Back in the days when I read rec.arts.sf.written (the USENET science
fiction news Starship Troopers would trigger a
major battle of words. One can (a little unfairly) state the political
philosophy of the book in one sentence: only those who have shown that
they are willing to put their nation’s good before their own good through
military service should be entrusted with the right to vote.

This led to endless discussion as to whether Heinlein was right or wrong,
and little of it was to the point, which is this: Heinlein wanted to
write a coming-of-age story about a spoiled rich kid who learns
discipline, maturity, and responsibility through military service. He
needed a world in which such a kid might reasonably choose to enlist
without being drafted, and without the threat of war (the war begins
after Johnny Rico enlists) and so he needed a carrot to entice Johnny and
his peers into taking the oath. In Johnny’s case he provides two:
the franchise, and a beautiful young lady of Johnny’s acquaintance who chooses
to enlist at the same time (she eventually becomes a pilot). Callow
youth that Johnny is, it’s the desire to impress the girl that really
does the trick.

All else follows from that. Having created this world, Heinlein needed
to justify it–to provide verysmellitude as Michael Cantrip would say–
and he does this through the courses in “History and Moral Philosophy”
that Johnny is made to take. Heinlein was fascinated by ethics, and he
loved to play with ideas. To find out what he really thought about these
matters, one would have to look elsewhere.

But although the ethical side is interesting (and, in some cases,
compelling), it’s not the heart of the book. This is a boot camp story;
it’s a trial by fire story; it’s an adventure story. It’s the story of a
kid getting over himself and getting on with the job–“getting shut of
doing things rather more or less”. Plus it’s got some
really cool gadgets. Powered armor has become a stock prop these days,
but I was blown away by the idea when I first read it. So what’s not
to like?

This is the story of an ordeal–a tale in which physical endurance
against the harsh elements and wild beasts is key. Man against his
environment. And the thing about ordeal stories is that it takes
endurance to read them. I’ve always liked Cherryh’s books, but I’ve
always had to be in the right mood.

The main character, Marak Trin Tain, is a great warrior. His world, a
desert planet settled by humans in the distant past, is but sparsely
populated. There are the tribes, nomads who live in the deep desert; the
villages, each centered around its spring; and the holy city of Oburan,
where dwells the Ila and her ministers amid riches of water. The Ila,
somehow, is immortal; she is apparently one of the “first descended” to
this planet, and she has made it and its people in her image.

Until recently, Marak Trin Tain has been leading his father’s men in
rebellion against the Ila. The rebellion failed, and to buy peace his
father has sold him to the Ila. He is taken to Oburan with one thought
in his heart: to kill the Ila. He doesn’t manage it, of course; it would
be a short book if he did. Instead, she sends him to seek out the source
of the Madness that has come upon many of the people of the Ila’s
world–a madness that has come upon Marak himself, and which draws him to
the east.

And then the ordeal begins.

Cherryh has crafted an interesting world with a unique history, and a
unique premise–at least, I’ve not encountered it before. A culture
which possesses the secrets of both nanotechnology and genetics may well
use them to make war. And the fiercest battles may not take place across
nations or continents, but instead within the confines of a single human
body.

I was in the right mood; I liked it. And it’s the beginning of a series
(though it stands alone perfectly well), so I’m looking forward to the
next book.

This is one of those books that everyone knows about and has heard of
but no one actually reads anymore. It was so wildly popular in its day
that the reputation and ripoffs of the book have become the accepted
story line and the text itself is hardly known. And it’s the book that
supposedly started the Civil War, even though it was published in 1852,
years before the actual conflict began. Which is unfortunate, because
it’s a good story with exciting passages, interesting characters and plot
twists that you just can’t believe are happening. The scene where Eliza
escapes the slave hunters by jumping from ice floe to ice floe over the
Ohio river, clutching her baby, is so dramatic I had to put the book down
for a while. And the final scene with Uncle Tom is so sad it was
unbelievable that it was actually happening. What amazes me is that I
was able to get a degree in literature from a major university and was
never required to read it in a single course. What a pity.

The basic story is about Uncle Tom, a deeply religious black slave who is
sold away from his wife and young children when his owner falls into
debt. Uncle Tom is not a shambling, “aw shucks massa” character but
rather a Christ figure whose horrible fate is caused by the accepted
institutions and laws of the land. He’s a young, intelligent man with
more conscience and grace than any of the white people in the book.

That’s what I never realized about the book. Stowe is writing a book for
and about white people and their own rationalizations that allowed
slavery to continue and even be politically tolerated by the non-slave
holding North. Uncle Tom and the other black characters in the book are a
mirror that reflected back on the white readers their own prejudices.
They are archetypes, not real people. Over time the image has changed and
“Uncle Tom” has denigrated to an epithet. If it is keeping people from
the book, that is a shame.