The Light Of Other Days | ||||||||
Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter | ||||||||
Tor Books, 316 pages | ||||||||
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A review by Steven H Silver
Hiram Patterson, a latter-day Ted Turner/Bill Gates, has found a use for wormholes to broadcast news as it
happens from remote locations without the time and expense of transporting a live reporter and camera crew.
He can create a temporary wormhole, point a camera through it, and capture the images from a home
office, no matter where it is located. Patterson's development team, headed by his son, David, continues to push
the boundaries of this new technology while Clarke and Baxter begin to examine its social aspects.
The spread of wormhole technology seems to be based on the internet. Like the internet, it spreads rapidly and
reasonably inexpensively. There can be no interaction between the viewer and the subject of their spying.
Most importantly, it completely alters the fabric of society and brings the world even closer together.
The changes to society are continuous, especially since what can be done with wormhole technology and its cost
keeps changing. Used to spy on individuals, particularly once the ability to look into the past is
discovered, wormhole technology supplants the internet as the primary time-waster.
People can now not only discover what their neighbours are doing at the moment, they can also see what their neighbours were
doing at any time. Privacy has ceased to exist as anyone can spy on anyone else, at any time, without any chance of detection.
Although there are some noble endeavours, such as the project to completely document the life of the historical
Jesus, most people use the technology for more voyeuristic concerns. Given the attitude Clarke exhibited
towards organized religion in such recent novels as 3001: The Final Odyssey, the irreverence paid to
religion in The Light of Other Days is very understated.
The Light of Other Days is definitely a novel of ideas. In addition to the primary concept of the
wormhole, the story opens with the announcement of the discovery of an enormous asteroid, called the
Wormwood, which will impact the earth in 2534, causing the destruction of all life on the planet. The
knowledge of the Wormwood inflicts much of humanity with a sense of malaise, adding to the public's need
for a diversion like wormhole technology. The authors have also inflicted water shortages on the world
which have resulted in several water wars. Many countries have become balkanized and, perhaps the least
likely situation, England has become the 52nd state of the US.
With many interesting ideas, few of which are fully explored, and a dearth of exploration of the characters
and their relationships, The Light of Other Days feels more like a work in progress than a finished
novel. If the authors wanted to pay homage to Bob Shaw, producing a more complete work may have been the way to do it.
Steven H Silver in one of SF Site's Contributing Editors as well as one of the founders and judges for the Sidewise Award for Alternate History. He is Vice-Chairman of Windycon 28 and Programming Chairman for Chicon 2000. In addition to maintaining several bibliographies and the Harry Turtledove website, Steven is trying to get his short stories published and has recently finished his first novel. Steven is a Hugo Nominee for Best Fan Writer. He lives in Illinois with his wife, daughter and 4000 books. |
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