Pohl's Black Star Rises, Sets Too Quickly
Black Star Rising by Frederik Pohl
Comfortably into his ninth decade of life, Frederik Pohl remains the dean of science fiction writers. Pohl's contemporaries, giants in the field such as James Blish and Isaac Asimov, are long dead, but the oldest surviving Grandmaster of Science Fiction still actively writes and edits. Last year's release of the non-fiction Chasing Science: Science As A Spectator Sport and this year's release of three anthologies celebrating the works of the other fifteen Grandmaster award winners show Pohl is in fine form.A prolific author since the 1930s and top editor since the 1950s, Pohl's resume includes every award possible, including the aforementioned Science Fiction Writers Association (SFWA) Grandmaster. Even well into the age when most people consider retiring, Pohl wrote at an extremely fast pace, bringing a book to market every year or so.
Once A Futurian
The original Futurian club began in New York in the late 1930s. Asimov, Blish, Pohl and a host of other fans who were coincidentally the best and brightest of the future science fiction genre taking shape in America. Other members included future Nebula winner Richard Wilson and renowned illustrator Hannes Bok.The Futurians met regularly through the mid 1940s, sometimes marrying or living together. Pohl edited two small magazines in addition to his writing and became a favorite of the group. Damon Knight, another member who later became the first president of the SFWA, is quoted as saying that Pohl published fifteen stories by group members in their first year.
After World War II, Pohl returned to America and became an agent and editor, again representing many of his old friends. The Futurians, once considered Marxist and by some accounts, living a bohemian lifestyle, became the establishment with breakout sales and increasing power in publishing circles. Pohl remained at the center of this group, and in 1950, took the editorial reins of Galaxy, one of the most famous of all science fiction magazines ever.
And he writes to this day. That truly is an amazing story.
The Plot In Exactly One Hundred Words
The United States and Soviet Union destroy each other in a scorched earth nuclear exchange. China and India divvy up the remains, with China creating a socialist satellite in America. Pettyman Castor is an American living on an agricultural commune when a local policewoman falls in love with him. Thus he is present when aliens who have been studying Earth for years after a lost American manned flight reached their planet demand to meet the American President. A staged election sends Castor and friends into space where he quickly turns double agent in an effort to stop an alien invasion.What Works Well
Pohl's interest in the political impact of various world events shines throughout his settings, particularly when America is reduced to an agrarian society supporting China. Pohl carefully avoids jingoism throughout his narrative, except when showing an extreme character's prejudices. Of the post-nuclear stories, this one treads lightly on the climactic shocks and other environmental problems that would result from multiple nuclear explosions.Castor's characterization is also particularly well done. Never content to simply be a fieldhand, he has always worked towards a different life. After a somewhat slow start when a reader might question whether the character has any versatility, Pohl quickly sketches a series of incidents that allow Castor to grow into a true leader from his figurehead position.
Finally, while the science presented does not require knowledge of astrophysics, Pohl deftly summarizes how interstellar travel is possible in a few short sentences. His style allows no time for most readers to do more than shrug and simply suspend belief as they accompany Castor and Company into space.
What Doesn't Work As Well
The story's basic flaw is that an intelligent alien species would not likely choose to support a single nation state on a planet of aliens, even if natives of that state surrounded them as on Pohl's world. Even if that support were forthcoming and the alien race truly relished making war, the idea that the entire planet would mount an expedition against the other planet strains the imagination.Pohl's story also suffers from the common science fiction ailment of stereotypical female characters. In this story, one is noble, young and extreme while the other is older, prettier and dominant. Castor is thrust into a love triangle with them and eventually chooses as we all know he must.
Finally, a character named Manyface who has absorbed the brain tissue and personalities of a dozen other people is simply the proverbial straw loaded on to a struggling camel. Little explanation is given to support the technological advances that allow Manyface's existence, and his presence here rather than in an over-the-top farce, diminishes the story's power.
