Rockets In Ursa Major

by Fred Hoyle, Geoffrey Hoyle

It is the early twenty-first century. Humans are seeking signs of life elsewhere in the universe, but all exploratory ships have been lost without a trace--except for DSP 15. Thirty years after leaving Earth, and given up for lost, DSP 15 suddenly appears on radar screens at the space station at Mildenhall, England.
Her crew has been frozen to prevent aging, and as the ship settles to a landing, Dr. Richard Warboys eagerly waits with other scientists for word of what DSP 15 has found. But there is no crew, only a message scratched into a metal surface, signed by the captain: "If this ship returns to Earth, then mankind is in deadly peril--God help you."

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Professor Sir Fred Hoyle was one of the most distinguished, creative, and controversial scientists of the twentieth century. He was a Fellow of St John’s College (1939-1972, Honorary Fellow 1973-2001), was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1957, held the Plumian Chair of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy (1958-1972), established the Institute of Theoretical Astronomy in Cambridge (now part of the Institute of Astronomy), and (in 1972) received a knighthood for his services to astronomy.

Hoyle was a keen mountain climber, an avid player of chess, a science fiction writer, a populariser of science, and the man who coined the phrase 'The Big Bang'.

Reviews

[Michael Jandrok · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow. Okay. So this book is bad. Really bad. Horrible, even. A train-wreck of pacing, characterization, a wooden plot that strains credulity from the opening moments of the story, and a lack of descriptive detail so profound that I had to rely on every stock science-fiction trope that I have stored in my head to even catch a glimpse of the action in my imagination. And I’m probably being nice here. It was the closest to a DNF that I have come across in many a year, but I somehow managed to swallow my pride and soldier on to the end.

First things first, though, and I’m remiss if I don’t once again mention how well these old Science Fiction Book Club releases age. I have a hardback edition that was printed in 1969 and this thing still looks great. The binding and the spine are tight, and the boards are in fine form. The paper stock is as thick and white as a Trump rally. These were quality books published at less cost than the originals, but a lot of them have held up better over the years. Sci-Fi Book Club, my hat is once again off to you.

“Rockets in Ursa Major” is an unmitigated disaster of a sci-fi story, so much so that I’m having trouble figuring out exactly how to review this turkey. I’ll start by saying that I picked it up in a moment of nostalgia. I have an older brother who left for college while I was still fairly young. Since he was living in the dorms at school, he left a lot of his book collection at home, where I had full access to his library. I clearly remember this book on the shelf, and I may even recollect that I read it back in the day, but I won’t swear to that. So when I saw it in my favorite used book store a few months ago I grabbed it, thinking that it might be a fun trip down memory lane.

The text itself is based on a stage play, written by the principal author, Fred Hoyle. Yes, that’s right. A stage play. Anyway, Fred Hoyle presents this clusterfuck as a combined effort with his son, Geoffrey. Now Fred Hoyle is an interesting character. Hoyle was a decorated astronomer who served as the Director of the Institute of Astronomy at Cambridge University for six years. His principal contribution to astronomy is the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis. He was also a maverick of sorts who held to some rather unorthodox views on cosmology, such as a disavowal of the “Big Bang” theory. In point of fact, Hoyle was the first to actually USE the term “Big Bang.” He was also a proponent of “intelligent design,” even though he claimed to be an atheist. To say that Hoyle was a polarizing and controversial figure in the annals of science might be an understatement.

Fred Hoyle might have been a brilliant and unique scientist, but that experience obviously didn’t transfer very well to the task of writing science fiction. Let me see if I can dredge up just a few of the things that are so wrong about this book:

Stock military and civilian characters that go through their paces with rigid formularity.

Moribund alien characters with names like Betelgeuse and Rigel. Yes, you read that right. Betelgeuse and Rigel.

Little exposition as to how ANY of the main plot happened in the first place. Hoyle creates a straw-man beginning and then tries to fill in the blanks as he goes. The reader has to assume what era of human development the tale takes place in, as well as a lot of other plot points. For instance, no one on Earth seems shocked that an alien race is attacking the planet, nor does there appear to be any sort of anxiety at the appearance of the “friendly” aliens. Has the Earth made previous contact with alien races? Damned if I know. About the only thing my imagination could conjure was silver lame space suits and a pointy-tipped, plastic……. errrrrr….chest protector…..for the ubiquitous alien femme-fatale. It’s obvious that all of the main action takes place on British soil, and the book is solidly anglophile all the way.

Robotics and AI don’t seem to figure prominently in Hoyle’s future. In fact, all of the spaceship computers seem to still function on a punch card level of technology.

Helicopters have replaced cars as the main mode of transit, even for short distances. No electric cars, no fuel cells, no hydrogen technology, no other miracles of modern engineering….no, you get helicopters. Which can apparently be flown automatically through the use of….wait for it…..punch cards.

There are two races of “bad guys,” the Essans and the Yela. The Yela are mysterious and have never been seen before, supposedly. The Essans are cute little furry dudes who look like badgers. Hard to take a villain seriously when he takes your hand and waddles off with you singing a melodic song…..

The main civilian scientist character comes up with a harebrained idea to “seed” the sun with lithium, creating a sort of “radiation bomb” that will somehow fry all of the enemy vessels floating around yet miraculously leave the Earth and other inner planets mostly unscathed. For a scientist of Hoyle’s standing, this idea is so ridiculous that it makes so sense whatsoever. You would think that an astronomer with an understanding of solar mechanics like Hoyle had would at least come up with a plausible solution to the problem at hand, but no. What you get here is a big “solar bomb.”

I just…...I just…...don’t really know what else to say about this. Surely “Rockets in Ursa Major” is the literary equivalent of “Plan B From Outer Space,” a movie so horrid that it is still considered by many to be the worst science fiction film ever released. I mean this doesn’t even work as JUVENILE fiction. Believe me, those old Tom Swift books were WAY better written than this tripe, probably because they respected their audience on at least some level.

Sometimes life treats you to the idea that you really can’t go home again. Believe it or not, I still harbor fond memories of this short mistake, but I now wish that I hadn’t done a reading. I’m going to have to figure out a way to wash this taste out of my fevered brain. Maybe some Clarke or Asimov, perhaps. A bit of Heinlein, even. Philip K. Dick? Why, yes….that would do the trick nicely. Hell, I’m tempted to smear this thing in dog poo and put it in a paper bag and set it on fire on my neighbor’s porch next Halloween…...

Because no…….just no.

[Emil · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very short, fairly light-hearted and humorous book about aliens trying to destroy the earth. The only reason they try to destroy the planet is because they think that humans are a part of another race that they are at war with, because humans and the other race look more or less identical. On earth we use helicopters instead of cars and the helicopters use punchcards to get from one area to the next with autopilot. We also have a huge amount of spaceships (or rockets) available to us. I sort of wish this was how it was in real life.

It was a very easy read. Quick and light and I loved it.

[Shaun Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this in the 1960's and, at the time, it was the stuff of dreams set, as it was, in the unimaginable future of 2015! I re-read it recently and felt slightly cheated that: a. We weren't all flying around in helicopters and hovercraft and, b. that Hoyle failed to predict many things that we take for granted (mobile phones and powerful miniature computers etc). On the other hand, nobody else saw these things coming even in 1999!
Despite the anachronisms, the story still stands up to the passage of time quite well - even if it seems aimed more at the age I was when first I read it

[Tony Dibernardo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall a riveting read with an underwhelming ending. It didn't have every aspect needed to be considered a great book by most, but I loved reading it! I couldn't put it down and the scientific descriptions of technology yet to be discovered gave much insight into how to people of that time thought it would end up working out, truly fascinating.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick little read from what some call the Silver Age of science fiction. This book was written in 1969 but the story takes place in an unspecified year of the early 21st Century, which is to say about now. It is interesting when reading these older books to see how much they got correct about our time period and how much they got wrong. For instance they had everyone flying around in helicopters. This was a common theme in older science fiction but as we know it never came to happen. They did get it correct about computers controlling many things even in our everyday lives. In this story mankind had sent 15 spaceships to visit various different star systems but contact had been lost with them all. After 30 years the 15th and last ship returns but the crew is not to be found on board. A cryptic message has been scratched into the metal of the ship that says, "If this ship returns to Earth, then mankind is in deadly peril!" No other message is to be found. Shortly there after spaceships attack Earth with seemingly overwhelming technology. All seems to be lost but with the help of expected allies and a scientist's idea of using our own sun as a weapon mankind might just prevail. If you enjoy reading older science fiction you will probably enjoy this book.

[Dirk · Rating 2 out of 5]

This must be the stuff Boris Johnson read when he was young, and where he got his ideas from. This story is set in an alternate 2010 whereabouts, when Britain is at the very forefront of technical development. How this happened? "many, many years ago we had two classic wars here in Europe, after which England became more and more financially embarrassed as time went on. The politicians tried first to joi up with the Americans, and then with Europe to get us out of our difficulties. Then a bright politician realized that Britain might be in financial trouble, but we were still producing ideas, good ideas in technology. So instead of giving these ideas away as had happened in the past, because lackj of development money, the government pumped vast sums of money into technology. 'Did it help?' Oh, yes. The British settled down as they had done during the two big wars and, while the rest of the world slowed down in technological advancement, we went ahead". I'd like to coin 'transistor punk' for this branch of alternate history, when Britain rules the waves of space.

[Alejandro Contreras · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not the best of Hoyle's work.
The book is about a potential attack to Earth from extraterrestrial civilizations.
I can't suggest anyone to read this book. Time is limited. Use it for a better book.
Contrary to other reviewers, I don't think the problem is about timing. Asimov's Foundation books are still very good, even though they were written more than 50 years ago. Same with lots of Clarke's works. The problem in this book is, well, almost everything: the shallow characters, the childish story, the science, and I could go on.
Don't read this. I feel bad I did not read the reviews before (or maybe, stupidly, I read them and went against peoples' advice...)

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 2 out of 5]

It has the very British feel of Quatermass and UNIT-era "Doctor Who" from the early 70s...but sometimes it goes to far, resulting a very clipped and clinical story that I find far too lackadaisical for its own good. It's the most underwhelming alien invasion story ever...and apart from the opening chapters and the final line, there isn't much here to raise a major reaction out of the adrenal gland.

[Aaron McCrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book because I wanted to see how people viewed sci-fi in the late 60’s and early 70’s and while many of the exciting parts of this book seemed to be glossed over, it was a really interesting and a fun read due to how Fred and Geoffrey Hoyle imagination of the future that we are living in now

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

In spite of the fact that my book was missing a page about half-way through, I enjoyed this story. It was just a fun, easy read.

[Rob Markley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hoyles thinking about origins of life from space influenced me quite a bit but his scifi writing seemed dated even back then

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very cute sci-fi story. I like the helicopters that run on punch cards and the radar valve.

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit disjointed at times, but a good, fast read about an alien attempt to destroy Earth. Enough twists and a bit of wonder in it to not let me put it down.

[Andrea Dr. Strádi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A kuka tetjén találtam a könyvet a házunk előtt. Miközben olvastam 3 darabra esett szét. :')
A történetben tetszett, hogy minden problémán gyorsan túlléptek, a végét mégis nyitva hagyták.

[Mark Bates · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old school sciences fiction. You have to read this book for what it is a 1960s British B Movie, if you accept that then it is a lot of fun. I enjoyed it.

[Rob Worth · Rating 3 out of 5]

scientifically outdated, but still a fun read.It would have been fun to see how the relationship between Dick and Acylone worked out, but it just wrapped everything up with the war victory.

[Alain · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned here that it isn't easy to turn an early 60s science fiction Theatre play (London's Mermaid Theatre in 1962) into a novel, and most specially one to be released in 1969.

But to be fair, you get a warning right from the start, from that title. It should always be in uppercase: ROCKETS IN URSA MAJOR. Because that way you get the mood of the times it was written in, and the tech levels they used.

The late 50s and early 60s was a time of great transitions for Science Fiction that dealt with space travel. You went from spacemen to astronauts (which might or might not include female astronauts later on) and from V-2 derived single stage to orbit rockets with huge fins (who went everywhere, from the Moon to Sigma Draconis) to spacecraft which were specialised in their functions, and eventually to starships. Some novelists, like Arthur C. Clarke, made the transition even earlier in the late 40s. Others dragged on til the 60s or never made it and were of course not published at all given their antiquities. The Hoyles, fater and son from a weird exception here.

So this "novel" by the Hoyles is a curious, and intellectually fascinating logjam of early concepts, turned out from a stage work of an earlier era. They try at times to make it modern by sidestepping completely issues like getting from one star to another using what seem like ancient rockets. We can just imagine they were "special" rockets, right?

At the same time they repeatedly use plot/tech elements which would be more suited for a steampunk story of a gaslamp fantasy written by the Foglios. At one point, for instance, one fo the main characters, a colonel in her Britannic majesty's space forces, decides to have his Star Destroyer brought by rail from an astrodrome near London to an astrodrome near Cambridge, just because he wants to better coordinate the launch of two ships. Oh sorry, I meant two rockets.

Note that this isn't a good novel at all. It's a fantastic atomic train crash even if they don't actually say that the trains are atomic and even if they surely would not crash in any circumstance given the efficiency of technology in this future Britain.

In short, read this ultra slim novel only if you feel nostalgic for a pre-Arthur C. Clarke British mode of Science Fiction or if you want to see what it feels like to have the equivalent of an early Dan Dare adventure written as a novel by an old fashioned Brit astronomer and his son.

[Alien · Rating 2 out of 5]

After 30 years a spaceship returns, empty. But 2 alien races follow. One of them looks like humans. They claim that they are involved in a war that already lasts for millenia. Now mankind will be pulled into it.

This was not as dated as other comments made me expect. Also not a parody on space operas as the book cover of my edition wanted me to believe. The plot was rather unsatisfactory. On the plus side, the style made it easy to read and the book was thin.

[Erik Graff · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I read this I didn't realize it was originally a play written by Hoyle for presentation at London's Mermaid Theatre in 1962 and only later novelized with the help of his son, Geoffrey. Perhaps the play is better.

[Neal · Rating 1 out of 5]

I vaguely remember reading this as a kid in 1976/77 and remember that I loved it. So I picked it up at a used book store for nostalgia's sake. Yeahhhhhhhhhhh...didn't hold up well to a re-read 20 years later.

[Aurora Springer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun space opera began as a play.
Opening sequence with lost space ship returning to earth with message: "If this ship returns to Earth, then mankind is in deadly peril-God help you." Two groups of space-traveling aliens appear, one friendly and the other not.

[Julio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Una mas bien aburrida novela armada toda ella alrededor de una idea científica ni siquiera muy notable. Nada en lo cual detenerse mucho tiempo...

[Margareth8537 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not worth bothering with

[SciFiOne · Rating 3 out of 5]

1979 grade C+

[Leo-Kathy Sigrist · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the first book I ever read just for the pleasure of reading. It started my life long love affair with reading.

[Clay · Rating 5 out of 5]

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