Dome World

by Dean McLaughlin

"I've tricked and schemed and organized the overthrow of lawful government..."

Mason felt a chill come over him. "I'm doing a terrible thing. I've let my people be trapped in a corner where their only hope of getting out alive is to follow me."

ONE BOMB could demolish the entire undersea world. protected by a fragile. plastic dome . . . ONE MAN could save It, by betraying his country!

A prophetic, gripping novel of the near future. when the earth's last frontiers are three miles down, at the bottom of the sea!

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

159 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1962

About the author

Dean Benjamin McLaughlin Jr., published as Dean McLaughlin and occasionally Dean Maclaughlin, is a Hugo- and Nebula-Award nominated author of science fiction, and the son of astronomer Dean B. McLaughlin.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dean McLaughlin was not a prolific writer in the field, but he produced some very good stories. Dome World was his first novel, a fix-up comprised of two novellas, The Man on the Bottom, which was the cover story with a nice Frank Kelly Freas painting for the March 1958 issue of John W. Campbell's Astounding SF magazine, and My House in Order, original to the book. It's set in a future where fragile plastic domes are constructed over communities far under the oceans to house workers who mine metals that are crucial to land-based manufacturing businesses. The science fiction aspects are secondary to the discussions and negotiations between the leaders of the domes and the landsmen, and the vulnerability of the domes is always key to the plot. No spoilers, but it's a political thriller story examining responsibility and loyalty, kind of dated but still quite engaging. Pyramid issued it in 1962 as a mass market paperback with a nifty Ed Emshwiller cover that looks like it could have been painted by Frank R. Paul in 1926 and then reprinted it in 1971 with an even better cover painted by Paul Lehr that looks like it should have been used on Yes's Tales from Topographic Oceans album. It's a quick but thoughtful read.

[Thee_Dragonfly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Scenario near-future sci-fi. The book is divided into two halves. Fragile domes are built on the sea floor to facilitate the Earth's surface need for rare metals. In part 1, war threatens their existence so one maverick dome leader conspires to declare independence, which succeeds. In part 2, an executive from the established independent dome nation tries unsuccessful to negotiate with "drylanders" but is betrayed and defects to the drylanders. He engineers a city of domes without central leadership, thus saving everyone from war. Hopelessly dated, the book is mostly hard-headed men arguing politics over drinks in offices. The few sci-fi elements present are just window dressing.

[Frank Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic story and aside from some relics of the time it was written I was impressed at both the scope of events and the relationships explored in such a short story.

For a story set in a future where humanity is out exploring and colonising space this story barely leaves the deep sea which was fascinating. I thought some of the tech suggestions were quite clever too.

Some of the plot was obvious to me and other parts were a bit rushed through, hinging on pure luck alone. But overall I was invested in the story and would have enjoyed reading more of both parts one and two.

[DOUGLAS J BERRY · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sixties novel that's still relevant

This actually seems to be two stories about undersea cultures. The resource war over vanadium replays throughout human history . The political struggle of what makes a city or territory is more subtle. The inner debate about greatness.....a little pointless?

[Robert D · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the somewhere nearish future undersea mining has become the source for the remaining raw materials of the earth as land-based mines have all played out. Geo politics has devolved into the Americas and the African Union. A dispute over the mineral rights between two domes is escalating. In a war between the two powers the underwater domes are the target, but they are vulnerable targets that can easily be destroyed. One man has a plan to save the domes, but doing so involves a huge risk and is outright treason.

This is mostly a political drama piece. I hesitate to say political thriller. It's a lot of talking and philosophizing. I also hesitate to say science fiction. The science fiction is very much in the background. The fact that a single near miss of enough explosive could rupture a dome begs the question of building safety measures into the structures. But the whole premise of the book relies on the vulnerability of the underwater mining domes.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book is composed of two novellas much like the 1st Foundation book and that's not the only similarity.
Minor Spoiler
The 1st novella is a crisis that can be resolved politically and the MC Danial Mason reminds me very much of Salvor Harden a smart politician with an aversion to violence. The second novella is a crisis that seemingly can't be solved by politicians luckily our MC Barrett Macklin is a businessman.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to know what it was like to live during the cold war and to any fans of Foundation.

[Vieno Savo · Rating 2 out of 5]

A model example of the great scifi tradition of "just business dudes talking to each other".