Orphans of the Sky

Last updated
Orphans of the Sky
OrphansOfTheSky1964hardback.JPG
First US edition
(publ. G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1964)
Author Robert A. Heinlein
Cover artist Irv Docktor
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreScience fiction
Publisher Victor Gollancz Ltd (UK)
Publication date
1963
Media typePrint (Paperback)
ISBN 9780671318451
OCLC 751436515

Orphans of the Sky is a science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, consisting of two parts: "Universe" ( Astounding Science Fiction , May 1941) and its sequel, "Common Sense" (Astounding Science Fiction, October 1941). The two novellas were first published together in book form in 1963. "Universe" was also published separately in 1951 as a 10¢ Dell paperback. The work presents one of the earliest fictional depictions of a generation ship.

Contents

Plot

The gigantic, cylindrical generation ship Vanguard, originally destined for "Far Centaurus", has been cruising without guidance through interstellar space ever since a mutiny long ago killed most of the officers. Over time, the descendants of the surviving loyal crew have lapsed into a pre-technological culture that is marked by superstition, and have forgotten the purpose and nature of their ship. Since they come to believe the "Ship" is the entire universe, "To move the ship" is considered an oxymoron, and references to the Ship's "voyage" are interpreted as religious metaphor. They are ruled by an oligarchy of "officers" and "scientists." Most crew members are simple illiterate farmers who seldom if ever venture to the "upper decks," where the "muties" ("mutants" or "mutineers") dwell. Among the crew, all identifiable mutants are killed at birth.

The 1951 Dell printing of "Universe" Universedell.jpg
The 1951 Dell printing of "Universe"

The story centers on a young man of insatiable curiosity, Hugh Hoyland, who is selected as an apprentice by a scientist. The scientists ritualistically perform the tasks required to maintain the Ship, such as putting trash into its energy converter to generate power, and remain ignorant of their true functions.

On a hunt for muties, Hugh is captured by them. He barely avoids getting eaten by the microcephalic dwarf Bobo and instead becomes the slave of Joe-Jim Gregory, the two-headed leader of a powerful mutie gang. Joe and Jim have separate identities, but both are highly intelligent and have come to a crude understanding of the Ship's true nature.

Having become convinced of the Ship's true purpose, Hugh persuades Joe-Jim to complete the mission of colonization since he notices that there is a nearby star that Joe-Jim has observed growing larger over the years. Intent on the mission, he returns to the lower levels of the Ship to convince others to help him, but is arrested by his former boss, Bill Ertz, and sentenced to death. He is viewed as either insane or a previously unrecognized mutant; he was a borderline case at birth, with a head viewed as too large.

Hugh persuades an old friend, Alan Mahoney, to enlist Joe-Jim's gang in rescuing him. He shows the captured Bill and Alan the long-abandoned command center and a view of the stars. Convinced, Bill then enlists the captain's aide, Phineas Narby, to Hugh's crusade.

Inspired by one of Joe-Jim's favorite books, The Three Musketeers , they manufacture swords superior to the daggers that everyone else has. They overthrow the captain, install Narby in his place, and embark on a campaign to bring the entire Ship under their control.

However, Narby never believed Hugh and played along only to gain power. Once in control, he sets out to eliminate the muties. Joe is killed in the fighting, but Jim sacrifices himself to hold off their pursuers long enough for Hugh, Bill, Alan, and their wives to get to a highly automated lifeboat. Hugh manages to land on the habitable moon of a gas giant. The colonists disembark and uneasily explore their alien surroundings.

Reception

Avram Davidson described Orphans of the Sky as "a modern classic" and praised "the magnitude and magnificence of Orphans' concepts" but expressed disappointment in "the limitations of its conclusion." [1] Damon Knight said, "Nobody has ever improved on Universe, although a good many reckless people have tried, because Heinlein said it all." [2] Algis Budrys said, "Many hands have worked at improving Heinlein's impeccable statement of this theme", with none succeeding until James White's The Watch Below . [3]

A paragraph at the start of the novel shows an excerpt from "The Romance of Modern Astrography," explaining that the ship was part of the "Proxima Centauri Expedition, sponsored by the Jordan Foundation in 2119" (A timeline produced by Heinlein to link different stories in his Future History places the launch of the Vanguard in the early 22nd century. [4] ) A discovered ship's log begins in June 2172, a few days before the mutiny breaks out.

In Heinlein's later novel Time Enough for Love , the Vanguard is briefly mentioned as the sister ship of New Frontiers, which was commandeered by the Howard Families in the novel Methuselah's Children . It is revealed that the vessel had been bound for Proxima Centauri but never landed colonists there. The Vanguard has been discovered, with its crew long dead because of an unexplained failure in its mechanisms, and its records destroyed or illegible. Its path is traced back, and the descendants of Hugh's people are found, flourishing as highly intelligent savages on a planet which scientists dub "Pitcairn Island". Another reference to Heinlein's Future History is a passage describing Joe-Jim's enthusiasm for the works of "Rhysling, the blind singer of the spaceways," a poet and the central character of the Heinlein story "The Green Hills of Earth".

Radio adaptation

"Universe" was also performed as a radio play on the NBC Radio Network programs Dimension X (on November 26, 1951) and X Minus One (on May 15, 1955). Those versions have several drastic changes to the story, especially in their conclusions in which Hugh is killed, showing the crew of the Vanguard the true nature of the Ship.

Scientific details

Two-headed humans exist, one variation of conjoined twins. [5]

The physics of the Ship's artificial gravity is also correct: It spins to simulate gravity, which is absent at the centre. [6] The ship's "Converter" reflects an early 1940s viewpoint of atomic power, with atoms of any element "ripped apart" in an unspecified manner.

The notion of a giant planet with a habitable moon went against theories of planetary formation as they stood before the discovery of "hot Jupiter" planets. It was thought that planets large enough to have an Earth-sized moon would form only above the "snowline," too far from the star for life. It is now believed that such worlds can migrate inwards, and habitable moons seem possible. The existence of exomoons has not been confirmed, but there are candidates. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alpha Centauri</span> Nearest star system to our Solar System

Alpha Centauri is a triple star system in the southern constellation of Centaurus. It consists of three stars: Rigil Kentaurus, Toliman (B) and Proxima Centauri (C). Proxima Centauri is the closest star to the Sun at 4.2465 light-years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murray Leinster</span> American science fiction writer

Murray Leinster was a pen name of William Fitzgerald Jenkins, an American writer of genre fiction, particularly of science fiction. He wrote and published more than 1,500 short stories and articles, 14 movie scripts, and hundreds of radio scripts and television plays.

<i>The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress</i> 1966 science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress is a 1966 science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein about a lunar colony's revolt against absentee rule from Earth. The novel illustrates and discusses libertarian ideals. It is respected for its credible presentation of a comprehensively imagined future human society on both the Earth and the Moon.

<i>The Cat Who Walks Through Walls</i> 1985 science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein

The Cat Who Walks Through Walls is a science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, published in 1985. Like many of his later novels, it features Lazarus Long and Jubal Harshaw as supporting characters.

"The Green Hills of Earth" is a science fiction short story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. One of his Future History stories, the short story originally appeared in The Saturday Evening Post, and it was collected in The Green Hills of Earth. Heinlein selected the story for inclusion in the 1949 anthology My Best Science Fiction Story. "The Green Hills of Earth" is also the title of a song mentioned in several of Heinlein's novels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Algis Budrys</span> Lithuanian-American science fiction author, editor, and critic

Algirdas Jonas "Algis" Budrys was a Lithuanian-American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He was also known under the pen names Frank Mason, Alger Rome in collaboration with Jerome Bixby, John A. Sentry, William Scarff, and Paul Janvier. In 1960, he authored Rogue Moon, a novel.

<i>The Past Through Tomorrow</i> Science fiction story collection by Robert A. Heinlein

The Past Through Tomorrow is a collection of science fiction stories by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, first published in 1967, all part of his Future History.

"Neutron Star" is an English language science fiction short story by American writer Larry Niven. It was originally published in the October 1966 issue of Worlds of If. It was later reprinted in the collection of the same name and Crashlander. The story is set in Niven's fictional Known Space universe. It is notable for including a neutron star before their existence was widely known.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exomoon</span> Moon beyond the Solar System

An exomoon or extrasolar moon is a natural satellite that orbits an exoplanet or other non-stellar extrasolar body.

<i>Gateway</i> (novel) 1977 novel by Frederik Pohl

Gateway is a 1977 science-fiction novel by American writer Frederik Pohl. It is the opening novel in the Heechee saga, with four sequels that followed. Gateway won the 1978 Hugo Award for Best Novel, the 1978 Locus Award for Best Novel, the 1977 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and the 1978 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. The novel was adapted into a computer game in 1992.

The science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) was productive during a writing career that spanned the last 49 years of his life; the Robert A. Heinlein bibliography includes 32 novels, 59 short stories and 16 collections published during his life. Four films, two TV series, several episodes of a radio series, at least two songs and a board game derive more or less directly from his work. He wrote the screenplay for Destination Moon (1950). Heinlein also edited an anthology of other writers' science fiction short stories.

Stars outside of the Solar System and their planets have been featured as settings in works of fiction. Most of these fictional stars and planets do not vary significantly from the Sun and Earth, respectively. Exceptions include anthropomorphized stars and planets with sentience, planets without stars, and planets in multiple-star systems where the orbital mechanics can lead to exotic day–night or seasonal cycles. Besides systems of fictional stars, several real ones have also made appearances in fiction, with the nearest one—Alpha Centauri—receiving particular attention.

The Heinlein juveniles are the science-fiction novels written by Robert A. Heinlein for Scribner's young-adult line. Each features "a young male protagonist entering the adult world of conflict, decisions, and responsibilities." Together, they tell a loosely connected story of space exploration. Scribner's published the first 12 between 1947 and 1958, but rejected the 13th, Starship Troopers. That one was instead published by Putnam. A 14th novel, Podkayne of Mars, is sometimes listed as a "Heinlein juvenile", although Heinlein himself did not consider it to be one.

<i>Captive Universe</i> 1969 novel by Harry Harrison

Captive Universe is a 1969 science fiction novel by American author Harry Harrison.

<i>The Einstein Intersection</i> 1967 novel by Samuel Delany

The Einstein Intersection is a 1967 science fiction novel by Samuel R. Delany. The title is a reference to Einstein's Theory of Relativity connecting to Kurt Gödel's Constructible universe, which is an analogy to science meeting philosophy. The original publisher, Ace Books, changed Delany's originally intended title from A Fabulous, Formless Darkness for commercial reasons.

<i>The Watch Below</i> 1966 science fiction novel by James White

The Watch Below (1966) is a science fiction novel by British writer James White about a colony of humans stranded underwater in a sunken ship, who survive by air pockets, and a water-breathing alien species in search of a new home. The two generation ships encounter each other in the Earth's ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proxima Centauri (short story)</span> Short story by Murray Leinster

"Proxima Centauri" is a science fiction short story by American writer Murray Leinster, originally published in the March 1935 issue of Astounding Stories. Unusually for the time, the story adhered to the laws of physics as they were known by showing a starship that was limited by the speed of light and took several years to travel between the stars. In his comments on the story in Before the Golden Age, Isaac Asimov thought that "Proxima Centauri" must have influenced Robert A. Heinlein's later story "Universe" and stated that it influenced his own Pebble in the Sky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proxima Centauri b</span> Terrestrial planet orbiting Proxima Centauri

Proxima Centauri b, sometimes referred to as Alpha Centauri Cb, is an exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, which is the closest star to the Sun and part of the larger triple star system Alpha Centauri. It is about 4.2 light-years from Earth in the constellation Centaurus, making it and Proxima d, along with the currently disputed Proxima c, the closest known exoplanets to the Solar System.

References