The Big Time
Copyright 1958 by Fritz
Leiber
I first read this in 1969 and most recently on the 24th July
2002.
Vernor Vinge might write about big space battles,
but they're nothing compared to this world from Fritz Leiber. The
entire universe is divided into two camps, those of the Spiders and
the Snakes. They and their supporters battle desperately throughout
billions of years of past and future time. Yet for all its vast
scale, it's a secret war, one that you and I will likely never
perceive, however much our civilisations are overthrown, our history
perverted and our lives destroyed.
But in the Big Time, that special region outside of
normal time and space, the Spiders and the snakes observe the
changes they make to reality, and feel the Change Winds rushing
through them as one side or the other manages to alter the course of
history.
Still, all this big stuff takes place in the
background. This novel is concerned with the goings on in the lounge
of a small R&R station floating in the Big Time. It's asking
questions about life, the universe, whether the ends justify the
means and, in particular, what exactly to do about the small atomic
bomb on the floor of the aforementioned lounge.
We view the story through the eyes and ears of
entertainer and hostess extraordinaire, Greta Forzane, as she
observes the differing beliefs and moralities of her fellow
entertainers and the soldiers they serve. There's Sid the senior
man, Doc the far-gone alcoholic, Maud, Beau and the new girl, Lili.
The recuperating soldiers are Erich, Bruce, Mark, Caby and a couple
of aliens, Sevencee and Illhilihis. We learn what Greta already
knows, that both she and her associates are both better and worse
than appearances suggest.
I reread this, after a gap of a few decades, more
from a sense of nostalgia than any expectation of real enjoyment.
But I was so surprised. This is a wonderful novel, a heck of a book,
as indeed any book that includes even a couple of lines from T. S.
Eliot's Gerontion
had ought to be). In fact it's a classic and unique SF Masterpiece
with a quite different perspective from normal time-travel SF. It's
a powerful yet often humorous drama and would (in my humble opinion)
make a superb stage play.
And if there is a war, Greta, and I must fight, be
there to succour me.
Loaded on the 19th August
2002. |
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