Subject: Review: Alison Sinclair's _Cavalcade_

From: "Paul S. Jenkins" <[email-masked]>
Date: 20 Apr 2001 12:44:14 -0400

Cavalcade, Alison Sinclair
	Review Copyright (c) 2001 Paul S. Jenkins

Beginning with promise, this is an original take on that perennial SF
theme: first contact. The aliens have issued an open invitation to anyone
wishing to be transported aboard their spaceship. Thousands have accepted,
for many different reasons. What they find aboard is nothing like the
typical space-opera conception of an alien ship. No control panels, no
flashing lights, just synthetic grass, trees and stone. The people are
left to their own devices, in an environment that at first appears
entirely unsuited to human habitation.

Most have come prepared, to a greater or lesser extent, for something like
an extended camping trip. But those who have brought sophisticated
scientific instruments find that these no longer function. Even simple
electrical devices don't work, so the travellers must improvise in order
to stay alive, while trying to figure out what's going on.

It's a fascinating intellectual puzzle, seen through the eyes of four
characters: a pathologist, a scientist, a criminal, and a pregnant young
woman who happens to be the scientist's niece. The narration cycles
between their points of view.

We get plenty of introspection on the part of three of these, but in a
detached manner that never truly lights them up. The young niece, however,
writes letters that she hopes will eventually return to Earth and be read
by the remainder of her family. Though we never see inside her head, her
forthright, heartfelt scribblings reveal her as the most rounded
character.

With little in the way of subplot, _Cavalcade_ reads like an extended
short story, proceeding at an unvarying pace and developing too steadily
to grip. There's some tension towards the end, but even this is related in
a matter-of-fact, unemotional manner. Scientific extrapolations abound,
explained in some detail, contributing to the clinical feel of the novel.

The one person who jumps off the page is the niece, Hathaway; her
uncomplicated jottings often serve to elucidate, in simple terms, the
abstruse scientific discussions of the previous chapter. The end of the
novel -- also a beginning of sorts -- is not unexpected.

With its serious consideration of first contact, survival, and human
co-operation, _Cavalcade_ is a worthy, if perhaps underwhelming addition
to the genre.

%A   Sinclair, Alison
%T   Cavalcade
%I   Millennium (Gollancz)
%C   London
%D   1999 (copyright 1998)
%G   ISBN 1 85798 564 8
%P   299 pp.
%O   paperback GBP 5.99

Paul S. Jenkins | More reviews at:
Portsmouth   UK | http://www.rev-up-review.co.uk