Zirkumpolar

Twin Planets #1

by Richard A. Lupoff, Michael Windgassen (Translator)

Mitte der zwanziger Jahre: Mrs. Victoria Woodhull Martin hat 50.000 Dollar als Preis für jenes Flugteam ausgesetzt, das zuerst die Erde umkreist. Eine außergewöhnlich gefährliche Aufgabe, an die sich nur solche Fliegerasse wie Charles Lindbergh, Howard Hughes oder der deutsche Manfred von Richthofen heranwagen - denn wider Erwarten ist die Erde doch eine Scheibe, auf deren Rückseite die tollkühnen Flieger eine bizarr märchenhafte Welt erwartet. Ein phantastischer Abenteuerroman mit zahlreichen Anspielungen auf historische Ereignisse und Gestalten.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy

270 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Richard Allen "Dick" Lupoff (born February 21, 1935 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American science fiction and mystery author, who has also written humor, satire, non-fiction and reviews. In addition to his two dozen novels and more than 40 short stories, he has also edited science-fantasy anthologies. He is an expert on the writing of Edgar Rice Burroughs and has an equally strong interest in H. P. Lovecraft. Before becoming a full-time writer in 1970 he worked in the computer industry.

Reviews

[Alex Sarll]

The thing people forget about classic pulp adventures is that in between the breathtakingly awesome scenes, there was generally a lot of padding and plot-advancement-by-character-stupidity. This eighties pastiche remembers that, rather too well. And the characterisation - in particular of the dastardly Hun team who plan to win the air-race across underearth by any means necessary - is not the fullest. And yet...those scenes. There are half a dozen vignettes, maybe more, that pretty much justify the rest of it. I would be reluctant to spoiler them, except this edition's cover does anyway, so really - von Richthofen and Lindbergh in a pegasus-borne duel. Hell yes.

[Charles · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stuff I Read - Circumpolar! by Richard A. Lupoff Review

I feel the need to preface this review by saying that I did not choose this book for myself. It was chosen for me by my partner as the weirdest looking book the bargain section of a bookstore in what has become a tradition of gifting each other the most bizarre book possible. And in that sense this book did not disappoint. It is a crazy book, set in a world where World War I wasn't a world war at all, was stopped almost before it began thanks to a very aggressive American foreign policy led by Teddy Roosevelt. It's definitely a fairly weird premise, but it doesn't end there. Not only is history radically different, but the world itself is different, not a sphere but a torus. Which is…well, rather strange.

And even stranger yet is that the plot of this story involves famous aviators (Amelia ???, Charles ???, and Howard Hughes) racing against a team of evil aviators (the Red Baron, his brother, and a Russian princess) to travel through the central area of the planet and arrive back at their destination. It's a rather weird structure but one that does give everyone a reason for journeying to the inside of the world and finding out what's in there. That the Americans are the heroes and the Germans and Russians the villains does sort of show some biases from the time this book was written, and it is rather ridiculous in its portrayals of just about everyone. Racism abounds at time, grounded a bit in "it's just the times" but it's still jarring, still a problem with the work. There's also some good old fashioned misogyny, thought I was surprised a bit by the ways in which the book was fairly progressive in that regard at least, having Amelia be strong and competent and having a number of other female characters be more complex than I would have expected. Of course, there's still the Russian princess…

This is something of a first contact story, too, though one that seems to be using a weird understanding of language and culture. The people inside the torus are technologically advanced in many ways, some of them influenced by alien creatures and there is a magic there as well, none of which really makes sense. There's also a bit of use of Lovecraftian ideas about civilizations at the poles, and there are crazy Germans and not-so-crazy quasi-Mayans, and all of it is a little sketch. Not the worst, but there is a certain amount of disbelief that must be killed before getting anywhere close to buying into a lot of this, and I must admit once the cultures were explore, as striking as parts of them were, I felt pushed right out of the book.

The pacing also takes quite some time to get to the good bits, namely when the two teams are finally interacting. It takes forever, but once it happens it is largely good. There are flying mechanical Pegasus and duels and magic and monsters and there is just a lot going on here that is crazy and brash and fun. There is fun in this book, but it does require a bit of not thinking. Why is there magic in the center of the torus? What are the creatures in the weird quasi-German land and why is that the only place they live? The book leaves itself open for a sequal and I would be lying to say that I'm not weirdly curious, but probably not to go out and track it down.

In the end, this book is a pulp adventure through the center of the world. It's dumb fun, but perhaps a bit too dumb, a bit too oversimplifying for my tastes. I didn't much enjoy most of the characters, and the action, while intense and inventive at times, also feels contrived at other times. It's a mixed bag, and one that I can't really recommend opening. Not the worst of experiences, but for me only a 4.25/10.

[Kevin Phyland · Rating 3 out of 5]

What if the world was actually flat? What if it was like a big LP record or a discus? Then it would have two sides… This is the premise that Richard A. Lupoff starts with and runs wild. On one side of this disk is the world we know, with a huge mysterious hole at the centre (North Polar Hole) and far away what we know as the southern hemisphere terminates at the rim, where enormous ice cliffs form the boundary. It’s 1927 on the disk world and Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes, and Charles Lindbergh form a flying team to contest for a $50000 purse to fly across both sides of the disk. Competing with them is the German-Russian threesome of the brothers von Richtofen and the Countess Lvova. Nicely pastiching 1930s adventure fiction we get the race for the prize through the hole and onto the other, unknown side of the disk, where we meet all sorts of creatures and humans who have designed better flying machines. Like Penelope, the travellers are imperilled, and stumble from one obstacle to the next with predictable verve and derring-do. Won’t tax you too much and reasonably enjoyable as a travelogue a la Edgar Rice Burroughs.

[David B · Rating 3 out of 5]

On an alternate Earth that is shaped like a torus rather than a sphere, Charles Lindberg, Amelia Earhart, and Howard Hughes race against a team led by the Red Baron himself to be the first to travel completely across the planet's unknown side. Along the way, they encounter monsters and lost civilizations. This story is intended to be a grand, old-school adventure romp, and it succeeds intermittently, but the action often becomes confused, many of the situations are stock, and there isn't enough direct interaction between the rivals. The early parts of the story are the best.

[alicja :) · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the beginning I was rather positively surprised, but changed my mind lander. Although the world creation and the idea of travel itself was pretty interesting, the second half of Circumpolar ruins the first impression.

[David Bonesteel · Rating 3 out of 5]

On an alternate Earth that is shaped like a torus rather than a sphere, Charles Lindberg, Amelia Earhart, and Howard Hughes race against a team led by the Red Baron himself to be the first to travel completely across the planet's unknown side. Along the way, they encounter monsters and lost civilizations. This story is intended to be a grand, old-school adventure romp, and it succeeds intermittently, but the action often becomes confused, many of the situations are stock, and there isn't enough direct interaction between the rivals. The early parts of the story are the best.

[Ali Sinclair · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. The world creation, the societies created the notion of a doughnut shaped world is brilliant. The whole notion of creating a different and alternative world with a whole new socio-geographic set up and World War history.
The book really is a thrilling rollercoaster of fun. I haven’t ever described a book as being a “rollercoaster”, but here it is.