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The Silent Stars Go By
James White's own favouritie James White novel. He got the catchy title from listening to 'O, Little Town of Bethlehem' at a carol concert* The parallel-universe Hibernian Empire has risen to supreme power, with the help of applied Old World technology (Hero's steam engine, etc.) and new World natural resources (Brendan the navigator pre-empted Columbus by some five hundred years). Now the starship Aisling Gheal and its crew extend Oirish manifest destiny to outer space. Healer Nolan, an unbeliever in the priest-kings of Gor -- sorry, Hibernia -- finds himself pitted against the ultra-conservative Monsignor O'Riordan. I lapped it up. Mind you, I also think that Darby O'Gill and the Little People is a piece of grim documentary realism.
441 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 13, 1991
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About the author
James White
94 books134 followersLibrarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
James White was a Northern Irish author of science fiction novellas, short stories and novels. He was born in Belfast and returned there after spending some early years in Canada. He became a fan of science fiction in 1941 and co-wrote two fan magazines, from 1948 to 1953 and 1952 to 1965. Encouraged by other fans, White began publishing short stories in 1953, and his first novel was published in 1957. His best-known novels were the twelve of the Sector General series, the first published in 1962 and the last after his death. White also published nine other novels, two of which were nominated for major awards, unsuccessfully.
White abhorred violence, and medical and other emergencies were the sources of dramatic tension in his stories. The "Sector General" series is regarded as defining the genre of medical science fiction, and as introducing a memorable crew of aliens. Although missing winning the most prestigious honours four times, White gained other awards for specific works and for contributions to science fiction. He was also Guest-of-Honour of several conventions.
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
James White was a Northern Irish author of science fiction novellas, short stories and novels. He was born in Belfast and returned there after spending some early years in Canada. He became a fan of science fiction in 1941 and co-wrote two fan magazines, from 1948 to 1953 and 1952 to 1965. Encouraged by other fans, White began publishing short stories in 1953, and his first novel was published in 1957. His best-known novels were the twelve of the Sector General series, the first published in 1962 and the last after his death. White also published nine other novels, two of which were nominated for major awards, unsuccessfully.
White abhorred violence, and medical and other emergencies were the sources of dramatic tension in his stories. The "Sector General" series is regarded as defining the genre of medical science fiction, and as introducing a memorable crew of aliens. Although missing winning the most prestigious honours four times, White gained other awards for specific works and for contributions to science fiction. He was also Guest-of-Honour of several conventions.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 1, 2011
An incredible premise. In ancient times an Irish visitor in Egypt is shown the plans or drawings on a toy to amuse the pharaoh using steam power, he ask the inventor for permission to draw a picture of it and how it works and takes it back to Ireland. The Irish develop steam power in ancient times and become technology advanced and create a space program. So in the 1400's AD they launch a spaceship to settle a another planet, a new world. In this alternate history, Ireland's main allies are the Red men, the natives of North and South America. Though some of the steampunk elements are sublet I would definitely call this Steampunk. The epilogue is incredible. I highly recommend this book.
August 3, 2011
One of the oldest alternate histories that I have ever read, and he did a great job too. If you're looking for action and battle sequences this is not the book for you. But if you're in the mood for a truly thought provoking look at what might have been with a shocking ending that will leave you wanting more I can't think of a better book.
November 7, 2013
Great read as expected from White.
January 14, 2019
Well, that was a real tour de force. An excellent and unique piece of work.
Read
February 7, 2014The author mentions in the dedication that the Hibernian Empire/Westland alternate reality is part of a collaborative fantasy of which he was a part. The resolutions of conflict and recollections of historical parallels form an interesting supplement to what is partly an adventure story.
I tend to reread this about once a year. I like most of James White's work, and I would have liked to hear more about the Hibernian/Westland empire in other stories--and of the rest of the world. I did feel that Oceania was somewhat neglected, for example. So I would like to see a book on this subject, as well.
The action in this book takes place in three segments: on an Earth where, through the actions of a second-century BC Irish bard who brought a steam engine from Alexandria to Ireland and sparked an industrial revolution that early in Ireland, and where, through the actions of the Healer Orla, and where, through the voyages of Brendan the Navigator, the Hibernian/Westland Empire is the most powerful and richest conglomerate; (2) Aboard the starship Aisling Gheal (Bright Hope in Gaelic), a fusion-powered sleeper ship developed by all the peoples of the Earth, built over two reigns of Ard-Rhis, and launched early in 1492 (Brendan The Navigator, in our world and this one, traveled during the 6th century AD); and (3) On the New World, where the deliberately marooned troublemaking colonists from the starship engage in an odyssey to try to reunite with the main colony.
Unlike other books that come in this sort of 3-in-1 format, however, there's no clear separation into books. Characters in the book tell stories as illustrations of particular points, or just as entertainment during rest breaks, or as part of a plan to educate the colonists' children in Earth history through oral recitations...
The uniting figure is Healer Nolan. As the only male healer, the only non-ecclesiastic crewmember, and a non-Hibernian (he's from Iceland, which, apparently, was settled by Hibernians rather than Vikings in this world), he was already suspect as a dissident from the start. But when he awakens the only female crewmember Healer Dervla (also celibate by custom) to help save the life of one of the colonists (the illegally married Westlander Golden Rain), and they figure out the secret plot the Hibernian clerics have developed to Christianize the colonists, the shipboard leader of the conspiracy (Monsignor o'Riordan, the ship's Healer of the Mind (psychiatrist), decides to maroon Nolan with the other potential troublemakers.
Which turns out to be their salvation, because although the marooned party of about 40 men and two women are all skilled and well-trained at the processes of forming a colony, they didn't have much training about how to live off the land in alien and previously unexplored ecosystems--and Nolan did. So Nolan becomes the de facto leader of the trek, with the lander pilot as his navigator and lieutenant. But, as he repeatedly points out, the expedition isn't a democracy OR a dictatorship. The dissidents are all skilled specialists, who have a lot to contribute to the colony--but with only two females, they can't set up a separate colony, even if the women are willing to select from the marooned group. So Healer Nolan insists that he and the women go on, whoever decides to stay behind.
One thing that worried me that's not dealt with. In all the observations of the New World, did anybody pay attention to typhoons and other tropical storms? On a world that has no axial tilt and no moon, if there weren't particularly fierce tropical storms, the planet would become zonally striated, so that the tropics would become unsurviveably hot, the arctic zones unliveably cold, and the temperate zones probably wouldn't be very habitable, either. Just saying--a meteorological office wouldn't go amiss.
There are several unexpected contingencies in this book--or at least, unexpected by people not familiar with White's work. One of them, indeed, is unprecedented in White's work, and affects the ending. I won't tell that part--I'll just say to pay special attention to the splint--the Cardinal-Captain certainly does.
One thing they should have brought more of, by the way, or should have learned to make, was rope. People teaching survival skills tend to argue that anyone who has a rope and a knife can make a good run at survival, and can last almost indefinitely with these alone. But I might add that metal cans and plastic wrap would be useful, as well. In places where there is little or no surface water, metal cans and plastic wrap can be used to reclaim water, at least on Earth. And if photosynthesis works the same way on the New World (and it seems to), the process will probably work there. What's needed is to put leaves in sunlight on a can lined with plastic wrap. Photosynthesis both uses and releases water, and the net water gain is large enough that enough water for drinking, at least, can be obtained.
One point about language: White was NOT a racist--but his language might lead people to conclude that he was, if only by inference. The language use sounds quite racist to Americans, because White innocently uses terms like 'redman' and 'squaw', not aware, apparently, that such terms are considered quite offensive by many. If he'd had converse with people who explained to him WHY the terms were considered offensive in themselves, regardless of context, he might not have used the language he did. This is not to call for a revision of the text. On the other hand, I do think that calling one character 'Golden Rain' might have been deliberately catty.
One thing I do find worrisome is the implication that people in the main colony on the New World tend to isolate themselves into enclaves based on things like nationality and language. I hope that the arrival of the marooned group would shake that up a bit, and that the people who have learned each other's languages, stories, etc would not just marry people from 'their own people', but would marry, say, the sisters and cousins of people they got to know along the trail.
As to what sort of weeks the colony will establish...Maybe they'll have a week of fourteen days, since the Ull apparently reckon in fourteens. Or maybe they'll have two-week 'months' of 14 days, since there's no moon circling the New World. Both would have problems, but there's no real need to conform to Earth standards, especially since menstrual cycles have rarely been exactly a month long, anyway.
A note on edition: in this edition, there are quite a few instances where typos are left uncorrected, apparently because of an overreliance on spellcheckers. About once a chapter there's a word that's a perfectly good word--just wrong in context. I can't say if this is true in other editions, as I'm pretty sure I've only read this one.
I tend to reread this about once a year. I like most of James White's work, and I would have liked to hear more about the Hibernian/Westland empire in other stories--and of the rest of the world. I did feel that Oceania was somewhat neglected, for example. So I would like to see a book on this subject, as well.
The action in this book takes place in three segments: on an Earth where, through the actions of a second-century BC Irish bard who brought a steam engine from Alexandria to Ireland and sparked an industrial revolution that early in Ireland, and where, through the actions of the Healer Orla, and where, through the voyages of Brendan the Navigator, the Hibernian/Westland Empire is the most powerful and richest conglomerate; (2) Aboard the starship Aisling Gheal (Bright Hope in Gaelic), a fusion-powered sleeper ship developed by all the peoples of the Earth, built over two reigns of Ard-Rhis, and launched early in 1492 (Brendan The Navigator, in our world and this one, traveled during the 6th century AD); and (3) On the New World, where the deliberately marooned troublemaking colonists from the starship engage in an odyssey to try to reunite with the main colony.
Unlike other books that come in this sort of 3-in-1 format, however, there's no clear separation into books. Characters in the book tell stories as illustrations of particular points, or just as entertainment during rest breaks, or as part of a plan to educate the colonists' children in Earth history through oral recitations...
The uniting figure is Healer Nolan. As the only male healer, the only non-ecclesiastic crewmember, and a non-Hibernian (he's from Iceland, which, apparently, was settled by Hibernians rather than Vikings in this world), he was already suspect as a dissident from the start. But when he awakens the only female crewmember Healer Dervla (also celibate by custom) to help save the life of one of the colonists (the illegally married Westlander Golden Rain), and they figure out the secret plot the Hibernian clerics have developed to Christianize the colonists, the shipboard leader of the conspiracy (Monsignor o'Riordan, the ship's Healer of the Mind (psychiatrist), decides to maroon Nolan with the other potential troublemakers.
Which turns out to be their salvation, because although the marooned party of about 40 men and two women are all skilled and well-trained at the processes of forming a colony, they didn't have much training about how to live off the land in alien and previously unexplored ecosystems--and Nolan did. So Nolan becomes the de facto leader of the trek, with the lander pilot as his navigator and lieutenant. But, as he repeatedly points out, the expedition isn't a democracy OR a dictatorship. The dissidents are all skilled specialists, who have a lot to contribute to the colony--but with only two females, they can't set up a separate colony, even if the women are willing to select from the marooned group. So Healer Nolan insists that he and the women go on, whoever decides to stay behind.
One thing that worried me that's not dealt with. In all the observations of the New World, did anybody pay attention to typhoons and other tropical storms? On a world that has no axial tilt and no moon, if there weren't particularly fierce tropical storms, the planet would become zonally striated, so that the tropics would become unsurviveably hot, the arctic zones unliveably cold, and the temperate zones probably wouldn't be very habitable, either. Just saying--a meteorological office wouldn't go amiss.
There are several unexpected contingencies in this book--or at least, unexpected by people not familiar with White's work. One of them, indeed, is unprecedented in White's work, and affects the ending. I won't tell that part--I'll just say to pay special attention to the splint--the Cardinal-Captain certainly does.
One thing they should have brought more of, by the way, or should have learned to make, was rope. People teaching survival skills tend to argue that anyone who has a rope and a knife can make a good run at survival, and can last almost indefinitely with these alone. But I might add that metal cans and plastic wrap would be useful, as well. In places where there is little or no surface water, metal cans and plastic wrap can be used to reclaim water, at least on Earth. And if photosynthesis works the same way on the New World (and it seems to), the process will probably work there. What's needed is to put leaves in sunlight on a can lined with plastic wrap. Photosynthesis both uses and releases water, and the net water gain is large enough that enough water for drinking, at least, can be obtained.
One point about language: White was NOT a racist--but his language might lead people to conclude that he was, if only by inference. The language use sounds quite racist to Americans, because White innocently uses terms like 'redman' and 'squaw', not aware, apparently, that such terms are considered quite offensive by many. If he'd had converse with people who explained to him WHY the terms were considered offensive in themselves, regardless of context, he might not have used the language he did. This is not to call for a revision of the text. On the other hand, I do think that calling one character 'Golden Rain' might have been deliberately catty.
One thing I do find worrisome is the implication that people in the main colony on the New World tend to isolate themselves into enclaves based on things like nationality and language. I hope that the arrival of the marooned group would shake that up a bit, and that the people who have learned each other's languages, stories, etc would not just marry people from 'their own people', but would marry, say, the sisters and cousins of people they got to know along the trail.
As to what sort of weeks the colony will establish...Maybe they'll have a week of fourteen days, since the Ull apparently reckon in fourteens. Or maybe they'll have two-week 'months' of 14 days, since there's no moon circling the New World. Both would have problems, but there's no real need to conform to Earth standards, especially since menstrual cycles have rarely been exactly a month long, anyway.
A note on edition: in this edition, there are quite a few instances where typos are left uncorrected, apparently because of an overreliance on spellcheckers. About once a chapter there's a word that's a perfectly good word--just wrong in context. I can't say if this is true in other editions, as I'm pretty sure I've only read this one.
November 17, 2024
This is a masterpiece, a paradigm of science-fiction at its very best, a paen to genre literature.
There's a fully fleshed alternate world, where the worst of colonialism never happened; there's religion, faith and agnosticism; there's adventure galore, surprises aplenty, and epic journeys; there's spaceships, new worlds and, as usual in James White, fantastic aliens. Human, decent, emphatic. Thoroughly adult. The ending, all of it, not just the epilogue, is incredible--as in incredibly good.
Everything shines.
(Read on paper, a second-hand paperback bought online.)
There's a fully fleshed alternate world, where the worst of colonialism never happened; there's religion, faith and agnosticism; there's adventure galore, surprises aplenty, and epic journeys; there's spaceships, new worlds and, as usual in James White, fantastic aliens. Human, decent, emphatic. Thoroughly adult. The ending, all of it, not just the epilogue, is incredible--as in incredibly good.
Everything shines.
(Read on paper, a second-hand paperback bought online.)
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews