Debatable Space
Encyclopedia
Debatable Space is a 2008 science fiction
novel
by novelist and screenwriter
Philip Palmer
.
The book alternates between telling the story of the main character, Lena Smith, in the form of a diary and a first person point-of-view narrative of events which take place roughly 1000 years from the present day. Each section of the POV narrative bears the name of the character it follows.
The book is billed as a space opera
.
It received mixed reviews, with the Guardian describing it as "a debut of rare accomplishment", and Strange Horizons describing it as having "a pretty good twisty plot at the core of the novel—but sadly [...] buried underneath layers of cinematic flash-bang frippery and clunky long-winded exposition." SF Signal described it as "not always successful, but [...] definitely a promising start."
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
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by novelist and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
Philip Palmer
Philip Palmer
Philip Palmer is a British novelist and screenwriter. He studied English at Jesus College, Oxford, matriculating in 1979.-Writing career:His first novel was Debatable Space, published in January 2008 by Orbit Books in the United Kingdom and the USA. Philip Palmer describes himself as "...a...
.
The book alternates between telling the story of the main character, Lena Smith, in the form of a diary and a first person point-of-view narrative of events which take place roughly 1000 years from the present day. Each section of the POV narrative bears the name of the character it follows.
The book is billed as a space opera
Space opera
Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing advanced technologies and abilities. The term has no relation to music and it is analogous to "soap...
.
It received mixed reviews, with the Guardian describing it as "a debut of rare accomplishment", and Strange Horizons describing it as having "a pretty good twisty plot at the core of the novel—but sadly [...] buried underneath layers of cinematic flash-bang frippery and clunky long-winded exposition." SF Signal described it as "not always successful, but [...] definitely a promising start."
List of characters
- Lena Smith - The main character of the novel, former president of humanity and mother of 'the Cheo'.
- Flanagan - Who is, for want of a better word, a pirate.
- Peter Smith aka The Cheo ("Chief Executive Officer") - The despotic ruler of the known universe