Orbitsville Judgement

Orbitsville #3

by Bob Shaw

Orbitsville is the scene of two of Bob Shaw's most successful novels and is possibly the most gigantic artefact ever dreamed up by an SF writer - a vast hollow world completely enclosing its sun, habitable across its entire inner surface. At the end of ORBITSVILLE DEPARTURE the whole world was shifted to an alternative universe. In a conclusion which is both stunning and moving, ORBITSVILLE JUDGEMENT tells what happens next...

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Bob Shaw was born in Northern Ireland. After working in structural engineering, industrial public relations, and journalism he became a full time science fiction writer in 1975.

Shaw was noted for his originality and wit. He was two-time recipient (in 1979 and 1980) of the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer. His short story Light of Other Days was a Hugo Award nominee in 1967, as was his novel The Ragged Astronauts in 1987.

Reviews

[Karl Stark di Grande Inverno · Rating 2 out of 5]

Romanzo finale in linea con i due predecessori.
Trama carina ma dall'evoluzione approssimativa, soprattutto per quanto riguarda le relazioni tra i personaggi che sembrano messe "un tanto al chilo".
Seconda parte più godibile, mano a mano che ci si avvicina alla rivelazione finale, ma il colpo di scena delle ultime pagine lascia un pò di amaro in bocca.

[Metaphorosis · Rating 3 out of 5]

reviews.metaphorosis.com

3 stars

The Orbitsville Dyson sphere has moved - to another universe. Jim Nicklin, a carefree technician and repairman gets caught up in a religious zealot's drive to buy or build a spaceship to escape Orbitsville entirely.

I'm a fan of Bob Shaw, and I'm glad he had success with the Orbitsville series. Unfortunately, I'm sorry to say the the longer the series went, the weaker it got.

Orbitsville itself was a simple story with a big idea. Departure was a more complex story about a man with a small idea - vengeance. It falls apart toward the end, when Shaw pulls the deus out of the machina as Orbitsville vanishes. Judgement aims to tell the other side of the story - about the people in Orbitsville itself.

While in Judgment, Shaw tells the story better, a lot of it is the same as in Departure. There's a simple man focused on vengeance, and a big mystic finale. The simple man here is just as driven, but less credible. A carefree man with a not terribly credible personality, is cheated, and becomes, suddenly a man with a totally different personality. And at the end of the novel, he changes again, in an even less credible way, just in time for the Hollywood ending. That's not to say all the characterization is weak; much of the smaller instances of it are good. But the personality changes simply don't work, which undermines the story overall.

The ending, as in Departure, is weak, and for the same reason. It feels tacked onto the story. Given what Shaw is trying to achieve, it's a difficult act to pull off, but the way Shaw chose doesn't really work. Even the base idea is not terribly new, and draws from Olaf Stapledon’s Star Maker.

This isn't a hard read. The story moves along. The protagonist is amusing, and there's a good share of humor in the story. But it doesn't all gel together well. I suggest most people stick with the first book in the series, and leave the latter two to true devotees.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Final entry into the Orbitsville trilogy.

Continues on from where Departure left off, but almost entirely with different characters. Like Departure, I wasn't much interested in the characters or their adventures so much as the stuff about Orbitsville itself, which again was largely left right to the end and even then could mostly be summed up as "a wizard did it" which clashes so much with the hard SF of the rest of the story. Disappointing.

[Karmakosmik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Credo sia forse la prima volta che il miglior libro di un trilogia sia l'ultimo, ed è proprio questo il caso de "I costruttori di Orbitsville", volume che conclude la trilogia di Orbitsville. In questo romanzo, Bob Shaw si concentra sui terrestri rimasti intrappolati sul mega pianeta, scagliato in un'altra dimensione dopo gli eventi del precedente volume. La cosa particolare de "I costruttori di Orbitsville" è il fatto di utilizzare come punto di vista quello di un abitante di un piccolo villaggio indipendente, ricostruito in maniera tale da ricreare un villaggio di frontiera americano di inizio 1900, decisamente antipatico e dalla sessualità distorta, che per un inganno (sempre di natura sessuale) entra a far parte della congregazione di un predicatore che vede in orbitsville il demonio e che cerca fondi per creare un'astronave\arca della salvezza per andare in cerca del vero Eden. Il libro è molto scorrevole e si legge piuttosto rapidamente, al contrario del precedente, ma che secondo me si perde molto con l'ennesima svolta finale che manda un po' in vacca tutta lo scenario creato con il precedente romanzo. Peccato veramente, ma è un po' un filo continuo quello di non essere riuscito a dare una narrazione pienamente convincente allo scenario di Orbitsville.

[Frank Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

A grand finale flop. The basic premise of this was fantastic, a world inexplicably misplaced, a people then trying to work out where they are and what to do. But everything around the central idea is absolutely horrid writing.

We're treated to a main character who seems to be in a constant state of wet dream, even while awake. He was constantly narrating his sexually demoralising ambitions to us. This childish sideshow takes up an unreasonable portion of the text.

The author decides in his future of humans exploring the galaxy that segregation is back in fashion, so we're then subjected to discussions like the one about the strange black man who doesn't like being stared at.

The mindon stuff comes back with a vengeance, I'll say no no more about that. It might have been slightly fun, mystical bunk science if I hadn't already been divested of the plot.

I really struggled with this one and thought it was a major let down to an otherwise decent series.

[Donald McAlpin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I made it to the end of this trilogy but would maybe have preferred that the author had not been induced to write the two sequels. Perhaps a realisation that the sci-fi element could be expanded led to the frankly mystic final third of this book. Characterisations were poor and I had little sympathy for the hero. I'll stick to Rimworld in future.

[James Marshall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy-to-read conclusion to the SF trilogy. Feels more like a Western in parts but finishes with hard SF.

[KDS · Rating 3 out of 5]

The final book in the Orbitsville series and arguably the weakest. Much of the book is spent on the lives of a cult of characters preparing to leave the sphere on a religious crusade, whilst strange phenomena plague the once benign world. There are some vaguely interesting themes of religion and humanity’s place in the cosmos which aren’t deeply explored until the end and Bob seems to be treading water with a bunch of obnoxious characters whose plight and relationships it’s difficult to care about. To be honest, I’m not sure Bob cared either—it’s all just filler before the final act kicks in. And that twist is at least something quite spectacular.

It’s this final quarter where the fate of Orbitsville finally happens and it’s this stunning, sweeping epic event that just about saves an otherwise unremarkable story. The scale of it is mind boggling and it is an awe inspiring piece of imagination that Shaw manages to keep grounded thanks to his trademark, accessible storytelling style. It’s a shame that so much dross had to precede it all.

The first book remains a masterpiece and one of the great classics of the genre, but the sequels deliver some weary, mundane stories of his “ordinary people” which too often sideline and relegate the magnitude of his ideas too late in the books. Whilst Judgement eventually ties up the story and leaves us with some thought provoking questions and answers to ponder over, I’m just not sure the journey to get there was worth it.

[Dan Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like its predecessor, this is a slog for much of its length - really this was headed for a 1 out of 5 - until the final fifth when the author's ambitions and intent become clear. It's then suspenseful, compelling, fascinating stuff. But damn what an effort it is to get there.

[Derek Pennycuff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series gets weird. Not Dune weird. But still… weird.