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The Night of Kadar
AN OLD WORLD DIES; A NEW AGE DAWNS
After roving through space for centuries, a starship unburdens its cargo of human embryos on a harsh new world. They quickly grow to maturity in the ship's artificial womb. A lifetime of Earth memories is programmed into their dreams.
But before their indoctrination is complete, an alien intruder infiltrates and destroys the system ...and the reason for their odyssey is never learned.
Now, on a verdant island surrounded by quicksand, Othman, wanderer, dreamer, and self-proclaimed leader of the Earthling band, builds a mighty bridge to span the ocean of molten mud that keeps them from the world beyond.
He has yet to face the deadly toll his quest will take on the delicate ecology of the planet -- or the revolt of his beautiful, strong-willed wife, Silandi. And he has yet to discover the hidden knowledge locked deep
within their hearts. (Back Cover)
After roving through space for centuries, a starship unburdens its cargo of human embryos on a harsh new world. They quickly grow to maturity in the ship's artificial womb. A lifetime of Earth memories is programmed into their dreams.
But before their indoctrination is complete, an alien intruder infiltrates and destroys the system ...and the reason for their odyssey is never learned.
Now, on a verdant island surrounded by quicksand, Othman, wanderer, dreamer, and self-proclaimed leader of the Earthling band, builds a mighty bridge to span the ocean of molten mud that keeps them from the world beyond.
He has yet to face the deadly toll his quest will take on the delicate ecology of the planet -- or the revolt of his beautiful, strong-willed wife, Silandi. And he has yet to discover the hidden knowledge locked deep
within their hearts. (Back Cover)
- GenresScience Fiction
206 pages, Paperback
First published September 4, 1978
1 person is currently reading
61 people want to read
About the author
Garry Kilworth
224 books118 followersGarry Douglas Kilworth is a historical novelist who also published sci-fi, fantasy, and juvenile fiction.
Kilworth is a graduate of King's College London. He was previously a science fiction author, having published one hundred twenty short stories and seventy novels.
Kilworth is a graduate of King's College London. He was previously a science fiction author, having published one hundred twenty short stories and seventy novels.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 5, 2018
This surprising little book from 1979 tells the tale of a group of space travelers grown in vats and ejected as fully developed 30-year-olds on an alien planet was a nice tonic after the ambiguities and angst of Joyce's Dubliners. It is in the vein of science fiction stories that encompass a mystery, which subgenre can be as tantalizing as it is disappointing, when the mystery is resolved.
The gag is this: The travelers are being grown in their vats and educated by the computers when in the midst of the process the computers are burnt out, so they emerge on to their planet in two groups: A 30-year-old crew that is educated in its technical abilities but completely unaware of its culture, history and purpose; and a younger set (15-year-olds) who were completely uneducated and are perceived by the older crew as just morons.
Our adventurers land on an island in the middle of nowhere, populated only by benign vegetarian stick-fuzzies who quickly develop a rapport with the "morons". While that's going on, our hero, the self-appointed leader of the troupe—nobody knows who the real leader was supposed to be because their education didn't get that far—becomes obsessed with making a bridge to cross into the "mainland". (I wondered fiercely how he knew it was any kind of a mainland, but I suppose if you're on a small island, a slightly larger one will do.)
He loses the one flyer the colony has by having it push beyond its safe limits, and so the bridge is seen as the only way out. (It wasn't clear to me exactly why they couldn't have built a boat but the "ocean" wasn't straight water, but more muddy. Too soft to walk over, to hard to float over.)
The interesting thing about the book is that, at the outset, none of the characters are very likable. The protagonist is arrogant, and we don't know if his inner feeling has any validity to it, or if he's just squandering his people's limited resources on the fried educational computer glitch.
But, lo and behold, the characters change and grow through time, and become more understandable and more likable as time goes on, through failures and victories. That's how writing's supposed to go, right?
The reveal is acceptable. It's well-supported by the clues given, so it lacks a strong reveal value, but it makes solid sense and doesn't make one feel as if one has been wasting one's time chasing rabbits and red herrings.
As a nice and relatively unusual aspect, it has religious overtones. The crew of the ship were launched from a Muslim community, though with no awareness of Islam other than Allah and Mohammed. The idea being that they need to discover Allah on their own in this new world, which makes a lot of sense. The loss of culture is a real presence in the book, as the emergence of a new one. That's an angle you don't often see.
Solid 4 stars, which is not something I expect from '70s era scifi.
The gag is this: The travelers are being grown in their vats and educated by the computers when in the midst of the process the computers are burnt out, so they emerge on to their planet in two groups: A 30-year-old crew that is educated in its technical abilities but completely unaware of its culture, history and purpose; and a younger set (15-year-olds) who were completely uneducated and are perceived by the older crew as just morons.
Our adventurers land on an island in the middle of nowhere, populated only by benign vegetarian stick-fuzzies who quickly develop a rapport with the "morons". While that's going on, our hero, the self-appointed leader of the troupe—nobody knows who the real leader was supposed to be because their education didn't get that far—becomes obsessed with making a bridge to cross into the "mainland". (I wondered fiercely how he knew it was any kind of a mainland, but I suppose if you're on a small island, a slightly larger one will do.)
He loses the one flyer the colony has by having it push beyond its safe limits, and so the bridge is seen as the only way out. (It wasn't clear to me exactly why they couldn't have built a boat but the "ocean" wasn't straight water, but more muddy. Too soft to walk over, to hard to float over.)
The interesting thing about the book is that, at the outset, none of the characters are very likable. The protagonist is arrogant, and we don't know if his inner feeling has any validity to it, or if he's just squandering his people's limited resources on the fried educational computer glitch.
But, lo and behold, the characters change and grow through time, and become more understandable and more likable as time goes on, through failures and victories. That's how writing's supposed to go, right?
The reveal is acceptable. It's well-supported by the clues given, so it lacks a strong reveal value, but it makes solid sense and doesn't make one feel as if one has been wasting one's time chasing rabbits and red herrings.
As a nice and relatively unusual aspect, it has religious overtones. The crew of the ship were launched from a Muslim community, though with no awareness of Islam other than Allah and Mohammed. The idea being that they need to discover Allah on their own in this new world, which makes a lot of sense. The loss of culture is a real presence in the book, as the emergence of a new one. That's an angle you don't often see.
Solid 4 stars, which is not something I expect from '70s era scifi.
July 18, 2009
It held my interest. I thought the characters were pretty well rounded. The story was not terribly cutting edge, though. But then, what story is really.
November 6, 2023
Garry Kilworth’s second novel The Night of Kadar was published in 1978.
It’s a fascinating novel based on the generation starship concept. It begins in the vast spaceship that had been travelling for a thousand years and is finally nearing its inhabitable planetary destination. Embryos are activated in their tanks and grown rapidly, while being educated. Unfortunately, the ship’s designers did not plan for a subtle minute alien incursion that sabotages the intelligence units irreparably; ‘One of their manipulative interests was ecology – a natural area of study for a static race’ (p177).
The ship lands on an island in a sea of quicksand. The enigma of their purpose remains a mystery, doubtless lost in the wiped tapes. ‘We, the ship’s people. Born of a machine; an engine. But what is a planet, the planet Earth, if not an engine, a large beautiful engine that turns in space, and manufactures life?’ (p93).
The main character is Othman, who was born at the age of thirty Earthyears. Others emerge from the ship, including a pre-programmed wife Silandi. It seems that about half of the complement of settlers were born mentally impaired, referred to as morons; this was due to the malfunction in the circuitry. Inevitably, conflict between individuals arises, causing tension and even rebellion…
The ship automatically constructs tools and machines from its own huge carcass.
The senders, the people who launched the ship were of the Islamic faith; however, no Koran is supplied and their knowledge is bereft of any religion. As time goes by, they recall a childhood they never lived but was imprinted: these ‘false memory’ interludes are detailed in Arabic settings, coloured by the author’s time living and working in the Middle East. ‘She knew these questions could only remain questions. Earth could only be the somewhere of her simulated childhood – a place she had never physically touched’ (p86).
Othman becomes their natural leader and is determined to search for their destiny, their reason for being on this planet. To that end, he enforces the construction of a bridge across the expanse of quicksand to the mainland beyond. This is not always a popular decision, as the number of the island’s trees is depleted: ‘Man is an artist at destruction, even though his intentions may seem pure. Ten, a hundred, a thousand years to grow a tree, and ten minutes to bring it to the ground’ (p41).
The book’s title is from the Koran: ‘Better is the Night of Kadar (Glory) than a thousand months…’ ‘On the night of Kadar, the night he died, he would like to go to those stars, perhaps become one of them’ (p159).
Kilworth’s prose is always good and often eloquent: ‘the crisp salt of their bodies mingling as the wetness flows from their skin, the iron in their blood forming tight wires to jerking muscles, the smell of oxygen burning, circuit fusing in their veins as they reach out to touch the innumerable corners of the universe’ (p99).
Some later scenes are quite horrific. For this planet is no Garden of Eden. And yet they are survivors and they grow as the generations move on. Quite an imaginative feat, this book.
It’s a fascinating novel based on the generation starship concept. It begins in the vast spaceship that had been travelling for a thousand years and is finally nearing its inhabitable planetary destination. Embryos are activated in their tanks and grown rapidly, while being educated. Unfortunately, the ship’s designers did not plan for a subtle minute alien incursion that sabotages the intelligence units irreparably; ‘One of their manipulative interests was ecology – a natural area of study for a static race’ (p177).
The ship lands on an island in a sea of quicksand. The enigma of their purpose remains a mystery, doubtless lost in the wiped tapes. ‘We, the ship’s people. Born of a machine; an engine. But what is a planet, the planet Earth, if not an engine, a large beautiful engine that turns in space, and manufactures life?’ (p93).
The main character is Othman, who was born at the age of thirty Earthyears. Others emerge from the ship, including a pre-programmed wife Silandi. It seems that about half of the complement of settlers were born mentally impaired, referred to as morons; this was due to the malfunction in the circuitry. Inevitably, conflict between individuals arises, causing tension and even rebellion…
The ship automatically constructs tools and machines from its own huge carcass.
The senders, the people who launched the ship were of the Islamic faith; however, no Koran is supplied and their knowledge is bereft of any religion. As time goes by, they recall a childhood they never lived but was imprinted: these ‘false memory’ interludes are detailed in Arabic settings, coloured by the author’s time living and working in the Middle East. ‘She knew these questions could only remain questions. Earth could only be the somewhere of her simulated childhood – a place she had never physically touched’ (p86).
Othman becomes their natural leader and is determined to search for their destiny, their reason for being on this planet. To that end, he enforces the construction of a bridge across the expanse of quicksand to the mainland beyond. This is not always a popular decision, as the number of the island’s trees is depleted: ‘Man is an artist at destruction, even though his intentions may seem pure. Ten, a hundred, a thousand years to grow a tree, and ten minutes to bring it to the ground’ (p41).
The book’s title is from the Koran: ‘Better is the Night of Kadar (Glory) than a thousand months…’ ‘On the night of Kadar, the night he died, he would like to go to those stars, perhaps become one of them’ (p159).
Kilworth’s prose is always good and often eloquent: ‘the crisp salt of their bodies mingling as the wetness flows from their skin, the iron in their blood forming tight wires to jerking muscles, the smell of oxygen burning, circuit fusing in their veins as they reach out to touch the innumerable corners of the universe’ (p99).
Some later scenes are quite horrific. For this planet is no Garden of Eden. And yet they are survivors and they grow as the generations move on. Quite an imaginative feat, this book.
January 23, 2020
At first glance, Garry Kilworth’s The Night of Kadar (1978) tells the familiar tale of colonization on an alien planet filled with mysterious and hostile forces. Beneath the surface, Kilworth explores the evolution of a religious society separated from its sacred landscape (the planet Earth) that gave birth to the first followers of the religion. This is an odd novel in the best sense of the word. I’ve discovered few 70s works that tackle Islamic religion and faith (yet alone any religion) in a non-judgmental manner. In this vision religion isn’t a tool of repression, it isn’t presented as antithetical to science, or a hindrance to societal development. Flaws reside within individuals.
While I found elements of the narrative problematic, I applaud Kilworth’s fascinating premise and thought-provoking ruminations on an Earth religion transposed [...]
For the complete review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...
While I found elements of the narrative problematic, I applaud Kilworth’s fascinating premise and thought-provoking ruminations on an Earth religion transposed [...]
For the complete review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...
June 25, 2020
I quite enjoyed it. It's well written and the story proceeds at a good speed. I particularly liked how the protagonists observations and thinking was not behind that of the reader.
There is just one bit where I think the author went unnecessarily too far, it doesn't even serve a purpose in the story (unless I missed it?). But anyway. A sequel could've been interesting!
There is just one bit where I think the author went unnecessarily too far, it doesn't even serve a purpose in the story (unless I missed it?). But anyway. A sequel could've been interesting!
September 6, 2025
This was recommended by Vintage SF's Richard Rempel, and it was really good. A very original take on the 'colonize the planet' story, featuring people of Arab descendance. Good story, great reveal.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews