Federation World

by James White

FIELD TEST

The Federation of Galactic Sentients had a mission. As new planets and species were discovered and assessed, the deserving of their populations were invited to move en masse to the fabulous Federation World, a modified Dyson Sphere located in the galactic core.

But not all of the Federation inductees were suited to the idyllic life of the World. Martin and Beth were two of the rare ones chosen instead for the demanding job of First Contact. Their training was extensive, but all too soon the two Earth-humans were out on their own with all the amazing technology of the Federation at their command.

Martin knew that training was no substitute for experience. In First Contact, his first mistake would likely be his last.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

283 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 12, 1988

About the author

Librarian 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.

Reviews

[Darnoc Leadburger · Rating 3 out of 5]

James White isn't one of the science fiction canon's best authors, but I've had a big soft spot for him ever since I started reading his Sector General novels, which were fun an colorful enough to get me to try and read his entire bibliography. *Federation World* is the third standalone novel I've read from him, and while it's not as good as the others (which were *The Watch Below* (7.5/10), a generation ship story with multiple layers, and *Second Coming* (7/10), a charmingly naïve "last man on Earth" tale), it retains his hallmarks and was a decent book to read while I was on vacation, even if the screaming children digging into my back on the plane when I started this book during annoyed the Hell out of me. I'll write a little summary as much for my future self's sake as much as it is for yours, and then I'll get to talking about what the book did well and where it fumbled.

*Federation World* starts off on Earth almost eight years after a series of alien "induction centers" (big white structures) appeared across its surface promising to transport humans suitable for Federation "citizenship" to the Federation World, a utopian Dyson sphere where Citizens can spend their lives relaxing and pursuing their own personal endeavors. While there are a few violent/intolerant people who are marked as "Undesirables," most of Earth's population has been beamed onto the dyson sphere by this point. But main character Martin has tried to navigate through his local induction center's intake computer multiple times and is starting to worry that his failure to pass their test means he's an Undesirable. We see his ultimately successful attempt this time around, he admits to the intake robot that he's not nervous about alien contact but is instead scared that utopian existence will take away his purpose and drive for living. It turns out that the Federation has a solution for sentients like him: they enlist them as Non-Citizens, upgrade their bodies, and send them around the galaxy to help with the Federation's operations. We then flashforward to his training years, where he and a woman named Beth are more or less forced to work as a team by circumstance (or perhaps their supervisor). They become close - in fact, they become "life-mates" - and after passing a test where they are stranded on a hypership and must call for and communicate with rescuers, they're given their first Non-Citizen assignment, with Beth manning their hypership and Martin handling alien communications...

The book's then broken up into three different missions (publication wise, they were all published as separate stories in Analog Science Fiction & Fact throughout the 80s). The first involves making first contact with the Teldins of Teldi and evaluating if they're suitable for induction centers and Federation membership or not; Martin goes to the surface himself and makes contact with a teacher, who enjoys talking with him but is unable to believe anything he says because he's not a Master. Martin accompanies the teacher back to his city (where he saves a group of students after a bunch of meteorites threaten their lives) and then to the polar capital, where both his alien friend and himself take Master-status upon themselves through an opaque ritual. Once Martin's a Master, the other Masters can believe his words and open their minds to Federation membership; after all, Martin believes their people are wonderfully duty-bound and self-reliant. The mission ends on encouraging terms. Their supervisor then positions their second mission as a "vacation"; they're assigned to a planet and asked to look out for the possibility of alien life. Sure enough, there's a race of sentient "burrowers" below the surface that occasionally surface-dwellers by causing cave-ins; Martin meets one of them underground and gets the wheels in motion to get induction centers set up. Eight years later, they're assigned to support a group of Keldi making alien contact on the Federation World before being sent to the Keldi homeworld to see if the remaining population is largely full of Undesirables as the current martial, matriarchal, pseudo-religious leadership structure suggests. The doctor they instantly meets suggest the opposite, but then the regime leader imprisons them and send nukes into orbit to stop them from escaping. They escape, but nuclear fallout is set to ruin the planet. The book becomes a disaster management operation between Martin, Beth, and the doctor in space, but they enlist the crooked regime later to talk directly to his people and save their lives. But there's not enough time, and Martin opens the induction centers to everybody, even Undesirables. Beth is upset and scared, but it ends up being the right call; Martin gets promoted for saving them, and he and Beth are assigned their most personal task yet: Earth...

*Federation World* is a pleasant novel; like most of White's work, it focuses on the good in humans and alien sentients instead of the bad. I'm not a pacifist myself, but I never mind White's brand of it. What I do mind is how choppy this book is. I'm sure its unevenness was exacerbated by my reading it while on a big trip, but it just isn't very consistent. On one hand, this is part of the charm; you get two different first contact scenarios and one big disaster recovery story for the price of one. But this also leads to a really sheer ending and some plot threads being dropped. I mean, I really liked the cliffhanger ending, but I liked it so much that I felt cheated out of reading whatever should've come next, and I would've liked some follow-up on Martin and Beth's characters (and just, depth in the alien characters besides being plot points to fit whatever Beth is trying to achieve, but I digress). For instance, there was a scene in the earlier part of the book where Beth seems to imply that she considers becoming a Citizen and starting a family with Martin; I doubt Martin would've been too gung-ho about that, but we never get to see that conversation come to fruition. I like Martin and Beth because they're kind of fun, spunky, competent characters, but even if they level up in their skills and their problem-solving power-level goes up, White never develops them or gives us any rewarding payoff about their journey as human beings. Maybe White would've if he could've written one more Federation World story before the fixup came out... or maybe he tied this world into the Sector General universe. I mean, at least one of the first contact stories feels like it came straight out his Sector General collections, and if he'd changed around a couple of the races he could've kept the themes the same. Still, I guess that wouldn't fix the scattershot nature of this plot and Martin and Beth's underdevelopment...

That being said, while the plot and characters are more just *there* than anything else, I really do like how White wrote the power level of the Federation and related parties throughout the book. Writing about a society that has access to a long-lost race's Dyson sphere and all the associated gadgets while maintaining tension is a pretty tricky thing to do, and I was skeptical if White was going to be able to pull it off and keep the book feeling as realistic as anything somewhat adjacent to Star Trek can be. Thankfully, he was, and even if the story stays campy, it's nothing like the eyeroll-inducing alien narratives in other books like the throwaway *Becoming Alien* by Rebecca Ore. I don't think its depiction of this alien society of life-changing or even super-compelling (like it was in *Down the Bright Way* by Robert Reed, and possibly Reed's other works), but it's pleasant and makes sense within its own context.

I also enjoyed the themes of societal duty and self-fulfillment brought up throughout the book. Whether its human like Martin or Teldins displaying this urge to do something that matters with their lives, it warmed my heart to see this kind of pathos displayed in a science fiction novel. It's not about bending reality or some other psychedelic tangent; it's about doing the duty you feel you were born to do, a more conservative kind of debt which doesn't get enough lip service in science fiction. WIth all that being said, I do feel like there's some grey area around the moral legitimacy of the Federation, which I think is hinted at in two places but never followed up on. 1) when Beth is uncomfortable with the idea that her and Martin's supervisor may have set them up together, and 2) when the aliens on Teldi comment that two other aliens have been to their planet before saying things a lot like Martin said to them; is it possible that they'd sent agents there before and lost them and didn't tell Martin about it? And what about the grand purpose for the Federation's existence handed down to them by some ascended race? Could that be nefarious? There'd be a lot of really epic, long-term storytelling potential here if the circumstances were a little different. I just wish White could've added a bit more meat onto this story's bone to feed into some of these question instead of herking and jerking us around between different field missions. I don't know if the end result would've been much different, but there'd be a pretty good shot of having a more fleshed-out work by the end of it. But now I'm just going in circles and going back to the things I discussed in the first analysis paragraph, so... let's put this review to rest, shall we?

Overall, while I like White's power level balance and the individual quirky narratives, there's just not enough connectivity and cohesion for a high rating, or even a solidly good one. But I think *Federation World* can make it by with 6.5/10; probably the worst work of his I've read, but still an enjoyable one. I recommend his Sector General series heartily (speaking of which, I really need to pick back up on reading them...); *Federation World* shouldn't come before that. I do have his singleton *All Judgement Fled* waiting to be read, so I'll see what I think about that when the time comes, as well as the critical analysis of his and fellow Irishman Bob Shaw's science fiction that I just ordered... fun times are ahead. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you here on Goodreads next time you dive into reviews on an 80s SF novel. Until then, happy reading...

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will admit I have a soft spot for space operas ever since I saw Star Wars when I was 5 i have been fascinated with the grandiose scale that is space I know its obvious and a little naive not to realise that but still books that remind me of that I love (along with their artwork) something Alistair Reynolds and Peter Hamilton do with such apparent ease.
Anyway Federation World - this was a bit of a surprise to me, I have read a number of James White Sector General stories and I think they are brilliant - not only do you have clever medical situations but he is able to weave in aliens, cultures and technical limitations in to an intricate and clever story which I felt was ahead of its time (how many other stories do you know which treat the subject matter in the same way) - that reminds me I must finish reading them - but this book is something different, ok in hindsight there are similarities but still the book is NOT a sector general book and I think for that I enjoyed it even more not really knowing what I was letting myself in for. There are still a number of his books I have still to read - I wonder what other little gems he has out there

[Sean Randall · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always enjoy this sort of book. Very Different from Second Ending but with many parallels to white's Sector General series.

" Why, Martin raged silently, were intelligent robots so stupid?"

as with much of White's science fiction, the technology has massive power but is often quite underplayed. The thought-provoking, logically meticulous quandaries remind me of isaac Asimov's Robot stories.

"'Don't worry,' Martin said dryly, 'I'm worried.'"

There's also a shade of humour and a light sprinkling of irony throughout the work, though not to excess. The whole federation approach is not something I think I like - I could see the appeal for Sector General as a hospital but gobbling up entire species is a little much for me. still, not a bad read and an interesting enough opener to 2010.

[Cesar Felipe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before reading it, I thought Federation World would be the last proper member of the "Dyson Sphere" trilogy of books that I found (along with Orbitsville and Search for The Sun), and while it does contain an impressive Dyson Sphere that is an important aspect of the story, it decides to stray from it and tell its own trilogy of stories only tangentially related to the Sphere.

To wit, the story concerns the Federation eight years after it comes to Earth to invite the bulk of humanity to live in the idyllic Dyson Sphere of the Federation World. This is a fascinating premise but it decides to fly past it in a few pages, and go to the actual plot of the book which is a pair of human protagonists working for the Federation dealing with First Contact scenarios... away from the sphere.

For starters I feel there is a fantastic story that was completely skipped here, about what happened when the Federation appeared on Earth and how it affected all the different social groups on the planet, and how they decide (or not) to leave their beliefs and social structures behind to go live in a paradise where there is no lack for anything. But that's maybe just me.

The actual story of how the main protagonists deal with challenging types of First Contacts involving aliens radically different from humans, is pretty decent and thought-provoking. The two characters bounce off each other in interesting ways and they're entertaining to watch deal with these peculiar scenarios.

I do think that the third act involving the undesirable population of an alien species left behind after the Federation moved most of their world to the sphere is... excruciatingly long. It mostly concerns dealing with a dictatorship and an exodus after a catastrophe, and I found myself caring less and less as it trod along.

It's most saddening that the book spends at most some three whole pages on the Dyson Sphere, when it's such a marvelous structure that is surely full of fascinating stories. Perhaps its nature as an idyllic paradise for all alien species didn't seem much grounds for plot to the author, but I would disagree.

It's also disheartening that despite what the cover suggests, the story insists on hiding any and all Federation aliens' appearance to the extreme, to the point of only revealing one type of alien for one paragraph and leaving all other interactions with Federation rulers as text messages. I just want to see more of the Federation World and its inhabitants, why is it so hard?!

Either way, this is an entertaining story as long as you don't have a lot of expectations about what it seems it could be. A fun sci-fi romp with a surprising lot of unfulfilled potential.

[STU · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read some of James' short stories before, think it was Monsters and Medics.
One story there in particular really stood out to me - can't remember its name, but it's kept James White on my radar.
This book I really enjoyed.
Interesting ideas, simple enough language, plot moving along quickly - all the things that suit an unsophisticated reader like myself.

[David C. Mueller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This stand-alone novel is set in a different science fiction background than that of his more famous "Sector General" series. In "Federation World," the Federation of Galactic Sentients occupies one huge Dyson sphere-like habitat rather than a large number of star systems. Its primary purpose is not galactic governance or surveying, but rather the discovery of sentient races to settle on its titanic Federation World. In the "Federation of Galactic Sentients" universe, star systems are portrayed as dangerous habitats for sentient life in the long term, hence the construction of the artificial world to serve as a refuge for sentient life as well as the nexus of galactic culture. The star-faring technology of the "Federation of Galactic Sentients" equals if not surpasses that of the "Star Trek" environment with its gigantic starships controlled by fully sentient computers. Federation World also contains wonderful descriptions of the awesome space habitat itself along with the advanced technology it wields. As with his "Sector General" series, White describes a number of fascinating sentient races encountered by the human main characters of the novel.

[Valerie]

Little of this book takes place on Earth. Most of Earthlings have, by the beginning of this book, moved to the modified Dyson Sphere known as the Federation World.

The Earth-human heroes of this book are recruiters for the Federation World. Their adventures too often make THEM the 'alien invaders', although they really are honestly trying to help people.

[Gus Glen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ooh, some pulpy science-fiction. Cheaply printed on low-grade paper - I used to read tons of stuff like this as a teenager, and am rather looking forward to this.

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like all of James White's books.

[SciFiOne · Rating 4 out of 5]

1991 grade B+

[Andy]

1ST PUBLIS DATE = AMERICAN. 1ST BRIT PBACK EDITION.