Brute Orbits

by George Zebrowski

In the future of crime and punishment, convicts are sent off to prisons on asteroids with long-term solar orbits, where they have no hope of ever returning. When a curious and courageous group of Earth scientists attempts to discover the fate of these lost prisoners, their findings are moving and unforgettable.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Speculative Fiction, 20th Century

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

George Zebrowski was an American science fiction writer and editor who wrote and edited a number of books, and was a former editor of The Bulletin of the Science Fiction Writers of America. He lived with author Pamela Sargent, with whom he co-wrote a number of novels, including Star Trek novels.
Zebrowski won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award in 1999 for his novel Brute Orbits. Three of his short stories, "Heathen God," "The Eichmann Variations," and "Wound the Wind," were nominated for the Nebula Award, and "The Idea Trap" was nominated for the Theodore Sturgeon Award.

Reviews

[Ira (SF Words of Wonder) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Check out my full, spoiler free, video review HERE. Very interesting ideas and concepts with some issues. In the future, the penal system evolves to the point where they decide the best solution is to send criminals into space in hollowed out asteroids. The length of the orbit matches the length of incarceration or is supposed to anyways. The novel mostly follows characters on the first asteroid sent out into space but there are other chapters that cover later asteroids as well. In the beginning of most chapters there are quotes from the main judge who presides over this program. The book covers a lot of interesting topics involving the prison system, prisoner reform and what happens to the rest of humanity when they try to purge themselves of criminals. Some of the problems are; there is lots of straight exposition of the ideas and there are also some very disturbing scenes that may bother some people. Overall, I did enjoy this one and it never felt like a slog even with the explicit expositions. It was a quick read, and I was always wanting to know what was going to happen next. But this one is not for everyone.

[Jon Adcock · Rating 2 out of 5]

Winner of the John W. Campbell award in 1999 for best novel, this is definitely a book that won't appeal to everyone. The premise is interesting: in the late 21st century, asteroids are brought into near Earth orbit to be mined and then converted into orbital prisons once the mining is over with. A hollowed out asteroid is placed into a solar orbit that will bring it back around in 10, 20, 50, or 100 years, however long the prison term of those particular internees is. Or not. Deliberate errors in the calculations can insure that "undesirables" never return and the penal asteroids soon become the dumping grounds for political prisoners in addition to hardened criminals.

So far, so good. The premise sounds great, but a good portion of the book is written almost like a college thesis on crime and punishment with the author belaboring his theories on society and the root causes of crime in far too many asides:

"All attempts at law, all religion, all ethical norms might be nothing more than attempts by the weak to restrain the strong. Then, within the law, arise the new strong, who subvert the law for their own ends of power and family interest, leaving the old strong outside their circle to pursue the waiting possibilities which they call crime. The weak, the cowardly, the decent ones, live between these groups.”

The philosophical musings tend to slow things down a bit and the fact that there isn't a central character or story makes it diffilcult for the reader to fully invest himself into what is happening. Zebrowski thinks up several different scenarios and spends a few chapters on each: one asteroid consists of all male internees convicted of murder, another is all female killers, a third consists of both genders, one only holds sexual sadists/serial killers, another one is all political prisoners, etc. He then speculates how each group adapts to their situation. Interesting to some extent, but not enough time is really spent on each scenario to give it more than a cursory examination.

My biggest issue with the book is the sexual violence that occurs throughout it. I don't mind violent books, but I do dislike books where violence is against women. One woman is gang raped twice by the same group of men and in another disturbing scene, a serial killer fantasizes about what he did to his favorite victim. I'd probably rate this book 3 stars, but the rape scenes bring the score down a bit.

[Frank Parsons · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beware! This book gives you the old bait and switch. You think you're getting a science fiction story of criminals being loaded into a hollow asteroid and sent on a long tour of the solar system with all the fighting and brutality of a prison , but what you're really getting is social commentary on the part criminals and political activists play in the evolution of civilization. As a bonus, you get some remarkable theorizing about small, totally isolated mini-civilzations that spring up inside of these prison asteroids. Interspersed with enough action to keep the story moving and intelligent writing that manages, given the social aspects of the story, not to get too preachy. You won't find aliens, flying saucers, terrible wars, doomsday weapons and such here, but you will find some darned-good storytelling that will make you think.

[Jeremy Kohlman · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent and interesting foray into crime and punishment. Thoroughly enjoyed the philosophizing and speculating. The story and characters were highly interesting as well. Although I must say, the lack of a single character spanning the entire book may make it unappealing to some readers. It may give the feeling of a lack of continuity. That said, I personally don't feel that it overly detracted from the books impact and importance.

If you are one who finds any facination in the study of crime and punishment, then this is a definite must read.

[Angus McKeogh · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was weird. Parts of it read like a research paper on prison culture or a documentary about the psychology of punishment and other parts followed a disjointed narrative. The “story” for what it was followed some elements on a future Earth and other elements which revolved around prisoners sent out on comets turned into prisons. There was a segment where a prisoner admits to being transsexual and then that storyline disappeared. In fact there were several storylines which just appeared to be unresolved vignettes. And then there were two or three graphic rape sequences, which again seemed nonsensical. Overall I’d label this cometary prisons with rape.

[Hugo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in the 'history text' style of Clarke and Stapledon - interspersed with more traditional narrative chapters as the story progresses and years pass - Zebrowski seems far more interested in philosophising and ruminating on the levels of crime in society (from petty theft to corporate greed), pathology and psychology and how they are treated by society depending on strata, and much on (the mainly US) penal system. Fascinating stuff, though not standard SF fare if all you're after is aliens and laser beams. The book comes into sharp focus by the end as Zebrowski speculates on humanity's travel beyond our system in a final chapter as dark in implication as it is uplifting.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not a traditional character driven novel. Instead the character in this story is truly the situation, the asteroid prisons themselves and how they evolve over time. It is truly an inventive concept and worth the read for anyone who likes thought pieces, criminal justice stories or anyone with an eye for dystopian futures. Either way this book taught me a lot and is one of the rare, novel stories I've read as an adult.

[Alissa Thorne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the writing style off putting, (has the author never heard "show, don't tell"?), the social commentary tiresome, and the content unpleasant. Usually a harsh, violent or dark story is not a deal breaker for me, but in this case it lacked anything to make that worthwhile. Gave up a little shy of halfway through.

[arjuna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly dense little book which philosophises extensively on the morality, method, history and purpose of imprisonment while telling a jolly little story (sort of) about successive generations of Crims In Space (sort of). Not what I'd expected; a very pleasant surprise. Shall be chasing up more of this fella's work.

[BookBurner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I sentence anyone reading this to "The Orbits". This author was behind one of my favorite books ever so I expected no less than perfection. This book did not carry that torch. It smothered it in mud with this tale. There was much potential for this to be great and have a point / lesson.
I would like to introduce the word "rapey". This book was very rapey. I challenge others to find a more rapey book. Yeesh. I don’t know is this one will go down as one of the greats. Its not even that old either to be so rapey.

I am not sure how I feel about this book. The story was interesting enough but the potential for the story to go to another level was missed about 40 times. So many opportunities to make a scenario though that would impact the reader. The ending just sneaks up on you and ends poetically. This story should have been called missed opportunity. Because so much was spend investing me in these characters for them to never be revisited or their curious cases to be explained. Yeesh. What a book. I hate the %*#) out of it. Some books leave me thinking. This book will have me pondering how it got in my purview. Yeesh. I don't even want to read anymore.

Despite the epilogue which was interesting. This book sucked. I expect more and this disappointed immensely. Maybe a sequel with more insight on what happened to all these penal colonies would be helpful but I'm not gonna gloss over this ending for a deep epilogue commentary on what happened. 3 stars.

[Dean · Rating 1 out of 5]

A trash book for many reasons, including a plotless narrative no doubt intended as a "philosophical" exploration on the theme of crime and punishment but instead consists of asinine reflections on the human condition, with little character development, and peppered with pedantic references to other sci-fi texts. Boring and gross.

Although Zebrowski attempts what he no doubts saw as progressive rhetoric when mentioning consensual relationships on his all-male prison planet (including a “transwoman” character, put in quotation marks because referred to as “he”, who decides to hide her identity to survive, only to disappear from the narrative altogether), his book is riddled with unnecessary to the plot rape scenes or rape attempts which are at best trivialized (including a memorable scene in which a woman is gang-raped, then immediately pardons one rapist and decides to be in a relationship with him), and at worst greatly eroticized. While rapes of men are mentioned they are never described, while multiple scenes of rape of women are drawn out and include lurid details. Most of them are hereafter excused or explained away by a dubious and frankly offensive “naturalistic” discourse whereby rape is a consequence of men’s uncontrollable, animal sexual urges.

Exemplary of some of the worst misogynistic sci-fi by male writers--made even worst by their total obviousness.

[Becky Beaman · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is not hard to believe that there will come a future in which the good, tax-paying people of the Earth no longer have patience with the criminal element who refuses to play by the rules -- the murderers, rapists, molesters, torturers, kidnappers.... and maybe the politically inconvenient as well, if you get right down to it. And since technology has advanced to where the Earth is capturing asteroids and hollowing them out, why not make these hollow spheres into escape-proof prisons for these unwanted, unworthy specimens? Just throw them in, give them a few basics like food, oxygen, and water, and hurl the whole business out in a long orbit -- due back in 25 years, or 50 years, whatever their sentences would be. Let them make their own futures, as violent or as peaceable as they can fashion on their own. A book to make you think about what justice is, and what rehabilitation means, and what mankind might be capable of if self-righteousness continues to be a key component of politics and judiciary processes. Recommended.

[Dan Henne · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are section in this book that could be disturbing to some people. It is thought provoking but in the end positive. In some respects it feels like it was written as if the American penal system became worlds penal system. I wonder if anyone outside North America would see "the rocks" as a possibility.

[Gordon Popular · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very heavy book with it's psychosocial and political themes. What would be more easier then to ship prisoners into space for their duration of punishment. Don't have to worry about paying staff or escapes. How these prisons evolve is the theme of this book. A book that will make you think.

[Nick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Long-winded heavy-handed moral philosophizing about crime and the criminal justice system with no real plot or story. How this won the JW Campbell award for best novel is beyond me. Abandoned at just under 50% of the way through.

[Michaela · Rating 5 out of 5]

A startling look at society formation and function, the interactions of humanity with foreign stimuli and stress, and a testament of our ability to adapt. Brute Origins put me on the observation deck of a spaceship and rattled my preconceptions loose with every chapter.

[Dave Butler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only partly a SF novel - at least half is a lengthy polemic about human nature and crime and punishment - the book does make some interesting points - but at times a chore to work through the redundant essays regarding politics, criminality and prisons.

[G.Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A highly interesting look into philosophical debate, very intriguing to read.

[Timothy Keable · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating exploration of the nature of the prison system with an interesting twist at the end. High quality hard SF.

[Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weak narrative, but clever idea. I took a star off because of the inclusion of some inappropriate and completely unnecessary sexual violence.

Good narrator.

[Adam Meek · Rating 4 out of 5]

SF done right. Hope and survival in the desolation of space.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Title: Brute Orbits: They sent away the good, the bad, and they ugly. They had no idea what they lost.

Story:

This is the story of the Rocks and the “long orbits”. In the not to distant future the rising costs of the correctional system, and the rising populace of those incarcerated within, has the countries of the world looking for new ways and places to deal with those that cannot follow the rules of the society that they live in.

An answer comes in the form of an asteroid that narrowly misses hitting the Earth. While it didn't hit the Earth it was close enough were it could be easily caught and mined. This led to a faster expansion into near earth space and more asteroids were captured that could be “near misses” . Eventually someone had the idea of moving prisons up to the moon and then to the asteroids themselves. This allowed the governments of the world to ship their criminals somewhere “out of sight and out of mind”.

The idea of the “long orbit” sentences met little resistance and the first Rock was launched outward with a group of all male prisoners that were convicted of violent offenses such as assault and murder. Their sentence was a fifty year orbit. Unknown to the prisoners, and the general populace, there orbit is miscalculated and these men are given a death sentence. With only a few knowing this however the Rocks continue to be launched. Some adhere to the to the original idea, some are used to get rid of those who disagree with various administrations and some are used to get rid of those that have mental problems. For the most part these Rocks have a miscalculated orbit.

Fast forward in time and the first Rock comes back fifty years after it was supposed to. Only ghosts observe a earth that has changed so much from the planet they left over a hundred years before and only silent remains greet those who come to investigate the fate of those on the Rock.

The peoples of Earth have come far in dealing with the issues that those sentenced to the Rocks represented. While not a perfect future for the most part a squabbling humanity has settled down and now focuses more finding ways to get along and expanding humanity's knowledge. There are those who wonder though what happened to the populace on other Rocks and whether they now differ greatly from the main branch of humanity.

Soon a expedition is created to find the remaining rocks and determine what happened to the prisoners on board. What they find will show them that the human race may not have made as much progress as it thought.

-*--*-

I've had this book for a while, but for some reason or another I never got around to reading it until now. In a way though I'm glad I didn't read it when I got as I was more into to action heavy books and would have probably skimmed through it without really reading the story. Don't get me wrong though, there are still a few parts that I skimmed through that were kind of dense but over all the story moves at a good pace as it bounces between the different characters that end up on the rocks and the guy who for the most part ends up putting them there. The really interesting part of the story comes toward the middle when a hundred years have passed and Earth rediscovers the Rock's and starts to investigate the fate of the prisoners.

The story does ask some interesting questions and it's conceivable that one day we will have “space prisons” of some sort. It also makes sense that some people would decide that out of sight is better coupled with out of mind. At the end of the book the author also discusses the research that he did for the book and gives references for several books that examine ideas that are presented in the story and also gives several examples of similar situations throughout history that are similar to the story. If your looking for a sci-fi book that asks some interesting questions and is not entirely reliant on violence and explosions and takes a futuristic look at an idea / practice that has been around for a while then you might enjoy giving this a read. m.a.c

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Please note: The Goodreads description referring to Tau Ceti IV does not belong with Brute Orbits.

This isn't really a novel in the usual sense. Starting with the premise that Earth uses mined-out asteroids as prisons sent on long orbits around the Sun, a lot of the book is Zebrowski reciting a future history mixed with his social views on crime, justice, the causes of law-breaking and of [legal] socailly-harmful actions of elites, and the social structures related to these matters. While there is quite a bit of future history narrative, there are also bits and pieces of stories of some of the prisoners on the various asteroid prisons.

These narratives and story fragments lead the reader up to a time when historians investigate the asteroids. In that sense, the book shows us progression rather than just fragments and presentation of social theory. If a reader is interested in the ideas and provocation of thought, it can be worthwile. It may not work as well for someone seeking literature in a true novel format.

The book won the 1999 John W. Campbell Memorial Award. So, it's unusual format shouldn't be taken to mean it should be avoided.

[Joe Sargent · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of this book is excellent. Build prisons on near earth astroids to house an ever increasing population of criminals and send them out into space. Several inmate stories are woven together in this and while each one is interesting, they don't stand together as a whole. There are moments of great writing and action in this that caught me up in the story but since the full story doesn't revolve around any character in particular, there is no real way for the reader to become truly vested. Splitting this into two or three books to flesh out these characters lives over the timespan this book covers might have done the trick.

[Brenda (aka Grandma) · Rating 2 out of 5]

It seems unlikely that anyone would read the description of this book and not expect some violence, or even a rape scene. One might expect that to have some effect on the character, though. Here, we just move on to the next philosophical point.

I actually found most of the philosophizing interesting, and the idea that our criminality is part of our humanity. This seemed like an essay with some fictional elements. It won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, so maybe that's intentional.

[Mark Pitman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Criminals are enclosed is safe asteroids with plenty of light and food, but nothing else then sent into distant orbits around the sun. With no guards their lives should be better than in a earth bound prison, but they must regulate their own societies. Preachy study of the failures of our penal system.

[DavidO · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got a couple chapters into this one and didn't like how it was written. There wasn't enough story, although there was plenty of the author telling about hsi imaginary world in a style I didn't enjoy at all.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very intelligent book with some fascinating concepts.

[Julie S.]

buy on Amazon if possible.