A Far Sunset by Edmund Cooper (book review).
If you’re into science fiction of any age, especially from the golden age, you might try this experiment. Choose an author or two and find some of their books to read. Recently, eBay and other auction websites have been selling large quantities of books by the same science fiction (SF) authors. As a result, I’ve been sampling authors I hadn’t read before, as well as specific books. In the past, these books typically spanned less than 200 pages, ensuring they didn’t consume much of your time. I typically spread out each novel over a period of three days.
Amongst them is Edmund Cooper (1926-1982), a prolific writer under multiple pennames, poet, and critic. The original release of ‘A Far Sunset’ took place in 1967, and the paperback version followed in 1968.
The starship Gloria Mundi’s 20-year voyage from Earth to Altair Five from members of the United States of Europe ends in disaster when its crew members vanish while exploring with only one survivor in the custody of a primaeval species called the Bayani. His name is Paul Marlow, but these people call him Poul Mer Lo, which is the closest they can pronounce. He has all the comforts of home, but their ruler, Oruri, is very strict, insisting that he should cut off a finger from each hand because he has more than their three fingers and thumbs combined. Cooper goes on to show how different the Bayani actually are.
Cooper has drawn many similarities between the Bayani and the Incas. The most obvious indication is the yearly sacrifice of their god-leader and his replacement. However, other things are different. The blind order of priests views Marlow’s gift of a cart to the Oruri as sacrilege, until he intervenes in a brutal manner. The townfolk finally accept and use the cart, proving that even a simple device can cause problems in any society.
Marlow integrates into their society, but he’s taken aback when his ‘wife’, Bayani, unexpectedly becomes pregnant. Even so, there is a need to investigate a temple behind a rival, deadly, taller four-finger tribe, the Lokhali. So, with a select number of hunters, they travel across the territories, and then it becomes a spoiler.
Reading these early novels highlights the significance of tying up loose ends and explaining their own anomalies. Cooper does that here. In certain aspects, Marlow exhibits aloofness towards his feelings or a repressed nature when he takes on a necessary task without considering the repercussions. However, writing this book 56 years ago necessitates a different mindset, even for science fiction novels set in the future.
GF Willmetts
September 2024
(pub: Hodder Science Fiction, 1967. 189 page paperback. Price: varies. ISBN: 340-04364-4)
