The Space Swimmers

Sea People #2

by Gordon R. Dickson

Science fiction novel by classic author Gordon R. Dickson.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

247 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Gordon Rupert Dickson was an American science fiction author. He was born in Canada, then moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota as a teenager. He is probably most famous for his Childe Cycle and the Dragon Knight series. He won three Hugo awards and one Nebula award.

Reviews

[Tom]

Dickson's Aquarian parable wraps up with a tidy bow. It took me a while to track down this book, so it's been a couple of years since I read the first book. In general, I think I prefer the first book to this one as this one feels like it's awkwardly dividing time between the geopolitical, military, and cosmic aspects of the story. It's a lot to fit into a pretty short book.

I've read relatively little military sci fi from the midst of the Vietnam War era, but Dickson does a good job of not feeling like a stick in the mud despite being 44 at the time of its original publication. The stabs he makes toward the idea of cultural evolution are thematically strong in an allegorical way but not really in a science fiction way (i.e. the system for the evolution isn't explored, it's just presented by means of analogy). Ultimately, it's not a bad read, but neither is it particularly transcendent of its original time and place.

[Michael]

An incredibly fascinating take on human evolution written in the style of older sci-fi/adventure novels. There was some world building and context in this that I didn't quite understand until I was almost finished with the book, being that it's actually a sequel to Home from the Shore.

[Joe Santoro]

Some good stuff was had in the making of this cover.. and perhaps the book as well. The Human race is divided into Land and Sea people.. both are desparate to avoid war.. and the key is in the 'Space Swimmers' that seem to have unlocked the secret of traveling to distant planets.

Some cool stuff in here, but the story is a little lacking. It's never totally clear WHY they want to go to space.. the world is in good shape, and only has a population of 3 billion on land, so its not overcrowded. It's also a bit odd that in 3 generations, 'sea-people' would have changed.. and they're very different. A fun story overall, but I suspect I'd have appreciated it more with some, er, outside influences at hand.

[Amber]

Gordon R Dickson has a special place in my heart and likely always will. This book fit my mood precisely and with Dickson's usual ability to submerge me in the story. the story is about humanity and is possessed of the firm sense of hope that I associate with the science fiction genre as a whole. or perhaps I mean classic science fiction, but I do see variations in that hope all through the modern genre. But I digress. This story is one of pivot points in history, growing up, hope, trust, love, and faith in humanity. recommend.

[Manny]

This book wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't insisted on including some of his poetry. I can unfortunately still remember a few lines.

[SciFiOne]

Grade B-.

[Phil]

Good use of reading time. original ideas and a pretty cool look at what could be a near-future Earth.