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$2.00
Bova, Ben EXILED FROM EARTH [ex1] book-date: 1971 | ||
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Young Reader's Press
1973 Trade paperback .95 VG+ or better | ||
2" non-yellowing library tape reinforcing spine, sides | |||
Exiled from Earth (1971) - A (shorter?) serial version of this appeared in Galaxy January and February 1971. I'm quoting from a review in Magazine of F&SF January 1972 for a summary that is more in-depth than the flap copy of the hardcover: "...is labelled a juvenile, but there's enough food for thought in it to entertain an adult, and it does not seem to be written down for its primary audience. The central proposition is: Does a world government (non-repressive) which has at last achieved population and economic stability - though at the cost of abandonning large cities to criminals and kid gangs - have the right exile about 200 scientists and their families to prevent completion of two research programs which will throw society into chaos? 5 of the novel's first 8 chapters are given over to the hero's fruitless attempts to escape the round-up, which he does not yet realize involves many others beside himself. These are rather standard chase sequences, but they do give the author the chance to show both some of the on-going research, and the shape society as a whole is in. But the book doesn't really get down to business until page 73, when a full explanation of the forthcoming exile and its reasons is given. From here on, the story does not follow the course I expected. Instead, the hero and some of his colleague are given a reprieve and secreted away on an island where they can continue their work. This lesser exile gradually turns into a demonstration of one of the ugly ways in which the main program (genetic engineering) could be perverted, unless the scientist themselves do something to stop it. What they do is effective, but it put them right back where they were before - condemned to exile aboard an orbital station. Finally, the 2 research programs originally involved combine to produce a third solution, which is both a plot solution and an answer to the central proposition. The novel does not go as deeply into the social responsibilities of scientists as does, say Compton's The Steel Crocodile, but it's rather surprising to find the problem raised at all in a juvenile... ...read it yourself before giving it to your favorite teen-ager." [-James Blish] |