Captive Universe
Encyclopedia
Captive Universe is a science fiction
novel by American author Harry Harrison
, which was first published in 1969.
tribesman living in an isolated valley which was sealed off from the rest of the world in ages past by a massive earthquake. Unlike the rest of his people, who are content with the way things are, he shows more interest in what lies outside the valley, and in asking questions that no-one can answer. Indeed, he is altogether brighter; more intelligent than others, which often gets him into trouble, and makes him seem "unusual" to his peers.
The valley is home to two villages, each on one side of the river that flows through the middle, Quilapa, (Chimal's village), and Zaachila, both of which share a temple staffed with priests who perform holy duties and interpret the laws of the Gods. This includes a ban on people from the two villages intermarrying, which is strictly observed. Despite this, Chimal's mother conceived Chimal by a man from Zaachila, a fact she manages to keep secret for many years.
After Chimal refuses to marry his intended bride, and the chief priest dies of a stroke following the ensuing argument, he is arrested by the priests and condemned to sacrificial death. The Gods, angry at the sacrilege, cause the sun to fail to rise at dawn, and in the panic he is rescued by his mother, who takes his place in the cell where he is held. Before he leaves, she reveals who his real father was.
Escaping, he attempts to find a way out of the valley, while avoiding being hunted by the priests, and Coatlicue
, the dreaded two-headed serpent-Goddess who stalks the land at night and kills those who foolishly wander near the river past sunset.
When he finally manages to break through the blockage at the end of the valley, Chimal finds himself in a series of many strange tunnels. He is also surprised when he meets Coatlicue, whom he followed in, in a "deactivated" state, and thus harmless. Travelling on, he finally meets a stranger, a woman called Watchman Steel; forcing her to lead him on, he ends up meeting more.
After initial misunderstandings, Chimal meets the Master Observer, who hails him as the "First Arriver"; he then learns the secret of the conspiracy which has been perpetrated against his people for centuries - the valley is merely the central cavity of a huge generation ship
. The Aztecs are its passengers, tended by the ship's crew in the caverns, the Observers, on a centuries-long flight to Proxima Centauri
, the nearest star to our sun.
Five hundred years previously, The Great Designer, an Earth dictator, converted the asteroid
Eros
into a mobile starship, spinning along its axis for gravity and sending it on its journey. Because of the enormous distance involved, and the relatively slow speed it could attain, it would be the descendants of the original passengers who would arrive. To preserve order over the centuries, the passengers were genetically engineered for low intelligence (split into two genetically distinct groups) and given the hierarchical, self-sufficient and order-loving Aztec culture. The Observers were similarly programmed, and given a monastic culture to watch over the ship and the Aztecs. On Arrival Day, the two Aztec groups would be allowed to breed together, removing the genetically programmed recessives and producing highly intelligent offspring able to colonise the new system.
When he is shown the control centre of the ship, however, Chimal realises there is a major problem. The Observers, too rigid in their thinking to understand the planetary observations, have over-ridden the flight plan and passed Proxima Centauri. On attempting to explain their mistake to them, he is denounced and hunted as a heretic. After pursuit through the ship, he initiates the Arrival program that breaks the barrier between the two Aztec communities and releases them from the valley section of the ship, and the Observers have no choice but to accept that Arrival Day has come. The book ends with the ship due to arrive at Centauri in decades, and Chimal anticipating the day when he will, soon, have equals to talk to.
Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons
ISBN 0-425-03072-5
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
ISBN 0-571-08962-3 (UK edition)
Publisher: Faber and Faber
March 1972, ISBN 0-7221-4348-6
March 1973, ISBN 0-7221-4347-8
November 1978, ISBN 0-7221-4423-7
ISBN 0-425-04308-8 (USA edition)
Publisher: Berkley
ISBN 0-586-05677-7 (UK edition)
Publisher: Granada
ISBN 0-441-09142-3 (USA edition)
Publisher: Ace Books
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel by American author Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison is an American science fiction author best known for his character the Stainless Steel Rat and the novel Make Room! Make Room! , the basis for the film Soylent Green...
, which was first published in 1969.
Plot synopsis
Chimal is a young AztecAztec
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
tribesman living in an isolated valley which was sealed off from the rest of the world in ages past by a massive earthquake. Unlike the rest of his people, who are content with the way things are, he shows more interest in what lies outside the valley, and in asking questions that no-one can answer. Indeed, he is altogether brighter; more intelligent than others, which often gets him into trouble, and makes him seem "unusual" to his peers.
The valley is home to two villages, each on one side of the river that flows through the middle, Quilapa, (Chimal's village), and Zaachila, both of which share a temple staffed with priests who perform holy duties and interpret the laws of the Gods. This includes a ban on people from the two villages intermarrying, which is strictly observed. Despite this, Chimal's mother conceived Chimal by a man from Zaachila, a fact she manages to keep secret for many years.
After Chimal refuses to marry his intended bride, and the chief priest dies of a stroke following the ensuing argument, he is arrested by the priests and condemned to sacrificial death. The Gods, angry at the sacrilege, cause the sun to fail to rise at dawn, and in the panic he is rescued by his mother, who takes his place in the cell where he is held. Before he leaves, she reveals who his real father was.
Escaping, he attempts to find a way out of the valley, while avoiding being hunted by the priests, and Coatlicue
Coatlicue
Coatlicue, also known as Teteoinan , "The Mother of Gods" , is the Aztec goddess who gave birth to the moon, stars, and Huitzilopochtli, the god of the sun and war...
, the dreaded two-headed serpent-Goddess who stalks the land at night and kills those who foolishly wander near the river past sunset.
When he finally manages to break through the blockage at the end of the valley, Chimal finds himself in a series of many strange tunnels. He is also surprised when he meets Coatlicue, whom he followed in, in a "deactivated" state, and thus harmless. Travelling on, he finally meets a stranger, a woman called Watchman Steel; forcing her to lead him on, he ends up meeting more.
After initial misunderstandings, Chimal meets the Master Observer, who hails him as the "First Arriver"; he then learns the secret of the conspiracy which has been perpetrated against his people for centuries - the valley is merely the central cavity of a huge generation ship
Generation ship
A generation ship is a hypothetical type of interstellar ark starship that travels across great distances between stars at a speed much slower than the speed of light...
. The Aztecs are its passengers, tended by the ship's crew in the caverns, the Observers, on a centuries-long flight to Proxima Centauri
Proxima Centauri
Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf star about 4.2 light-years distant in the constellation of Centaurus. It was discovered in 1915 by Robert Innes, the Director of the Union Observatory in South Africa, and is the nearest known star to the Sun, although it is too faint to be seen with the naked eye...
, the nearest star to our sun.
Five hundred years previously, The Great Designer, an Earth dictator, converted the asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
Eros
433 Eros
433 Eros is a near-Earth asteroid discovered in 1898, and the first asteroid to be orbited by a probe . It is an S-type asteroid approximately 34.4×11.2×11.2 km in size, the second-largest NEA after 1036 Ganymed, and belongs to the Amor group.Eros is a Mars-crosser asteroid, the first known...
into a mobile starship, spinning along its axis for gravity and sending it on its journey. Because of the enormous distance involved, and the relatively slow speed it could attain, it would be the descendants of the original passengers who would arrive. To preserve order over the centuries, the passengers were genetically engineered for low intelligence (split into two genetically distinct groups) and given the hierarchical, self-sufficient and order-loving Aztec culture. The Observers were similarly programmed, and given a monastic culture to watch over the ship and the Aztecs. On Arrival Day, the two Aztec groups would be allowed to breed together, removing the genetically programmed recessives and producing highly intelligent offspring able to colonise the new system.
When he is shown the control centre of the ship, however, Chimal realises there is a major problem. The Observers, too rigid in their thinking to understand the planetary observations, have over-ridden the flight plan and passed Proxima Centauri. On attempting to explain their mistake to them, he is denounced and hunted as a heretic. After pursuit through the ship, he initiates the Arrival program that breaks the barrier between the two Aztec communities and releases them from the valley section of the ship, and the Observers have no choice but to accept that Arrival Day has come. The book ends with the ship due to arrive at Centauri in decades, and Chimal anticipating the day when he will, soon, have equals to talk to.
Major characters
- Chimal: the novel's main protagonist.
- Quiauh: Chimal's mother.
- Malinche: a Quilapa girl, betrothed to Chimal.
- Citlallatonac: the chief priest.
- Watchman Steel: the first of the Observers that Chimal meets.
- The Master Observer: the leader of the Observers.
Release details
- 1969 : First Edition : Hardback
Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons
G. P. Putnam's Sons
G. P. Putnam's Sons was a major United States book publisher based in New York City, New York. Since 1996, it has been an imprint of the Penguin Group.-History:...
- August 1969 : Paperback
ISBN 0-425-03072-5
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
- February 1970 : Hardback
ISBN 0-571-08962-3 (UK edition)
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber Limited, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing a great deal of poetry and for its former editor T. S. Eliot. Faber has a rich tradition of publishing a wide range of fiction, non fiction, drama, film and music...
- Sphere paperbacksSphere Books-History:Founded in 1961, Sphere Books began work on its first publication, the 1962 paperback edition of Gottfried Benn's The Trainee Man. Originally part of The Thomson Corporation, Sphere was sold to Pearson PLC in 1985 and became part of Penguin...
:
March 1972, ISBN 0-7221-4348-6
March 1973, ISBN 0-7221-4347-8
November 1978, ISBN 0-7221-4423-7
- March 1979 : Paperback
ISBN 0-425-04308-8 (USA edition)
Publisher: Berkley
- June 1983 : Paperback
ISBN 0-586-05677-7 (UK edition)
Publisher: Granada
- December 1984 : Paperback
ISBN 0-441-09142-3 (USA edition)
Publisher: Ace Books
See also
- Non-Stop by Brian Aldiss
- Orphans of the SkyOrphans of the SkyOrphans of the Sky is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, consisting of two parts: "Universe" and its sequel, "Common Sense" . The two novellas were first published together in book form in 1963. "Universe" was also published separately in 1951 as a 10¢ Dell paperback...
by Robert A. Heinlein