Search the Sky

3.5 stars, Metaphorosis reviews

Summary
On Halsey's planet, the population is dwindling. Ross working for a firm dependent on the rare interstellar trade ships, is disillusioned and desperate for a more meaningful life. When opportunity comes in the form of task to find out why so many planets have gone silent, he seizes it, and finds far more than he expected.

Review
I've read The Space Merchants and a few other books by the Pohl & Kornbluth team, but hadn't been aware of this book until fairly recently. It includes a number of echoes of The Space Merchants, but is overall very much its own thing.

The story is a bit episodic in nature as our protagonist and his cohort explore a variety of worlds that have in one way or another gone off the grid. But Pohl & Kornbluth build on each episode (picking up a new character in each) rather than letting them stand entirely alone. Each functions as a mini if-this-goes-on exploration of ways humanity can go wrong.

While the book overall is clearly open eyed about the flaws of patriarchy, its protagonist never quite seems to internalize the idea. He's shocked and dismayed about how men are treated in a matriarchal culture, but can't seem to get past the idea of patriarchy as the norm from which that one planet has sadly departed. It's a shame, because the book otherwise comes close to acknowledging some of our societies flaws, but can't seem to get over the final hurdle convincingly. Given that this is a collaboration, I rather assume that one of the two was more progressive, and couldn't quite drag the other all the way around.

As an adventure, the book is fun, but it's the larger idea of the danger of specialization that gives the story heft. I can't claim that it really delves into the idea deeply, but it does successfully set it out while keeping a light, fast-moving tone.

There are some plot holes, including at the end, when you have to wonder why a group that recognize the central problem didn't do anything about it themselves. But overall, I give the authors credit for raising some serious issues in an entertaining way, giving the story a more serious layer more than many of the the simple adventure of the day offered.