Twin Worlds: First Contact – the long-held dream.
Twin Worlds: First Contact eBook : Arthur, Richard: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
Thrown into the sea, no-one, least of all Arté himself, expected the young man to survive the dangerous passage of the strait. Yet Arté is an exception in many ways: a favoured slave whose mistress will order him sacrificed; a budding mathematician in a world where most believe men incapable of reasoning, and the first to make contact with an alien civilisation.
For the twinned planet of Geos, which hangs massive and luminous in the Duplos sky, contains a far more advanced civilisation – one where instead of women ruling men, gender is barely mentioned or acknowledged. On Geos, two children grow up with the thrilling promise of the world’s greatest scientific endeavour, a mission to reach the planet they gaze at each night. For Wild Cat and Flying Eagle, reaching Duplos is a mission to which they dedicate their lives.
The best science fiction both holds a mirror up to our own world, society and taboos, yet allows us to envisage what is truly different and alien to ourselves. In this Arthur succeeds triumphantly. In the pre-Industrial world of Duplos, with its deep and brutal oppression, as Arte struggles to establish himself as an independent man and mathematician, we see a society and culture gradually emerging into a more liberal future.
On Geos, Wild Cat and Flying Eagle compete for a place on the mission, yet even as they train and study, the politicians are arguing about its aims. Long-distance imagery suggests some form of life exists on Duplos – but is it intelligent, is it dangerous and should the Geosians conserve or conquer? – HW
Twin Worlds is the first book in the Twin World series. The sequel will be published in the Autumn .
The topic of how individuals and societies might interact and develop is not new – William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies” and Prof Tolkien’s forays into the world of Middle Earth provide examples of how a considerations of a very serious subject can result in very readable novels. Richard Arthur continues the theme by exploring what takes place when different civilisations on different planets finally meet. In this first novel, we get an in-depth look at these different civilisations in terms of their norms and daily life.
John Ramsbotham
Twin Worlds: First Contact eBook : Arthur, Richard: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
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