New Scientist Book Club’s verdict on ‘Circular Motion’: this dystopia hit too close to home

The New Scientist Book Club has leap back in time for our last reading, Alex Foster Circular movementmoving from the millennium future of Adam Roberts Darkness lake For a world that does not feel so far from ours. However, there is a major difference: the world of Foster is orbited by massive planes. This “circuit to the west” allows those who are quite rich to browse the globe in a few hours – but it also accelerates the rotation of the earth, leading, as the book progresses, to increasingly short days – finally, only 2 hours of duration.

As I said before, I was blown away by this book. He checked all the boxes that I want to check in my science fiction: an imminent apocalypse of horrible proportions? Yes. A flashy world trying to claim that it does not happen? Yes. A casting of interesting and intriguing characters who really worry? Yes. In terms of science fiction, it was my favorite reading of the year so far. I found it in a pleasant, horrible way to see the effects of the acceleration of the earth, whether it is the huge and physical (storms; change of gravity), or more individual (how horrible would it be to have a day of only 2 hours?).

However, you do not all agree with my takeover. (And is it not the joy of a reading club, to be able to choose fiction with your reading companions?) I love good dystopia, but for Niall Leighton, the terrible reality of life on the land of Foster went too far. “I liked it, and I am happy to read it, but it was too dystopian, and I don’t think I will put it on the list of birthday gifts from anyone,” he wrote on our Facebook group. “I mean that it was a solid literary science fiction, but I also had trouble suspending disbelief, and I thought it seemed artificial in places. I thought it had achieved a good balance between being focused on characters and ideas, but it was too dystopian for my taste. ”

Niall was not the only reader to have trouble entering history – Jennifer Marano writes that “I generally have no trouble suspending disbelief, but I could not do it with Circular movement. “And dystopia was also a little too heavy for Gosia Furmanik. Circular movement Had everything and it was a difficult reading for me because of it. Hit too close to you.

I am happy that Gosia spoke of climate change, because Foster told me in our video interview that the book was very intended to have parallels with our current situation – the characters in history create a huge “shell” heaven as a technological solution to the problems they caused with the circuit to the west – rather than to stop driving the plane. Many of you have seen these links between Foster’s characters faced with a disaster, and just in progress with things while waiting and our own life. “The theme of pride (pods and circuits and attempts to build a shield to correct the problems of gravity and duration of the day) was strong and obviously a lesson for today,” explains Phil Gurski, while Steve Swan adds: “I think humans are remarkably able to know the overview, but to keep this knowledge in the background and try to pass with their lives. [in-passing] Conversations that we all had where we are trying to put the world to rights, but then [say] “Well, there is nothing we can do about it.” »»

For Niall, “it worked as well as any and better than most as a metaphor for climate change, with (spoiler) poorly advised technological non-surgery, although I have had trouble suspending the disbelief in its physics (flying objects in the air in this way would actually do anything to the rotation of the planet, even impenetrable?). “”

One thing that confused me was the dating system that Foster uses, which is written like this: “Ah 976,314: 17”. A number of you felt in the same way; Eliza Rose adopted the same approach as me: “I didn’t understand it, but I never tried. While I was reading, it didn’t seem like I needed it to understand the plot, etc. Phil adds: “I would have liked an explanation on the new Ah system to measure time and why he was brought.” Thank God, so for Paul Jonas, who explained it to everyone: “It is in hundreds of thousands of hours and at the same time in the world,” he wrote. “970,000 being 11 years. But it will become heavy unless it resets. ”

There have been some comments on wanting more science in this science fiction of members of the New Scientist Book Club. “I felt that science fiction was secondary, plus a backdrop to the characters’ stories, whether it was a good thing or not for individual tastes, I think,” adds Gosia. “What I missed was more speculation about how the earth turning more and more quickly would affect the biosphere other than humans. It would have enormous effects on plants and animals and I think that writing would have made the book more real and less eccentric.” Gosia would also have liked to see Foster explorer “the stories of certain less privileged people and how their life was affected by the Apocalypse (like climate change disproportionately affects the world South)”.

“I wanted more about the global acceleration problem and the travel system. It is therefore not enough science fiction for me, ”writes Paul.

I hope that our next reading will satisfy these desires: this is one of the most acclaimed science fiction novels of all time: the title of anarchist utopia of Ursula K. Le Guin The dispossessedEverything in 1974. We have not done a classic for some time, and Guin was suggested by some of you as a following author to approach, therefore, here is! The members of the reading club can enjoy, very exciting, an essay by the son of the late Guin, Theo Downes-Le Guin, in which he considers the novel both as a son and a reader (it is fantastic), as well as a short extract from the opening of the opening of The dispossessed. Join the discussion on this classic stone iced on our Facebook group, and tell us what you think.