degree. But if those successes are merely stepping stones to
> an ultimate failure...
I don't see why we should assume that -- the epilogue to _Children of
the Lens_ implies a _crisis_, but there's no reason to assume that
Civilization doesn't defeat that crisis too, in the end, as it has
many previous ones.
> >One of the reasons I found _When the Sky Fell_ so dark is because it
> >was obvious to me that, whatever happened, the liberal democratic
> >culture of the West was dead, never to be resurrected. If Humanity
> >eventually rose in that universe, it would be as ruthless, nasty
> >janissaries within the power-structure of the alien empire, or
> >building an equally-nasty successor state.
>
> I haven't read Smith's book, but that outcome doesn't make a good case for
> the long term viability or inevitability of a liberal democratic culture, does it?
???
Why not? In the end of the Lensman series, Civilization is triumphant
throughout the Two Galaxies.
> Surely, if such a system is so right, true, and desirable, it would
> eventually be resurrected and supplant whatever tyrannical regimes which
> inspired its needs to begin with?
That doesn't follow -- it could be that liberal democracy is "right,
true, and desirable," but is also difficult to attain. The history of
human civilization from 4000 BCE to the present would certainly imply
this -- there have only been three periods in which anything like
democracies or republics were common or successful -- the
proto-civilized stages of several civilizational centers, in the early
Bronze Age; the Golden Age of Classical Antiquity (c. 500-350 BCE in
Greece and c. 500-50 BCE in Italy); and the present era (c. CE 1689 to
date).
In each of these periods, it was the relatively freest societies that
led the world in terms of art, science, and literature. They also did
not survive long, compared to the run of monarchies and feudal or
imperial orders.
> Note that I'm not saying that this is
> necessarily true: the current world political state could just be an anomalous
> blip in history.
That was the pessimistic conclusion that Smith himself later came to
in his _Imperial Stars_ universe (outlined by Smith and later written
up by his friend Stephen A. Goldin, after Smith's death).
> >THAT is what I think makes the story so dark -- the hopelessness of
> >the human future. Not even to be exterminated, but to be reformed into
> >something out of dark nightmares that we thought we'd outgrown.
>
> Ah, but who is to say that the liberal democratic culture itself is not
> many others' dark nightmares?
I am. And most people, by their preferences expressed in actions, are.
Sincerely Yours,
Jordan
Steve Taylor
> What's this? A Smith book that I haven't read? I can't find any reference
> to it in the ISFDB. Details, please?
No - it's a hypothetical. "If Smith had written _When Heaven Fell_..."
Jordan's got a point too - the cheerfulness of the Lensman books is
entirely a matter of the viewpoint we're given. They contain enough
death and disaster for a thousand miserable novels.
> Michael F. Stemper
Steve