What do you think?
Rate this book
The Black Cloud
In 1964 a cloud of gas, of which there are a vast number in the Universe, approaches the solar system on a course that is predicted to bring it between the Sun and the Earth, shutting off the Sun's rays and causing incalculable changes on our planet.
The effect of this impending catastrophe on the scientists and politicians is convincingly described by Fred Hoyle, the leading Cambridge astronomer: so convincingly, in fact, that the reader feels that these events may actually happen. This is science fiction at its very highest level.
The effect of this impending catastrophe on the scientists and politicians is convincingly described by Fred Hoyle, the leading Cambridge astronomer: so convincingly, in fact, that the reader feels that these events may actually happen. This is science fiction at its very highest level.
219 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1957
206 people are currently reading
8564 people want to read
About the author
Fred Hoyle
117 books174 followersProfessor Sir Fred Hoyle was one of the most distinguished, creative, and controversial scientists of the twentieth century. He was a Fellow of St John’s College (1939-1972, Honorary Fellow 1973-2001), was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1957, held the Plumian Chair of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy (1958-1972), established the Institute of Theoretical Astronomy in Cambridge (now part of the Institute of Astronomy), and (in 1972) received a knighthood for his services to astronomy.
Hoyle was a keen mountain climber, an avid player of chess, a science fiction writer, a populariser of science, and the man who coined the phrase 'The Big Bang'.
Hoyle was a keen mountain climber, an avid player of chess, a science fiction writer, a populariser of science, and the man who coined the phrase 'The Big Bang'.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 608 reviews
March 28, 2014
This is the best geek wish-fulfillment fantasy I know, and I've also heard that it's Richard Dawkins's favorite science fiction novel. Make of that what you will.
It's The Future, as imagined in the late 50s, and by the time I read it the book was already feeling a bit dated. But, oddly enough, that only adds to its charm. Scientists discover a huge cloud of gas, heading directly for the solar system. When it arrives, it will blot out the Sun for months, creating the greatest natural catastrophe since the meteorite impact that killed the dinosaurs. Hoyle, as one would expect, gets all the details right; this is his home territory. I love the bit where they write a program to calculate the Cloud's position based on the gravitational effect it has on the orbits of the outer planets. Apparently, in this version of The Future, they haven't even invented Assembler yet, much less FORTRAN. As the Cloud gets closer, all sorts of interesting and unexpected things happen. I'm afraid I can't say any more without dropping major spoilers, but it's both imaginative and scientifically plausible. This is a classy disaster novel.
The disaster scenario is great, but the reason geeks love it so much is the main character. Kingsley is an absurdly idealized version of the author; brilliant astrophysicist, all-round polymath (he has great taste in classical music and reads Herodotus on the train), irresistible to women. If your partner is a geek with cultural pretensions and he hasn't come across The Black Cloud, get him a copy for his birthday. Then look him in the eyes and tell him you bought it because Kingsley reminded you so much of him. Trust me, this will pay off bigtime.
_________________________________________
Kragh's Cosmology and Controversy throws interesting light on this book. One reason Dawkins might have for liking it is that Hoyle was even more rabidly anti-religious than he is. And Hoyle sneaks in some propaganda for his favorite theory here too.
_________________________________________
Hoyle's autobiography, Home is Where the Wind Blows, contains many anecdotes I had never seen before. Here is one of the more startling ones:
It's The Future, as imagined in the late 50s, and by the time I read it the book was already feeling a bit dated. But, oddly enough, that only adds to its charm. Scientists discover a huge cloud of gas, heading directly for the solar system. When it arrives, it will blot out the Sun for months, creating the greatest natural catastrophe since the meteorite impact that killed the dinosaurs. Hoyle, as one would expect, gets all the details right; this is his home territory. I love the bit where they write a program to calculate the Cloud's position based on the gravitational effect it has on the orbits of the outer planets. Apparently, in this version of The Future, they haven't even invented Assembler yet, much less FORTRAN. As the Cloud gets closer, all sorts of interesting and unexpected things happen. I'm afraid I can't say any more without dropping major spoilers, but it's both imaginative and scientifically plausible. This is a classy disaster novel.
The disaster scenario is great, but the reason geeks love it so much is the main character. Kingsley is an absurdly idealized version of the author; brilliant astrophysicist, all-round polymath (he has great taste in classical music and reads Herodotus on the train), irresistible to women. If your partner is a geek with cultural pretensions and he hasn't come across The Black Cloud, get him a copy for his birthday. Then look him in the eyes and tell him you bought it because Kingsley reminded you so much of him. Trust me, this will pay off bigtime.
_________________________________________
Kragh's Cosmology and Controversy throws interesting light on this book. One reason Dawkins might have for liking it is that Hoyle was even more rabidly anti-religious than he is. And Hoyle sneaks in some propaganda for his favorite theory here too.
_________________________________________
Hoyle's autobiography, Home is Where the Wind Blows, contains many anecdotes I had never seen before. Here is one of the more startling ones:
One day, Wolfgang Pauli asked my wife and me to have lunch with him and his wife. "Ah ha!" he cackled, "I have just read your novel The Black Cloud. I thought it much better than your astronomical work." Pauli told me that he had studied The Black Cloud in some detail, together with the psychologist Jung, and, indeed, that Jung had written a critical essay on it. I didn't have the temerity to explain that I thought I was only writing a story.
September 27, 2022
Note : review is somewhat spoilerish
Back in the 1950s it was comforting to know that all difficult challenges to the future of the human race, such as from the obliteration of the sun by a drifting cloud from outer space causing a month long instant ice age preceded by Biblical floods, cataracts, typhoons, hurricanes and violent convulsions of nature, and the death of at least 750 million people, mostly in the tropical zones, could be mulled over, pondered upon and solved by English men sitting around an open fire in their “rooms” smoking pipes and decanting a decent whiskey fetched from the cellar by some offstage non-speaking role lackey.
Famous astronomer Fred Hoyle wrote the cosiest possible book in which a quarter of the human race dies horribly. This was his first novel and it seems that he wrote it before he read anyone else’s science fiction. It’s as if someone told him what science fiction was and then he thought he’d have a go at it in an idle moment, but he couldn’t quite remember what the guy had said. But well, he knew what fiction was, sort of, and he knew what science was all right, so he jammed them both together and Bob’s your uncle – lots of pages with daunting actual mathematical formulae festooned upon them, other pages with actual diagrams, and lots of smoke-wreathed conversations where blokes say to each other
It looks to me as though the volume of the cloud is roughly ten to the power of 40 cc. Its mass is about 1.3 times ten to the power of 30 gm which gives a density of 1.3 times ten to the power of minus 18 per cm cubed.
In one chapter they drone on about the ionisation of particular wavelengths for what seems like hours. They just don’t know how to have normal conversations. When one astronomer gets a little frosty with a politician he tells him off like this:
It seems a pity that you cannot display an equal penetration into matters with which you might more properly claim a less amateur acquaintance.
However, the whole thing cheers up immensely when the Black Cloud arrives and after many diagrams and formulae our bold hero astronomer (the only one who gets a girl) figures out that the cloud is sentient and intelligent and doesn’t mean to terminate life on earth, and – yes – therefore – it can talk!
So the astronomer and the cloud establish communications (don’t ask how, I skipped that bit) and they start having friendly conversations :
Astronomers: How old are you?
Cloud : Rather more than five hundred million years.
Astronomer : So….er… what do you clouds do for entertainment on Saturday night?
Back in the 1950s it was comforting to know that all difficult challenges to the future of the human race, such as from the obliteration of the sun by a drifting cloud from outer space causing a month long instant ice age preceded by Biblical floods, cataracts, typhoons, hurricanes and violent convulsions of nature, and the death of at least 750 million people, mostly in the tropical zones, could be mulled over, pondered upon and solved by English men sitting around an open fire in their “rooms” smoking pipes and decanting a decent whiskey fetched from the cellar by some offstage non-speaking role lackey.
Famous astronomer Fred Hoyle wrote the cosiest possible book in which a quarter of the human race dies horribly. This was his first novel and it seems that he wrote it before he read anyone else’s science fiction. It’s as if someone told him what science fiction was and then he thought he’d have a go at it in an idle moment, but he couldn’t quite remember what the guy had said. But well, he knew what fiction was, sort of, and he knew what science was all right, so he jammed them both together and Bob’s your uncle – lots of pages with daunting actual mathematical formulae festooned upon them, other pages with actual diagrams, and lots of smoke-wreathed conversations where blokes say to each other
It looks to me as though the volume of the cloud is roughly ten to the power of 40 cc. Its mass is about 1.3 times ten to the power of 30 gm which gives a density of 1.3 times ten to the power of minus 18 per cm cubed.
In one chapter they drone on about the ionisation of particular wavelengths for what seems like hours. They just don’t know how to have normal conversations. When one astronomer gets a little frosty with a politician he tells him off like this:
It seems a pity that you cannot display an equal penetration into matters with which you might more properly claim a less amateur acquaintance.
However, the whole thing cheers up immensely when the Black Cloud arrives and after many diagrams and formulae our bold hero astronomer (the only one who gets a girl) figures out that the cloud is sentient and intelligent and doesn’t mean to terminate life on earth, and – yes – therefore – it can talk!
So the astronomer and the cloud establish communications (don’t ask how, I skipped that bit) and they start having friendly conversations :
Astronomers: How old are you?
Cloud : Rather more than five hundred million years.
Astronomer : So….er… what do you clouds do for entertainment on Saturday night?
April 1, 2021
“We tend to give ourselves a pat on the back when we contemplate our successes, as if to say that the Universe is following our logic. But this is surely to put the cart before the horse. It isn’t the Universe that’s following our logic, it’s we that are constructed in accordance with the logic of the Universe. And that gives what I might call a definition of intelligent life: something that reflects the basic structure of the Universe.” (p. 172)
There may be two reasons Hoyle's classic has endured in the minds of sci-fi cognoscenti. The first is its premise: a mammoth interstellar cloud, moving at incredible speed and headed directly for Earth, is suddenly spotted by observatories around the world. Astronomers busy themselves with plotting its course and assessing all potential dangers. Getting an insider's view of how science happens is what gives this one its legs. The scientists squabble over their favorite theories, wrangling over this and that nicety, only relenting once a better argument is put forward. The fusion of exhaustive, authentic physics and stepwise logic elevates the traditional sci-fi trope of having experts solve existential crises to something memorable. In this respect, The Black Cloud (1957) is hard sci-fi at its best.
The other reason has to do with its central character, Christopher Kingsley, who turns out to be an almost absurdly obvious ectype of the author himself. Tetchy, confident, brilliant, hostile to authority and the sluggishness of Parliament—Kingsley is everything Fred Hoyle embodied throughout his illustrious yet controversial career. Hoyle was infamous for his heated disagreements with colleagues and gauche forays into other fields. Among the more high-profile blunders include his claims that sunspot activity causes flu epidemics and that the Archaeopteryx fossils (yes, all of them) were faked, to say nothing of his cosmological crotchets.
While many of Hoyle's ideas never panned out and were ultimately discontinued, there's no reason his fictive amalgam must walk the same path. Hoyle's Kingsley is a man of seemingly endless brilliance and rationality, a dispenser of insight and dry wit who leads his comrades out of their various intellectual quagmires. Any deference is in short reserve and is all but depleted in his dealings with the British government, for whose slow maneuverings he has little patience. When he refuses to truckle to the Prime Minister's demands, he's begrudgingly handed the red-carpet treatment. He and his team are furnished a state of the art facility called Nortonstowe secreted away in the highlands of South West England, a base of operations where they can study the Cloud away from the public's prying eyes.
Did I mention he's never wrong? An early chapter sees Kingsley scribbling out dense equations to chart the predicted trajectory of the Cloud. Other observatories come to the same conclusions, but Kingsley gets there first. When Kingsley proffers a rather screwy idea about the nature of the cloud to his colleagues, he is initially jeered before being vindicated by later observation.
The same fate cannot be recounted for Hoyle's attachment to steady state theory, an out-of-fashion idea which sees an eternally expanding but structurally static universe, one without beginning or end. In contrast with Kingsley, Hoyle clung to this idea in spite of the evidence, referring to the prevailing view as the "Big Bang" in a 1949 BBC broadcast. And so the man who coined the term for the prevailing theory of the universe's origin was also its most vocal critic—the irony heard 'round the world. Hoyle even sneaks in a few words during dialogue as if to remind us that perhaps, just perhaps, not all the evidence is in.
In a sense, Kingsley may best be thought of as the unimpeachable version of its author. The old adage might thus be revised as, 'when life gives you lemons, live vicariously through the characters in your books'.
Closing Thoughts
In the preface to his 1957 sci-fi classic, Hoyle requests that his colleagues allow him this excursus from the workaday pursuits that occupy most of his life. Had they known he was capable of delivering gems like A For Andromeda and The Black Cloud, I am sure they would have encouraged it all the more. What makes The Black Cloud in particular stand out among crowded company is its plausibility. As Hoyle notes, "there is very little here that could not conceivably happen." And of course it's the parts we can't presently conceive that will turn over in your imagination long after the story is through. While it's chock full of good science and thrilling possibility, it should be noted that there is very little in the way of character development. Most of the characters besides Kingsley are colorless, thinly drawn stand-ins—flat, stale and occasionally sexist. But if following heady, incisive chains of reasoning is your fancy, or you enjoy contemplating wonders at the outer edge of science, Hoyle's sci-fi debut is sure to satisfy.
Note: This review is republished from my official website.
There may be two reasons Hoyle's classic has endured in the minds of sci-fi cognoscenti. The first is its premise: a mammoth interstellar cloud, moving at incredible speed and headed directly for Earth, is suddenly spotted by observatories around the world. Astronomers busy themselves with plotting its course and assessing all potential dangers. Getting an insider's view of how science happens is what gives this one its legs. The scientists squabble over their favorite theories, wrangling over this and that nicety, only relenting once a better argument is put forward. The fusion of exhaustive, authentic physics and stepwise logic elevates the traditional sci-fi trope of having experts solve existential crises to something memorable. In this respect, The Black Cloud (1957) is hard sci-fi at its best.
The other reason has to do with its central character, Christopher Kingsley, who turns out to be an almost absurdly obvious ectype of the author himself. Tetchy, confident, brilliant, hostile to authority and the sluggishness of Parliament—Kingsley is everything Fred Hoyle embodied throughout his illustrious yet controversial career. Hoyle was infamous for his heated disagreements with colleagues and gauche forays into other fields. Among the more high-profile blunders include his claims that sunspot activity causes flu epidemics and that the Archaeopteryx fossils (yes, all of them) were faked, to say nothing of his cosmological crotchets.
While many of Hoyle's ideas never panned out and were ultimately discontinued, there's no reason his fictive amalgam must walk the same path. Hoyle's Kingsley is a man of seemingly endless brilliance and rationality, a dispenser of insight and dry wit who leads his comrades out of their various intellectual quagmires. Any deference is in short reserve and is all but depleted in his dealings with the British government, for whose slow maneuverings he has little patience. When he refuses to truckle to the Prime Minister's demands, he's begrudgingly handed the red-carpet treatment. He and his team are furnished a state of the art facility called Nortonstowe secreted away in the highlands of South West England, a base of operations where they can study the Cloud away from the public's prying eyes.
Did I mention he's never wrong? An early chapter sees Kingsley scribbling out dense equations to chart the predicted trajectory of the Cloud. Other observatories come to the same conclusions, but Kingsley gets there first. When Kingsley proffers a rather screwy idea about the nature of the cloud to his colleagues, he is initially jeered before being vindicated by later observation.
The same fate cannot be recounted for Hoyle's attachment to steady state theory, an out-of-fashion idea which sees an eternally expanding but structurally static universe, one without beginning or end. In contrast with Kingsley, Hoyle clung to this idea in spite of the evidence, referring to the prevailing view as the "Big Bang" in a 1949 BBC broadcast. And so the man who coined the term for the prevailing theory of the universe's origin was also its most vocal critic—the irony heard 'round the world. Hoyle even sneaks in a few words during dialogue as if to remind us that perhaps, just perhaps, not all the evidence is in.
In a sense, Kingsley may best be thought of as the unimpeachable version of its author. The old adage might thus be revised as, 'when life gives you lemons, live vicariously through the characters in your books'.
Closing Thoughts
In the preface to his 1957 sci-fi classic, Hoyle requests that his colleagues allow him this excursus from the workaday pursuits that occupy most of his life. Had they known he was capable of delivering gems like A For Andromeda and The Black Cloud, I am sure they would have encouraged it all the more. What makes The Black Cloud in particular stand out among crowded company is its plausibility. As Hoyle notes, "there is very little here that could not conceivably happen." And of course it's the parts we can't presently conceive that will turn over in your imagination long after the story is through. While it's chock full of good science and thrilling possibility, it should be noted that there is very little in the way of character development. Most of the characters besides Kingsley are colorless, thinly drawn stand-ins—flat, stale and occasionally sexist. But if following heady, incisive chains of reasoning is your fancy, or you enjoy contemplating wonders at the outer edge of science, Hoyle's sci-fi debut is sure to satisfy.
Note: This review is republished from my official website.
August 22, 2017
Too cool for old school sci fi ? I urge you to think again.
Fred Hoyle the author of this book was a renowned astronomer, cosmologist, writer and a broadcaster/tv personality.
The cloud arrives blocking out the sun and causing devastating almost cataclysmic events on earth. But these are only told as an incidental part of the story, the main narrative is regarding the contact and eventual communication with the invader.
There is a lot of science in this book and some of it is mind boggling but there is also an interesting story. The writing is very much of its time and the characters and the relationships are not fully explored but all in all I'm glad I read it. There is an afterword by Richard Dawkins who says it is "one of the greatest works of science fiction ever written". I don't agree with Mr Dawkins but there's 'nowt' new in that!
I'll finish with a thought provoking quote from the end of the book.. "Do we want to remain big people in a tiny world or become little people in a vaster world"
3.5*
Fred Hoyle the author of this book was a renowned astronomer, cosmologist, writer and a broadcaster/tv personality.
The cloud arrives blocking out the sun and causing devastating almost cataclysmic events on earth. But these are only told as an incidental part of the story, the main narrative is regarding the contact and eventual communication with the invader.
There is a lot of science in this book and some of it is mind boggling but there is also an interesting story. The writing is very much of its time and the characters and the relationships are not fully explored but all in all I'm glad I read it. There is an afterword by Richard Dawkins who says it is "one of the greatest works of science fiction ever written". I don't agree with Mr Dawkins but there's 'nowt' new in that!
I'll finish with a thought provoking quote from the end of the book.. "Do we want to remain big people in a tiny world or become little people in a vaster world"
3.5*
June 12, 2010
Honestly, just skip the maths, forget it's got too much science and not enough sex. It's brilliant. It might be a boy's book, I know a couple now who keep it by their bed, but I found it unputdownable.
The interaction with other intelligent life is very moving. The politics felt real.
I wonder what would happen if everybody in the world had to read this, just to get a glimpse of what catastrophic climate change would be like. Maybe it would make us even more complacent, since in the the story itself everything sorts itself out relatively quickly. I don't know...
The interaction with other intelligent life is very moving. The politics felt real.
I wonder what would happen if everybody in the world had to read this, just to get a glimpse of what catastrophic climate change would be like. Maybe it would make us even more complacent, since in the the story itself everything sorts itself out relatively quickly. I don't know...
September 7, 2024
3.5 stars after this reading my third time.
I had read this story for the first time way back in 1996, a time when I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy books from several authors. This was primarily because my access had changed from a small town to one of the flashiest developing cities in India at that time pursuing higher studies. I had discovered Sapna, then probably one of the largest bookstores in India and I spend a lot of time in my weekends exploring authors. With no CCTV then, one could browse for hours without much disturbance and once I became a regular, the staff would leave me alone too.
Fred Hoyle is first and foremost a scientist and is credited for coining the name Big Bang, for the theory which he was lifelong against.
This story is symptomatic of a scientist with the technology and processes explained in great detail and on occasions simplified or what I would derogatively say dumbed down for the readers. This story is a true precursor to Carl Sagan's Contact which was made into a movie with Jodie Foster and talked of first contact.
This is a riveting story of first contact with an alien intelligence and is a superb story except when the author tries to push his own theories to the forefront and keeps berating the opposition. The mathematical principles used in conjunction with astronomy is top notch and beyond the means of most readers to understand except accepting that it has to be in the right direction. Some of the dialogues between the top brains gets loopy and beyond comprehension unless you look up and research each and every reference.
Scientists ride rough shod over politicians in this one thereby getting one up for the nerds in all of us.
Despite the change in technology and many obsolete tech used here the story still packs a punch except at the very end where it ends a bit tamely.
The realism of the story cannot be denied and applauded and the way governments think is aptly described.
Great enjoyment and a true blue hard science fiction book.
I had read this story for the first time way back in 1996, a time when I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy books from several authors. This was primarily because my access had changed from a small town to one of the flashiest developing cities in India at that time pursuing higher studies. I had discovered Sapna, then probably one of the largest bookstores in India and I spend a lot of time in my weekends exploring authors. With no CCTV then, one could browse for hours without much disturbance and once I became a regular, the staff would leave me alone too.
Fred Hoyle is first and foremost a scientist and is credited for coining the name Big Bang, for the theory which he was lifelong against.
This story is symptomatic of a scientist with the technology and processes explained in great detail and on occasions simplified or what I would derogatively say dumbed down for the readers. This story is a true precursor to Carl Sagan's Contact which was made into a movie with Jodie Foster and talked of first contact.
This is a riveting story of first contact with an alien intelligence and is a superb story except when the author tries to push his own theories to the forefront and keeps berating the opposition. The mathematical principles used in conjunction with astronomy is top notch and beyond the means of most readers to understand except accepting that it has to be in the right direction. Some of the dialogues between the top brains gets loopy and beyond comprehension unless you look up and research each and every reference.
Scientists ride rough shod over politicians in this one thereby getting one up for the nerds in all of us.
Despite the change in technology and many obsolete tech used here the story still packs a punch except at the very end where it ends a bit tamely.
The realism of the story cannot be denied and applauded and the way governments think is aptly described.
Great enjoyment and a true blue hard science fiction book.
May 2, 2025
A fiction book written by a scientist, giving it an oddly clinical feel. There's a lot of death and destruction, both large scale and personal, but it is all dealt with pragmatically and without much emotion, including main characters who disappear with a matter of fact statement. Illuminating in the process of how scientists would react to a situation as opposed to eg. politicians. A curious, interesting read.
June 25, 2010
3.5 stars. Really good classic hard science fiction story, though the predictions of the future at the time now make the story come across a little like pulp sf. Nonetheless, this is a well written story with an interesting plot that I thought was very enjoyable. If your looking for a classic scifi read, you could do a lot worse.
May 15, 2016
I really liked the beginning to mid part of this book because it tackles a very interesting and novel idea for alien species. It goes far beyond little green men, and I admire that. Also, Hoyle was a physicist and this makes the book much better than what you'd read from any random sci-fi popular science wannabe who does some "research" for few months. The world needs more scientists turned authors. The book also (Gasp!) contains math in between prose. Awesome.
March 22, 2024
A lost classic!
This is a rock solid slab of hard SF from the 50’s. The author was an astrophysicist and included diagrams and calculations detailing the movements and effects of the cloud.
Even though this is science fiction it feels like historical fiction at times because of how detailed and accurate his descriptions of the workings of computers in the late 50s was. These machines were state of the art at the time but a room sized, vacuum tube computer with its punch card inputs and ticker tape outputs seems like ancient history.
Without spoilers the concept of the cloud and its effects is really interesting and well thought out, the reactions of the world’s governments probably wouldn’t have been far off either.
Considering how short the book was it had an epic scale and only suffered slightly from a lack of character development.
This is a rock solid slab of hard SF from the 50’s. The author was an astrophysicist and included diagrams and calculations detailing the movements and effects of the cloud.
Even though this is science fiction it feels like historical fiction at times because of how detailed and accurate his descriptions of the workings of computers in the late 50s was. These machines were state of the art at the time but a room sized, vacuum tube computer with its punch card inputs and ticker tape outputs seems like ancient history.
Without spoilers the concept of the cloud and its effects is really interesting and well thought out, the reactions of the world’s governments probably wouldn’t have been far off either.
Considering how short the book was it had an epic scale and only suffered slightly from a lack of character development.
January 17, 2011
I think it was Brian Aldiss who said: "Science fiction is no more written for scientists than ghost stories are written for ghosts." Well, that may be true of most science fiction but I think this is an exception. A science fiction book written by a scientist, for scientists. That is not to say you won't enjoy it unless you are a scientist, I'm certainly not, but you may get an additional kick out of it if you are.
There's something about English SF written in the 50's, a somewhat old fashioned, genteel approach that is charming and quintissentially English. A style that disappeared in the 60's with the advent of New Wave and a more modern styling prevailed. There's something about this style that I find pleasing, as I did with John Wyndham and John Christopher. Perhaps it's the clear, consise prose and the characters of integrity and principle, of a bygone age before exploring their flaws became the predominate focus?
In this book there's an impending cosmic phenomenon descending on our solar system that could be devestating for life on earth. The scientists have detected it, are going to go on finding out about it's nature and in their capable hands the fate of humanity rests. And thanks to the protagonist Kingsley, who is willful and clever enough to stand up to the politicians, they will be the ones in charge, not the government.
One can't help wondering how much of himself the author saw in his leading character Kingsley. He's clever, decisive and insightful. Brave, selfless and plain talking. Not to mention popular with the ladies. In particular he has a great disdain for politicians, perhaps reflecting Hoyle's own experience in dealing with them?
The science of this book isn't generally too technical and can be skimmed without loosing much of the story if following through their thought processes and reasoning isn't your thing. At one point we see a footnote detailing the "simple" process by which they worked out how long the cloud would take to reach earth using calculous. But generally speaking there's enough of an interesting story and other ideas in here to keep your general SF reader interested.
There's something about English SF written in the 50's, a somewhat old fashioned, genteel approach that is charming and quintissentially English. A style that disappeared in the 60's with the advent of New Wave and a more modern styling prevailed. There's something about this style that I find pleasing, as I did with John Wyndham and John Christopher. Perhaps it's the clear, consise prose and the characters of integrity and principle, of a bygone age before exploring their flaws became the predominate focus?
In this book there's an impending cosmic phenomenon descending on our solar system that could be devestating for life on earth. The scientists have detected it, are going to go on finding out about it's nature and in their capable hands the fate of humanity rests. And thanks to the protagonist Kingsley, who is willful and clever enough to stand up to the politicians, they will be the ones in charge, not the government.
One can't help wondering how much of himself the author saw in his leading character Kingsley. He's clever, decisive and insightful. Brave, selfless and plain talking. Not to mention popular with the ladies. In particular he has a great disdain for politicians, perhaps reflecting Hoyle's own experience in dealing with them?
The science of this book isn't generally too technical and can be skimmed without loosing much of the story if following through their thought processes and reasoning isn't your thing. At one point we see a footnote detailing the "simple" process by which they worked out how long the cloud would take to reach earth using calculous. But generally speaking there's enough of an interesting story and other ideas in here to keep your general SF reader interested.
September 11, 2024
This is only the second time that I have attempted to read science fiction, the first one having ended in disaster with Isaac Asimov's Foundation series #1.
Part of the reason being that science fiction novels tend to literally and metaphorically shoot for the stars, but we as human beings will always be bounded by limitations - and therefore the notions of grandeur fall flat and the whole thing becomes a little funny.
Black Cloud wasn't that bad. It is infact a pretty well written story - with the premise of sentient alien life existing in the form a gaseous cloud - at its heart. The concept has been used in Star Trek too, and its a leap worthy of science fiction for sure. Fred Hoyle did good justice to it - the story succeeds whenever humans find themselves on the verge of a discovery in this story, but it falls flat when it comes to building characters, or showing any real care for humanity - which might come across as the biggest surprise. And which ultimately, makes the story fall short of being a true classic.
Still, anyone with an interest in space exploration, cosmology, alien lifeforms and just good old fun of scientific exploration and deduction will find a whole lot to entertain themselves in here.
Part of the reason being that science fiction novels tend to literally and metaphorically shoot for the stars, but we as human beings will always be bounded by limitations - and therefore the notions of grandeur fall flat and the whole thing becomes a little funny.
Black Cloud wasn't that bad. It is infact a pretty well written story - with the premise of sentient alien life existing in the form a gaseous cloud - at its heart. The concept has been used in Star Trek too, and its a leap worthy of science fiction for sure. Fred Hoyle did good justice to it - the story succeeds whenever humans find themselves on the verge of a discovery in this story, but it falls flat when it comes to building characters, or showing any real care for humanity - which might come across as the biggest surprise. And which ultimately, makes the story fall short of being a true classic.
Still, anyone with an interest in space exploration, cosmology, alien lifeforms and just good old fun of scientific exploration and deduction will find a whole lot to entertain themselves in here.
March 3, 2016
A mysterious cosmic phenomenon is detected. An unscrupulous scientist lies to and bullies political leaders until he gets to create a society of super-scientists, ruled by himself and independent of any governmental oversight. By the time his lies about the consequences of the phenomenon (he predicted the end of the world, not entirely accurately) become apparent, he has kidnapped the Prime Minister and managed to arrange things so that he is, basically, Dictator Of The World, and only a few tens of millions of people died in the process.
Now, that sounds as if it could be a good, though extremely bleak, read. However, that's not quite how things work in 'The Black Cloud'. For one thing, Mr Dictator is the hero. For another thing, we are meant to sympathise with his view that the people and their elected representatives should have no place in government because, well, they're not scientists like him and his mates, are they? A position that the author clearly endorses.
Welcome to the strange world of Fred Hoyle, denier of evolution, the big bang, and most forms of rationality. Just to add to the mess, not only is this book basically a nasty little quasi-fascist tract on the basic superiority of the 'scientist' (and the obvious inferiority of women), but those scientists who are out last best hope are so utterly, utterly full of themselves that they fail to spot the fact that should have been obvious from the outset: if a cosmic 'thing' just happens to be perfectly aimed at the Earth, in spite of having originated outside of the Solar System, it is most likely that it is not simply the workings of chance. In other words, as Arthur C Clarke correctly observed in 'Rendezvous with Rama' - there are aliens at work. Hoyle's super-scientists are, however, better than you, me and Clarke: they know there are no aliens, so they feel quite happy to ignore the observational evidence that contradicts their pet theories for, oh, about 130 pages.
Now add in that the whole thing is stupendously boring. It consists of long, long scenes of scientists indulging in talking scientific shop. At one point, we even get a footnote so we can follow the equations being written on a blackboard! There's no drama, no movement, just endless discussion of what happens when two masses of gas hit one another while moving quite fast, or what ionising radiation is, or why it can't be aliens driving the thingy, despite it slowing down and parking itself by the Sun.
So is it, as the blurb says 'SF at its highest level'? No, it's the badly written fantasy of a nasty little man, who couldn't bear the thought that he didn't get to rule the world, and thought that women were basically stupid and fit only to make coffee and be the objects of sexual harassment.
Flee from it. Flee like a little, frightened child.
Now, that sounds as if it could be a good, though extremely bleak, read. However, that's not quite how things work in 'The Black Cloud'. For one thing, Mr Dictator is the hero. For another thing, we are meant to sympathise with his view that the people and their elected representatives should have no place in government because, well, they're not scientists like him and his mates, are they? A position that the author clearly endorses.
Welcome to the strange world of Fred Hoyle, denier of evolution, the big bang, and most forms of rationality. Just to add to the mess, not only is this book basically a nasty little quasi-fascist tract on the basic superiority of the 'scientist' (and the obvious inferiority of women), but those scientists who are out last best hope are so utterly, utterly full of themselves that they fail to spot the fact that should have been obvious from the outset: if a cosmic 'thing' just happens to be perfectly aimed at the Earth, in spite of having originated outside of the Solar System, it is most likely that it is not simply the workings of chance. In other words, as Arthur C Clarke correctly observed in 'Rendezvous with Rama' - there are aliens at work. Hoyle's super-scientists are, however, better than you, me and Clarke: they know there are no aliens, so they feel quite happy to ignore the observational evidence that contradicts their pet theories for, oh, about 130 pages.
Now add in that the whole thing is stupendously boring. It consists of long, long scenes of scientists indulging in talking scientific shop. At one point, we even get a footnote so we can follow the equations being written on a blackboard! There's no drama, no movement, just endless discussion of what happens when two masses of gas hit one another while moving quite fast, or what ionising radiation is, or why it can't be aliens driving the thingy, despite it slowing down and parking itself by the Sun.
So is it, as the blurb says 'SF at its highest level'? No, it's the badly written fantasy of a nasty little man, who couldn't bear the thought that he didn't get to rule the world, and thought that women were basically stupid and fit only to make coffee and be the objects of sexual harassment.
Flee from it. Flee like a little, frightened child.
February 29, 2024
Cóż za wspaniałe hard sci fi! Po epizodzie zastoju czytelniczego ta książka siadła tak dobrze jako lodołamacz i przypomniała mi, dlaczego sci fi to zdecydowanie mój ulubiony gatunek. W tej książce jest wszystko - trochę humoru, sporo nauki, ciekawa historia, różnorodni bohaterowie, przy jednoczesnym braku nudy i przegadania.
Ciężko uwierzyć, że hard sci fi napisany niemal 70 lat temu (1957) nadal będzie wychodził obronną ręką z opowiadania historii, w której tak ważną rolę gra nauka. A jednak! Mocno widać tu fakt, że książka była pisana przez naukowca, co dodaje powieści wiarygodności.
Kocham też język, którym napisana jest ta książka - język totalnie brytyjskiej uprzejmości, jakby niemal żywcem wyrwany z lat 50. ubiegłego wieku, bynajmniej nie brzmiący dziwnie dla uszu współczesnego czytelnika.
Zakończenie wybiło mnie z butów, szczękę zbierałam z podłogi, a mózg stwierdził, że kapituluje i wywalił 404 nie chcąc przyjąć tego, co się wydarzyło.
Oczywiście są też wady - bohaterowie mimo swojej wyrazistości nie są zbyt wielowymiarowi, bywają stereotypowi, nauka jest przedstawiana głównie z perspektywy teoretycznej, arena polityczna ówczesnego świata jest podejrzanie zbyt spokojna, a wydarzenia lecą na łeb na szyję. Ale hej, bawiłam się świetnie i książka na pewno trafia do moich ulubionych.
***
Mała notka: w wersji fizycznej książki zdarzają się wzory, rysunki i tabele, które z oczywistych względów nie zawsze są możliwe od odczytania w audio, a dodają fajnych smaczków - można np. zobaczyć co też któryś z naukowców nabazgrał na tablicy.
***
Siedzi mi w głowie porównanie do innej książki hard sci fi, jednak już samo porównanie spojlowałoby obie książki, więc z bólem serca muszę odpuścić.
***
Sponsorem odcinka jest 🦚 Pafeu 🦚, od którego tę cudowną książkę dostałam w prezencie ❤️🔥
Ciężko uwierzyć, że hard sci fi napisany niemal 70 lat temu (1957) nadal będzie wychodził obronną ręką z opowiadania historii, w której tak ważną rolę gra nauka. A jednak! Mocno widać tu fakt, że książka była pisana przez naukowca, co dodaje powieści wiarygodności.
Kocham też język, którym napisana jest ta książka - język totalnie brytyjskiej uprzejmości, jakby niemal żywcem wyrwany z lat 50. ubiegłego wieku, bynajmniej nie brzmiący dziwnie dla uszu współczesnego czytelnika.
Zakończenie wybiło mnie z butów, szczękę zbierałam z podłogi, a mózg stwierdził, że kapituluje i wywalił 404 nie chcąc przyjąć tego, co się wydarzyło.
Oczywiście są też wady - bohaterowie mimo swojej wyrazistości nie są zbyt wielowymiarowi, bywają stereotypowi, nauka jest przedstawiana głównie z perspektywy teoretycznej, arena polityczna ówczesnego świata jest podejrzanie zbyt spokojna, a wydarzenia lecą na łeb na szyję. Ale hej, bawiłam się świetnie i książka na pewno trafia do moich ulubionych.
***
Mała notka: w wersji fizycznej książki zdarzają się wzory, rysunki i tabele, które z oczywistych względów nie zawsze są możliwe od odczytania w audio, a dodają fajnych smaczków - można np. zobaczyć co też któryś z naukowców nabazgrał na tablicy.
***
Siedzi mi w głowie porównanie do innej książki hard sci fi, jednak już samo porównanie spojlowałoby obie książki, więc z bólem serca muszę odpuścić.
***
Sponsorem odcinka jest 🦚 Pafeu 🦚, od którego tę cudowną książkę dostałam w prezencie ❤️🔥
January 16, 2024
Kara Bulut, dünyanın sürüklendiği felaketlere yaklaşımıyla farklı bir kitap. Fred Hoyle bir bilim insanı. Süpernova nükleosentezi çalışmaları fizikte çok ilgi çekmiş. Haliyle bu romanı da gelecek için bir olasılık mı yoksa şeklinde yorumlanmış.
Roman bir gözlemevinde çalışmaya başlayan araştırmacının, gözlemlerinde bir tür tuhaflık olduğunu fark etmesiyle başlıyor. İncelediğinde gezegen ve yıldızların yerinde olmadığını fark eder. Devam eden çalışmalarla gök cisimlerinin kaybolmadığı bir tür bulut tarafından kaplanıp görülmediği ortaya çıkıyor. Hatta bulut dünyayı etkileyecek şekilde yayılıyor. Kitabın bu kısmının okuru zorlayacağını hatta biraz sıkacağını söylemem gerek. Hoyle biliminsanı olduğu için teknik bilgilerden sakınmamış. Kimya ve fiziğin kullanıldığı teknik detaylarla süslenen bir açılış var. Bu kısımdan sonra kurgu yükselişe geçiyor.
Dünyanın birçok yerinden biliminsanının katıldığı bir heyet kuruluyor. Biliminsanları birçok soru ortaya atar ve cevaplamaya çalışır. Bulutun ısısı, bileşenleri, kapladığı ortama etkileri, kapladığı yerdeki kalış süresi gibi birçok temel soru vardır. Buluta dair bilimsel sorunlar dışında bir de siyasal sorunlar çıkar.
Politikacılar ve halkın kapıldığı paniği başarılı bir şekilde kurguluyor Hoyle. Kitap 1950’de yazılıyor. Soğuk Savaş’ın etkisiyle distopya ve bilimkurgu romanlarında ABD- Sovyet gerilimi sıkça işlenmeye başlanıyor. Birçok roman ortaya çıkan felaketler ve siyasi rejimlerin tepkileri üzerine kuruluyor. Kara Bulut da döneminin bu materyallerini kullanıyor; dikta rejimi denen Rusya, dünyadışı organizma, sözde demokrasiler. Ama romanı özel kılan çağdaşlarından farklı yaklaşımı. Batı’da insanlığı tehdit eden şey komünizm olur genelde. Hemen her felaket komünizmi temsil eder. Kara Bulut’ta da işler çığrından çıkınca bulutun Sovyetleri temsil edeceğini düşündüm ama yanıldım. Hoyle bunun aksine insanlığın verdiği sınavı daha bütüncül ele alıyor. Bilimle çarpışan politikaya eleştirisi, Batı’yı aklamaktan ötesine gidiyor. Bazı karakterleriyle yakaladığı mizahı da tüm teknik detayların ve eleştirilerin içinde solmadan kendini gösteriyor. Finalinde de okura verdiği umudu da sevdim. Richard Dawkins’in en sevdiği bilimkurgu romanıymış, bir sonsöz yazarak da saygısını sunmuş. Kitabı daha önce duymamıştım, pek ünlü olduğu söylenemez. Beklemediğim ölçüde iyi bir roman, herkese öneririm.
Roman bir gözlemevinde çalışmaya başlayan araştırmacının, gözlemlerinde bir tür tuhaflık olduğunu fark etmesiyle başlıyor. İncelediğinde gezegen ve yıldızların yerinde olmadığını fark eder. Devam eden çalışmalarla gök cisimlerinin kaybolmadığı bir tür bulut tarafından kaplanıp görülmediği ortaya çıkıyor. Hatta bulut dünyayı etkileyecek şekilde yayılıyor. Kitabın bu kısmının okuru zorlayacağını hatta biraz sıkacağını söylemem gerek. Hoyle biliminsanı olduğu için teknik bilgilerden sakınmamış. Kimya ve fiziğin kullanıldığı teknik detaylarla süslenen bir açılış var. Bu kısımdan sonra kurgu yükselişe geçiyor.
Dünyanın birçok yerinden biliminsanının katıldığı bir heyet kuruluyor. Biliminsanları birçok soru ortaya atar ve cevaplamaya çalışır. Bulutun ısısı, bileşenleri, kapladığı ortama etkileri, kapladığı yerdeki kalış süresi gibi birçok temel soru vardır. Buluta dair bilimsel sorunlar dışında bir de siyasal sorunlar çıkar.
Politikacılar ve halkın kapıldığı paniği başarılı bir şekilde kurguluyor Hoyle. Kitap 1950’de yazılıyor. Soğuk Savaş’ın etkisiyle distopya ve bilimkurgu romanlarında ABD- Sovyet gerilimi sıkça işlenmeye başlanıyor. Birçok roman ortaya çıkan felaketler ve siyasi rejimlerin tepkileri üzerine kuruluyor. Kara Bulut da döneminin bu materyallerini kullanıyor; dikta rejimi denen Rusya, dünyadışı organizma, sözde demokrasiler. Ama romanı özel kılan çağdaşlarından farklı yaklaşımı. Batı’da insanlığı tehdit eden şey komünizm olur genelde. Hemen her felaket komünizmi temsil eder. Kara Bulut’ta da işler çığrından çıkınca bulutun Sovyetleri temsil edeceğini düşündüm ama yanıldım. Hoyle bunun aksine insanlığın verdiği sınavı daha bütüncül ele alıyor. Bilimle çarpışan politikaya eleştirisi, Batı’yı aklamaktan ötesine gidiyor. Bazı karakterleriyle yakaladığı mizahı da tüm teknik detayların ve eleştirilerin içinde solmadan kendini gösteriyor. Finalinde de okura verdiği umudu da sevdim. Richard Dawkins’in en sevdiği bilimkurgu romanıymış, bir sonsöz yazarak da saygısını sunmuş. Kitabı daha önce duymamıştım, pek ünlü olduğu söylenemez. Beklemediğim ölçüde iyi bir roman, herkese öneririm.
October 12, 2013
The lengthy scientific discussions in this book often read more like a 1950's boys' own Oxbridge seminar than a novel, while its detached depictions of apocalyptic conditions on Earth were rather less dramatic than the average news bulletin. However, the fundamental narrative arc was fascinating, the characters in the main deftly sketched and delineated, and the central premise - the radical nature of a dense black cloud making a beeline for the sun - when at last exposed, justifies the wait. I didn't find the book as mesmerising as Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama, because it was far less visual in impact. But its reflections on the potential varieties of intelligent life in the Universe, and its affectionate portrayal of a group of eccentric scientists attempting to align themselves with a cosmic moral compass, give it the feel of a SF classic. I also enjoyed the caustic asides about politicians, and the keen defense of transparency and information sharing. Women scientists and musicians get a look-in, even, though are expected to make the coffee . . .
January 11, 2021
Primo 5 stelle dell'anno, e siamo solo all'11 gennaio!
Speriamo in bene, perché il 2020 è stato medio basso anche come letture.
Da dove inizio? Fare una recensione entusiasta è sempre più difficile che farne una negativa.
Posso dire che sono arrivata a 2/3 quasi in apnea. Il narratore non è onniscente: scopriamo l'evoluzione della nuvola insieme agli astronomi e a tutti i colleghi. Insieme a loro cerchiamo di opporci, in verità senza troppa fatica, alle pretese politiche.
Che altro? E' scritto benissimo e la parte tecnologica, per quanto obsoleta, riesce a trasmettere l'entusiasmo di persone che lavorano insieme per risolvere un problema.
Nell'ultima parte si toccano anche filosofia e religione, sempre riconoscendo la logica e la razionalità come qualità superiori. L'epilogo non può che far sorridere.
Speriamo in bene, perché il 2020 è stato medio basso anche come letture.
Da dove inizio? Fare una recensione entusiasta è sempre più difficile che farne una negativa.
Posso dire che sono arrivata a 2/3 quasi in apnea. Il narratore non è onniscente: scopriamo l'evoluzione della nuvola insieme agli astronomi e a tutti i colleghi. Insieme a loro cerchiamo di opporci, in verità senza troppa fatica, alle pretese politiche.
Che altro? E' scritto benissimo e la parte tecnologica, per quanto obsoleta, riesce a trasmettere l'entusiasmo di persone che lavorano insieme per risolvere un problema.
Nell'ultima parte si toccano anche filosofia e religione, sempre riconoscendo la logica e la razionalità come qualità superiori. L'epilogo non può che far sorridere.
March 4, 2021
Didn't expect a sci-fi could produce that kind of punch even after six decades!!!
October 29, 2023
A science fiction story written in the 1960s by an eminent scientist of the time called Fred Hoyle who was renowned for his bluntness - or rudeness if you prefer - which might have cost him a Nobel Prize.
This is a story about a black cloud which is heading directly for the sun in our solar system. It's first noticed in the USA and in Britain and so the authorities decide to coordinate their response to this phenomenon by concentrating the Earth's response to this cloud in one place, called Nortonstowe in The Cotswolds.
The book shows how scientists think and explains a number of scientific principles. An objection I have in this area, is that the female scientists seem to be relegated to the role of making the coffee and raising 'obtuse' issues with the theories the male scientists provide.
The hero or anti-hero is a scientist called Chris Kingsley, perhaps modelled on Hoyle himself, who is abrasive and becomes more fanatical as the book progresses.
It turns out the cloud is an intelligent life form which causes excessive heat and excessive cold, rain, snow, flooding, and fires as it passes over The Earth, blocks off all sunlight for a month, and then forms a circle around the sun. The cloud is using the sun to restore its energy levels.
The Nortonstowe scientists communicate with the cloud and when it offers to provide them with knowledge of our universe that humanity doesn't yet appreciate, two of the scientists die when the amount of information proves too much for their brains to process. This information is referred to as 'Deep Problems' and does show how much scientists still have to learn about the universe and its creation. The cloud does reveal that similar entities to itself do exist in other parts of the universe and they are in regular contact with each other.
The scientists keep the governments of the world in the dark and the politicians decide to send 150 hydrogen bombs via rockets to destroy the cloud. The scientists find out about this plan and inform the cloud, which reverses the trajectory of the rockets so that they land back on earth, wiping out a number of cities and causing millions of deaths.
Eventually, the cloud decides to leave the solar system to try and find a fellow intelligence close by, which has communicated that it now knows the secret of how the universe began. Apparently, this has happened before with similar intelligences, but after revealing this solution to the creation of everything, those intelligences disappeared, so the cloud has to make haste to try and find this intelligence before it too disappears.
The inference is that something is seeking out and destroying these intelligences before they can pass on their findings.
The cloud leaves and the battered Earth, minus about a third of its human population and most plant and animal life on land, must find a way to rebuild itself.
The ending leaves the possibility that humans in the future can communicate with the cloud and obtain the information we're missing on our understanding of our universe.
This is a story about a black cloud which is heading directly for the sun in our solar system. It's first noticed in the USA and in Britain and so the authorities decide to coordinate their response to this phenomenon by concentrating the Earth's response to this cloud in one place, called Nortonstowe in The Cotswolds.
The book shows how scientists think and explains a number of scientific principles. An objection I have in this area, is that the female scientists seem to be relegated to the role of making the coffee and raising 'obtuse' issues with the theories the male scientists provide.
The hero or anti-hero is a scientist called Chris Kingsley, perhaps modelled on Hoyle himself, who is abrasive and becomes more fanatical as the book progresses.
It turns out the cloud is an intelligent life form which causes excessive heat and excessive cold, rain, snow, flooding, and fires as it passes over The Earth, blocks off all sunlight for a month, and then forms a circle around the sun. The cloud is using the sun to restore its energy levels.
The Nortonstowe scientists communicate with the cloud and when it offers to provide them with knowledge of our universe that humanity doesn't yet appreciate, two of the scientists die when the amount of information proves too much for their brains to process. This information is referred to as 'Deep Problems' and does show how much scientists still have to learn about the universe and its creation. The cloud does reveal that similar entities to itself do exist in other parts of the universe and they are in regular contact with each other.
The scientists keep the governments of the world in the dark and the politicians decide to send 150 hydrogen bombs via rockets to destroy the cloud. The scientists find out about this plan and inform the cloud, which reverses the trajectory of the rockets so that they land back on earth, wiping out a number of cities and causing millions of deaths.
Eventually, the cloud decides to leave the solar system to try and find a fellow intelligence close by, which has communicated that it now knows the secret of how the universe began. Apparently, this has happened before with similar intelligences, but after revealing this solution to the creation of everything, those intelligences disappeared, so the cloud has to make haste to try and find this intelligence before it too disappears.
The inference is that something is seeking out and destroying these intelligences before they can pass on their findings.
The cloud leaves and the battered Earth, minus about a third of its human population and most plant and animal life on land, must find a way to rebuild itself.
The ending leaves the possibility that humans in the future can communicate with the cloud and obtain the information we're missing on our understanding of our universe.
January 16, 2024
Like Dragon's Egg by Robert L Forward, The Black Cloud was definitely written by a scientist. What I mean by that is the narrative feels like 3 parts science to one part fiction. That's not inherently a bad thing, as there are plenty of other books in that vein that I've enjoyed much more than this one. 2001 by Clark had probably about the same ratio, but what it did with the fiction portion was much more compelling. Sure, Dave and Frank weren't the most fully fleshed characters, but they were just deep enough for me to care about what happened to them. By the end of 2001, my brain was reeling with all the implications and trying to comprehend the bigger picture. There is nothing of that sort for me in The Black Cloud.
About halfway through the book I stopped trying to even differentiate between the characters. Nearly every character in the book is a scientist and there is very little about them to make them stand apart from each other. There are pages of dialogue that is just various scientists bouncing problems and solutions off of each other and they all speak with nearly the same voice. The dialogue is like: "Well, that's all great, but then what about THIS problem?" "Well I thought about that as well and here are the solutions I've come up with:
A)....
B)....
C)...."
When the title subject of the story is actually encountered by the characters, there is no sense of awe or wonder. It is merely more problem solving and equations. I'm sure a lot of scientists look at the world exactly this way and Mr. Hoyle was clearly one of them (as is Richard Dawkins apparently, citing this as his favorite science fiction book), but there are plenty of physicists and astrophysicists and scientists of every persuasion who would see something as grand as a cloud the size of Earth's orbit and think of more than just math. Plenty of people would look at that and think, "this is incredible. How will we look at the universe differently now because of it?"
I'd say "now let's get to the positives," but I hesitate to call any of that an actual negative. It was just the author's voice and he wrote the book through the lens of how he would have seen this particular situation. It may have hindered my enjoyment a bit, but that doesn't mean I would rather the book not have been written. The overall idea of the story is pretty incredible and I can see snippets of its influence in a lot of other sci-fi (Star Trek the Motion Picture maybe?) It was worth 200 pages, but I gladly would have read another 50-100 pages to pad the story with a little more character flavor and some good philosophical implications rather than just cold facts.
2.5/5 (up to 3)
About halfway through the book I stopped trying to even differentiate between the characters. Nearly every character in the book is a scientist and there is very little about them to make them stand apart from each other. There are pages of dialogue that is just various scientists bouncing problems and solutions off of each other and they all speak with nearly the same voice. The dialogue is like: "Well, that's all great, but then what about THIS problem?" "Well I thought about that as well and here are the solutions I've come up with:
A)....
B)....
C)...."
When the title subject of the story is actually encountered by the characters, there is no sense of awe or wonder. It is merely more problem solving and equations. I'm sure a lot of scientists look at the world exactly this way and Mr. Hoyle was clearly one of them (as is Richard Dawkins apparently, citing this as his favorite science fiction book), but there are plenty of physicists and astrophysicists and scientists of every persuasion who would see something as grand as a cloud the size of Earth's orbit and think of more than just math. Plenty of people would look at that and think, "this is incredible. How will we look at the universe differently now because of it?"
I'd say "now let's get to the positives," but I hesitate to call any of that an actual negative. It was just the author's voice and he wrote the book through the lens of how he would have seen this particular situation. It may have hindered my enjoyment a bit, but that doesn't mean I would rather the book not have been written. The overall idea of the story is pretty incredible and I can see snippets of its influence in a lot of other sci-fi (Star Trek the Motion Picture maybe?) It was worth 200 pages, but I gladly would have read another 50-100 pages to pad the story with a little more character flavor and some good philosophical implications rather than just cold facts.
2.5/5 (up to 3)
January 1, 2018
Will we be able to accept truth? Will truth be too profound, too overwhelming, too against our beliefs for us to accept it? Will we be sceptical about truth?
And what happens once we've acquired this truth? Do we still go on living? Or do we accept death coz there's nothing in life beyond truth. How will truth change society? Will they be too immature to accept it? Will they still live in the bubble of religion and law and society which they've created for themselves? Or will they realise that this universe is much bigger than us and our miserably insignificant lives! How much nihilism will penetrate into society in a post-truth era? How individualistic will truth be? Will those who haven't experienced/ known truth, be happier than those who have?
Read the black cloud if such questions interest you.
This book is fantastic.
I nearly teared up because the characters and their fates seemed so relatable!
If you haven't watched contact and arrival, watch it too. They've got a similar theme, feel.
Yes, this book is 'hard' scifi. It explains its science. It questions theories and hypothesis. It emphasises the scientific method and doesn't portray scientists as megalomaniacs who only do science to build technology. It emphasises the role of knowledge and truth. It has numbers and figures.
But it's more readable than most scifi out there.
Yes, Fred Hoyle didn't know much about biology, about reproduction, about natural selection. And his theories of a steady state universe and panspermia clearly influence his writing and leave many unanswered questions.
But this book isn't about any of it. It's about our willingness to accept our own insignificance when slapped in the face by irrefutable truth!
The book has some interesting political commentary, but none of that compares to its scientific commentary, it's detailed analysis of physics, the questions it poses, the answers it gives.
I rarely give 5 stars, but this surely deserves a five.
And what happens once we've acquired this truth? Do we still go on living? Or do we accept death coz there's nothing in life beyond truth. How will truth change society? Will they be too immature to accept it? Will they still live in the bubble of religion and law and society which they've created for themselves? Or will they realise that this universe is much bigger than us and our miserably insignificant lives! How much nihilism will penetrate into society in a post-truth era? How individualistic will truth be? Will those who haven't experienced/ known truth, be happier than those who have?
Read the black cloud if such questions interest you.
This book is fantastic.
I nearly teared up because the characters and their fates seemed so relatable!
If you haven't watched contact and arrival, watch it too. They've got a similar theme, feel.
Yes, this book is 'hard' scifi. It explains its science. It questions theories and hypothesis. It emphasises the scientific method and doesn't portray scientists as megalomaniacs who only do science to build technology. It emphasises the role of knowledge and truth. It has numbers and figures.
But it's more readable than most scifi out there.
Yes, Fred Hoyle didn't know much about biology, about reproduction, about natural selection. And his theories of a steady state universe and panspermia clearly influence his writing and leave many unanswered questions.
But this book isn't about any of it. It's about our willingness to accept our own insignificance when slapped in the face by irrefutable truth!
The book has some interesting political commentary, but none of that compares to its scientific commentary, it's detailed analysis of physics, the questions it poses, the answers it gives.
I rarely give 5 stars, but this surely deserves a five.
April 1, 2018
Retro, science-heavy, down-to-earth.
This has held up pretty well for a 60 year old science fiction novel. It did not do that thing that classic scifi does in the 1950's and predict flying cars in 2000 or teleportation by 202o - people then were somehow wont to think that reaching the mystical new millennium symbolises seemed so unreachable at the moment that surely everyone there would be enlightened humanoids that made magic. Hoyle, being a scientist of his own (and I just found out, being the person who goddamned coined the term Big Bang), had his novel wisely rooted to the scientific capabilities of 1950, which he also knew best, which also meant that it was scarily realistic.
I personally managed to get past the science talk, the male-dominated conversations, and the political slant in the novel - the last one I struggled the most with because I really don't give a rat's arse about people in power and what games they play. It was still very enlightening to see how science and its research and advancements had to be worked around the political aspirations of a handful people in power.
Absolutely loved how the interactions with the Black Cloud played out and how it was portrayed. Good stuff and a nice, short read.
This has held up pretty well for a 60 year old science fiction novel. It did not do that thing that classic scifi does in the 1950's and predict flying cars in 2000 or teleportation by 202o - people then were somehow wont to think that reaching the mystical new millennium symbolises seemed so unreachable at the moment that surely everyone there would be enlightened humanoids that made magic. Hoyle, being a scientist of his own (and I just found out, being the person who goddamned coined the term Big Bang), had his novel wisely rooted to the scientific capabilities of 1950, which he also knew best, which also meant that it was scarily realistic.
I personally managed to get past the science talk, the male-dominated conversations, and the political slant in the novel - the last one I struggled the most with because I really don't give a rat's arse about people in power and what games they play. It was still very enlightening to see how science and its research and advancements had to be worked around the political aspirations of a handful people in power.
Absolutely loved how the interactions with the Black Cloud played out and how it was portrayed. Good stuff and a nice, short read.
February 8, 2023
3.5
There are a lot of interesting suggestions that would have benefited from a more sophisticated literary treatment, but there is something unique and, I believe, interpretationally relevant about the book's brusqueness, its disregard for character, its utter lack of concern with how literary narrative is done. A worthy read.
There are a lot of interesting suggestions that would have benefited from a more sophisticated literary treatment, but there is something unique and, I believe, interpretationally relevant about the book's brusqueness, its disregard for character, its utter lack of concern with how literary narrative is done. A worthy read.
February 20, 2022
"𝘝𝘰𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪 𝘶𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪 𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘰 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰 𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘪 𝘶𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪 𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘰 𝘱𝘪ù 𝘷𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘰?"
January 16, 2025
İngiliz astrofizikçi ve matematikçi yazar Fred Hoyle'un bilim kurgu türündeki kitabı Kara Bulut;dünya dışı bir organizmayı merkeze alan konusu, astronomi, fizik, siyaset, inanç sistemi ve insanın evrendeki anlamına dair göndermeleri ile etkileyici ve beğendiğim bir yapıdaydı. Steven Erikson'un Yakınlaşmalar kitabını anımsatan; insana dair temel sistemlerin incelendiği, siyasetçiler ve bilim insanlarının farklı önceliklerinin irdelenlendiği bölümleri özellikle dikkate değer yönlerinden.
Gözlemevi'nde Amatör Astronom Jensen; asıl görevi olan süpernovalar hakkında araştırma yaparken; yıldızların görülmesini engelleyen karanlık bir bulutun varlığını keşfeder. Farklı ülkelerden gelen ve İngiltere'de bir araştırma merkezi kurulmasını sağlayan Dr. Marlowe, Chris Kingsley, Dave Weickhart ve Kraliyet Astronomu gibi bilim insanları yaptıkları araştırmalar sonucu karanlık bir bulutun Güneş Sistemi'ne girdiği ve Güneş'e yaklaştıkça yavaşladığı yönünde bulgular edinir. Bulutun yoğunluğu, ısısı, Dünya'yı hedefleyen yönü sebebi ile insanlığın geleceğine dair belirsizlik; hükümetlerin de haberdar edilmesini gerekli kılar. Siyasetçiler ve bilim insanları farklı idealleri, öncelikleri ve tartışma konuları ile karşı karşıya gelecek, yıkımın eşiğinde, evrende yalnız olmadığımız bilgisi ortaya çıkacaktır.
İthaki Bilimkurgu Klasiklerinden Kara Bulut,bilimsel temellere dayanan bilgilerin yansıtıldığı yapısı ile durağan bölümler içerse de; felsefe, din ve psikoloji ile harmanlanan hikaye merak içinde okunuyor. Türü sevenlere önerimdir.
Gözlemevi'nde Amatör Astronom Jensen; asıl görevi olan süpernovalar hakkında araştırma yaparken; yıldızların görülmesini engelleyen karanlık bir bulutun varlığını keşfeder. Farklı ülkelerden gelen ve İngiltere'de bir araştırma merkezi kurulmasını sağlayan Dr. Marlowe, Chris Kingsley, Dave Weickhart ve Kraliyet Astronomu gibi bilim insanları yaptıkları araştırmalar sonucu karanlık bir bulutun Güneş Sistemi'ne girdiği ve Güneş'e yaklaştıkça yavaşladığı yönünde bulgular edinir. Bulutun yoğunluğu, ısısı, Dünya'yı hedefleyen yönü sebebi ile insanlığın geleceğine dair belirsizlik; hükümetlerin de haberdar edilmesini gerekli kılar. Siyasetçiler ve bilim insanları farklı idealleri, öncelikleri ve tartışma konuları ile karşı karşıya gelecek, yıkımın eşiğinde, evrende yalnız olmadığımız bilgisi ortaya çıkacaktır.
İthaki Bilimkurgu Klasiklerinden Kara Bulut,bilimsel temellere dayanan bilgilerin yansıtıldığı yapısı ile durağan bölümler içerse de; felsefe, din ve psikoloji ile harmanlanan hikaye merak içinde okunuyor. Türü sevenlere önerimdir.
May 24, 2014
‘La nube negra’ (1957), del astrofísico y matemático Fred Hoyle, es todo un clásico de la ciencia ficción. La historia narra cómo unos astrónomos estadounidenses descubren una misteriosa masa o nube interestelar que se va aproximando a la Tierra, hallazgo al que se unen también los astrónomos ingleses. Los dos equipos, trabajando conjuntamente, deducen que la llegada de esta nube puede provocar cambios drásticos para la vida en la Tierra.
La historia se desarrolla por medio de los intensos diálogos, deducciones y explicaciones de lo que está sucediendo y está por suceder. El estilo de Hoyle es conciso y claro, y en este aspecto se nota la capacidad divulgativa del autor. La novela es rica en ideas y en ningún momento se hace pesada. Lo dicho, todo un clásico indiscutible del género, y un imprescindible para el amante de la ciencia ficción hard. (En cuanto a la portada de Nova, desastrosa, ya que no representa nada de lo que ofrece la novela.)
La historia se desarrolla por medio de los intensos diálogos, deducciones y explicaciones de lo que está sucediendo y está por suceder. El estilo de Hoyle es conciso y claro, y en este aspecto se nota la capacidad divulgativa del autor. La novela es rica en ideas y en ningún momento se hace pesada. Lo dicho, todo un clásico indiscutible del género, y un imprescindible para el amante de la ciencia ficción hard. (En cuanto a la portada de Nova, desastrosa, ya que no representa nada de lo que ofrece la novela.)
January 27, 2025
Check out a book review/discussion with Nick from The Book Graveyard HERE.
The Black Cloud is a story about a group of astronomers and cosmologists that discover a celestial phenomenon that is obscuring parts of the sky. They realize this thing is coming towards the sun and will come by the earth, they speculate on the affect this will have on all life on earth. While this would seem like an apocalyptic novel, it’s really about the scientist speculating, deciding what to do, who to tell and their role in the events that unfold. This is early hard science fiction and can be a bit dry and dated in parts but there is some humor throughout to keep it entertaining. There are also a lot of scientists hating on politicians, as well as scientists talking about how smart they are. I really liked the twist this book takes that has to do with first contact, this is hinted on the back of the book. Overall glad I read this classic.
The Black Cloud is a story about a group of astronomers and cosmologists that discover a celestial phenomenon that is obscuring parts of the sky. They realize this thing is coming towards the sun and will come by the earth, they speculate on the affect this will have on all life on earth. While this would seem like an apocalyptic novel, it’s really about the scientist speculating, deciding what to do, who to tell and their role in the events that unfold. This is early hard science fiction and can be a bit dry and dated in parts but there is some humor throughout to keep it entertaining. There are also a lot of scientists hating on politicians, as well as scientists talking about how smart they are. I really liked the twist this book takes that has to do with first contact, this is hinted on the back of the book. Overall glad I read this classic.
October 23, 2014
The dream fulfillment of the astronomer!
I got turned on to this classic through Manny Rayner's review of my book, Lisa: A Chess Novel. And he's right, just as Hoyle tries to describe the world of astronomy, and doesn't shy from a few formulae, I tried to show the chess world, and offered some notation and diagrams. We both felt some urge to share the beauty we had known, we wanted to show some of the depth. Both of us wanted to speak to people who knew nothing of our craft, and both us were most successful within our own subcultures.
This book's existence fills me with happiness, that it's possible for it to have become a classic! While reading it I sensed what many readers must also have felt: I simply don't get this in my regular reading of fiction.
*The logic of our plots also drove us to present a Russian who expresses truths in very terse statements. Bastard in cloud.*
The primary difference is the urgency that the cloud brings. And this allows us to follow the dream of the astronomer to the climax of extreme practical importance - when he has forever been the most impractical of all the hard scientists.
I felt like I was drinking a fine wine until the astronomer's dreams come true, when he becomes the world's savior. OH NO! Hoyle gives the savior a box to preach his values and ideas from. And then we end with a speculation that is not compelling, not interesting - and really in bad taste: the dumb gardener would have done just fine with the more developed language of the cloud.
Yikes. But the above paragraph might be part of the genre of science fiction. I'm still a noob.
I got turned on to this classic through Manny Rayner's review of my book, Lisa: A Chess Novel. And he's right, just as Hoyle tries to describe the world of astronomy, and doesn't shy from a few formulae, I tried to show the chess world, and offered some notation and diagrams. We both felt some urge to share the beauty we had known, we wanted to show some of the depth. Both of us wanted to speak to people who knew nothing of our craft, and both us were most successful within our own subcultures.
This book's existence fills me with happiness, that it's possible for it to have become a classic! While reading it I sensed what many readers must also have felt: I simply don't get this in my regular reading of fiction.
*The logic of our plots also drove us to present a Russian who expresses truths in very terse statements. Bastard in cloud.*
The primary difference is the urgency that the cloud brings. And this allows us to follow the dream of the astronomer to the climax of extreme practical importance - when he has forever been the most impractical of all the hard scientists.
I felt like I was drinking a fine wine until the astronomer's dreams come true, when he becomes the world's savior. OH NO! Hoyle gives the savior a box to preach his values and ideas from. And then we end with a speculation that is not compelling, not interesting - and really in bad taste: the dumb gardener would have done just fine with the more developed language of the cloud.
Yikes. But the above paragraph might be part of the genre of science fiction. I'm still a noob.
August 31, 2016
Put on your thinking caps! This may be a 1957 classic but it still resonates today. Got to love some of the "advanced" technology of the time, scientists blown away by the computing power of a machine that must be programmed with holes punched in tape, but much of what is accomplished is "forecast" in this novel by things that will not be available for half a century. What I enjoyed most about it is that, while it may be scientifically dense in places it is presented as plausible and supported by theory. Some great concepts to ponder and a far more enjoyable book than I anticipated as it presents the tale of a black cloud the size of Jupiter moving into our solar system causing sudden climate change among other things with the expected catastrophic consequences. Get your friends to read it and you will have some great stuff to argue about!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 608 reviews