Subject: Review: "Flux" by Stephen Baxter

From: [email-masked] (p-m agapow)
Date: 22 Jul 1997 17:20:27 GMT

"Flux" by Stephen Baxter
		A Postview, copyright p-m agapow 1997

A tribe of micron-high humanoids (the "human beings") live in the mantle
of a neutron star, their bodies constructed from dense conglomerates of
atoms.  A tribe of nomadic hunters is decimated by a brief but savage
magnetic storm.  Thrust into a position of leadership, Dura must lead her
tribe to safety, a journey which leads her in conflict with the mysterious
alien Xeelee and the ur-Humans who created her race.

After the first few pages of "Flux," an uneasy sense of deja vu set in,
one that some readers may have experienced while reading the above precis.
You'd be right; this high concept SF novel ("Get this - a civilisation of
tiny people living on a neutron star!  Whadyathink?)  has been done before
by Robert Forward.  But this is not a case of plagiarism, just the same
idea rendered by two similarly minded authors.

While Baxter does not share Forward's complete ineptitude with
characterisation, there is a flatness to cast of "Flux."  The setting is
the star and the most anyone else can hope for a few speaking lines and a
chance to appear in the sequel.  Admittedly there is an improvement on his
earlier "Raft," and Baxter's characters do not spout science textbooks.
Instead we get an almost laidback exploration of a rather cute setting.
The "human beings" actually live _in_ the star, in the outer layers
between the crushing Quantum Sea and the ethereal Crust.  Muscles powered
by a pneumatic system, they chase the local wildlife along magnetic lines,
swimming through the neutronic fluid.  Farms where proton-rich plants are
harvested hang from the roof of the Crust.  A city hovering at one pole of
the star sends down diving bells to mine the stellar core.

True, as in "Raft" some of the details sit uneasily.  The ecology of the
star seems to consist of three different animals and one plant, for
example.  The plot is also a little forced, especially when it tries to
put the minuscule human beings in a position of significance as regards
the omnipotent Xeelee.  (Xeelee, humans.  Xeelee, humans.  Phone book,
cockroach.  Splat.  Xeelee, no humans.)  A lot is made up for, I think, by
Baxter's fairly direct writing style.  Although the plot is almost an
afterthought, the reader will speed through this book wanting to know what
happens next.

For those who have read Baxter before, "Flux" is neither as geeky and flat
as "Raft," nor as sprightly as the admittedly extended and stylised "The
Time Ships."  Fans of Greg Bear, Greg Egan or any of the "gosh, it's so
big" school of hard SF writers will find this an entertaining read.  As an
aside, "Flux" appears to be a sequel of sorts to "Ring," although this is
noted nowhere on the book.  However, despite some confusion in the early
stages of the novel it can stand alone.  [**/ok] and "Scientific American"
on the Sid and Nancy scale.

%A Stephen Baxter
%T Flux
%I HarperCollins
%C London
%D 1994
%G ISBN 0-00-647620-1
%P 366pp
%O paperback, Aus$14.95

paul-michael agapow ([email-masked]), La Trobe Uni, Infocalypse
"There is no adventure, there is no romance, there is only trouble and desire."
[archived at http://www.cs.latrobe.edu.au/~agapow/Postviews/]