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Floating Worlds
2000 years in the future, runaway pollution has made the Earth uninhabitable except in giant biodomes. The society is an anarchy, with disputes mediated through the Machiavellian Committee for the Revolution. Mars, Venus and the Moon support flourishing colonies of various political stripes. On the fringes of the solar system, in the Gas Planets, a strange, new, violent kind of human has evolved. In this unstable system the anarchist Paula Mendoza, an agent of the Committee, works to make peace, and ultimately protect her people, in a catastrophic clash of worlds that destroys the order she knows.
465 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1976
97 people are currently reading
1362 people want to read
About the author
Cecelia Holland
76 books208 followersPen name used by Elizabeth Eliot Carter.
Cecelia Holland is one of the world's most highly acclaimed and respected historical novelists, ranked by many alongside other giants in that field such as Mary Renault and Larry McMurtry. Over the span of her thirty year career, she's written almost thirty historical novels, including The Firedrake, Rakessy, Two Ravens, Ghost on the Steppe, Death of Attila, Hammer For Princes, The King's Road, Pillar of the Sky, The Lords of Vaumartin, Pacific Street, Sea Beggars, The Earl, The King in Winter, The Belt of Gold, The Serpent Dreamer, The High City, Kings of the North, and a series of fantasy novels, including The Soul Thief, The Witches Kitchen, The Serpent Dreamer, and Varanger. She also wrote the well-known science fiction novel Floating Worlds, which was nominated for a Locus Award in 1975. Her most recent book is a new fantasy novel, Dragon Heart.
Cecelia Holland is one of the world's most highly acclaimed and respected historical novelists, ranked by many alongside other giants in that field such as Mary Renault and Larry McMurtry. Over the span of her thirty year career, she's written almost thirty historical novels, including The Firedrake, Rakessy, Two Ravens, Ghost on the Steppe, Death of Attila, Hammer For Princes, The King's Road, Pillar of the Sky, The Lords of Vaumartin, Pacific Street, Sea Beggars, The Earl, The King in Winter, The Belt of Gold, The Serpent Dreamer, The High City, Kings of the North, and a series of fantasy novels, including The Soul Thief, The Witches Kitchen, The Serpent Dreamer, and Varanger. She also wrote the well-known science fiction novel Floating Worlds, which was nominated for a Locus Award in 1975. Her most recent book is a new fantasy novel, Dragon Heart.
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February 25, 2018
There was a meme I enjoyed during the 2016 election in the US when so many people were haranguing others with lesser-of-two-evils arguments into going along with Democrats. It said ‘If you don’t like the mafia, why don’t you join it and change it from the inside.’ At the time, I felt like the election had forced people into a binary decision with no acceptable option, and this meme captured that feeling pithily. What is the rational response of someone who feels this way? How were defeated Spanish anarchists to feel about the second world war? What was a Mélenchon supporter supposed to do when LePen ran against Macron? And were Sanders supporters supposed to swallow their crushed faith in the system and support Hillary, throw a Trump grenade into the system or push for a doomed third way?
This book puts its main character, Paula Mendoza, in this situation, and her reactions are an eloquent exposition of the anarchist ethos. If you get stuck on the mercenary, politically-incorrect way Paula uses sex to get what she needs, like several reviewers of this book, then you miss the author’s larger point. That point (I imagine) is that you lose your identity and relevance when you cede your individual agency - An important message now when people seem keen to identify with groups of every kind.
The book’s political sophistication is deceptively subtle, and the story is so well crafted and executed that elements forming its moral subtext often seem like incidental window-dressing.
Another neglected gem the Gollanscz SF Masterworks series has resurrected.
This book puts its main character, Paula Mendoza, in this situation, and her reactions are an eloquent exposition of the anarchist ethos. If you get stuck on the mercenary, politically-incorrect way Paula uses sex to get what she needs, like several reviewers of this book, then you miss the author’s larger point. That point (I imagine) is that you lose your identity and relevance when you cede your individual agency - An important message now when people seem keen to identify with groups of every kind.
The book’s political sophistication is deceptively subtle, and the story is so well crafted and executed that elements forming its moral subtext often seem like incidental window-dressing.
Another neglected gem the Gollanscz SF Masterworks series has resurrected.
January 11, 2013
Cecilia Holland is not a science-fiction writer. Any person familiar with the genre will notice her lack of grasp on some of the fan's favorite science-fiction features, mainly the scientific and the gadget sides. The novel use of paraphernalia is ridiculously poor and stamps it irremediably from the seventies: if we were to believe Holland, videophones and air buses would be the only technical innovations humanity could come up with in almost 2,000 years !
This aside, Floating World is a powerful evocation of the female condition - one that makes the best possible use of a utopic / dystopic Solar system. All planets from Venus to Uranus have been populated. In the most remote ones lives a mutated human population, organized in a male-based, extremely hierarchic, fascist society. This society happens to control the biggest source of energy of all the Solar system. This is not the only feature reminiscent of a Saudi Arabia-like civilization : in Uranus too polygamy is a men-only privilege, in Uranus too their wives have to go veiled in public.
Paula Mendoza is a small black woman who grew up on Earth. There, like on any other planet of the Solar system, humanity lives in bubbles. Pollution has rendered the atmosphere unlivable to human beings. Under the massive globes of glass covering London or what is left of New York, Earth's society evolved to a form of pacifist egalitarian anarchy : people are poor, social bounds are loose, passions are low, life has little prospect to offer other than one of chilled-out, low-key survival.
But Paula is ambitious. She wants wealth. And where to find it other than in Uranus ?
The shock between the small, black, anarchist, ambitious, incredibly resilient Earth woman and the big, sur-human, machist, fascist leaders of Uranus echoes throughout the 630 pages of the novel with a strength that never weakens. Ten pages from the end I found myself still entrapped into the action and unable to guess what the final situation would be. The only reason why I wouldn't give this book the 5 stars it deserves in so many aspects is the writing itself: dry, quick, factual, unemotional, it misses opportunities to develop landscapes promising to be stunning -the quick glances we get at the outer planets, at the cities of Uranus, made me long for more ; their dark, monochrome beauty deserves to be put in pictures, in a form or another-.
However, regardless of how much my romantic French soul suffered from poetry starvation, I can see how the dryness of the style serves to reflect the harshness of Paula's condition. The novel covers most of her adult life: kidnapped, beaten, "harem-ed", enslaved, raped, constantly despised, hated, bullied, she earns every single atom of respect she gets the hardest way. Paula's survival through constant struggle is her victory - the victory of the resilience of the oppressed, of men over merciless gods, of Anarchy over dictatorship.
This aside, Floating World is a powerful evocation of the female condition - one that makes the best possible use of a utopic / dystopic Solar system. All planets from Venus to Uranus have been populated. In the most remote ones lives a mutated human population, organized in a male-based, extremely hierarchic, fascist society. This society happens to control the biggest source of energy of all the Solar system. This is not the only feature reminiscent of a Saudi Arabia-like civilization : in Uranus too polygamy is a men-only privilege, in Uranus too their wives have to go veiled in public.
Paula Mendoza is a small black woman who grew up on Earth. There, like on any other planet of the Solar system, humanity lives in bubbles. Pollution has rendered the atmosphere unlivable to human beings. Under the massive globes of glass covering London or what is left of New York, Earth's society evolved to a form of pacifist egalitarian anarchy : people are poor, social bounds are loose, passions are low, life has little prospect to offer other than one of chilled-out, low-key survival.
But Paula is ambitious. She wants wealth. And where to find it other than in Uranus ?
The shock between the small, black, anarchist, ambitious, incredibly resilient Earth woman and the big, sur-human, machist, fascist leaders of Uranus echoes throughout the 630 pages of the novel with a strength that never weakens. Ten pages from the end I found myself still entrapped into the action and unable to guess what the final situation would be. The only reason why I wouldn't give this book the 5 stars it deserves in so many aspects is the writing itself: dry, quick, factual, unemotional, it misses opportunities to develop landscapes promising to be stunning -the quick glances we get at the outer planets, at the cities of Uranus, made me long for more ; their dark, monochrome beauty deserves to be put in pictures, in a form or another-.
However, regardless of how much my romantic French soul suffered from poetry starvation, I can see how the dryness of the style serves to reflect the harshness of Paula's condition. The novel covers most of her adult life: kidnapped, beaten, "harem-ed", enslaved, raped, constantly despised, hated, bullied, she earns every single atom of respect she gets the hardest way. Paula's survival through constant struggle is her victory - the victory of the resilience of the oppressed, of men over merciless gods, of Anarchy over dictatorship.
March 15, 2012
Amazing! This deserves its reputation as a lost classic. Written in the style of the late 70s socially conscious scifi epics (leguin, russ, delany, et al), this tells the story of a women from a largely ruined but wholly anarchist earth who, in her effort to negotiate a truce with a race of imperialistic aliens, the Styths, of human-ancestry, bears the children of one of their leaders and integrates into their society. All of the other humans who live with the styths do so as their slaves, so Floating Worlds becomes a sort of view of the other by the other, all wrapped up in an epic interplanetary drama. This book rules.
December 27, 2010
There was a recent article about the top ten best unknown SCI-FI titles of all time and this was one of them. Having never heard of Floating Worlds or its author, Cecilia Holland, I decided to give it a read, not knowing it's a modestly large book at 600+ pages.
The novel is set 2,000 years in the future in which colonies are spread throughout our galaxy and earth has been reduced to a few people living inside domes because they've destroyed the enviornment outside. One woman, an Anarchist (one of the ruling parties) decides to meet with the violent race of the outer planets because she speaks the langauge. She ends up having sex and having a child with one of their great warriors and takes a position in his clan to help outline a treaty for their mineral ore.
Like Ursula Le Guin's material, Floating Worlds is elusive in plot, but heavy in alien atmosphere. The alien world and their culture comes across well-thoughtout and fully realized. But I only care so much about atmosphere. Like many readers my age, I want a little plot with my novels. Unfortunately, that's what I get with Floating Worlds, very little plot.
The story spends the bulk of its time following one woman as she trapes around the galaxy, playing politics with all involved. She's cunning and shrewed and makes for an interesting character, but by definition her being an "anarchist" means she has no personal stakes in anything, so her random actions never have any grounding or reason. In the end, I didn't really care for her or her plight becuase of this.
Holland can clearly write and was probably on the forefront of the sci-fi genre in 1976 when this book was completed. She certainly was one of the first to have such detailed sexual activity in her genre book. Overall, the story was mildly interesting, but there's only so long you can go without caring about any of hte characters before you tune out. That was 2/3rds of the way through the book for me. Kudos for imagination and atmosphere, but without better plotting or characters, it's easy to see why this one is relatively unknown.
The novel is set 2,000 years in the future in which colonies are spread throughout our galaxy and earth has been reduced to a few people living inside domes because they've destroyed the enviornment outside. One woman, an Anarchist (one of the ruling parties) decides to meet with the violent race of the outer planets because she speaks the langauge. She ends up having sex and having a child with one of their great warriors and takes a position in his clan to help outline a treaty for their mineral ore.
Like Ursula Le Guin's material, Floating Worlds is elusive in plot, but heavy in alien atmosphere. The alien world and their culture comes across well-thoughtout and fully realized. But I only care so much about atmosphere. Like many readers my age, I want a little plot with my novels. Unfortunately, that's what I get with Floating Worlds, very little plot.
The story spends the bulk of its time following one woman as she trapes around the galaxy, playing politics with all involved. She's cunning and shrewed and makes for an interesting character, but by definition her being an "anarchist" means she has no personal stakes in anything, so her random actions never have any grounding or reason. In the end, I didn't really care for her or her plight becuase of this.
Holland can clearly write and was probably on the forefront of the sci-fi genre in 1976 when this book was completed. She certainly was one of the first to have such detailed sexual activity in her genre book. Overall, the story was mildly interesting, but there's only so long you can go without caring about any of hte characters before you tune out. That was 2/3rds of the way through the book for me. Kudos for imagination and atmosphere, but without better plotting or characters, it's easy to see why this one is relatively unknown.
July 24, 2020
I ended up disliking this but it did generate some good discussion in the buddy read chat, and it is part of my ongoing project to read all the SF Masterworks by women (#sfmistressworks on Instagram if you fancy joining in) so I'll do the postives and negatives.
➕
The protagonist, Paula Mendoza, is a bisexual POC woman.
She is prickly and combative, in a laconic way, which is fun;
She sleeps with whoever she likes, which is quite a few people;
She has a child, which is fairly unusual in this genre.
Also, it was super retro and I actually liked that vibe (cities in domes on a polluted Earth, enormous video phones, aircars, literally silver jumpsuits at one point).
➖
So many racial slurs. It was written in 1975, I'm sure she knew it was wrong, I don't know if Holland (a white woman) had an agenda in mind when she created a far-future setting in which the n-word is in common usage as a perjorative and frankly I don't care. It's gross.
The Styths, who are playing the alien role here but are mutant humans who used to be kept as slaves by the white, racist Martians, are described as VERY BLACK. SO BLACK, LOOK AT THAT ONE, OMG NO ONE CAN BELIEVE JUST HOW BLACK THEY ARE. They're also very tall, the men take many wives (who are required to go veiled), they kidnap people to sell as slaves and keep slaves themselves, and they're extremely militaristic and violent. They're sort of depicted as the good guys.
Related to this: You may notice that the protagonist is on the cover, but she is portrayed as pale skinned. Not okay. Can't believe this is still happening.
There is physical and sexual assault - fine - that is protested against at the time by the protagonist (to whom it happens) but is otherwise not addressed by anyone. More subtly, Paula is constantly pushed around by the Styths, who tower over her; they cuff her round the head, steer her roughly by the shoulder or elbow, pull her after them, shove her - all the time. I found that really stressful.
As mentioned above, the Styths keep slaves and the protagonist seems okay with it, even though she is treated as one, and even after one of them is killed as a punishment for her. That cancels out the above liking-her-moxie, for me.
Least important: at times I was just bored. Paula is an anarchist, which was interesting at first, but it meant she had no real interest in any long term plans and as such the plot was weak and disjointed; she just bumbled around doing stuff for little to no reason and that became tedious quite quickly. Her most common feelings (after "lairy") were "hungry" and "cold"; she is difficult to empathise with.
Lastly, at one point two characters find, roast, and eat a litter of puppies. Which is a great way to show how desperate the situation is but when I don't like you anyway... 🤷🏻♀️
Tl;dr: skip it.
➕
The protagonist, Paula Mendoza, is a bisexual POC woman.
She is prickly and combative, in a laconic way, which is fun;
She sleeps with whoever she likes, which is quite a few people;
She has a child, which is fairly unusual in this genre.
Also, it was super retro and I actually liked that vibe (cities in domes on a polluted Earth, enormous video phones, aircars, literally silver jumpsuits at one point).
➖
So many racial slurs. It was written in 1975, I'm sure she knew it was wrong, I don't know if Holland (a white woman) had an agenda in mind when she created a far-future setting in which the n-word is in common usage as a perjorative and frankly I don't care. It's gross.
The Styths, who are playing the alien role here but are mutant humans who used to be kept as slaves by the white, racist Martians, are described as VERY BLACK. SO BLACK, LOOK AT THAT ONE, OMG NO ONE CAN BELIEVE JUST HOW BLACK THEY ARE. They're also very tall, the men take many wives (who are required to go veiled), they kidnap people to sell as slaves and keep slaves themselves, and they're extremely militaristic and violent. They're sort of depicted as the good guys.
Related to this: You may notice that the protagonist is on the cover, but she is portrayed as pale skinned. Not okay. Can't believe this is still happening.
There is physical and sexual assault - fine - that is protested against at the time by the protagonist (to whom it happens) but is otherwise not addressed by anyone. More subtly, Paula is constantly pushed around by the Styths, who tower over her; they cuff her round the head, steer her roughly by the shoulder or elbow, pull her after them, shove her - all the time. I found that really stressful.
As mentioned above, the Styths keep slaves and the protagonist seems okay with it, even though she is treated as one, and even after one of them is killed as a punishment for her. That cancels out the above liking-her-moxie, for me.
Least important: at times I was just bored. Paula is an anarchist, which was interesting at first, but it meant she had no real interest in any long term plans and as such the plot was weak and disjointed; she just bumbled around doing stuff for little to no reason and that became tedious quite quickly. Her most common feelings (after "lairy") were "hungry" and "cold"; she is difficult to empathise with.
Lastly, at one point two characters find, roast, and eat a litter of puppies. Which is a great way to show how desperate the situation is but when I don't like you anyway... 🤷🏻♀️
Tl;dr: skip it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 16, 2013
It has been two months since I first started the book, and three days since I finished it, and I am still trying to figure out what just happened. I can only tell you three things about this book...
Floating Worlds has a very detailed and well thought out futuristic universe, complete with technology, political systems and alien races. Of course, being written in the mid-70s, it feels all a little dated - not just in terms of technology, but in socio-political terms as well. You get the impression that this vision is very clear in the mind of the writer though.
You never know what the characters are thinking, feeling or planning. The author tells us what happens, but not why, what it means or how anyone feels about it. Perhaps this is because the author wrote historical novels, this being her only science-fiction novel. There are facts, just the facts and nothing but the facts. In a way, this almost works. It provides a blank canvas from which you can draw your own conclusions. The problem is that I doubt this was an intentional literary device. By the end of the book, I still didn't know why the main character embarked on this adventure to begin with.
There is a lot of raw material for deep and thoughtful analysis about cross-cultural issues here. The central character is a female bi-racial human being amid a world of giant black-skinned, male-dominated, physically aggressive, fascist aliens. She gets pushed, punched, kicked, raped and called "the n word". A LOT. She also chooses to live this way, and due to the writing style, we will never know why she chose this life. It's an infuriating missed opportunity.
Was it unique? Yes.
Was it intriguing? Yes (but ultimately unresolved).
Was it well written? No.
Did it go anywhere? No.
I'm just...... so confused.
Floating Worlds has a very detailed and well thought out futuristic universe, complete with technology, political systems and alien races. Of course, being written in the mid-70s, it feels all a little dated - not just in terms of technology, but in socio-political terms as well. You get the impression that this vision is very clear in the mind of the writer though.
You never know what the characters are thinking, feeling or planning. The author tells us what happens, but not why, what it means or how anyone feels about it. Perhaps this is because the author wrote historical novels, this being her only science-fiction novel. There are facts, just the facts and nothing but the facts. In a way, this almost works. It provides a blank canvas from which you can draw your own conclusions. The problem is that I doubt this was an intentional literary device. By the end of the book, I still didn't know why the main character embarked on this adventure to begin with.
There is a lot of raw material for deep and thoughtful analysis about cross-cultural issues here. The central character is a female bi-racial human being amid a world of giant black-skinned, male-dominated, physically aggressive, fascist aliens. She gets pushed, punched, kicked, raped and called "the n word". A LOT. She also chooses to live this way, and due to the writing style, we will never know why she chose this life. It's an infuriating missed opportunity.
Was it unique? Yes.
Was it intriguing? Yes (but ultimately unresolved).
Was it well written? No.
Did it go anywhere? No.
I'm just...... so confused.
June 15, 2015
I liked the amusing opening idea that anarchists would have their own committee to make sure that the anarchy didn’t get out of control. And I liked that in terms of female sexuality and cultural understanding it’s far beyond your normal 1940s novel. This is a book which absolutely transcends its time. But even though I wanted to enjoy ‘Floating Worlds’, I actually found it quite un-gripping. It's a book to pass the time with, rather than relish.
July 25, 2010
I read this when it first came out (late 1970s). At the time, sex in SF was practically non-existent, so this book was exciting for its explicit sexuality. However, rather than being a feminist approach, I found the cultural aspects more reactionary. It seemed to me that the heroine was bowled over by the warrior culture's "manly" approach to sex and so succumbed to the alien's dominance and was willing to be limited and circumscribed by his culture just so she could get really good sex.
As a feminist myself, I say "Faugh!"
As a feminist myself, I say "Faugh!"
January 1, 2020
This book was weird and left me greatly unsettled. I’m not sure if it’s point was one about feminism, capitalism, or anarchy. I didn’t enjoy it, but I also couldn’t stop reading it, in part because I was just hoping something good would happen. It didn’t.
October 15, 2024
Whew! 😅 this is alot to unpack in a book.
Holland is on par with Ursula Le Guin’s the dispossessed with a strange mix of Sherri Tepper and something that is her own. Her character was compelling and easy to read but not always clear. There was so much here I’m not quite sure I understood everything….
In a far flung future where the solar system is inhabited, earth is now a global anarchy and mars is capitalist, the moon is fascist and the outer planets are ruled by the Styths- a barbaric warrior culture who prizes violence and honor.
Paula Mendoza, an anarchist, get voluntold to help the committee broker peace between Earth and the Styths and ends up getting traded in the deal. But she doesnt quite fit in with Styths but ends yp uniquely positioned to sway solar politics…. Where she discovers you must decide between sticking to principles or surviving— you can’t have both.
Holland is on par with Ursula Le Guin’s the dispossessed with a strange mix of Sherri Tepper and something that is her own. Her character was compelling and easy to read but not always clear. There was so much here I’m not quite sure I understood everything….
In a far flung future where the solar system is inhabited, earth is now a global anarchy and mars is capitalist, the moon is fascist and the outer planets are ruled by the Styths- a barbaric warrior culture who prizes violence and honor.
Paula Mendoza, an anarchist, get voluntold to help the committee broker peace between Earth and the Styths and ends up getting traded in the deal. But she doesnt quite fit in with Styths but ends yp uniquely positioned to sway solar politics…. Where she discovers you must decide between sticking to principles or surviving— you can’t have both.
March 18, 2012
What a book! 600-odd pages covering the life and turbulent times of a woman of the distant future. It's the single SF work by a well-known historical novelist, so as a seasoned SF reader I kept a wary eye open to see what kind of book it would really turn out to be. And I couldn't crack the code. It's something of a historical mashup, sure—Viking raiding parties, bloody tribal rituals, Yakuza families (hence "floating worlds"), backstabbing in the senate—but no single element dominates, and the sum is pure gritty SF.
The protagonist, Paula Mendoza, is a woman of few advantages living in a crapsack solar system of squabbling petty empires. She's smart and creative; surrounded by people motivated by hatred, fear, or lust for power, she yearns for happiness in some vague sense she can never define. She kicks against the restraints of society, takes risks, has sex with all the wrong people, is ruthless when she needs to be and loving at unexpected moments. After some absolutely horrific experiences, she's weary but undefeated. She's like a cat who refuses either to come in or go out, but insists on sitting in the doorway. She doesn't necessarily leave the solar system a better place. I didn't find this exactly a pleasurable read, but definitely compelling.
The writing is stripped-down, unadorned. There's no direct explanation of the future history, and lots of names and places get flung about with little emphasis. The overall effect is of intense reality—it's up to you whether to pay attention, or just let it wash over you. And time passes unexpectedly. Without any big leaps in the storyline, we suddenly realise to our surprise that a character has aged ten years. When did that happen? It's been happening all along, in small steps, no special emphasis. This is as good and rounded a portrait of a complete life as I've seen in SF.
Holland has been compared to Ursula Le Guin and Joanna Russ. I also find her reminiscent of early Vonda McIntyre; like McIntyre, she doesn't necessarily give you a vivid feel for vast gulfs of time between then and now, but she does get the texture of the future right—centuries of layered history and tradition, drifting far away from our own.
Why only 4 stars? I didn't quite love it, perhaps because it's so relentlessly downbeat. Mendoza deserves a better future to live in than this.
The protagonist, Paula Mendoza, is a woman of few advantages living in a crapsack solar system of squabbling petty empires. She's smart and creative; surrounded by people motivated by hatred, fear, or lust for power, she yearns for happiness in some vague sense she can never define. She kicks against the restraints of society, takes risks, has sex with all the wrong people, is ruthless when she needs to be and loving at unexpected moments. After some absolutely horrific experiences, she's weary but undefeated. She's like a cat who refuses either to come in or go out, but insists on sitting in the doorway. She doesn't necessarily leave the solar system a better place. I didn't find this exactly a pleasurable read, but definitely compelling.
The writing is stripped-down, unadorned. There's no direct explanation of the future history, and lots of names and places get flung about with little emphasis. The overall effect is of intense reality—it's up to you whether to pay attention, or just let it wash over you. And time passes unexpectedly. Without any big leaps in the storyline, we suddenly realise to our surprise that a character has aged ten years. When did that happen? It's been happening all along, in small steps, no special emphasis. This is as good and rounded a portrait of a complete life as I've seen in SF.
Holland has been compared to Ursula Le Guin and Joanna Russ. I also find her reminiscent of early Vonda McIntyre; like McIntyre, she doesn't necessarily give you a vivid feel for vast gulfs of time between then and now, but she does get the texture of the future right—centuries of layered history and tradition, drifting far away from our own.
Why only 4 stars? I didn't quite love it, perhaps because it's so relentlessly downbeat. Mendoza deserves a better future to live in than this.
June 18, 2025
Cecelia Holland is an author mostly of historical fiction and, in this book, brings that knowledge and perspective to space opera.
This book is like the Antebellum South but set in space.
Most fiction has a classical theme that asks, and then investigates, a moral question. This book is about a lot of things. It's about slavery, love, war, abusive relationships, family connections, toxic masculinity, stoicism, feminism, racism, power, politics, and anarchy. But those aren't its theme. For a while I thought "hope" was the theme. But then I finished the book... and was forced to admit there's no hope in this story. Sure, the characters carve out moments of happiness out from the corpus of struggle. It's almost too realistic in this way. I think it's a work of fiction but in the style of nonfiction (or maybe historical fiction, a genre I'm not familiar with). Instead of a classical theme we simply get a picture of the world. The picture of the world in this book is grandiose and full of imagination.
This book is like the Antebellum South but set in space.
Most fiction has a classical theme that asks, and then investigates, a moral question. This book is about a lot of things. It's about slavery, love, war, abusive relationships, family connections, toxic masculinity, stoicism, feminism, racism, power, politics, and anarchy. But those aren't its theme. For a while I thought "hope" was the theme. But then I finished the book... and was forced to admit there's no hope in this story. Sure, the characters carve out moments of happiness out from the corpus of struggle. It's almost too realistic in this way. I think it's a work of fiction but in the style of nonfiction (or maybe historical fiction, a genre I'm not familiar with). Instead of a classical theme we simply get a picture of the world. The picture of the world in this book is grandiose and full of imagination.
October 3, 2014
Gah. Ugh. Phew. That was gigantic. I need someone to talk about it with. Agh. I need someone to digest that all with! Are there essays about this book? There should be.
So much! So much is happening! I picked this one up for a bunch of reasons. It's a Strong Female Protagonist (weak Monty Python yey). It's social/political sci-fi, similar to (and loved by, apparently?) Ursula Le Guin and Kim Stanley Robinson, two authors I greatly admire. It's a "lost classic", which is always appealing (pretty obscure; hipsterfood).
And just, wow. I feel a little emotionally exhausted.
The story is set in the Medium-Far Future, where the solar system is way different from how it is today. Most of the planets are colonized, and radically different. Mars is a consumerist-Fascist dystopia that kinda felt like a creepy Miami/Malibu to me - or like Mars from Total Recall. Earth is a giant anarchist commune, and also an eco-disaster (so people live in domes). The moon is a theocratic dictator state. And Uranus, Saturn and Pluto have this kinda Mongolian, kinda old-fashioned hill tribe thing going on, where the people there - "Styths" - have mutated/evolved due to Unexplained Future History stuff. They now live in interesting-sounding domes, and are a Mighty and Warlike Race blah blah. Also, they have claws. They're basically Klingons. Am I the only one who saw them as Klingons?
The hiro-protagonist of the story is Paula Mendoza, this tough-as-nails lady from Earth. Paula starts the story unemployed and dating this mansplainy jerk named Tony (TONY! *fist shake*), but then - through bizarre and interesting anarchist-commune labor-rotation stuff - gets a job with the Committee - the commune's semi-somewhat government stand-in thing. Which is, incidentally, run by extremely Machiavellian types! Paula is tasked with drafting an interplanetary treaty between the Styths and Martians, who hate each other. Wow, responsibility. But I guess that's how anarchists swing? Anyway, because she read that one paper by Paul Krugman, she writes an awesome treaty leveraging cool trade stuff. She also gets impregnated by one of the Klingons, and decides to go live in Stythsville for, like, ten years.
A war happens at one point. Shit gets really intense. Work camps, despair. I despaired. Spoiler? Whatever.
The book definitely carries very strong Le Guin and Kim Stanley Robinson vibes. It's Le Guin-ish during the whole Styth Living section; where we have the outsider visiting a far-off planetary culture that resembles a mash-up of Earth cultures (the Styths are apparently based on Genghis Khan et al.?) and is all about anthropology and development economics and racism. It's Robinson-ish because every character is SO. DAMN. POLITICAL. To the point of feeling just cruel, dude. Also, like Robinson, Cecila Holland (the author) kills people off pretty mercilessly.
Overall, it was gigantic, and I generally loved it. It's definitely a missing classic, since the scope is vast and I could pick apart the feminist themes forever. (Like, dude, Paula is a super-independent anarchist lady who spends 75% of the book under the heel - sometimes literally! - of her über macho Genghis Khan husband.) The writing style is also brilliant, in that it's completely spare, journalistic, telegraphic. There is NO exposition, and very little feeling. This is especially awesome when something very strange and alien is being described; Holland lets you fill in the blanks. Space flight was described with a vividness I've never seen in sci-fi, film or book. And the flights over Uranus were psychadelic, mind-bending. It was kinda like a very trippy Hilary Mantel at times (and Hilary Mantel is already pretty trippy - imagine it in a gas giant!). I loved (and was disturbed by) the moments when Holland opened up her already weird universe to a potential even freakier: the allusions to civilizations beyond this solar system; or the ambitious Styth, Tanuojin, and his freaky healer hands. What!
Some stuff I loved less: despite it being like 90% awesome, I did find a couple things tedious. The characters, as written by Holland, were ambiguous, complex, weird creatures who behaved unexpectedly. Cool. BUT! It felt like some of her secondary characters were very briefly sketched out, and mostly caricatures. I especially wasn't into the fat-shamey portrayals of one prominent Committee politician, and one of Klingon Dude's other wives. Seriously, stop describing the rolls of fat and how appallingly fat these two women were. It's getting old. I also spotted a few other repetitive phrases, but I'll live. Despite these relatively minor flaws, it is a pretty brutal, mind-opening epic, and should rightly sit aside Frank Herbert's Dune and the like.
So much! So much is happening! I picked this one up for a bunch of reasons. It's a Strong Female Protagonist (weak Monty Python yey). It's social/political sci-fi, similar to (and loved by, apparently?) Ursula Le Guin and Kim Stanley Robinson, two authors I greatly admire. It's a "lost classic", which is always appealing (pretty obscure; hipsterfood).
And just, wow. I feel a little emotionally exhausted.
The story is set in the Medium-Far Future, where the solar system is way different from how it is today. Most of the planets are colonized, and radically different. Mars is a consumerist-Fascist dystopia that kinda felt like a creepy Miami/Malibu to me - or like Mars from Total Recall. Earth is a giant anarchist commune, and also an eco-disaster (so people live in domes). The moon is a theocratic dictator state. And Uranus, Saturn and Pluto have this kinda Mongolian, kinda old-fashioned hill tribe thing going on, where the people there - "Styths" - have mutated/evolved due to Unexplained Future History stuff. They now live in interesting-sounding domes, and are a Mighty and Warlike Race blah blah. Also, they have claws. They're basically Klingons. Am I the only one who saw them as Klingons?
The hiro-protagonist of the story is Paula Mendoza, this tough-as-nails lady from Earth. Paula starts the story unemployed and dating this mansplainy jerk named Tony (TONY! *fist shake*), but then - through bizarre and interesting anarchist-commune labor-rotation stuff - gets a job with the Committee - the commune's semi-somewhat government stand-in thing. Which is, incidentally, run by extremely Machiavellian types! Paula is tasked with drafting an interplanetary treaty between the Styths and Martians, who hate each other. Wow, responsibility. But I guess that's how anarchists swing? Anyway, because she read that one paper by Paul Krugman, she writes an awesome treaty leveraging cool trade stuff. She also gets impregnated by one of the Klingons, and decides to go live in Stythsville for, like, ten years.
A war happens at one point. Shit gets really intense. Work camps, despair. I despaired. Spoiler? Whatever.
The book definitely carries very strong Le Guin and Kim Stanley Robinson vibes. It's Le Guin-ish during the whole Styth Living section; where we have the outsider visiting a far-off planetary culture that resembles a mash-up of Earth cultures (the Styths are apparently based on Genghis Khan et al.?) and is all about anthropology and development economics and racism. It's Robinson-ish because every character is SO. DAMN. POLITICAL. To the point of feeling just cruel, dude. Also, like Robinson, Cecila Holland (the author) kills people off pretty mercilessly.
Overall, it was gigantic, and I generally loved it. It's definitely a missing classic, since the scope is vast and I could pick apart the feminist themes forever. (Like, dude, Paula is a super-independent anarchist lady who spends 75% of the book under the heel - sometimes literally! - of her über macho Genghis Khan husband.) The writing style is also brilliant, in that it's completely spare, journalistic, telegraphic. There is NO exposition, and very little feeling. This is especially awesome when something very strange and alien is being described; Holland lets you fill in the blanks. Space flight was described with a vividness I've never seen in sci-fi, film or book. And the flights over Uranus were psychadelic, mind-bending. It was kinda like a very trippy Hilary Mantel at times (and Hilary Mantel is already pretty trippy - imagine it in a gas giant!). I loved (and was disturbed by) the moments when Holland opened up her already weird universe to a potential even freakier: the allusions to civilizations beyond this solar system; or the ambitious Styth, Tanuojin, and his freaky healer hands. What!
Some stuff I loved less: despite it being like 90% awesome, I did find a couple things tedious. The characters, as written by Holland, were ambiguous, complex, weird creatures who behaved unexpectedly. Cool. BUT! It felt like some of her secondary characters were very briefly sketched out, and mostly caricatures. I especially wasn't into the fat-shamey portrayals of one prominent Committee politician, and one of Klingon Dude's other wives. Seriously, stop describing the rolls of fat and how appallingly fat these two women were. It's getting old. I also spotted a few other repetitive phrases, but I'll live. Despite these relatively minor flaws, it is a pretty brutal, mind-opening epic, and should rightly sit aside Frank Herbert's Dune and the like.
June 27, 2022
This book was written as science fiction. I have the impression that Cecelia Holland used this genre to explore 18 years in the life of the central character, Paula Mendoza. The events in the book take place 2,000 years in the future. Earth is heavily polluted and domed cities are used because the outside atmosphere is unbreathable. Venus and Mars are inhabited. The Earth, Venus and Mars constitute the inner planets. The book starts with Paula at the age of 29. She has been released from prison. She served 6 months in a Mars prison after attempting to leave the planet without paying the export duty for her camera. Paula lives on Earth. Earth has no government but is controlled by a committee of anarchists. The Committee gives Paula the assignment of contacting a mutant race of humans, called the Styths and negotiate a treaty with them. The Styths have been raiding settlements on the inner planets stealing objects of value and enslaving people that they capture.
The book covers Paula's ability to negotiate a treaty and her ability to survive with an alien group of people. The book covers Paula's life during these 18 years, the people that she meets and befriends and also the people that she loses.
I was surprised at the ending. The ending gives Paula the ability to reflect on the changes that occurred during the past 18 years.
Holland wrote this book in 1975. This was a year after Watergate and the same year that the Viet Nam war finally ended.
The book covers Paula's ability to negotiate a treaty and her ability to survive with an alien group of people. The book covers Paula's life during these 18 years, the people that she meets and befriends and also the people that she loses.
I was surprised at the ending. The ending gives Paula the ability to reflect on the changes that occurred during the past 18 years.
Holland wrote this book in 1975. This was a year after Watergate and the same year that the Viet Nam war finally ended.
August 25, 2013
I'm not really sure what to make of this one. For me, it struggled to get going, was overly long and petered out with an ending that left you wondering why you bothered. Don't get me wrong, it certainly had it's moments. Most of the time I was fairly gripped, wanted to find out what would happen, where it was going. And for a while, I thought I knew, until the ending let me down. The dialogue took some getting used to too, always at cross purposes, talking past each other.
Paula Mendoza was an interesting, complex character who was full of contradictions. She is both an idealist and a pragmatist, dispassionate yet often guided by her passions. She is rigid in her ideals as an anarchist, feminist and pacifist yet chooses to live in a rigidly hegemonic, patriarchal and imperialistic society in order to pursue her nebulous ends. At one point she is violently raped and yet is mystifyingly quick to forgive (something that a male author certainly could not have gotten away with).
The low rating for this book belies the fact that there is much of interest in here. If only it were weaved together a little more concisely and coherently with a more definite purpose. Then again, perhaps I just don't get it?
Paula Mendoza was an interesting, complex character who was full of contradictions. She is both an idealist and a pragmatist, dispassionate yet often guided by her passions. She is rigid in her ideals as an anarchist, feminist and pacifist yet chooses to live in a rigidly hegemonic, patriarchal and imperialistic society in order to pursue her nebulous ends. At one point she is violently raped and yet is mystifyingly quick to forgive (something that a male author certainly could not have gotten away with).
The low rating for this book belies the fact that there is much of interest in here. If only it were weaved together a little more concisely and coherently with a more definite purpose. Then again, perhaps I just don't get it?
May 4, 2022
I really struggled with this and I still don't know if I like it. There is so much here that I as a reader 45 years after it was written can say "wtf" about...but ultimately I wanted to know what would happen. I definitely don't understand how this has been considered feminist sci-fi considering the choices made.
December 30, 2023
Polarising to say the least (in a good way), I'm not sure if I've ever read a book that I've enjoyed so much despite disagreeing with the overall message so strongly.
This is the anarchist equivalent of Atlas Shrugged with a hint of Mass Effect: its characters and their interactions, the worldbuilding, the political thrills, are all top notch. It's especially impressive given this is Holland's only venture into SF, she's done a remarkable job of it and Floating Worlds achieves its goal for certain.
There's only a single flaw I can think of with this one and, unfortunately, it's a biggun: the plot.
It's far too thin to justify its epic length, the narrow scope is in stark juxtaposition to the use of third person. If it were about 200 pages shorter and told in first person or if scene changes were included (along with much needed sub plots) then these brave new worlds wouldn't have to have spent decades floating so gradually from the depths of obscurity. An uncut gem indeed, but one with enough to keep die hard fans of the genre entertained from start to finish, while tackling some ever relevant and controversial subject matter to boot.
This is the anarchist equivalent of Atlas Shrugged with a hint of Mass Effect: its characters and their interactions, the worldbuilding, the political thrills, are all top notch. It's especially impressive given this is Holland's only venture into SF, she's done a remarkable job of it and Floating Worlds achieves its goal for certain.
There's only a single flaw I can think of with this one and, unfortunately, it's a biggun: the plot.
It's far too thin to justify its epic length, the narrow scope is in stark juxtaposition to the use of third person. If it were about 200 pages shorter and told in first person or if scene changes were included (along with much needed sub plots) then these brave new worlds wouldn't have to have spent decades floating so gradually from the depths of obscurity. An uncut gem indeed, but one with enough to keep die hard fans of the genre entertained from start to finish, while tackling some ever relevant and controversial subject matter to boot.
December 8, 2023
3.5/5 rounded up. !!CW FOR RACIAL SLURS AND RAPE!!
I have... very mixed feelings on this book. In many ways it's my catnip--a human living in and among aliens--but like, it's more than that. It's a space opera, and politics, and diplomacy, war, and some certified Edibles (tm) moments. In many ways, this is an ambitious novel; perhaps to some, a masterpiece.
But I think it spreads itself too thin. It tries to tackle many different topics. And the aliens are alien-ish. The fault I have with this book was I saw the embers of how great it could have been. And it did not meet those expectations. It is still a Very Good book, if you can make it past the dropping of the n word every couple of pages (which is a commentary outside of this review), and is leagues better than Dragon Heart.
I have... very mixed feelings on this book. In many ways it's my catnip--a human living in and among aliens--but like, it's more than that. It's a space opera, and politics, and diplomacy, war, and some certified Edibles (tm) moments. In many ways, this is an ambitious novel; perhaps to some, a masterpiece.
But I think it spreads itself too thin. It tries to tackle many different topics. And the aliens are alien-ish. The fault I have with this book was I saw the embers of how great it could have been. And it did not meet those expectations. It is still a Very Good book, if you can make it past the dropping of the n word every couple of pages (which is a commentary outside of this review), and is leagues better than Dragon Heart.
April 29, 2024
I finally finished it. Enjoyable overall, but too long and meandering by about 15-20%, with a lot of drawn out slice-of-life-ish sections that could've been cut, consolidated, or shortened. The main character is enjoyable to read about but overall a bit directionless (like the plot) and lacking the charisma to carry these meandering sections very far.
The anarchy of Earth doesn't seem very thought out; they have money and corporations, free food and housing (maybe?) but only to a point, and a non-government of a handful of people. Not very consistent or anarchist. Otherwise the worldbuilding is interesting, and I appreciated human-only, Solar System-based space sci fi politicking.
I also found it overall a bit unsatisfying, especially the ending, and a bit pessimistic. The time it took to get to this payoff doesn't help.
The anarchy of Earth doesn't seem very thought out; they have money and corporations, free food and housing (maybe?) but only to a point, and a non-government of a handful of people. Not very consistent or anarchist. Otherwise the worldbuilding is interesting, and I appreciated human-only, Solar System-based space sci fi politicking.
I also found it overall a bit unsatisfying, especially the ending, and a bit pessimistic. The time it took to get to this payoff doesn't help.
March 15, 2020
Floating Worlds is a terrific science fiction novel from 1975. Written by historical fiction writer Cecilia Holland, this is her first and only science fiction novel. The book is about a biracial woman named Paula Mendoza, who in the beginning of the book gets tired of her lame boyfriend, dumps him, and gets a job working for The Committee, a group of Anarchists who help manage Earth's government. This all happens thousands of years into the future by the way, where pollution has decimated the Earth, resulting in humans living protected in domes.
Enter the Styths. Paula's job is to get the Styths to agree to a treaty, which lasts ten years. The Styths are descendants of the first humans on Uranus, except they've changed, they're mutated. They're eight feet tall mutated humans [aliens], that speak a different language, live in a patriarchal society, are disgustingly racist [use the n-word all the time], and are complete savages who raid Mars and enslave thousands of people. They are described as black skinned mutants with long mustaches. Paula's means of getting the Styths to sign the treaty is a bit scandalous. She seduces their leader, Saba, and has a Styth baby by him, goes to live with him on his home planet, and engages in the politics from there.
Saba is a brutal alien. He beats Paula and at one point even rapes her. However, Paula comes back to him in order to do what she wants, which is whatever she wants, whenever she wants it. She's the idea of the female man, she's the perfect anarchist because although she's working for the Committee, she's also working for herself, and for the Styths, all at the same and sometimes different points in the novel. In a sense we never get to know whats going on in Paula's head, but we can infer from the prose.
Floating worlds has two very important quirks. First, the prose is very short and simple sentences. Second, Holland never explains anything. There's no legendary or epic grand science fiction exposition here. This isn't Man Plus, with its eloquent and long exposition, a book I read recently. She doesn't explain how any of the technology works, the world of the space opera itself, the psychological state and/or feelings of the characters. Instead, we get a point of view of the character told from these short simple sentences that explain what's going on, and the dialogue between the different characters. It's a unique way to write, a very inspiring one as well when you realize that sometimes all you need is to be simple and straight to the point. In a way, this book taught me a new way to approach writing. I realized that technically, I don't have to know the scientific facts that exist in the world of science fiction. You could just have incredible technology and just have it work, that's what Holland does here. None of the techs is explained, the characters just use these advanced computers and they work fine without any fine details.
There's space combat, tribal duels to claim the Styth throne, romance, lesbian sex, lots of sex in general, seduction, betrayal, politics regarding gender, race, and class, war, a fallout Earth that feels like the 1970s, contemporary. The ending itself is almost the same as the ending for Schismatrix, which came out ten years later, which is the main character walking away from the entire space opera in a state of experienced zen-bliss? Perhaps something like describes it.
There are many reasons why this novel is important. The biggest reason is that this is a science fiction novel with a powerful female protagonist. Another important female protagonist I can think of is Lady Jessica, of the Bene Gesserit Order, from Dune. Also, this is a space opera on a grand scale that takes place over twenty years. You're going to be going through long reading sessions to finish this novel [465 pages]. However, you get in a rhythm, pacing if you will, when you learn to enjoy the simpleness of the sentences, and the uniqueness of the prose. I can see how the 80's sf writers like Bruce Sterling may have been influenced by this. If not influenced then at least definitely aware. Schismatrix Plus comes to mind especially. Lastly, because of the writing style and lack of psychological detail and exposition, this is a very unique science fiction novel, which makes it worth reading, dusting off the 1970's dust and brought into the light of 2019.
I liked this book so much that I ended up buying a used copy from a third party on Amazon for eight bucks. This is going to be one of my prized SF novels on my bookshelf. Its so good that I'm planning on reading Holland's historical fiction at some point in the future too. This is a work of great lost art from the '70s, it deserves to be on anyone's bookshelf.
Enter the Styths. Paula's job is to get the Styths to agree to a treaty, which lasts ten years. The Styths are descendants of the first humans on Uranus, except they've changed, they're mutated. They're eight feet tall mutated humans [aliens], that speak a different language, live in a patriarchal society, are disgustingly racist [use the n-word all the time], and are complete savages who raid Mars and enslave thousands of people. They are described as black skinned mutants with long mustaches. Paula's means of getting the Styths to sign the treaty is a bit scandalous. She seduces their leader, Saba, and has a Styth baby by him, goes to live with him on his home planet, and engages in the politics from there.
Saba is a brutal alien. He beats Paula and at one point even rapes her. However, Paula comes back to him in order to do what she wants, which is whatever she wants, whenever she wants it. She's the idea of the female man, she's the perfect anarchist because although she's working for the Committee, she's also working for herself, and for the Styths, all at the same and sometimes different points in the novel. In a sense we never get to know whats going on in Paula's head, but we can infer from the prose.
Floating worlds has two very important quirks. First, the prose is very short and simple sentences. Second, Holland never explains anything. There's no legendary or epic grand science fiction exposition here. This isn't Man Plus, with its eloquent and long exposition, a book I read recently. She doesn't explain how any of the technology works, the world of the space opera itself, the psychological state and/or feelings of the characters. Instead, we get a point of view of the character told from these short simple sentences that explain what's going on, and the dialogue between the different characters. It's a unique way to write, a very inspiring one as well when you realize that sometimes all you need is to be simple and straight to the point. In a way, this book taught me a new way to approach writing. I realized that technically, I don't have to know the scientific facts that exist in the world of science fiction. You could just have incredible technology and just have it work, that's what Holland does here. None of the techs is explained, the characters just use these advanced computers and they work fine without any fine details.
There's space combat, tribal duels to claim the Styth throne, romance, lesbian sex, lots of sex in general, seduction, betrayal, politics regarding gender, race, and class, war, a fallout Earth that feels like the 1970s, contemporary. The ending itself is almost the same as the ending for Schismatrix, which came out ten years later, which is the main character walking away from the entire space opera in a state of experienced zen-bliss? Perhaps something like describes it.
There are many reasons why this novel is important. The biggest reason is that this is a science fiction novel with a powerful female protagonist. Another important female protagonist I can think of is Lady Jessica, of the Bene Gesserit Order, from Dune. Also, this is a space opera on a grand scale that takes place over twenty years. You're going to be going through long reading sessions to finish this novel [465 pages]. However, you get in a rhythm, pacing if you will, when you learn to enjoy the simpleness of the sentences, and the uniqueness of the prose. I can see how the 80's sf writers like Bruce Sterling may have been influenced by this. If not influenced then at least definitely aware. Schismatrix Plus comes to mind especially. Lastly, because of the writing style and lack of psychological detail and exposition, this is a very unique science fiction novel, which makes it worth reading, dusting off the 1970's dust and brought into the light of 2019.
I liked this book so much that I ended up buying a used copy from a third party on Amazon for eight bucks. This is going to be one of my prized SF novels on my bookshelf. Its so good that I'm planning on reading Holland's historical fiction at some point in the future too. This is a work of great lost art from the '70s, it deserves to be on anyone's bookshelf.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 21, 2020
In the distant future, Paula Mendoza, a bisexual black woman, is an emissary from an anarchistic, partially habitable Earth to the terra incognita of Saturn and Uranus, where patriarchal leadership is achieved and maintained by physical dominance among the Styth, a mustachioed, exceptionally tall, and exceptionally aggressive human-descended species that has existed there in relative isolation for some eons (think Klingon). The novel is essentially a mixture of cultural exploration and political strategy, as various factions and planetary representatives jockey for position and power. It's long and bleak and mostly episodic, though I suppose there is a culmination of sorts.
What makes this novel unique for me is Paula. She is opaque and prickly and impulsive; she doesn't care if people like her; she has no qualms using sex to achieve her goals. Early on, she has a half-Styth child, and she forms a fraught bond with the child's father and with his best friend. The Styths are violently unpredictable, almost caricatures of toxic masculinity, but Paula takes this mostly in stride, teasing out any and all advantages and opportunities to expand her influence. She intrigued the hell out of me. I was also ensnared by the vivid prose and pacing—I had no idea where the story was going most of the time, but it was frequently gripping.
There are definitely some icky, problematic parts, mainly involving racial stereotypes and slurs. It was written in the 1970s, and though the author seems to be trying to subvert these things, she ends up at best looking clumsy and at worst reinforcing them. It's unsurprising and understandable that this ruins the experience for some readers.
What makes this novel unique for me is Paula. She is opaque and prickly and impulsive; she doesn't care if people like her; she has no qualms using sex to achieve her goals. Early on, she has a half-Styth child, and she forms a fraught bond with the child's father and with his best friend. The Styths are violently unpredictable, almost caricatures of toxic masculinity, but Paula takes this mostly in stride, teasing out any and all advantages and opportunities to expand her influence. She intrigued the hell out of me. I was also ensnared by the vivid prose and pacing—I had no idea where the story was going most of the time, but it was frequently gripping.
There are definitely some icky, problematic parts, mainly involving racial stereotypes and slurs. It was written in the 1970s, and though the author seems to be trying to subvert these things, she ends up at best looking clumsy and at worst reinforcing them. It's unsurprising and understandable that this ruins the experience for some readers.
July 28, 2021
Looking at other reviews you'll either love or hate this book. Personally, I loved it. It follows an Earth woman (from a future Earth ruled by anarchists who live in domes as the environment is so polluted) who becomes involved with a senior figure in the semi-fascist rulers of Uranus and covers the events of the next two decades as she finds herself in the thick of system wide intrigues. None of the characters are likeable, all are human and flawed, the story is written in a direct style with no flowing explanations - you have to work it out through what is said and done, it isn't explained to you. There are multiple worlds with their own political systems and cultures which are only explained through their citizens thoughts and actions, no big long chapters explaining their history. If you want your story on a plate, this isn't for you - but if you like to work things out for yourself then read this and all its takes on racism, war, culture and politics. Told from a human scale but with universe spanning implications.
March 29, 2013
I'm my own worst enemy. I saw this the whole way through to the end because it's a classic, and as a fan of the genre, you owe it to those forerunners to pay homage.
This is an epic space opera seen through the eyes of Paula, an Earthling who ends up at the centre of an inter-galactic war.
The storytelling is clunky and tedious. I had no clue what was going on a lot of the time. There is a lot of political rambling. There's a lot of unexplained stuff about a special kind of alien that doesn't add a lot to the overall journey. It felt like a mess.
Another reason that I read this book is because I am sure my father would have read it when he was around my age. He would always be investigating the SciFi shelves at the library whilst I was in the kids section. So even though this was a tedious read for me, it had a resonance that made me decide to finish up. I wonder if Pops got the whole way through.. :)
This is an epic space opera seen through the eyes of Paula, an Earthling who ends up at the centre of an inter-galactic war.
The storytelling is clunky and tedious. I had no clue what was going on a lot of the time. There is a lot of political rambling. There's a lot of unexplained stuff about a special kind of alien that doesn't add a lot to the overall journey. It felt like a mess.
Another reason that I read this book is because I am sure my father would have read it when he was around my age. He would always be investigating the SciFi shelves at the library whilst I was in the kids section. So even though this was a tedious read for me, it had a resonance that made me decide to finish up. I wonder if Pops got the whole way through.. :)
February 5, 2023
Quite an interesting read
At first it felt confusing, the technology of the future is weirdly outdated, videone? Is that the best it could have been developed? Then I learned this book was released in the mid 70s, and all made sense. Having that perspective the story is interesting, touching on the subject of a repressing male society, where a strong woman has to do what she can to survive.
Besides, it is an interesting concept, for the time, the idea of a ravaged earth where the only livable areas are domes.
However, the writing is difficult, at least for me. I had, at times, a hard time following the plot, I could not picture in my mind what was going on.
But overall it was interesting. Would I read again had I known all this, maybe not, there are many other great sci-fi books out there and this is a 600+ pages book. I would read it if the language was a bit easier and with a better flow.
At first it felt confusing, the technology of the future is weirdly outdated, videone? Is that the best it could have been developed? Then I learned this book was released in the mid 70s, and all made sense. Having that perspective the story is interesting, touching on the subject of a repressing male society, where a strong woman has to do what she can to survive.
Besides, it is an interesting concept, for the time, the idea of a ravaged earth where the only livable areas are domes.
However, the writing is difficult, at least for me. I had, at times, a hard time following the plot, I could not picture in my mind what was going on.
But overall it was interesting. Would I read again had I known all this, maybe not, there are many other great sci-fi books out there and this is a 600+ pages book. I would read it if the language was a bit easier and with a better flow.
October 8, 2016
Dense, complex, demanding and quite unlike any recent SF I've read for a while, with the exception of China Mieville's extraordinary Embassytown. This is SF written at the level of literary fiction but with none of the compromises that usually entails. Even more unusually, this is Cecelia Holland's only SF novel outside of her day job as a distinguished historical novelist. In its politics and the challenges it makes of its readers, it's very much a novel of the seventies and its peers would be LeGuin, Delany and their like. Highly recommended.
October 8, 2009
My appreciation of Cecelia Holland's lone science fiction novel is here.
May 21, 2011
Despite the rave reviews and my appreciation of feminist and anarchist (such as Ursula K. LeGuin) science fiction, this novel--apparently, Holland's sole effort in the genre--left me cold.
March 11, 2025
The spectrum of ratings really beats home the challenge this book is to digest. There's almost a perfect lineup of 25% for 5, 4, 3, and the 2/1 stars.
The core of this book is soft power, which is perhaps why it is not as universally respected as a book like Dune. Dune is very interesting and complex, but it's still a story of might making "right." A reason Dune is good is because there's lots of play in what right is. The protagonist in Floating Worlds never has the luxury of a standing army, or even a decent right hook. She doesn't get to plan extensively, because she can't just force people to do what she wants. It's easy to miss the link between when she plants an idea and how it actually plays out for her later. And she doesn't really achieve simple, marked victories. Her status rises and falls with her alliances.
It's also not a nice story. The protagonist has successes, and is very powerful by the end of the book. But you have to read it very carefully. Because the author doesn't hand anything straight to you, just like the protagonists struggles. In fact, if you don't correlate one specific line at the end with the other place it's used, you might think she is still under society's thumb at the end.
The main character defines herself as an anarchist, and supposedly eschews possessions for personal freedom. That is almost immediately upended by her unwillingness to part with her most important possession, a flute. Then she doesn't mention another particularly important possession for the rest of the book.
There were crucial details that I didn't observe the first time I read it, and most of those were because the event wasn't described directly in the book. The prose is simple, but the contents are not. For example, there are many straightforward descriptions of how people move and hold their body. But the body language described is extremely complex, and often used to subtly manipulate.
Her first forays in politics were events prior to the beginning of the book, when she wrote attack speeches for a politician who threw her under the bus immediately when she stood up for the Earth's cultural values on Mars. Most people would have just paid the import tax. And most people wouldn't have used prison to learn an effectively useless language, but it shows how her Anarchist values are for knowledge and ideas that can't be stolen.
She seems to stumble into her first major success by being horny, but immediately realizes the power her body has, and starts exploring soft power in the face of an incredibly sexist and fascist culture. Sex quickly falls by the wayside for other, more effective methods of manipulation, namely power and money.
The tools she doesn't have are also constantly thrown in her face, namely her physical weakness, race, gender, skin color, and willingness to not go with the flow - unless she chooses or is forced to. Again, pay attention to body language and it's use. Cowering isn't always a choice for Paula, but the tools she applies don't require physical authority anyway.
There are multiple ambiguous points in the book, such as points where you aren't sure if or how she is intimate with a character, and how a character dies and the cause might be due to someone but it's never clarified or confirmed. There's also many straight up failures that don't ever get "fixed."The third act of the book begins with one and it doesn't go well for anyone.
The ending is also ambiguous, but after all the other ambiguity it feels like the author is probably showing that Paula is in control, though not the way anyone else might see it. Or want it.
All of these pieces really get towards the core difficulty that I saw in other reviews of the book: Paula's motivations are beyond anything I've ever had the pleasure of reading about. She isn't a hero, villain, antihero, or pretty much any other character context I had going into the book. She lives her anarchist and pacifist ideals, but she plays to win. And she does win. But her victory conditions are as uncommon as the rest of her personality.
The core of this book is soft power, which is perhaps why it is not as universally respected as a book like Dune. Dune is very interesting and complex, but it's still a story of might making "right." A reason Dune is good is because there's lots of play in what right is. The protagonist in Floating Worlds never has the luxury of a standing army, or even a decent right hook. She doesn't get to plan extensively, because she can't just force people to do what she wants. It's easy to miss the link between when she plants an idea and how it actually plays out for her later. And she doesn't really achieve simple, marked victories. Her status rises and falls with her alliances.
It's also not a nice story. The protagonist has successes, and is very powerful by the end of the book. But you have to read it very carefully. Because the author doesn't hand anything straight to you, just like the protagonists struggles. In fact, if you don't correlate one specific line at the end with the other place it's used, you might think she is still under society's thumb at the end.
The main character defines herself as an anarchist, and supposedly eschews possessions for personal freedom. That is almost immediately upended by her unwillingness to part with her most important possession, a flute. Then she doesn't mention another particularly important possession for the rest of the book.
There were crucial details that I didn't observe the first time I read it, and most of those were because the event wasn't described directly in the book. The prose is simple, but the contents are not. For example, there are many straightforward descriptions of how people move and hold their body. But the body language described is extremely complex, and often used to subtly manipulate.
Her first forays in politics were events prior to the beginning of the book, when she wrote attack speeches for a politician who threw her under the bus immediately when she stood up for the Earth's cultural values on Mars. Most people would have just paid the import tax. And most people wouldn't have used prison to learn an effectively useless language, but it shows how her Anarchist values are for knowledge and ideas that can't be stolen.
She seems to stumble into her first major success by being horny, but immediately realizes the power her body has, and starts exploring soft power in the face of an incredibly sexist and fascist culture. Sex quickly falls by the wayside for other, more effective methods of manipulation, namely power and money.
The tools she doesn't have are also constantly thrown in her face, namely her physical weakness, race, gender, skin color, and willingness to not go with the flow - unless she chooses or is forced to. Again, pay attention to body language and it's use. Cowering isn't always a choice for Paula, but the tools she applies don't require physical authority anyway.
There are multiple ambiguous points in the book, such as points where you aren't sure if or how she is intimate with a character, and how a character dies and the cause might be due to someone but it's never clarified or confirmed. There's also many straight up failures that don't ever get "fixed."The third act of the book begins with one and it doesn't go well for anyone.
The ending is also ambiguous, but after all the other ambiguity it feels like the author is probably showing that Paula is in control, though not the way anyone else might see it. Or want it.
All of these pieces really get towards the core difficulty that I saw in other reviews of the book: Paula's motivations are beyond anything I've ever had the pleasure of reading about. She isn't a hero, villain, antihero, or pretty much any other character context I had going into the book. She lives her anarchist and pacifist ideals, but she plays to win. And she does win. But her victory conditions are as uncommon as the rest of her personality.
January 8, 2019
I was torn on whether to give this a 4 or 5. It's a far spanning sci-fi tale which focuses on diplomacy and culture more than war and technology. Set in the future, the Earth has become an anarchist society living in domes to survive pollution and devastation from past conflicts. The moon is run by a fascist military government, while Mars is a powerful materialistic force to be reckoned with. The balance of power is threatened by the Styths, mutated humans born on abandoned Venusian settlements.
The protagonist Paula is one of the Earth anarchists, and I found her to be a fascinating character. By turns ruthless, cunning, idealistic, ambitious, and more, she is a very compelling lead character. Her journey into Styth culture - initially as a diplomat, but soon as something else - is central to the story. Her loyalties to home, job, family and morals are constantly tested, even as she attempts to understand the Styths and their way of life.
Later the story shifts to focus on more wide ranging events as conflicts grow between the different powers within the solar system, but all seen from Paula's viewpoint. Decades pass in the course of the book, and one of my few criticisms would be that sometimes things can seem abrupt. With constant new events and sometimes very rapid changes of scene I sometimes felt a little rushed. That said, there's no empty filler here - everything is significant.
It doesn't shy away from being a bit grim. There is beauty in Floating Worlds, but the order of the day is realpolitik. Paula is certainly a pragmatist at heart, and her view of people seems quite pessimistic, which will in turn influence how you view things as the reader. It's not dark for the sake of being dark, but it's not an uplifting tale by any means. I won't say much about the ending - I found it largely satisfactory, but the book is about the journey rather than the destination. I think I could have found the last couple of pages corrupted (or torn out of a physical book) and not been *too* disheartened.
When I started writing this, I was going to give Floating Worlds a 4, but having gathered my thoughts I think it's worth a 5. There are a lot of moments which stick in my mind, and I don't feel likely to forget Paula and her journeys any time soon.
The protagonist Paula is one of the Earth anarchists, and I found her to be a fascinating character. By turns ruthless, cunning, idealistic, ambitious, and more, she is a very compelling lead character. Her journey into Styth culture - initially as a diplomat, but soon as something else - is central to the story. Her loyalties to home, job, family and morals are constantly tested, even as she attempts to understand the Styths and their way of life.
Later the story shifts to focus on more wide ranging events as conflicts grow between the different powers within the solar system, but all seen from Paula's viewpoint. Decades pass in the course of the book, and one of my few criticisms would be that sometimes things can seem abrupt. With constant new events and sometimes very rapid changes of scene I sometimes felt a little rushed. That said, there's no empty filler here - everything is significant.
It doesn't shy away from being a bit grim. There is beauty in Floating Worlds, but the order of the day is realpolitik. Paula is certainly a pragmatist at heart, and her view of people seems quite pessimistic, which will in turn influence how you view things as the reader. It's not dark for the sake of being dark, but it's not an uplifting tale by any means. I won't say much about the ending - I found it largely satisfactory, but the book is about the journey rather than the destination. I think I could have found the last couple of pages corrupted (or torn out of a physical book) and not been *too* disheartened.
When I started writing this, I was going to give Floating Worlds a 4, but having gathered my thoughts I think it's worth a 5. There are a lot of moments which stick in my mind, and I don't feel likely to forget Paula and her journeys any time soon.
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