Short, decent 1960s novel by one of the better classic SF writers. Harrison wrote a few really good novels and then a lot of average ones. This is one of the average lot. Not a bad story but not certainly not his best. ( )

Harry Harrison's "Captive Universe" is a short novel (160 pgs) that starts off well enough with a heart-racing scene. The father of the story's protagonist is running through cornfields and then killed by an Aztec Serpent Goddess for having committed an unpardonable act. The story then jumps exactly 16 years ahead and switches to the point of view of the woman who he seemingly forced himself upon. She seems to have been awaiting punishment for all 16 of these years and fears the punishment will fall upon her and/or her son Chimal. As the story progresses we find that there is much more going on than we might have at first thought.

The first third of the novel has much of the feel of a rather ordinary lost civilization tale complete with a sealed off valley and evil priests, or maybe more of a Turok Son of Stone comic book. Chimal is apparently much more intelligent and inquisitive about his world than others of his tribe. The story plays out as a bit of an underdog against the authorities adventure. However, I didn't feel that Chimal was drawn in such a way that I found myself sympathetic to him or his cause. As a result I was a rather passive observer to the adventure.

It isn't possible to really discuss the problems with this novel without big spoilers. And although the cover art itself is a spoiler I'd rather not completely spoil the story for the potential reader.

The novel has a fairly good reputation so I guess I expected a lot out of it. In my opinion the story breaks down once Chimal encounters the world outside of his valley. Once the full story is known the whole literally stupid society "setup" seems more than a little inane. I think my problem also lies with how smart and adaptive Chimal is and how quickly he rises above his first 21 years spent in a subsistence level life. I also had a problem with the "made up" words used infrequently and very oddly in the book. No apparent thought was given to language consistency it seems. For example, I have no idea what this sentence means: "She did not report for fermio last yerfb, she may be ill", nor is the reader likely to know after reading further what this is about. Luckily stuff like this is thrown in rarely, but it is jarring when it appears.

I generally have a pretty high regard for Harry Harrison’s writings but this story was just too much of a stretch for me. I didn’t hate the book but cannot really recommend it. ( )

Chimal lives in an ancient Aztec civilization, where gods walk the earth, and the priesthood rule over their subjects in an iron-fisted tyranny. Chimal is a rebellious and non-conformative sort, and is not suited for such a life, so he makes his escape… and finds out the world he lives in is actually a spaceship. It’s been done far better elsewhere.

I won’t beat around the bush here; this is a truly awful book. The main character, Chimal is one of the worst-rendered characters I have ever encountered – he goes from being a somewhat intelligent and argumentative peasant to someone able to understand the workings of a spacecraft, reprogram robots, use complicated futuristic weapons, drive vehicles with some proficiently, and understand complicated technical books, all in the space of a few days. He’s a genius though, so that’s alright. However, to me, it stretches credibility far too far.

The plot’s even worse. Apart from the rather dodgy central plot idea, there are too many inconsistencies in the plot to ignore. If you want to have a large settler population reach Proxima Centauri, why would you make most of the crew believers in a bloodthirsty religion, where everyone does their best to kill eachother? Why would you make those overwatching the tribe populations into sadistic religious zealots? There are some explanations given, but I couldn’t swallow them, because they don’t really explain anything at all.

I can’t think of any reason to recommend this at all. Silly plot and silly characters, it’s not even enjoyable as an unintelligent read. This plot has been done with far more skill and ability elsewhere. Avoid, avoid, avoid. ( )