Permanence (novel)
Encyclopedia
Permanence is a 2002
science fiction novel by Karl Schroeder
.
Rue, on the run from her brother Jentry and out of money, files claim on an undiscovered comet. She expects to profit from the mineral rights
, but it turns out that the "comet" is actually a cycler, a ship that travels in a light-year
s length orbit, at relativistic speed
s (85% c) carrying cargo and passengers between the Halo Worlds, planets that orbit Brown dwarf
stars. The discovery causes a sensation, since the ship is the first to approach the planet Erythrion in ten years. Eventually her claim is upheld, since the cycler is silent, and her mineral rights become salvage rights, making her potentially very wealthy. A rich cousin of hers, Max Cassels, sponsors an expedition to the ship so she can claim it. Intrigue happens on the trip as several factions also want to claim it, such as the planetary government. The cyclers were the centerpiece of the Cycler Compact, but have slowly fallen out of use since the discovery of FTL
travel, only possible between "lit" worlds. When they reach the ship, they are surprised to discover that it is an alien cycler, an unknown because all known aliens use FTL ships. They explore the ship some and jump off as it passes a lit world, Chandaka.
Michael Bequith, a NeoShinto monk and aide to Dr. Laurent Herat, an exobiologist are commandeered by Rear Admiral Crisler of the Rights Economy to join a joint expedition back to the Envy. The RE is interested, because the Envy appears to be a multi-species vessel, something previously unheard of. They are also interested because writing on the craft is the script of an alien species, the Lasa, who have supposedly been extinct for the last two billion years. Rue and her crew are also returning, since under Compact law she can only complete her claim if she can control the Envy.
Before they can leave, the city suffers a rebel attack and one of their party, Dr Linda Ophir, is murdered. They travel in a ramscoop ship, the Banshee.
When they arrive, they explore various areas of the ship before an explosion damages life support on the Banshee. Michael discovers that Dr. Ophir was murdered because she had discovered pictures of the writing on the Envy had been tampered with. Eventually they discover that part of the Envy is designed as a test to ascertain living conditions for visitors. Rue completes the process and the cycler builds them a new module and a set of controls.
The expedition leaves the Envy for Oculus, a Halo world. Rue, now a Cycler Captain by law, is caught up in Compact politics over the course of the Envy. Michael and Dr. Herat arrange with representative of the alien Autotrophs to translate the writing on the Envy. The translation has grave consequences since it implies that the weapon of the Chicxulub, an ancient race that sent out waves of Self-replicating machine
s to wipe out potential competitors, has survived. They realize that Crisler wants to use the weapon to wipe out the rebels.
Rue learns from Max that Mallory, a Halo Worlder, wants to dissolve the Compact and join the RE. Rue goes to meet her crew gather to prepare to leave, but they are ambushed by Crisler and Max is killed. Rue, Michael, Dr Herat and Barents (a Rebel) escape in a submarine, but the attackers destroy the control computer just as they dive. They continue to do so for some hours, eventually getting caught by a cold current. They wind up at a secret undersea research base, where they are rescued by military police
.
They learn that Rue was believed dead along with her cousin and Crisler and Mallory have already departed for the Envy, having learned its point of origin, Apophis and Osiris, planetless binary brown dwarfs. They expect that he will arrive in sixteen months. The government has a secret way that will get them there, but only for citizens of the Compact.
Dr. Herat elects to become a citizen of the compact, but Michael abstains. Michael passes preparation time for the trip by exploring abandoned ice tunnels on the planet with Barents. They discover that the Autotroph plans to leave the planet and warn its race about the weapon. Michel convinces them to let humans handle it. A message from a loyal member of the Envys crew arrives, stating that Crisler is planning a dangerous maneuver that will cut three months off his travel time. Rue takes drastic measures and shanghai
s Michael on the voyage, a new technology that allows a fleet of 15 small interceptor
ships to enter FTL from inside the atmosphere of a brown dwarf.
They arrive safely at the Twins (except for one ship) and discover that the Twins are ringed with power tethers that allow resources and power to be extracted. In the orbital center of the system is the construction shack that created the Envy. Her fleet is briefly attacked by the systems defenses, but she learns how to camouflage her ships. The Banshee was less successful and suffered a major hull breach.
Rue and the soldiers sneak into the Banshee and free some of her original crew. The rest are in the construction shack, being used as explorers by Crisler. They leave for the construction shack, stealing an antimatter generator (a Tungsten
plate) to use as cover. They enter the shack by way of burning a hole in the hull. Inside, Michael's team and Crisler's men are engaged in a firefight
(literally, as the inside atmosphere is a hydrogen/oxygen mix). Michael shoots out a magnet block controlling the airlock and Crisler's marines are sucked out into space.
However, Chrisler soon recaptures them. He reveals that the shack is not the true treasure, but the cycler mother seeds, one of which can regrow a complete cycler construction system. He plans to Reverse engineer
the technology and use it to wipe out the rebels and their worlds. Since the ships would be unable to distinguish between Rebel and alien worlds, this would amount to genocide on a universal scale. They also discover that the shack was not built by Lasa, but renegade Chicxulub, who embraced the Lasa philosophy.
The Crysler's new cycler finishes and the shack launches it. Rue and company escape from Crisler by cutting loose a habitat. Barendts leaves with the seed and Michael pursues him. Rue leaves the habitat to get one of the interceptors and meets Michael, returning with the seed.
Later, Rue and her crew watch as Crysler's cycler is launched from the system. The power tethers have redirected power back into one of the dwarfs to create a massive flare to use as an energy beam.
On Erythrion, Rue announces her plan to revitalize the Cycler Compact, since the Lasa/Chicxulub technology means that the Halo worlds will at last be able to launch their own cyclers.
Rue, however, is already planning her voyage to New Armstrong to reclaim the Envy and capture Crysler and Mallory.
's myth of the eternal return
to critique all organized religion with a plot device he describes as the Supreme Meme. The philosophic question asked is whether or not the subject would choose to relive the same life over again "exactly as it was, no detail spared?" (Pp. 232-233).
turning to curve its trajectory in a circle, an idea considered by P.C. Norem in a 1969 paper. The idea is that the life support for an interstellar vehicle wouldn't have to be accelerated, only the payload, allowing more to be carried for a given energy budget.
said "by turns exciting and thoughtful, pitiless and romantic, Schroeder's excellent novel is the best kind of coming-of-age novel, one that seizes the imagination and the emotions." Booklist praised the novel saying "once again, the plot—of which the foregoing is barely a hint—arises organically from the backdrop and characters: thoughtful, well-informed, insightful work, with a sharp yet subtle political subcontext, catapulting Schroeder into SF's front rank." The Library Journal
said "the author of Ventus showcases his gift for panoramic storytelling in this story of a young woman's struggle to find her place in a world where trust and friendship are rare treasures." Christine C. Menefee in her review for School Library Journal
said "this suspenseful, complex tale asks many intriguing questions and illustrates more scientific principles than a semester of science labs. Some readers might not quite follow all of the rapid twists and turns, but they will want to hang on to reach the story's satisfying conclusion, where a thoughtful solution emerges amid plenty of fireworks."
2002 in literature
The year 2002 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*March 16: Authorities in Saudi Arabia arrested and jailed poet Abdul Mohsen Musalam and fired a newspaper editor following the publication of Musalam's poem The Corrupt on Earth that criticized the state's Islamic...
science fiction novel by Karl Schroeder
Karl Schroeder
Karl Schroeder is an award-winning Canadian science fiction author. His novels present far-future speculations on topics such as nanotechnology, terraforming, augmented reality and interstellar travel, and have a deeply philosophical streak...
.
Plot
The novel tells the story of two characters, Rue Cassels and Michael Bequith, and their encounter with an alien spacecraft Rue has named Jentry's Envy. Schroeder uses the story as a venue for discussing the information economy and philosophy.Rue, on the run from her brother Jentry and out of money, files claim on an undiscovered comet. She expects to profit from the mineral rights
Mineral rights
- Mineral estate :Ownership of mineral rights is an estate in real property. Technically it is known as a mineral estate and often referred to as mineral rights...
, but it turns out that the "comet" is actually a cycler, a ship that travels in a light-year
Light-year
A light-year, also light year or lightyear is a unit of length, equal to just under 10 trillion kilometres...
s length orbit, at relativistic speed
Relativistic speed
A Relativistic speed is a speed which is a significant proportion of the speed of light. Therefore scientific analysis must take the consequences of special relativity into account...
s (85% c) carrying cargo and passengers between the Halo Worlds, planets that orbit Brown dwarf
Brown dwarf
Brown dwarfs are sub-stellar objects which are too low in mass to sustain hydrogen-1 fusion reactions in their cores, which is characteristic of stars on the main sequence. Brown dwarfs have fully convective surfaces and interiors, with no chemical differentiation by depth...
stars. The discovery causes a sensation, since the ship is the first to approach the planet Erythrion in ten years. Eventually her claim is upheld, since the cycler is silent, and her mineral rights become salvage rights, making her potentially very wealthy. A rich cousin of hers, Max Cassels, sponsors an expedition to the ship so she can claim it. Intrigue happens on the trip as several factions also want to claim it, such as the planetary government. The cyclers were the centerpiece of the Cycler Compact, but have slowly fallen out of use since the discovery of FTL
Faster-than-light
Faster-than-light communications and travel refer to the propagation of information or matter faster than the speed of light....
travel, only possible between "lit" worlds. When they reach the ship, they are surprised to discover that it is an alien cycler, an unknown because all known aliens use FTL ships. They explore the ship some and jump off as it passes a lit world, Chandaka.
Michael Bequith, a NeoShinto monk and aide to Dr. Laurent Herat, an exobiologist are commandeered by Rear Admiral Crisler of the Rights Economy to join a joint expedition back to the Envy. The RE is interested, because the Envy appears to be a multi-species vessel, something previously unheard of. They are also interested because writing on the craft is the script of an alien species, the Lasa, who have supposedly been extinct for the last two billion years. Rue and her crew are also returning, since under Compact law she can only complete her claim if she can control the Envy.
Before they can leave, the city suffers a rebel attack and one of their party, Dr Linda Ophir, is murdered. They travel in a ramscoop ship, the Banshee.
When they arrive, they explore various areas of the ship before an explosion damages life support on the Banshee. Michael discovers that Dr. Ophir was murdered because she had discovered pictures of the writing on the Envy had been tampered with. Eventually they discover that part of the Envy is designed as a test to ascertain living conditions for visitors. Rue completes the process and the cycler builds them a new module and a set of controls.
The expedition leaves the Envy for Oculus, a Halo world. Rue, now a Cycler Captain by law, is caught up in Compact politics over the course of the Envy. Michael and Dr. Herat arrange with representative of the alien Autotrophs to translate the writing on the Envy. The translation has grave consequences since it implies that the weapon of the Chicxulub, an ancient race that sent out waves of Self-replicating machine
Self-replicating machine
A self-replicating machine is an artificial construct that is theoretically capable of autonomously manufacturing a copy of itself using raw materials taken from its environment, thus exhibiting self-replication in a way analogous to that found in nature. The concept of self-replicating machines...
s to wipe out potential competitors, has survived. They realize that Crisler wants to use the weapon to wipe out the rebels.
Rue learns from Max that Mallory, a Halo Worlder, wants to dissolve the Compact and join the RE. Rue goes to meet her crew gather to prepare to leave, but they are ambushed by Crisler and Max is killed. Rue, Michael, Dr Herat and Barents (a Rebel) escape in a submarine, but the attackers destroy the control computer just as they dive. They continue to do so for some hours, eventually getting caught by a cold current. They wind up at a secret undersea research base, where they are rescued by military police
Military police
Military police are police organisations connected with, or part of, the military of a state. The word can have different meanings in different countries, and may refer to:...
.
They learn that Rue was believed dead along with her cousin and Crisler and Mallory have already departed for the Envy, having learned its point of origin, Apophis and Osiris, planetless binary brown dwarfs. They expect that he will arrive in sixteen months. The government has a secret way that will get them there, but only for citizens of the Compact.
Dr. Herat elects to become a citizen of the compact, but Michael abstains. Michael passes preparation time for the trip by exploring abandoned ice tunnels on the planet with Barents. They discover that the Autotroph plans to leave the planet and warn its race about the weapon. Michel convinces them to let humans handle it. A message from a loyal member of the Envys crew arrives, stating that Crisler is planning a dangerous maneuver that will cut three months off his travel time. Rue takes drastic measures and shanghai
Shanghaiing
Shanghaiing refers to the practice of conscripting men as sailors by coercive techniques such as trickery, intimidation, or violence. Those engaged in this form of kidnapping were known as crimps. Until 1915, unfree labor was widely used aboard American merchant ships...
s Michael on the voyage, a new technology that allows a fleet of 15 small interceptor
Interceptor aircraft
An interceptor aircraft is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically to prevent missions of enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Interceptors generally rely on high speed and powerful armament in order to complete their mission as quickly as possible and set up...
ships to enter FTL from inside the atmosphere of a brown dwarf.
They arrive safely at the Twins (except for one ship) and discover that the Twins are ringed with power tethers that allow resources and power to be extracted. In the orbital center of the system is the construction shack that created the Envy. Her fleet is briefly attacked by the systems defenses, but she learns how to camouflage her ships. The Banshee was less successful and suffered a major hull breach.
Rue and the soldiers sneak into the Banshee and free some of her original crew. The rest are in the construction shack, being used as explorers by Crisler. They leave for the construction shack, stealing an antimatter generator (a Tungsten
Tungsten
Tungsten , also known as wolfram , is a chemical element with the chemical symbol W and atomic number 74.A hard, rare metal under standard conditions when uncombined, tungsten is found naturally on Earth only in chemical compounds. It was identified as a new element in 1781, and first isolated as...
plate) to use as cover. They enter the shack by way of burning a hole in the hull. Inside, Michael's team and Crisler's men are engaged in a firefight
Firefight
Firefight may refer to:* firefight, a large exchange of bullets between two sides * Firefighting, process of extinguishing destructive flames* A game mode in Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach video games...
(literally, as the inside atmosphere is a hydrogen/oxygen mix). Michael shoots out a magnet block controlling the airlock and Crisler's marines are sucked out into space.
However, Chrisler soon recaptures them. He reveals that the shack is not the true treasure, but the cycler mother seeds, one of which can regrow a complete cycler construction system. He plans to Reverse engineer
Reverse engineering
Reverse engineering is the process of discovering the technological principles of a device, object, or system through analysis of its structure, function, and operation...
the technology and use it to wipe out the rebels and their worlds. Since the ships would be unable to distinguish between Rebel and alien worlds, this would amount to genocide on a universal scale. They also discover that the shack was not built by Lasa, but renegade Chicxulub, who embraced the Lasa philosophy.
The Crysler's new cycler finishes and the shack launches it. Rue and company escape from Crisler by cutting loose a habitat. Barendts leaves with the seed and Michael pursues him. Rue leaves the habitat to get one of the interceptors and meets Michael, returning with the seed.
Later, Rue and her crew watch as Crysler's cycler is launched from the system. The power tethers have redirected power back into one of the dwarfs to create a massive flare to use as an energy beam.
On Erythrion, Rue announces her plan to revitalize the Cycler Compact, since the Lasa/Chicxulub technology means that the Halo worlds will at last be able to launch their own cyclers.
Rue, however, is already planning her voyage to New Armstrong to reclaim the Envy and capture Crysler and Mallory.
Information economy
In the "rights economy", all physical objects are nano-tagged so that payment may be enforced for all uses of proprietary information. The result is a libertarian dystopia. Schroeder assumes solutions to the problems of conducting trade in space conducted almost entirely through intangible goods—some form of interstellar money (Pp. 86, 321)—without explaining the underlying problem of creating such a currency or how the solution was devised.Supreme Meme
Schroeder recycles Friedrich NietzscheFriedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
's myth of the eternal return
Eternal return
Eternal return is a concept which posits that the universe has been recurring, and will continue to recur, in a self-similar form an infinite number of times across infinite time or space. The concept initially inherent in Indian philosophy was later found in ancient Egypt, and was subsequently...
to critique all organized religion with a plot device he describes as the Supreme Meme. The philosophic question asked is whether or not the subject would choose to relive the same life over again "exactly as it was, no detail spared?" (Pp. 232-233).
Interstellar Cycler
In Permanence, Schroeder envisions a vehicle that would never slow down, instead using Lorentz forceLorentz force
In physics, the Lorentz force is the force on a point charge due to electromagnetic fields. It is given by the following equation in terms of the electric and magnetic fields:...
turning to curve its trajectory in a circle, an idea considered by P.C. Norem in a 1969 paper. The idea is that the life support for an interstellar vehicle wouldn't have to be accelerated, only the payload, allowing more to be carried for a given energy budget.
Literary significance and reception
Roberta Johnson in her review for BooklistBooklist
Booklist is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. It is geared toward libraries and booksellers and is available in print or online...
said "by turns exciting and thoughtful, pitiless and romantic, Schroeder's excellent novel is the best kind of coming-of-age novel, one that seizes the imagination and the emotions." Booklist praised the novel saying "once again, the plot—of which the foregoing is barely a hint—arises organically from the backdrop and characters: thoughtful, well-informed, insightful work, with a sharp yet subtle political subcontext, catapulting Schroeder into SF's front rank." The Library Journal
Library Journal
Library Journal is a trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey . It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional practice...
said "the author of Ventus showcases his gift for panoramic storytelling in this story of a young woman's struggle to find her place in a world where trust and friendship are rare treasures." Christine C. Menefee in her review for School Library Journal
School Library Journal
The School Library Journal is a monthly magazine with articles and reviews for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with a focus on technology and multimedia. Reviews are included for preschool to 4th grade,...
said "this suspenseful, complex tale asks many intriguing questions and illustrates more scientific principles than a semester of science labs. Some readers might not quite follow all of the rapid twists and turns, but they will want to hang on to reach the story's satisfying conclusion, where a thoughtful solution emerges amid plenty of fireworks."
Reviews
- James Schellenberg
- http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=51690, by Jo WaltonJo WaltonJo Walton is a Welsh-Canadian fantasy and science fiction writer and poet. She won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2002 and the World Fantasy award for her novel Tooth and Claw in 2004. Her novel Ha'penny was a co-winner of the 2008 Prometheus Award...