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Liked It “I know of no other Science Fiction novels of this type which can compare to the breath taking heights of existentialism and yet still be tempered with so much black humor and so many memorable characters as this. If you haven't read this novel, you're doing yourself a horrendously grave disservice.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “The science fiction premise of a neurotic computer overlord in need of Prozac is both interesting and amusing, but for a book that uses sexuality and gender roles as such a large part of the theme, it isn't very titillating. It would have been better served by removing the sexual aspect entirely...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“The Golden Globe and Steel Beach take place in a universe similar to, but different from, Varley’s "Eight Worlds" universe; in both universes, the solar system has been colonized by human refugees fleeing aliens (known simply as "the Invaders") invading the Earth. Earth and Jupiter are off-limits to humanity, but Earth's moon (known as Luna) and the other planets and moons of the solar system have all become heavily populated. There are also minor colonies set in the Oort cloud beyond the solar system itself.
Wendy B wrote this review Wednesday, April 22 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
The Steel Beach in question is Luna, Earth's moon and the most heavily-inhabited world in the solar system since the Invaders obliterated human civilization on Earth. The allusion being that that humans were thrown onto the inhospitable moon, just as fish made their way onto land as they evolved.
The protagonist, Hildy Johnson, is a newspaper reporter who finds trouble beneath the near-utopian society run by the Central Computer. The Central Computer runs every aspect of every person's life: it is the government, court, information source, and friend to every citizen.
Hildy Johnson starts off as a male reporter in the beginning of the book. He, like many people in the moon, has become dissatisfied with life. As a result, society, as well as Hildy, take part in destructive activities such as "slash boxing" (a blend of knife fighting and boxing), and in Hildy's case, committing suicide multiple times.
The first half of the story deals with the bizzare occurrences of life on the moon, such as the indoctrinations of celebrity heads-in-jars, negotiating with brontosaurus herds to figure out who they will sacrifice to make burger patties, and Earth-themed Disneylands which come complete with snakes and sand. In the second half, Hildy makes contact with a group of people who have figured out how to travel through space without spacesuits. These people then reveal that they are hiding from the Central Computer, partially to keep their technology secret, and to keep free of secret experiments the Central Computer has been performing on people.
Hildy then learns that the Central Computer has been attempting to clone the deceased in order to keep the population up. Hildy then becomes suspect, as she (he has had a sex change by now) has attempted to commit suicide several times, and it is unclear if she has been rescued or cloned. The Central Computer eventually resorts to launching a military raid on the people, which eventually causes the machine itself to crash. This leaves the moon city in chaos, and in its death throes, the Central Computer sends a projection of itself to Hildy, explaining that the schizophrenia of having multiple versions of itself was conflicting and strenuous, and that the city's doom was inevitable.
”“The science fiction premise of a neurotic computer overlord in need of Prozac is both interesting and amusing, but for a book that uses sexuality and gender roles as such a large part of the theme, it isn't very titillating. It would have been better served by removing the sexual aspect entirely and focusing more on the dynamics between the characters themselves and the computer.”
Heeeere's JOHNNY wrote this review Tuesday, April 21 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This is not Dune, but it is the MOST imaginative science fiction novel I have ever read. You will be astounded by the plot, character, and setting devices this amazing author creates out of his own mind. Maybe he is out of his mind. But you won't be able to put this down.”
Robert C wrote this review Monday, April 20 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“I know of no other Science Fiction novels of this type which can compare to the breath taking heights of existentialism and yet still be tempered with so much black humor and so many memorable characters as this. If you haven't read this novel, you're doing yourself a horrendously grave disservice.”
Ian Stewart wrote this review Saturday, October 4 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I read this book more something like 10 years ago. My recollection of this book is that it was entertaining. It was near the end of Varley's "eight worlds" stuff (I think he called it his 'eight worlds' universe) and I took it as a nice nearly final adventure in that universe. (I think "The Golden Globe" was the last one. It really does have the feel of a 'goodbye summary').
Symmulacra wrote this review Thursday, April 12 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
The opening sentence is both hilarious and perfect for setting the tone (and I hope this isn't an embarrassing misquote -- as I said, it has been about 10 years since I read this book): "In five years, the penis will be obsolete."”
“In the future, aliens kick us off Earth so we all move to the Moon & build giant Disneylands, except instead of the Land of Tomorrow and Main St USA they're like Wild West Texas & 18th century Philadelphia, & it's alot like today, because you can get a sex change whenever you want & people are all obsessed with celebrities & Scientology & eating bronto-burgers all day but the truth is, secretly everyone's ruled by a suicidal computer overlord who kinda acts like Hal, but also your very nice grandpa, but anyway he dies in the end but it doesn't really matter because the protagonist learns an Important Lesson, which mostly is, stop trying to kill yourself because life, even on a small Moon, can't be that bad...can it? ”
zombrarian wrote this review Monday, January 8 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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