Introduction
The Sky People is part of a new series called the Lords of
Creation by science fiction author SM Stirling. Its an interesting
alternate history concept, sort of like Harry Turtledove's A World
of Difference, but pulpier,
but not as pulpy as Burroughs. Unlike A World of Difference,
Venus is also habitable, and both worlds are inhabited by humans.
From what SM Stirling has said in the past, its a tribute to
the planetary romances of Burroughs and others, but with somewhat
harder science and treated as an alternate history, which he's known
for.
“Even
Mars and Venus were taken from us a little later, their six-armed
green men, canals, and dinosaurs replaced with a boring snowball of
rust and a sulphuric-acid hell ...”
“Alternate
history can give writer and reader a breath of fresher air, of
unlimited possibility, of that world where horizons are infinite and
nothing is fixed in stone; where beyond the last blue horizon waits
the lost city, the people of marvels, the silver-belled caravan to
Shamballah and the vacant throne...”
S.M. Stirling,
“Shikari In Galveston,” Worlds That Weren't
Overview
At some point in the far distant
past (200 million years or so), the history of this universe diverged
from ours resulting in a habitable Mars and Venus. By the early 20th
century, scientists had spectrograms showing oxygen and nitrogen on
both worlds. In the 1960's space probes to both worlds showed that
both worlds were not only habitable and full of life, but inhabited
by humans (or close enough). At this point history changes even more
as the US and its allies (ANZAC, OAS, UK) and the EastBloc (USSR and
China) emphasize the space race over global conflicts, pouring
massive resources into it.
By the late 1980's both power blocs
established bases on both worlds and are noting the disturbing
similarities between life on Earth, Venus and Mars. Mars is dominated
by the city state remnants of a global empire of hominids (they
aren't human) with incredibly advanced biotechnology and are
considered 'decadant' by the humans. Venus is inhabited by humans
just getting into the bronze age with a single city on the planet,
with a smattering of neanderthals, plus dinosaurs.
The Sky People is set on
Venus in 1988 and follows the adventures of Lieutenant Marc Vitrac,
United States Aero Space Force and a Ranger at Jamestown Base. Marc
is one of Stirling's omni-comptent characters, but by the set up, he
should be. “You had to be nearly Olympic caliber physically as
well as qualified in two three degree equivalents to even get on the
short list for Venus.” It opens with a Russian space probe in
the 1960's landing on Venus and discovering human and neanderthal
life before contact with the probe is lost.
From there, we leap forward twenty
years as a space ship delivers a batch of new astronauts to Jamestown
Base and we begin to get acquainted with the planet and its
inhabitants. It has a lower gravity (.91 g) with a denser atmosphere
and higher oxygen content, which combines to mean that wild fires are
much more dangerous than on Earth and that there are lots of flying
organisms. Large flying organisms. Large dangerous flying organisms,
like the Quetza which can take a grown human. Shortly after this
introduction the EastBloc shuttle Riga is lost under
mysterious circumstances near where the first Russian probe landed,
the Prohibited Zone. From there, its on to adventure, which is
someone in deep trouble, far, far from home.
Venus is much more the star than
Marc Vitrac and the others, and here are a few reasons why:
Dinosaurs
Pleistocene
mammals
Primitive
cultures
It at least
pays lip service to the economics of interplanetary travel (with a
bullet costing $175 after transit costs).
Cold war
tensions between the US and its allies, and the EastBloc.
More
conducive to zeppelins (due to the pressure, low gravity) and the
aforementioned economics – its kind of hard to transport gas
across interplanetary distances.
Its
literally a setting built for adventure.
I'll admit I didn't like a few aspects of the book.
That the
forces behind the creation of the inhabitable Mars and Venus are
called Alien Space Bats, after the soc.history.what-if entities
responsible for the really implausible.
Evil
communists with a fiendish plan.
Characters
were a little stiff (at best).
Verdict
To be honest, the book is modern pulp, and its fun pulp, not great
literature, but a lot of fun. And as some wise soul on rpg.net open
pointed out that good games come from bad literature (or pulp), and I
think this one has a lot to go for it as a possible game setting. And
if you want a setting where your PC's have to contend with any and
all of the above, why not borrow from this where all the hard work
has already been done?
And for those of you that want a more sophisticated, the sequel, In
The Courts of The Crimson Kings
takes place on Mars among the intrigues of the Martians on their
dying world. And while they are hominids, they are not homo sapiens
with some very different brain function and very advanced
biotechnology. For samples of both The Sky People and In
The Courts of The Crimson Kings
check out the S.M. Stirling website.
Review Summary