Skyclimber

by Raymond Z. Gallun

Dramatic Saga of First Person Born on Mars! The first colony on the red planet is founded amid joy and hope, and the colonists are given every support. Then war sweeps the mother planet and the Mars colonists are abandoned by an Earth that needs every resource for its own survival. Though there are signs the colony could become self-sufficient in time, the colonists don't have that time. They face slow and certain death. However, Timothy Davis Barlow, nicknamed Skyclimber, the first person to be born, and grow up, on the red planet, believes he knows how to change Earth's mind. He plans a stellar stunt that dwarfs Lindberg's crossing of the Atlantic and soon has every living soul on the mother world glued to their video screens. But when Tim arrives on Earth to cheering crowds, he discovers his real job has just begun. There he faces social and political challenges that make survival on Mars seem simple. He also finds love, with a woman who shares his vision of the farthest reaches of the galaxy. But even Tim grows daunted when he realizes just how big Earth really is and how many people still swarm its surface. Can one person really change the hearts and minds of so many billions? Don't miss this 1981 Nebula Recomendee novel. It's a mix of hard science and human emotion that only a grandmaster like Raymond Z. Gallun could have penned.

Genres: Science Fiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Aka William Callahan, Arthur Allport.

Raymond Zinke Gallun (March 22, 1911 - April 2, 1994) was an early science fiction writer.

Gallun (rhymes with "balloon") was born in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. He lived a drifter's existence, working a multitude of jobs around the world in the years leading up to World War II. He sold many popular stories to pulp magazines in the 1930s. "Old Faithful" (1934) was his first noted story. "The Gentle Brain" was published in "Science Fiction Quarterly" under the pseudonym Arthur Allport. Another of his pseudonyms was William Callahan.

Reviews

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the one hand this is typical pulpy trash. It starts out with some promise but as soon as the story revolves around Tim, it quickly becomes very, very stupid.

On the other hand, I would say its a fairly accurate representation of stupid teenagers. Tim is pretty emotionally and socially immature for his age, which makes sense since he's lived around crusty adults on a dead planet for the entirety of his life. So whilst he's annoying, he's pretty true to life.

There's some real 80's sentiments and really terrible science in this, like breaking up the moon into pieces to make space colonies. Or that it's OK to kiss a guy you just met and who is currently passed out. Prose generally ranges from serviceable to terrible. Lots of telling rather than showing. Nobody says they're married but rather they've "mated" or are somebody's "Man" or "woman".

So this was pretty readable and it's very short. I wish it was more Gotch and his friends rather than Tim but that's how it goes. I don't regret picking it up at the second-hand book store.

[Jesse Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid book. The sci-fi gobbledygook didn't get too outrageous and the characters were interesting. I appreciated that there was not a major focus on the issues Earth faced, perhaps due to the overexposure to doom and gloom real life on Earth presents.

Some parts of the book seemed a bit contrived and unnecessary, but as a whole novel, I found it enjoyable. Also topical now given the talk of colonization of Mars. Ahead of its time by 34 years? Strongly recommend for those with a passing curiosity about colonization of Mars.

[Jim Riggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this one a wonderful adventure that I had a hard time putting down. Been a long time since I read it, I believe it was around 1986 when I read this book but I have fond memories of it and have recently picked it up as a nook book to read again. I stayed up way to late reading this book, not wanting to wait to find out what happened next.

[Trevor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a truely original idea but well told and written