What do you think?
Rate this book
Harm
From one of science fiction’s greatest living writers comes an unforgettable near-future novel in the hortatory tradition of Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Orwell’s 1984, and Dick’s A Scanner Darkly. Both a searing indictment of a fear-drenched political climate and a visionary allegory that shines a piercing light on timeless human verities, HARM is a powerfully compact masterwork that is sure to be one of the most passionately discussed books of the year.
The time is today or tomorrow–or perhaps the day after tomorrow. Paul Fadhil Abbas Ali, a young British citizen of Muslim descent, has written a satirical novel in which two characters joke about the assassination of the prime minister. Arrested by agents of HARM–the Hostile Activities Research Ministry–Paul is thrown into a nameless Abu Ghraib-like prison, possibly located in Syria, where he is held incommunicado and brutally interrogated by jailers to whom his Muslim heritage is itself a crime meriting the harshest punishment. Under this sadistic regime, Paul’s personality begins to show signs of radical fragmentation. . . .
On the remote planet of Stygia, a man named Fremant, haunted by memories of torture that seem drawn from Paul’s mind, is one of a small group of colonists struggling for survival on a harsh but weirdly beautiful world whose dominant life-forms are insects. The sole humanoid race on the planet has been hunted to extinction by the human settlers, whose long journey to Stygia has left them unable to understand their own history and technology.
Thrown back to a more primitive state, they seem destined to repeat all the sins of the world they fled to Stygia to escape.
Is Paul dreaming Fremant as a way of escaping the horrors of his imprisonment? Or is there a stronger–and far stranger–connection between the two men, whose very different circumstances begin to take on uncanny parallels?
As aspects of their identities blur and, finally, merge, astonishing answers take shape–and profound new questions arise.
The time is today or tomorrow–or perhaps the day after tomorrow. Paul Fadhil Abbas Ali, a young British citizen of Muslim descent, has written a satirical novel in which two characters joke about the assassination of the prime minister. Arrested by agents of HARM–the Hostile Activities Research Ministry–Paul is thrown into a nameless Abu Ghraib-like prison, possibly located in Syria, where he is held incommunicado and brutally interrogated by jailers to whom his Muslim heritage is itself a crime meriting the harshest punishment. Under this sadistic regime, Paul’s personality begins to show signs of radical fragmentation. . . .
On the remote planet of Stygia, a man named Fremant, haunted by memories of torture that seem drawn from Paul’s mind, is one of a small group of colonists struggling for survival on a harsh but weirdly beautiful world whose dominant life-forms are insects. The sole humanoid race on the planet has been hunted to extinction by the human settlers, whose long journey to Stygia has left them unable to understand their own history and technology.
Thrown back to a more primitive state, they seem destined to repeat all the sins of the world they fled to Stygia to escape.
Is Paul dreaming Fremant as a way of escaping the horrors of his imprisonment? Or is there a stronger–and far stranger–connection between the two men, whose very different circumstances begin to take on uncanny parallels?
As aspects of their identities blur and, finally, merge, astonishing answers take shape–and profound new questions arise.
225 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
14 people are currently reading
215 people want to read
About the author
Brian W. Aldiss
835 books664 followersPseudonyms: Jael Cracken, Peter Pica, John Runciman, C.C. Shackleton, Arch Mendicant, & "Doc" Peristyle.
Brian Wilson Aldiss was one of the most important voices in science fiction writing today. He wrote his first novel while working as a bookseller in Oxford. Shortly afterwards he wrote his first work of science fiction and soon gained international recognition. Adored for his innovative literary techniques, evocative plots and irresistible characters, he became a Grand Master of Science Fiction in 1999.
Brian Aldiss died on August 19, 2017, just after celebrating his 92nd birthday with his family and closest friends.
Brian W. Aldiss Group on Good Reads
Brian Wilson Aldiss was one of the most important voices in science fiction writing today. He wrote his first novel while working as a bookseller in Oxford. Shortly afterwards he wrote his first work of science fiction and soon gained international recognition. Adored for his innovative literary techniques, evocative plots and irresistible characters, he became a Grand Master of Science Fiction in 1999.
Brian Aldiss died on August 19, 2017, just after celebrating his 92nd birthday with his family and closest friends.
Brian W. Aldiss Group on Good Reads
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
August 2, 2009
This book is both grim and bleak. It's cleverly and powerfully written but not in the least subtle. It looks at the British political and societal scene as of right now and pretty much damns everybody: the political class for reactionary abuse of power, repression of its citizens and persecution of minorities. Immigrants for not culturally integrating. The religious for abdicating reason. The scientific community for abandoning ethics. Human nature is found to be fundamentally pretty disgusting.
The true awfulness of the book is how much truth is expressed in it. Comparisons with 1984 are bound to be made, but there is really a fundamental difference - 1984 is a warning. HARM is a reflection of reality, only slightly magnified.
The true awfulness of the book is how much truth is expressed in it. Comparisons with 1984 are bound to be made, but there is really a fundamental difference - 1984 is a warning. HARM is a reflection of reality, only slightly magnified.
October 27, 2018
I honestly think this deserves four stars but... He had an amazing idea and didn't work it through to something that would appeal to a mainstream audience. I know, why should he?
He shouldn't.
But... he has written something that is absolutely relevant to the shit we are currently having to deal with and it sheds light on some of the prejudices and skewed news reporting that we currently suffer from. This is very, very relevant.
Okay, it's not an easy read. Maybe it is for sci-fi fans. But then, maybe they don't like it! I don't know any so can't ask. But this is about now. Aldiss has seen what's going on and embedded it in an enjoyable narrative. It's only at the end that we think... 'Oh, shit, that's what is going on and I can imagine us all being in the same position that they are in here.' It's genuinely frightening.
I wasn't looking forward to reading this but... I might have had my horizons widened. Also, it's an amazing achievement in blending two utterly different narratives (different stories almost) into one coherent piece of work that disturbs, informs and warns - warns! at the same time. Read it!
He shouldn't.
But... he has written something that is absolutely relevant to the shit we are currently having to deal with and it sheds light on some of the prejudices and skewed news reporting that we currently suffer from. This is very, very relevant.
Okay, it's not an easy read. Maybe it is for sci-fi fans. But then, maybe they don't like it! I don't know any so can't ask. But this is about now. Aldiss has seen what's going on and embedded it in an enjoyable narrative. It's only at the end that we think... 'Oh, shit, that's what is going on and I can imagine us all being in the same position that they are in here.' It's genuinely frightening.
I wasn't looking forward to reading this but... I might have had my horizons widened. Also, it's an amazing achievement in blending two utterly different narratives (different stories almost) into one coherent piece of work that disturbs, informs and warns - warns! at the same time. Read it!
May 9, 2022
Review pending
October 30, 2018
This book started well. I think that the themes of torture, government suspicion and persecution are relevant in an increasingly divided world. However, I was absolutely shocked by the author's decision to have his protagonist casually rape a female character early on in the plot because after this act, I began to care less about what happened to him. I found this decision by Aldiss extremely puzzling. I could understand Aldiss deciding to make an evil adversary commit such a crime but for him to have the main character do so, I then lost all sympathy for him and didn't really care if he lived or died. A troubling position as a reader - when you really should care about the main character's journey!
I also thought that some of the torture scenes went a bit too far for my liking. It would be interesting to know the reasons that Aldiss had for some extremely puzzling decisions.
I suppose I have learnt something from reading this - don't annoy your readers by suspending their sympathies for your main character by having them commit such an atrocity. Especially in the wake of the #metoo movement, this does not sit well at all.
I also thought that some of the torture scenes went a bit too far for my liking. It would be interesting to know the reasons that Aldiss had for some extremely puzzling decisions.
I suppose I have learnt something from reading this - don't annoy your readers by suspending their sympathies for your main character by having them commit such an atrocity. Especially in the wake of the #metoo movement, this does not sit well at all.
March 13, 2023
An interesting idea ruined by terrible prose, frequent sexual imagery that could have come from a horny teenage boy, a ridiculously inconsistent world, and absolute nonsensical plot progression and character decisions.
The author interview at the end was both amusing (in that it read like a Partridge self-orchestrated interview), and alarming (in that it seemed to reinforce some of the harmful ideas the book was supposedly rallying against).
Two favourite terrible bits:
[After pulling some alien creature out of the water in fear]:
“He shivered to look at it, was frightened of it; taking up a stone, he smashed its skull, which delivered forth a foaming, creamy mass. Then he regretted doing so. Had the creature been hostile? he asked himself. Perhaps it had been merely curious, as he was curious.
He knelt by it to examine it and its sexual quarters [!]. The longing for a woman came upon him[!!]- for a woman's embrace, for her ardor and pleasure; for her love.”
[One character, after discussing their experience of months-long imprisonment and torture]:
“It was humiliating. I’ve not recovered. I’m as nervous as a raspberry jelly and all.”
The author interview at the end was both amusing (in that it read like a Partridge self-orchestrated interview), and alarming (in that it seemed to reinforce some of the harmful ideas the book was supposedly rallying against).
Two favourite terrible bits:
[After pulling some alien creature out of the water in fear]:
“He shivered to look at it, was frightened of it; taking up a stone, he smashed its skull, which delivered forth a foaming, creamy mass. Then he regretted doing so. Had the creature been hostile? he asked himself. Perhaps it had been merely curious, as he was curious.
He knelt by it to examine it and its sexual quarters [!]. The longing for a woman came upon him[!!]- for a woman's embrace, for her ardor and pleasure; for her love.”
[One character, after discussing their experience of months-long imprisonment and torture]:
“It was humiliating. I’ve not recovered. I’m as nervous as a raspberry jelly and all.”
October 6, 2018
Though it is an 11 year old book, Harm remains a very topical and therefore difficult read.
The torture passages succeeded at disgusting and outraging me and I could certainly conceive of a throwaway line in the book of a Muslim author being misconstrued as terrorist intent.
Thankfully though such abasement makes up only half the story. The other half set on the planet Stygia proves an interesting exploration of a newly-birthed society finding its feet. However I found some characters here noticeably two-dimensional, especially the women.
Aldiss has an endearingly plain-speaking approach to science fiction but I would have liked a bit more detail about the human element, at least where events on Stygia were concerned. The characters certainly deserved as vivid descriptions as the fantastic insectoid inhabitants of the colonised planet.
Harm is a strong example of sci-fi as a social critique but I wouldn't hold it in such high estimation as Huxley's A Brave New World or Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. Nevertheless if you love Aldiss then this remains a must-read.
The torture passages succeeded at disgusting and outraging me and I could certainly conceive of a throwaway line in the book of a Muslim author being misconstrued as terrorist intent.
Thankfully though such abasement makes up only half the story. The other half set on the planet Stygia proves an interesting exploration of a newly-birthed society finding its feet. However I found some characters here noticeably two-dimensional, especially the women.
Aldiss has an endearingly plain-speaking approach to science fiction but I would have liked a bit more detail about the human element, at least where events on Stygia were concerned. The characters certainly deserved as vivid descriptions as the fantastic insectoid inhabitants of the colonised planet.
Harm is a strong example of sci-fi as a social critique but I wouldn't hold it in such high estimation as Huxley's A Brave New World or Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. Nevertheless if you love Aldiss then this remains a must-read.
March 10, 2025
Von Aldiss habe ich viel gelesen, aber wenig reviews geschrieben. Nachfolgend meine Rezension zur deutschen Erstveröffentlichung des Romans.
Der Rezensent war erfreut endlich mal wieder etwas von Aldiss übersetzt zu sehen. Auch wenn die Inhaltsbeschreibung schon zeigt , dass Aldiss sich mit dem Zeitgeschehen, mit dem Antiterror-Kampf, einem eher unangenehmen Thema, auseinandersetzt. Aber das ist ja nur legitim, das tun auch andere Schriftsteller. Und mit den Mitteln der Science Fiction hat das meines Wissens noch niemand versucht.
In einem Großbritannien der nahen Zukunft, gerät Paul Fadhill, ein junger Brite mit muslimischen Wurzeln, in die Fänge von HARM, einer Antiterror-Behörde. Der Grund ist nicht nur der Grundverdacht gegen alle Muslime, sondern er hat auch einen Roman geschrieben, in dem eine der Hauptfiguren den Vorschlag macht, den britischen Premier in seinem Regierungssitz zu töten. Im Klima der Terrorangst und dem Kampf der Kulturen, um hier mal den Rückentext zu zitieren, wiegt das schwer. Er wird verschleppt, verhört und gefoltert.
Unter diesem Druck macht sich eine besondere Version von Persönlichkeitsspaltung, an der leidet, wieder bemerkbar. Er wird zu Fremant, einem Siedler auf dem unwirtlichen Planeten Stygia. Er arbeitet als Leibwächter des allmächtigen Astaroth. Der hat gerade die Ureinwohner des Planeten, die humanoiden Hundefroinde, ausrotten lassen. Diese heißen so, weil sie von hundeähnlichen Rieseninsekten begleitet werden. Widerstand gegen ihn formiert sich. Fremant wird von der Tochter Astaroths zu ihnen gebracht. Aber er schließt sich ihnen nicht an, auch wenn er sich gegen Astaroth auflehnt und ins Gefängnis geworfen wird. Ein abtrünniger General befreit ihn, und zusammen mit seiner Mieterin und Freundin, sowie anderen flieht er aus der Hauptstadt in die zivilisationsferne Randzone des Siedlungsgebietes. Die Flucht ist zugleich eine Expedition mit dem Ziel, überlebende Hundefroinde zu finden und sie zur Versöhnung in die Hauptstadt zu bringen. Das Leben in der Einöde des Planeten ist trostlos und hart, die Menschen fühlen sich verlassen von der Regierung. Die Mission wird zum Fehlschlag, mehr noch, es erweist sich, das die Menschen die intelligenten Wesen und den Planeten selbst nie richtig erkannt und akzeptiert haben. Fremant kehrt in die Hauptstadt zurück, wo der Alleinherrscher inzwischen beseitigt wurde und ein neues Regime, die ehemalige Untergrundorganisation, die sich auf Vernunft und Wissenschaft beruft, an die Macht gelangt ist. Doch auch hier gibt es Unterdrückung. Auf Stygia scheinen sich irdische negative Entwicklungen zu wiederholen. Man wollte einen bewussten Neuanfang setzen, doch die Macht der Geschichte ist stärker als die utopische Wunsch.
Paul selbst bleibt standhaft, er gesteht nichts, damit seine Leiden aufhören. Der Apparat hat sich sowieso verselbständigt, die Verhöre scheinen kein klares Ziel zu haben, sie bestehen aus Demütigung und Einschüchterung und körperlicher Qual. Als Leser ist man empört über derlei Praktiken, die wohl mehr als realistisch sind. Aldiss zeichnet und überzeichnet die Verhörer als bornierte und ziemlich unsympathische Bürokraten, was nicht verwundert. Paul wird zunehmend desorientierter. Doch schließlich kommt Paul frei und er kann wieder zu seiner Frau zurückkehren. Aber seine Leidenszeit ist noch nicht vorbei.
Beide Handlungsstränge sind im Roman verwoben und Paul weiß manchmal nicht mehr wer er ist, Fremant oder Paul.
Es gibt Bezüge, literarische Anspielungen und gelungene Wortspiele wie die Ähnlichkeiten des Wortes W(ewstern)A(lied)A(lliance)bit (so predigt Astaroth beispielsweise Enthaltsamkeit und Sittenstrenge) mit Wahabit, einem Anhänger der Lehre, auf der der fundamentalistische Islam zum Teil basiert.
In Aldiss ringen Erzähler und Zeitgenosse miteinander. Leider ist Aldiss nicht mehr auf der Höhe seiner Schaffenskraft, um diesen Konflikt wirklich befriedigend zu lösen. Manches wirkt unausgegoren und krude, so als würde Aldiss blind seinen Ideen und seiner Erfahrung folgen, die Handlung scheint dahin zu treiben. Fremant lässt sich auch treiben, und man kann sich als Leser nicht erwärmen für ihn. Es gibt genügend Spannung und interessante Begebenheiten im Buch, und die SF-Elemente weiß Aldiss auch einzusetzen. Es bleibt aber das Werk eines wütenden alten Mannes, ein pessimistischer Kommentar zur Zeitgeschichte, zum Verfall von Utopien und Hoffnungen. Wäre Aldiss nicht ein so guter Erzähler, das Werk wäre gescheitert.
Der Rezensent war erfreut endlich mal wieder etwas von Aldiss übersetzt zu sehen. Auch wenn die Inhaltsbeschreibung schon zeigt , dass Aldiss sich mit dem Zeitgeschehen, mit dem Antiterror-Kampf, einem eher unangenehmen Thema, auseinandersetzt. Aber das ist ja nur legitim, das tun auch andere Schriftsteller. Und mit den Mitteln der Science Fiction hat das meines Wissens noch niemand versucht.
In einem Großbritannien der nahen Zukunft, gerät Paul Fadhill, ein junger Brite mit muslimischen Wurzeln, in die Fänge von HARM, einer Antiterror-Behörde. Der Grund ist nicht nur der Grundverdacht gegen alle Muslime, sondern er hat auch einen Roman geschrieben, in dem eine der Hauptfiguren den Vorschlag macht, den britischen Premier in seinem Regierungssitz zu töten. Im Klima der Terrorangst und dem Kampf der Kulturen, um hier mal den Rückentext zu zitieren, wiegt das schwer. Er wird verschleppt, verhört und gefoltert.
Unter diesem Druck macht sich eine besondere Version von Persönlichkeitsspaltung, an der leidet, wieder bemerkbar. Er wird zu Fremant, einem Siedler auf dem unwirtlichen Planeten Stygia. Er arbeitet als Leibwächter des allmächtigen Astaroth. Der hat gerade die Ureinwohner des Planeten, die humanoiden Hundefroinde, ausrotten lassen. Diese heißen so, weil sie von hundeähnlichen Rieseninsekten begleitet werden. Widerstand gegen ihn formiert sich. Fremant wird von der Tochter Astaroths zu ihnen gebracht. Aber er schließt sich ihnen nicht an, auch wenn er sich gegen Astaroth auflehnt und ins Gefängnis geworfen wird. Ein abtrünniger General befreit ihn, und zusammen mit seiner Mieterin und Freundin, sowie anderen flieht er aus der Hauptstadt in die zivilisationsferne Randzone des Siedlungsgebietes. Die Flucht ist zugleich eine Expedition mit dem Ziel, überlebende Hundefroinde zu finden und sie zur Versöhnung in die Hauptstadt zu bringen. Das Leben in der Einöde des Planeten ist trostlos und hart, die Menschen fühlen sich verlassen von der Regierung. Die Mission wird zum Fehlschlag, mehr noch, es erweist sich, das die Menschen die intelligenten Wesen und den Planeten selbst nie richtig erkannt und akzeptiert haben. Fremant kehrt in die Hauptstadt zurück, wo der Alleinherrscher inzwischen beseitigt wurde und ein neues Regime, die ehemalige Untergrundorganisation, die sich auf Vernunft und Wissenschaft beruft, an die Macht gelangt ist. Doch auch hier gibt es Unterdrückung. Auf Stygia scheinen sich irdische negative Entwicklungen zu wiederholen. Man wollte einen bewussten Neuanfang setzen, doch die Macht der Geschichte ist stärker als die utopische Wunsch.
Paul selbst bleibt standhaft, er gesteht nichts, damit seine Leiden aufhören. Der Apparat hat sich sowieso verselbständigt, die Verhöre scheinen kein klares Ziel zu haben, sie bestehen aus Demütigung und Einschüchterung und körperlicher Qual. Als Leser ist man empört über derlei Praktiken, die wohl mehr als realistisch sind. Aldiss zeichnet und überzeichnet die Verhörer als bornierte und ziemlich unsympathische Bürokraten, was nicht verwundert. Paul wird zunehmend desorientierter. Doch schließlich kommt Paul frei und er kann wieder zu seiner Frau zurückkehren. Aber seine Leidenszeit ist noch nicht vorbei.
Beide Handlungsstränge sind im Roman verwoben und Paul weiß manchmal nicht mehr wer er ist, Fremant oder Paul.
Es gibt Bezüge, literarische Anspielungen und gelungene Wortspiele wie die Ähnlichkeiten des Wortes W(ewstern)A(lied)A(lliance)bit (so predigt Astaroth beispielsweise Enthaltsamkeit und Sittenstrenge) mit Wahabit, einem Anhänger der Lehre, auf der der fundamentalistische Islam zum Teil basiert.
In Aldiss ringen Erzähler und Zeitgenosse miteinander. Leider ist Aldiss nicht mehr auf der Höhe seiner Schaffenskraft, um diesen Konflikt wirklich befriedigend zu lösen. Manches wirkt unausgegoren und krude, so als würde Aldiss blind seinen Ideen und seiner Erfahrung folgen, die Handlung scheint dahin zu treiben. Fremant lässt sich auch treiben, und man kann sich als Leser nicht erwärmen für ihn. Es gibt genügend Spannung und interessante Begebenheiten im Buch, und die SF-Elemente weiß Aldiss auch einzusetzen. Es bleibt aber das Werk eines wütenden alten Mannes, ein pessimistischer Kommentar zur Zeitgeschichte, zum Verfall von Utopien und Hoffnungen. Wäre Aldiss nicht ein so guter Erzähler, das Werk wäre gescheitert.
September 4, 2025
This is an angry book written by an old man who had fought in a world war to defend democracy from the imperialist Japanese, and was watching as the democracies voluntarily gave up what had been so expensively protected out of fear of terrorism and the misuse of that fear by lousy leaders, who used it to further their own ends.
It asks a simple question: Why are we so horrible to each other and to the world? And the answer seems to be fear. Fear that rushes up from our animal origins that don't know anything about climate change or genocide but know all about hierarchy and survival and struggle. But also fear as it is used as a tool by authorities as means of furthering their own ends, which usually amount to little more than maintaining power.
The framework -- I'm giving nothing away here -- is that we have a man who is being tortured and his mind dissociates and he lives a life on the planet Stygia. Unlike something like, say, Brazil, or other stories with a similar device, Stygia is hardly any better than the life he leaves on Earth.
Some of the scenes are pretty brutal. Some are made moreso by how matter of fact Aldiss is about the brutality, is if it is to be expected and therefore neither built up to nor dwelt on. It would not be the first time Aldiss has expressed a rather dim view of human nature, and it would not be the last, despite the book coming out after his 80th year.
The book has pretty average reviews on Goodreads and the like, and it is easy to see why. It is not likeable. No-one in it is terribly likeable, though we must have sympathy for the put-upon protagonist who gets thrown into an interrogation facility for doing nothing more than writing a bad novel with some foolish jokes in. Oh, and for being (descended from a) Muslim.
OK, so it is not likeable; is it good?
I actually think it is. There's quite a lot of quite interesting SF-style world building, and it is, if not utterly convincing, at least rather alien. The adventures on the planet Stygia have a certain grim fascination, and skip along fairly quickly (it is not a long story). The stuff on Earth is effectively horrible and plausibly unfair, and Aldiss's gift for the unexpected metaphor or simile remains intact, and he evokes both his off-kilter alien world and his protagonist's prison and interrogations with power and economy.
Humanity does not come out of it well, though we remain capable of love and looking after those close to us; in some sense though the book is about how our fear controls how we deal with the 'other'; after all,. being able to show kindness to those who we know and/or who are like us is hardly going to solve the world's problems, unless we are mature enough to realise that everyone is like us. How one responds to Aldiss's points I guess partly depends on whether we believe his life experience has left him (a) clear eyed and wise or (b) grumpy and cynical, because if it is (b) we can dismiss it all as a grumpy old bastard's tirade. If (a), it's not so simple.
I have always found Aldiss's books a bit awkward. I think it is partly because he was never happy to write more of the same. He always challenged himself, and therefor his readers. Whether it was Barefoot in the Head or Report on Probability A, he did not take the easy way out of a likeable protagonist in a rollicking adventure -- not, at least, after the first phase of his career. This is a book in that tradition; angular, fabular, angry, unlikeable in places. There's a quote from his contemporary, J. G. Ballard: "I wanted to rub the human face in its own vomit. I wanted to force it to look in the mirror."
This is one of those books, I think.
I hesitate to recommend it because I don't think a lot of people would like it. That does not mean it is not a good book.
Stars.
It asks a simple question: Why are we so horrible to each other and to the world? And the answer seems to be fear. Fear that rushes up from our animal origins that don't know anything about climate change or genocide but know all about hierarchy and survival and struggle. But also fear as it is used as a tool by authorities as means of furthering their own ends, which usually amount to little more than maintaining power.
The framework -- I'm giving nothing away here -- is that we have a man who is being tortured and his mind dissociates and he lives a life on the planet Stygia. Unlike something like, say, Brazil, or other stories with a similar device, Stygia is hardly any better than the life he leaves on Earth.
Some of the scenes are pretty brutal. Some are made moreso by how matter of fact Aldiss is about the brutality, is if it is to be expected and therefore neither built up to nor dwelt on. It would not be the first time Aldiss has expressed a rather dim view of human nature, and it would not be the last, despite the book coming out after his 80th year.The book has pretty average reviews on Goodreads and the like, and it is easy to see why. It is not likeable. No-one in it is terribly likeable, though we must have sympathy for the put-upon protagonist who gets thrown into an interrogation facility for doing nothing more than writing a bad novel with some foolish jokes in. Oh, and for being (descended from a) Muslim.
OK, so it is not likeable; is it good?
I actually think it is. There's quite a lot of quite interesting SF-style world building, and it is, if not utterly convincing, at least rather alien. The adventures on the planet Stygia have a certain grim fascination, and skip along fairly quickly (it is not a long story). The stuff on Earth is effectively horrible and plausibly unfair, and Aldiss's gift for the unexpected metaphor or simile remains intact, and he evokes both his off-kilter alien world and his protagonist's prison and interrogations with power and economy.
Humanity does not come out of it well, though we remain capable of love and looking after those close to us; in some sense though the book is about how our fear controls how we deal with the 'other'; after all,. being able to show kindness to those who we know and/or who are like us is hardly going to solve the world's problems, unless we are mature enough to realise that everyone is like us. How one responds to Aldiss's points I guess partly depends on whether we believe his life experience has left him (a) clear eyed and wise or (b) grumpy and cynical, because if it is (b) we can dismiss it all as a grumpy old bastard's tirade. If (a), it's not so simple.
I have always found Aldiss's books a bit awkward. I think it is partly because he was never happy to write more of the same. He always challenged himself, and therefor his readers. Whether it was Barefoot in the Head or Report on Probability A, he did not take the easy way out of a likeable protagonist in a rollicking adventure -- not, at least, after the first phase of his career. This is a book in that tradition; angular, fabular, angry, unlikeable in places. There's a quote from his contemporary, J. G. Ballard: "I wanted to rub the human face in its own vomit. I wanted to force it to look in the mirror."
This is one of those books, I think.
I hesitate to recommend it because I don't think a lot of people would like it. That does not mean it is not a good book.
Stars.
August 18, 2012
Brian Aldiss is known for being a Socialist who injects political statements into his writing. And by a "Socialist" I mean the true definition, not the quasi-paranoid accusation that gets banded around (and barely resembles actual Socialism) by the lunatic fringe of the Republican Party. In the last ten years there has been no greater rallying call for Socialism than the mistreatment of Muslims in the west following 9/11 and on the back of it, the "Freedom for Palestine" movement.
This is the story of a science fiction writer in the near future who falls foul of an extremist regime built on Islamophobia. The writer himself is a secular Muslim who writes a satire in which a couple of drunks make off the cuff remarks about throwing a bomb into Downing Street. For this, he is arrested, incarcerated and tortured. Various evidences of his extremist point of view are thrown at him and the authorities try to break him.
A heavy political statement then, not everybody's cup of tea and when the story opens the torturers are very much the stereotype of knuckle-dragging government henchmen of the generic dystopia. Where the story begins to have depth is in a little side story that develops out of our protagonist's coping mechanism. As a science fiction writer, he knows how to create fantasy world and inside his mind, this is exactly what he does. Fremant is a colonist arriving on Stygia having escaped persecution only the find that on this remote world, humanity is suppressing a race of sentient insects. Out of the frying pan and into the fire it seems. Gradually, the two plot lines merge and you start to wonder which of the threads is real and which is the fantasy... or is it somewhere in the middle?
This is the first of Aldiss' work that I have read and I can't say I was particularly impressed. Sure, it feels very much written in the style of British sci fi generation that Aldiss is a part (and one of the last) and that is a plus point, classic yet modern and topical. Unfortunately, unlike a lot of that generation of writing, it really fails to hold the attention. It is a short novel and should have taken me 3-4 nights of reading for about 2-3 hours each. But I've dipped in and out over the last couple of weeks mostly because it did not grip me. The characters in the dystopia thread are rather one dimensional and as we follow mostly interrogations, I kept wanting for something to happen instead of the monotony of a thug hitting, swearing and accusin our protagonist of all sorts of things. It gets really tiresome.
In the other thread, though the world was far more illustrated, I found I did not really care enough about the characters or the place to absorb myself in the book. Besides which, as the other story thread was so weak, it made enjoying this part of the book just that little bit harder. That is probably the reason for why my attention tended to drift rather a lot while reading it.
This is not a bad book, but neither will it go down as a sci fi classic. If you prefer not to be bludgeoned with political statements in novels, or would rather that social issues were handled in a more clever or subtle manner then this book is probably not for you. As it is, Aldiss tends to let his political rhetoric get in the way a little too often for my liking - and that is regardless of whether I agreed with him or not.
See more book reviews at my blog
This is the story of a science fiction writer in the near future who falls foul of an extremist regime built on Islamophobia. The writer himself is a secular Muslim who writes a satire in which a couple of drunks make off the cuff remarks about throwing a bomb into Downing Street. For this, he is arrested, incarcerated and tortured. Various evidences of his extremist point of view are thrown at him and the authorities try to break him.
A heavy political statement then, not everybody's cup of tea and when the story opens the torturers are very much the stereotype of knuckle-dragging government henchmen of the generic dystopia. Where the story begins to have depth is in a little side story that develops out of our protagonist's coping mechanism. As a science fiction writer, he knows how to create fantasy world and inside his mind, this is exactly what he does. Fremant is a colonist arriving on Stygia having escaped persecution only the find that on this remote world, humanity is suppressing a race of sentient insects. Out of the frying pan and into the fire it seems. Gradually, the two plot lines merge and you start to wonder which of the threads is real and which is the fantasy... or is it somewhere in the middle?
This is the first of Aldiss' work that I have read and I can't say I was particularly impressed. Sure, it feels very much written in the style of British sci fi generation that Aldiss is a part (and one of the last) and that is a plus point, classic yet modern and topical. Unfortunately, unlike a lot of that generation of writing, it really fails to hold the attention. It is a short novel and should have taken me 3-4 nights of reading for about 2-3 hours each. But I've dipped in and out over the last couple of weeks mostly because it did not grip me. The characters in the dystopia thread are rather one dimensional and as we follow mostly interrogations, I kept wanting for something to happen instead of the monotony of a thug hitting, swearing and accusin our protagonist of all sorts of things. It gets really tiresome.
In the other thread, though the world was far more illustrated, I found I did not really care enough about the characters or the place to absorb myself in the book. Besides which, as the other story thread was so weak, it made enjoying this part of the book just that little bit harder. That is probably the reason for why my attention tended to drift rather a lot while reading it.
This is not a bad book, but neither will it go down as a sci fi classic. If you prefer not to be bludgeoned with political statements in novels, or would rather that social issues were handled in a more clever or subtle manner then this book is probably not for you. As it is, Aldiss tends to let his political rhetoric get in the way a little too often for my liking - and that is regardless of whether I agreed with him or not.
See more book reviews at my blog
March 27, 2008
Wow. This is a vivid and devastating vision of the ways in which U.S. and British politics have been taken over by fear and paranoia. One part of the novel, set in a detainment prison, speaks directly to the institution of camps like Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib within cultures that are supposedly civilized. Paul Fadhil Abbas Ali, a Muslim British writer, has been imprisoned on suspicion of association with terrorists and encouragement of terrorist actions (like assassinating the prime minister). While imprisoned, he is tortured, isolated, and lied to. In this state, he begins to see another world, Stygia, and another man, Fremant. On Stygia, human colonists are eking out a rough existence after a long flight from a devastated earth. Religion, science, and political intrigue are all at odds as humanity fragments into separate groups.
The plot seesaws between Ali's experiences in prison and Fremant's experiences on Stygia. Both men are divided and fragmented themselves. Ali is British and Muslim and trying to come to terms with this split identity. Fremant is the Eternal Stranger, never at home in any group he joins. As Aldiss takes us from one world to the other, it becomes less and less clear where reality lies. Both are real; both are figments of the other's imagination.
The question of where reality lies is not limited to this, though. Is reality (or truth) to be found in religion? Science? Politics? None of these seem to hold the answer for Fremant on Stygia. As the colonists on Stygia seek to kill the Dogovers (natives of the planet), this genocide is justified by political expediency, fear, and religious ideology. Then the political imperative changes; thus the moral imperative changes as well. Told he must make restitution to the remaining Dogovers, one citizen says, "I were told not so long ago I had one of these moral obligations to kill 'em all orf. So much for all such talk" (142). Morality here follows politics. Science is no better. Upon finding the last surviving native and delivering him to the capitol city, the scientists use him for experimentation and then kill him in order to examine his brain. Fremant objects: "You have just proved that he is our equal in intellect--and he's the last of his race. You must let him go free!" But the head scientist replies that they cannot do that for he is "much too precious to us. We are scientific people, my friend" (193). Reality, truth, morality--Aldiss clearly shows us that these things are not to be found in politics, religion, or science.
So where can these things be found? Aldiss never answers this question. In fact, this refusal to provide an answer to this most important question is the reason the book is so devastating, so dark. Aldiss writes, "All men in authority, however they begin, become hateful with time" (207). Both narratives--on Earth and on Stygia--reveal this. There seems to be no escape from the ever-corrupting force of power. Without power, nothing can be done to change the world; with power, however, men "become hateful." Even the best of men.
The plot seesaws between Ali's experiences in prison and Fremant's experiences on Stygia. Both men are divided and fragmented themselves. Ali is British and Muslim and trying to come to terms with this split identity. Fremant is the Eternal Stranger, never at home in any group he joins. As Aldiss takes us from one world to the other, it becomes less and less clear where reality lies. Both are real; both are figments of the other's imagination.
The question of where reality lies is not limited to this, though. Is reality (or truth) to be found in religion? Science? Politics? None of these seem to hold the answer for Fremant on Stygia. As the colonists on Stygia seek to kill the Dogovers (natives of the planet), this genocide is justified by political expediency, fear, and religious ideology. Then the political imperative changes; thus the moral imperative changes as well. Told he must make restitution to the remaining Dogovers, one citizen says, "I were told not so long ago I had one of these moral obligations to kill 'em all orf. So much for all such talk" (142). Morality here follows politics. Science is no better. Upon finding the last surviving native and delivering him to the capitol city, the scientists use him for experimentation and then kill him in order to examine his brain. Fremant objects: "You have just proved that he is our equal in intellect--and he's the last of his race. You must let him go free!" But the head scientist replies that they cannot do that for he is "much too precious to us. We are scientific people, my friend" (193). Reality, truth, morality--Aldiss clearly shows us that these things are not to be found in politics, religion, or science.
So where can these things be found? Aldiss never answers this question. In fact, this refusal to provide an answer to this most important question is the reason the book is so devastating, so dark. Aldiss writes, "All men in authority, however they begin, become hateful with time" (207). Both narratives--on Earth and on Stygia--reveal this. There seems to be no escape from the ever-corrupting force of power. Without power, nothing can be done to change the world; with power, however, men "become hateful." Even the best of men.
December 2, 2012
First off, let me say that Brian W. Aldiss' Harm was—and is—an incredibly difficult book to have finished, despite its deceptively short length. As a bitter commentary on the War on Terror and its present and possible abuses, however, HARM remains a vital contribution to the best traditions of science fiction from one of the British masters.
Heartbreakingly depressing yet with a powerful message to convey, HARM provides a warning to the reader, presumably a resident of the ostensibly civilized West, not to allow his or her fears and prejudices to consume our humanity even as we fight against perpetrators of genuine evil. It is noteworthy that even as the protagonist's torturers increasingly lapse in their humanity, the protagonist's alter ego on the planet Stygia gains ever-increasing humanizing tendencies; even while Paul Fadhil Abbas Ali's humanity lapses as his already fragile mental state shatters, Fremant transforms from brutal rapist into tender lover, from desensitized, amoral bodyguard into speaker for victims of genocide.
Few symbols of authority are immune from Aldiss' cry in the night. Not religion, perpetrator of prejudice that apparently criminalizes merely being Muslim; not government, corrupting absolutely those who wield absolute power at any level; and not science, either ignored altogether or perverted for ulterior motives. With melancholy and poetic prose, Aldiss condemns both an England in the process of surrendering its civilization in its fight against terrorists who would destroy it themselves, and those Muslims who refuse to modernize and participate in Western society. Aldiss criticizes a religion that once counseled turning the other cheek, but "is now lost" (see page 69). Aldiss even questions humanity itself, wondering aloud whether "a world where men had the upper hand was much better" (page 163) than one in which insects predominated.
But Aldiss suggests answers and solutions as well, albeit leaving it to the reader to make the ultimate decisions as to remedying the problem: "'What you think you perceive as guilt, the rest of us see as survival.'" (Page 203) Aldiss notes that the cycle of dehumanization and violence is cyclical, the tail wagging the dog as often as vice versa, and in holding up a dark mirror to ourselves, he offers warning that the reader fails to heed at his or her peril.
While HARM is depressing, it remains an important read.
Heartbreakingly depressing yet with a powerful message to convey, HARM provides a warning to the reader, presumably a resident of the ostensibly civilized West, not to allow his or her fears and prejudices to consume our humanity even as we fight against perpetrators of genuine evil. It is noteworthy that even as the protagonist's torturers increasingly lapse in their humanity, the protagonist's alter ego on the planet Stygia gains ever-increasing humanizing tendencies; even while Paul Fadhil Abbas Ali's humanity lapses as his already fragile mental state shatters, Fremant transforms from brutal rapist into tender lover, from desensitized, amoral bodyguard into speaker for victims of genocide.
Few symbols of authority are immune from Aldiss' cry in the night. Not religion, perpetrator of prejudice that apparently criminalizes merely being Muslim; not government, corrupting absolutely those who wield absolute power at any level; and not science, either ignored altogether or perverted for ulterior motives. With melancholy and poetic prose, Aldiss condemns both an England in the process of surrendering its civilization in its fight against terrorists who would destroy it themselves, and those Muslims who refuse to modernize and participate in Western society. Aldiss criticizes a religion that once counseled turning the other cheek, but "is now lost" (see page 69). Aldiss even questions humanity itself, wondering aloud whether "a world where men had the upper hand was much better" (page 163) than one in which insects predominated.
But Aldiss suggests answers and solutions as well, albeit leaving it to the reader to make the ultimate decisions as to remedying the problem: "'What you think you perceive as guilt, the rest of us see as survival.'" (Page 203) Aldiss notes that the cycle of dehumanization and violence is cyclical, the tail wagging the dog as often as vice versa, and in holding up a dark mirror to ourselves, he offers warning that the reader fails to heed at his or her peril.
While HARM is depressing, it remains an important read.
May 4, 2012
Fabułę MROK-u dobrze streścił wydawca na tylnej okładce, także tylko powtórzę w ogromnym skrócie. Przewodnim motywem jest przetrzymywanie bez wyroku pewnego Brytyjczyka muzułmańskiego pochodzenia. Trafił on do więzienia po tym, jak napisał satyryczną książkę, która zawierała krótką, żartobliwą rozmowę o zamordowaniu premiera Wielkiej Brytanii.
Na jej podstawie uznano go za terrorystę i w więzieniu poddawano brutalnym torturom, aby zdradził swoje powiązania. Podczas przesłuchań traci on świadomość i wtedy poznajemy drugiego głównego bohatera, prawdopodobnie jego alter ego żyjące na odleglej planecie Stygia.
Większa część książki to właśnie opis odległej planety, na którą zostali wysłani ludzie w nadziei stworzenia lepszego świata. Niestety, podobnie jak na starej Ziemi, na Stygii panuje ustrój przypominający dyktaturę wojskową, a opozycja skupia się wokół przywódcy chcącego przywrócić wyrugowaną religię chrześcijańską.
Brian Aldiss pisząc MROK nawiązywał do bardzo dobrych, dystopijnych wzorców, ale temat został potraktowany pobieżnie. Owszem, możemy przyjżeć się, jak system stworzony do walki z terroryzmem, mający stać na straży naszej wolności, niszczy i depcze podstawowe prawa człowieka. Możemy też doświadczyć prymitywnej natury ludzkiej, która przetrwa w każdej postaci, niezależnie od czasu i miejsca.
Jednak język, jakim jest napisana książka jest jak muzyka przygrywająca do niemego filmu. Emocje co najwyżej możemy sobie wyobrazić. Dialogi przypominają momentami brazylijskie mydlane opery albo są wyjątkowo toporne. I absolutnie nie jest to zarzut do tłumacza, który świetnie oddał styl pisarza. Po prostu mamy do czynienia z twórczością, która delikatnie mówiąc trąci myszką. Tworzenie całego świata fantasy w głowie męczonego więźnia jest ciekawym pomysłem, ale jego realizacja jest już dużo gorsza. Miałem wrażenie czytania dwóch zupełnie różnych książek.
O dziwo część fantastyczny była o wiele bardziej... realna. Gdyby nie rozwinięcie jednego naprawdę ciekawego pomysłu na spotkanie ludzi ze Stygii z obcą rasą (tzw. Psiarzami), to byłbym zawiedziony. Cały motyw z Psiarzami, i to jak ludzie ich potraktowali, szczególnie przypadł mi do gustu.
Bardzo się cieszę, że tak doświadczeni pisarze jak Brian Aldiss podejmują się trudnych tematów. Nie jestem jednak pewien, czy komentarz autora do światowej polityki antyterrorystycznej powinien mieć taką formę.
Na jej podstawie uznano go za terrorystę i w więzieniu poddawano brutalnym torturom, aby zdradził swoje powiązania. Podczas przesłuchań traci on świadomość i wtedy poznajemy drugiego głównego bohatera, prawdopodobnie jego alter ego żyjące na odleglej planecie Stygia.
Większa część książki to właśnie opis odległej planety, na którą zostali wysłani ludzie w nadziei stworzenia lepszego świata. Niestety, podobnie jak na starej Ziemi, na Stygii panuje ustrój przypominający dyktaturę wojskową, a opozycja skupia się wokół przywódcy chcącego przywrócić wyrugowaną religię chrześcijańską.
Brian Aldiss pisząc MROK nawiązywał do bardzo dobrych, dystopijnych wzorców, ale temat został potraktowany pobieżnie. Owszem, możemy przyjżeć się, jak system stworzony do walki z terroryzmem, mający stać na straży naszej wolności, niszczy i depcze podstawowe prawa człowieka. Możemy też doświadczyć prymitywnej natury ludzkiej, która przetrwa w każdej postaci, niezależnie od czasu i miejsca.
Jednak język, jakim jest napisana książka jest jak muzyka przygrywająca do niemego filmu. Emocje co najwyżej możemy sobie wyobrazić. Dialogi przypominają momentami brazylijskie mydlane opery albo są wyjątkowo toporne. I absolutnie nie jest to zarzut do tłumacza, który świetnie oddał styl pisarza. Po prostu mamy do czynienia z twórczością, która delikatnie mówiąc trąci myszką. Tworzenie całego świata fantasy w głowie męczonego więźnia jest ciekawym pomysłem, ale jego realizacja jest już dużo gorsza. Miałem wrażenie czytania dwóch zupełnie różnych książek.
O dziwo część fantastyczny była o wiele bardziej... realna. Gdyby nie rozwinięcie jednego naprawdę ciekawego pomysłu na spotkanie ludzi ze Stygii z obcą rasą (tzw. Psiarzami), to byłbym zawiedziony. Cały motyw z Psiarzami, i to jak ludzie ich potraktowali, szczególnie przypadł mi do gustu.
Bardzo się cieszę, że tak doświadczeni pisarze jak Brian Aldiss podejmują się trudnych tematów. Nie jestem jednak pewien, czy komentarz autora do światowej polityki antyterrorystycznej powinien mieć taką formę.
April 5, 2013
Brian Aldiss is one of the greats of science fiction, along with Clarke, Bradbury & Azimov. This is a great book.
It isn't, however, an easy read, dealing with 2 issues which interest me, namely human rights & also mental health. Paul Ali, a writer of Muslim heritage has been arrested & is being tortured - for writing a scene in a book where two drunk characters discuss assassinating the Prime Minister. To escape from these atrocities, Paul's dissociative personality disorder creates a world called Stygia, where Paul is known as Fremant.
The torture scenes are horrifically written, & sound similar to accounts I've heard & read from survivors of torture: Aldiss' views on security in the post 9\11 world are on display here.
Not an easy read by any stretch of the imagination, but a book I'm glad I have read. Not for the squeamish, but definitely worthy of your attention.
It isn't, however, an easy read, dealing with 2 issues which interest me, namely human rights & also mental health. Paul Ali, a writer of Muslim heritage has been arrested & is being tortured - for writing a scene in a book where two drunk characters discuss assassinating the Prime Minister. To escape from these atrocities, Paul's dissociative personality disorder creates a world called Stygia, where Paul is known as Fremant.
The torture scenes are horrifically written, & sound similar to accounts I've heard & read from survivors of torture: Aldiss' views on security in the post 9\11 world are on display here.
Not an easy read by any stretch of the imagination, but a book I'm glad I have read. Not for the squeamish, but definitely worthy of your attention.
Read
April 1, 2008Ack gack torture squick. Couldn't even make it through a chapter.
November 18, 2016
A rather mediocre sci-fi fantasy with a political twist.
December 17, 2017
Paul Ali, a young British writer with Muslim parents but who calls himself a secularist, has written and published a comic novel in the tradition of P.G. Wodehouse. The book attracted some minor attention and made him a very small amount of money. One passage, in which the protagonists joke about what would happen if the Prime Minister was assassinated, has attracted the attention of the Hostile Activities Research Ministry. After learning that Ali visited Saudi Arabia on holiday recently, HARM arrests Ali as a suspected terrorist and sets about finding the truth from him...by any means necessary.
As Ali is interrogated, he escapes from the degradation and torture by constructing a fantasy world, Stygia, where in the distant future humans have sent a colonisation ship from Earth. The passengers were molecularly disassembled for transit, but their reconstitution did not go as planned and now the people are confused, or brain-damaged, or have problems with language. In this world Ali is Fremant, a bodyguard for the colony's deranged leader, Astaroth. As Astaroth prosecutes a genocidal war against the native inhabitants, the Dogovers, Fremant's loyalties are torn. There is upheaval in Stygia, war and revolution are coming, and what happens in the real world and in Ali's mind starts to reflect more and more on one another.
Brian Aldiss may be in his 80s now, but HARM (published in 2007) shows that his formidable powers as a writer have not diminished with age. In this novel Aldiss is clearly angry over what Britain and her allies did and became in the 'war on terror', but pulls himself back from a kneejerk polemical attack on the policies of the Bush-Blair axis. Instead he analyses the situation through the lens of SF, making the point that the brutal and oppressive measures that had been adopted were the result of fear and ignorance, an urgent need to distill complex issues down to a hopelessly naive black-and-white, us-and-them situation. At the same time, he also points out the reality of the threats that do exist and threaten us, and in the end offers no neat or pat answers because they simply do not exist.
All of this may make HARM sound like a tiresome political treatise rather than as a novel, but nothing could be further from the truth. Aldiss' engagement with the issues does not detract from the story, which is a dizzying multi-stranded narrative occupying two different levels of reality and how the state of Ali's mind in the 'real' world impacts on that of Fremant on Stygia. Aldiss' formidable powers of SF worldbuilding are again on display here, with the hostile insects and fauna of Stygia recalling the grotesque genius of Hothouse, whilst descriptions of the journey through space from Earth echo elements in Non-Stop. But HARM is its own, dizzyingly intelligent book.
The novel concludes with both an author's note and a fascinating interview between the author and his publisher in which analyses his motives in writing the book and where it sits compared to some of his other novels.
HARM (****½) is firey, smart and compelling (I read the book in one sitting), urgent in tone and convincing in argument. It is available now in the UK and USA.
As Ali is interrogated, he escapes from the degradation and torture by constructing a fantasy world, Stygia, where in the distant future humans have sent a colonisation ship from Earth. The passengers were molecularly disassembled for transit, but their reconstitution did not go as planned and now the people are confused, or brain-damaged, or have problems with language. In this world Ali is Fremant, a bodyguard for the colony's deranged leader, Astaroth. As Astaroth prosecutes a genocidal war against the native inhabitants, the Dogovers, Fremant's loyalties are torn. There is upheaval in Stygia, war and revolution are coming, and what happens in the real world and in Ali's mind starts to reflect more and more on one another.
Brian Aldiss may be in his 80s now, but HARM (published in 2007) shows that his formidable powers as a writer have not diminished with age. In this novel Aldiss is clearly angry over what Britain and her allies did and became in the 'war on terror', but pulls himself back from a kneejerk polemical attack on the policies of the Bush-Blair axis. Instead he analyses the situation through the lens of SF, making the point that the brutal and oppressive measures that had been adopted were the result of fear and ignorance, an urgent need to distill complex issues down to a hopelessly naive black-and-white, us-and-them situation. At the same time, he also points out the reality of the threats that do exist and threaten us, and in the end offers no neat or pat answers because they simply do not exist.
All of this may make HARM sound like a tiresome political treatise rather than as a novel, but nothing could be further from the truth. Aldiss' engagement with the issues does not detract from the story, which is a dizzying multi-stranded narrative occupying two different levels of reality and how the state of Ali's mind in the 'real' world impacts on that of Fremant on Stygia. Aldiss' formidable powers of SF worldbuilding are again on display here, with the hostile insects and fauna of Stygia recalling the grotesque genius of Hothouse, whilst descriptions of the journey through space from Earth echo elements in Non-Stop. But HARM is its own, dizzyingly intelligent book.
The novel concludes with both an author's note and a fascinating interview between the author and his publisher in which analyses his motives in writing the book and where it sits compared to some of his other novels.
HARM (****½) is firey, smart and compelling (I read the book in one sitting), urgent in tone and convincing in argument. It is available now in the UK and USA.
April 6, 2018
In a paranoid modern age, a British author of Muslim descent is imprisoned by HARM (Hostile Activities Research Ministry) because two characters joke about murdering the prime minister in one of his novels. He is tortured and interrogated, and in his delirious state he starts to dream about a life in a distant planet Stygia which has been colonized by humans. But it's no paradise either. The novel was quite short so I read it very fast. Not a very light one, the torture/interrogation scenes were awful. I must confess I didn't quite understand what was the overall point of this novel (except the most obvious, of course).
February 2, 2019
Comparing this to Fahrenheit 451, 1984, and A Scanner Darkly is a crock.
A total crock.
The sexual overtones within Harm were horrible and disgusting. This included the dark topics of rape and incest. Novel crossed into the likes of what can be referred to as 'Porn-SciFi'.
A good author stays away from this pulpy sex shit—especially in Science Fiction.
As an addition torture and racial genocide was thrown in seemingly for the author's own gratification to write about.
What otherwise could had been a great story... The real Harm was it being published and my reading it.
I now know better and will avoid any further Brian Aldiss and his writing style—acclaimed or not.
A total crock.
The sexual overtones within Harm were horrible and disgusting. This included the dark topics of rape and incest. Novel crossed into the likes of what can be referred to as 'Porn-SciFi'.
A good author stays away from this pulpy sex shit—especially in Science Fiction.
As an addition torture and racial genocide was thrown in seemingly for the author's own gratification to write about.
What otherwise could had been a great story... The real Harm was it being published and my reading it.
I now know better and will avoid any further Brian Aldiss and his writing style—acclaimed or not.
October 24, 2018
Three nights - but I finished it anyway. The first night a couple of times I thought of just closing the book and forget it. The second night, a few more times, but.. The third night, I finished it -- and yes, my first hunch should have been followed. If this is Science Fiction, I guess I'm not of that genera.
March 26, 2020
The story begins in the "present," and it was an unpleasant slog through to where the story shifts to an alternate planet. Heavily written, reminiscent of stodgy Russian authors (who may only exist in my mind), this section was just work to get through. The political message is also heavy-handed, delivered in bare prose with little window dressing. Not a book I will willingly re-read.
December 17, 2020
I like Brian Aldiss, Non Stop is an undoubted classic, but this was tiresome. The comparison to A Scanner Darkly is an insult to Philip K Dick. Had tried to read this on a couple of other occasions, giving up, but was determined to finish it this time. Finish it I did and really wish I hadn't bothered. Utter guff.
Ray Smillie
Ray Smillie
January 12, 2017
It just didnt capture my imagination.
Characters never resolved into 3 dimensional beings, I couldn't get emotionally involved with them. The story line was often confusing, but that could have just been me, chuckle.
Characters never resolved into 3 dimensional beings, I couldn't get emotionally involved with them. The story line was often confusing, but that could have just been me, chuckle.
August 27, 2017
Honestly, this was a chore to read. The twin stories idea--one following the main character in his 'real' life, where he is imprisoned and tortured, and his escapist fantasy on Stygia--is interesting but I found the whole book a little overworked. Trying too hard.
November 3, 2025
Bardzo się zmęczyłam czytając tą historię. Troche przysypiałam. Cala książka jest kontrowersyjna, ale to nie jest kontrowersja jaka lubię
April 18, 2013
Brian W. Aldiss is best known for two films based on his work Frankenstein Unbound directed by Roger Corman based on his novel, and AI directed by Spielberg based on his short story called Super toys Last all Summer Long. In genre terms he is considered one of the masters of British science fiction. His series Helliconia Spring, summer and winter are considered broad classics of imaginative large scope Sci-fi. Personally I have only read Frankenstein and Dracula Unbound both of which I enjoyed.
HARM is an interesting novel released in 2007, and it is a political statement on the war on terrorism. The publisher compared it to Brave New World and 1984, but this novel is not a dystopia so I don’t see that comparison outside of the strong political message mixed with Science Fiction. It the story of Paul Fadhil Ali a young second generation British citizen who is arrested and put through a series of tortures after a novel he has written is discovered to be joking about an assassination attempt on the PM. Detained by a shadow organization called HARM he believes he is been moved to various other countries as the torture takes place.
The strangest part of the novel is a secondary story, a far future tale of human colonization of a far off world named Stygia. This story appears to be in the mind of Paul, but the walls between sanity and the two worlds melt as the novel goes on.
HARM is strange and imaginative novel that explores many important issues. If there is a weakness is that the characters lack depth, and lack of background on the shadow group that the novel is named after. I think mystery is good, but I wanted to understand more of what was behind HARM. The novel is short and considering how much more effort is put into the wild ideas rather than character development it is the right length. This is a an OK novel, with agreat concept that I feel could have been explored at greater depth.
The sci-fi elements that take place on Stygia are very cool, the back story of a insect world and the human journey to get there is very interesting. That said the story of Paul and his torture was more interesting to me personally, even if less pages of the book are devoted to it. I don’t think this novel is good enough to be considered essential but it is very interesting for Aldiss fans.
If you are new to Aldiss I wouldn’t start here. If you are interested in how speculative fiction handles the issues of modern life than yeah it is worth a read.
The hardcover comes with a cool interview with the author.
November 15, 2018
Like Aldiss’ 2002 novel, Super-State, HARM is a remarkably timely book, dealing as it does with matters we are only reluctantly beginning to examine in any kind of detail. With Super-State, climate change was the main focus. With HARM, Aldiss is looking very closely at the line beyond which the ‘West’ should or should not cross in ‘its’ ‘war on terror’. Of course, both books, typical of Aldiss, are about so much more, but it’s the examination of what governments decide is the acceptable course of action in protecting what they decide are the interests of its citizens that occupies centre stage in this novel.
Note the quote marks around ‘West’, ‘its’ and ‘war on terror’ in the above paragraph. As with all things Aldiss, nothing is ever quite that simple or necessarily what it seems. What constitutes the ‘West’ is open to discussion and the idea that this catchall misnomer somehow represents or speaks for all of us in the ‘free world’ is rapidly shown to be a very shaky concept. ‘its’ would suggest some kind of unified approach or strategy in the actions of governments occupied in combating terrorist activity. Again, this is open to speculation. And the very notion of a ‘war on terror’ is assessed throughout HARM.
Juxtaposed with the chapters dealing with the incarceration of Paul Ali by the Hostile Activities Research Ministry (HARM) because of a comic novel he has written, poking fun at English morés, are chapters featuring another world that Paul escapes to in his mind when the torture becomes too unbearable. On this other planet, Paul is called Fremant and is a member of a group of humans that colonised the planet an indeterminate number of years ago. Their interaction with each other and with the indigenous population in many ways mirrors what is going on in HARM. There is some indication that the manner in which the colonists were revived could link Fremant’s DNA with that of Paul Ali. So it’s quite possible that what is happening on this future world is real.
That aside, the remarkable effect of this entertaining novel is the way in which transposing the events of today into an alien milieu brings so many things into sharp focus, surely the whole raison d’etre of science fiction.
Note the quote marks around ‘West’, ‘its’ and ‘war on terror’ in the above paragraph. As with all things Aldiss, nothing is ever quite that simple or necessarily what it seems. What constitutes the ‘West’ is open to discussion and the idea that this catchall misnomer somehow represents or speaks for all of us in the ‘free world’ is rapidly shown to be a very shaky concept. ‘its’ would suggest some kind of unified approach or strategy in the actions of governments occupied in combating terrorist activity. Again, this is open to speculation. And the very notion of a ‘war on terror’ is assessed throughout HARM.
Juxtaposed with the chapters dealing with the incarceration of Paul Ali by the Hostile Activities Research Ministry (HARM) because of a comic novel he has written, poking fun at English morés, are chapters featuring another world that Paul escapes to in his mind when the torture becomes too unbearable. On this other planet, Paul is called Fremant and is a member of a group of humans that colonised the planet an indeterminate number of years ago. Their interaction with each other and with the indigenous population in many ways mirrors what is going on in HARM. There is some indication that the manner in which the colonists were revived could link Fremant’s DNA with that of Paul Ali. So it’s quite possible that what is happening on this future world is real.
That aside, the remarkable effect of this entertaining novel is the way in which transposing the events of today into an alien milieu brings so many things into sharp focus, surely the whole raison d’etre of science fiction.
November 17, 2007
This book is part SciFi, part commentary on the socio-ethnic ramifications of the modern hunt for those that are different (ie, the War For Terror). The main character seems to have a split personality, where he is living 2 very different lives.
One is in the not too distant future, where he is a British Muslim. As a British Muslim, he has written a book where the Prime Minister gets assassinated. Due to how the government takes this, he is taken prisoner, and tortured for being a terrorist, even though he claims his writing is an attempt at comedy.
The other personality is one of a member of an expedition to a new planet, colonized by humans. Due to how travel takes place for this colony ship, bodies & personalities are reconstituted upon arrival at the new planet. This reconstitution brings what many believe are defects in many colonists' physical and mental beings. A civil war of sorts breaks out to setup control within the population, but the colonists end up turning the violence upon native sentient beings to the planet. This goes back and forth a few times, where the people want to make amends, but end up on a violent path, all in attempt to provide security for oneself, even if that means just going along with the leader.
The 2 parallel plots on their own do not have much value to a reader much beyond what I've stated above. Yet, when the both are combined, it is quite interesting to see the author's take on the similarities in the situations. Part of me thinks that this could be taken in a few different ways, with the part that makes the most sense to my SciFi world thinking that the personality/memories of being a British Muslim was that of the pre-reconstituted character. Unfortunately, if this were the case, this story would be woefully incomplete. Taking the 2 stories the way I believe the author intended (based on a brief interview with him at the end of the book), I am left feeling that the author expects the 2 stories to sit primarily on their own. With that expectation, I can only say that this book is passingly interesting, and not worth only about half of the 3 hours I spent on it.
One is in the not too distant future, where he is a British Muslim. As a British Muslim, he has written a book where the Prime Minister gets assassinated. Due to how the government takes this, he is taken prisoner, and tortured for being a terrorist, even though he claims his writing is an attempt at comedy.
The other personality is one of a member of an expedition to a new planet, colonized by humans. Due to how travel takes place for this colony ship, bodies & personalities are reconstituted upon arrival at the new planet. This reconstitution brings what many believe are defects in many colonists' physical and mental beings. A civil war of sorts breaks out to setup control within the population, but the colonists end up turning the violence upon native sentient beings to the planet. This goes back and forth a few times, where the people want to make amends, but end up on a violent path, all in attempt to provide security for oneself, even if that means just going along with the leader.
The 2 parallel plots on their own do not have much value to a reader much beyond what I've stated above. Yet, when the both are combined, it is quite interesting to see the author's take on the similarities in the situations. Part of me thinks that this could be taken in a few different ways, with the part that makes the most sense to my SciFi world thinking that the personality/memories of being a British Muslim was that of the pre-reconstituted character. Unfortunately, if this were the case, this story would be woefully incomplete. Taking the 2 stories the way I believe the author intended (based on a brief interview with him at the end of the book), I am left feeling that the author expects the 2 stories to sit primarily on their own. With that expectation, I can only say that this book is passingly interesting, and not worth only about half of the 3 hours I spent on it.
January 11, 2024
The last time I read Brian Aldiss I was probably about thirteen or fourteen and reading the absolutely epic Helliconia trilogy- the story of a planet with years lasting the equivalent of two and a half thousand Earth years and massive seasons that see civilisations thrive- and then dwindle again when the climate changes. Reading Harm, I was struck by the fact that even after near enough to thirty years I recognised his voice almost immediately.
In fact, Harm is almost an inversion of the massive and sprawling work that is the Helliconia trilogy. Where Helliconia is the ambitious story of a planet and its species and cultures over thousands of years, Harm is the story of one man, subject to the Kafkaesque ministrations of a new British Hostile Actions Research Ministry. Helliconia is science fiction sprinkled with a little social commentary, Harm, is near enough to now to qualify as social critique, with a sprinkling of science fiction. What remains the same however, is the accurate and awful rendering of the worst that can happen when two cultures clash- the "humans" and Phagors of Helliconia, or the Christians and Muslims of Harm. (Or the humans and Dogovers of Harm, but I won't get into that here.)
Harm is fraught and confronting work. It is a testament to Aldiss' continuing way with words that the book remains eminently readable despite the inevitability of the narrative. Despite, or indeed because it is so confronting, Harm is a necessary book. One that will not get the credit it deserves until another generation gets to read it. If indeed, anyone is left standing in the ashes with leisure time enough to read.
In fact, Harm is almost an inversion of the massive and sprawling work that is the Helliconia trilogy. Where Helliconia is the ambitious story of a planet and its species and cultures over thousands of years, Harm is the story of one man, subject to the Kafkaesque ministrations of a new British Hostile Actions Research Ministry. Helliconia is science fiction sprinkled with a little social commentary, Harm, is near enough to now to qualify as social critique, with a sprinkling of science fiction. What remains the same however, is the accurate and awful rendering of the worst that can happen when two cultures clash- the "humans" and Phagors of Helliconia, or the Christians and Muslims of Harm. (Or the humans and Dogovers of Harm, but I won't get into that here.)
Harm is fraught and confronting work. It is a testament to Aldiss' continuing way with words that the book remains eminently readable despite the inevitability of the narrative. Despite, or indeed because it is so confronting, Harm is a necessary book. One that will not get the credit it deserves until another generation gets to read it. If indeed, anyone is left standing in the ashes with leisure time enough to read.
August 15, 2014
In attempting to write a novel against islamophobia and the dangers of totalitarianism in response to terrorism, Aldiss...
well, he manages to be pretty islamophobic, for a start; his attitude is best summed up in this quote taken from an interview at the end of the novel: 'Many people have taken refuge in Britain from the dirty, dusty villages of the middle east. They neither know nor understand the west. Consequently, many would destroy it.'
I would have thought the first step to writing a novel dealing with islamophobia would be to lose attitudes and blatant prejudices such as this, although apparently Mr. Aldiss would disagree with me on this matter.
The dual narrative is interesting, although ultimately unfulfilling in that the Stygia side of things has little bearing on the overall plot. Such techniques were employed far better in The Affirmation by Christopher Priest.
I'm no longer sure why I keep trying novels by Aldiss, in all honesty; granted, the Helliconia Trilogy was a brilliant example of world-building, and his contribution to Dangerous Visions was also enjoyable, but...
So far, nothing else he's written matches up.
well, he manages to be pretty islamophobic, for a start; his attitude is best summed up in this quote taken from an interview at the end of the novel: 'Many people have taken refuge in Britain from the dirty, dusty villages of the middle east. They neither know nor understand the west. Consequently, many would destroy it.'
I would have thought the first step to writing a novel dealing with islamophobia would be to lose attitudes and blatant prejudices such as this, although apparently Mr. Aldiss would disagree with me on this matter.
The dual narrative is interesting, although ultimately unfulfilling in that the Stygia side of things has little bearing on the overall plot. Such techniques were employed far better in The Affirmation by Christopher Priest.
I'm no longer sure why I keep trying novels by Aldiss, in all honesty; granted, the Helliconia Trilogy was a brilliant example of world-building, and his contribution to Dangerous Visions was also enjoyable, but...
So far, nothing else he's written matches up.
February 8, 2009
Very interesting, non-technical sci-fi with a twist. I say non-technical because Aldiss does not slide into tech-speak the way much sci-fi tends, nor does he get too happy and self-congratulatory about this world he's created. The story's the thing here, and everything is used to serve it. Which is wild, since some of his creations (the Life Processes Reservoir - or LPR - is an amazing idea, so much so one is surprised it wasn't thought of earlier) are such novel concepts, and could have lent themselves to much less accessible, more typically sci-fi, stories.
A post-9/11 book, HARM is atypical of these "commentary" type stories, in that it uses the terms of "terrorist" literature to talk about something bigger: why it is we are not using these great big, complex brains of ours to do better for our species and planet. Aldiss has interesting suggestions, but is not heavy-handed. People on many sides of many debates will find themselves saying "Yes!" when Aldiss attacks the side opposite their own, only to find the tables turned on THEM in just a few paragraphs. Brilliant.
The ending is one I love, in that it doesn't tie itself up in a neat bow. There's much left to think about, even after finishing - which is not to say the ending is open. A satisfying finale to a tale that takes many "sides" to task, and does not conclude which - if any - is the winner.
A post-9/11 book, HARM is atypical of these "commentary" type stories, in that it uses the terms of "terrorist" literature to talk about something bigger: why it is we are not using these great big, complex brains of ours to do better for our species and planet. Aldiss has interesting suggestions, but is not heavy-handed. People on many sides of many debates will find themselves saying "Yes!" when Aldiss attacks the side opposite their own, only to find the tables turned on THEM in just a few paragraphs. Brilliant.
The ending is one I love, in that it doesn't tie itself up in a neat bow. There's much left to think about, even after finishing - which is not to say the ending is open. A satisfying finale to a tale that takes many "sides" to task, and does not conclude which - if any - is the winner.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews