The Golden Globe
Encyclopedia
The Golden Globe is a Locus nominated novel by John Varley
, a science fiction
writer who has won both the Hugo
and Nebula
Awards multiple times. The Golden Globe is set in the same continuity as Steel Beach
, taking place about 10 years later, and was published in 1998.
has been colonized by human refugees fleeing aliens (known simply as "the Invaders") invading the Earth
. Earth and Jupiter
are off-limits to humanity, but Earth's moon
(known as Luna) and the other planet
s and moons of the solar system have all become heavily populated. There are also minor colonies set in the Oort cloud
beyond the solar system itself. The Golden Globe story is told initially from a first person
perspective, but a substantial portion of the book comes in the form of extended flashbacks.
The Golden Globe in question is Luna, Earth's moon and the most heavily inhabited world in the solar system since the Invaders obliterated human civilization on Earth.
The novel begins as a first person account of Valentine's adventures in the outer worlds of the solar system as he attempts to make his way to Luna in order to play King Lear in an upcoming production. Valentine is a consummate actor and a skilled con man. It is by exercising the latter skill that he runs afoul of the Charonese Mafia, personified by the cold-blooded and nigh-unkillable assassin Isambard Comfort.
The story is punctuated by several extended flashback sequences in which we learn that Valentine's father, a supremely egotistical and domineering stage actor, has groomed his son almost from birth to follow in his footsteps. It is Valentine Sr.'s megalomania and obsession with the stage that sets the tone for much of the flashback material.
While his father is auditioning for a role and has left young Kenneth sitting in a waiting room, Valentine wanders a little and gets swept up to audition for a part in a new children's adventure show called "Sparky and His Gang" and is cast in the lead role. As the show becomes increasingly popular, Valentine Sr. interferes more and more, and becomes more difficult for his son and the producers of the show to deal with.
We learn in these flashback segments that Valentine Sr. subjects his son to monstrous and potentially fatal child abuse
. This is framed quite realistically and Valentine, Sr. is apparently aware of but unable to control his nearly homicidal rage.
At times, both in the main story and in flashback, Valentine meets with a mysterious character named Elwood. It is ambiguous in the narrative exactly what type of being Elwood is, however. As the novel progresses, both in the present and in flashback, the character is more fully identified as Elwood P. Dowd and said to look very much like actor James Stewart
, who played a character of the same name in Harvey
.
Though the reader gradually comes to believe Elwood is a figment of Valentine's imagination, the climactic confrontation between Valentine and his father blurs this distinction considerably. However, Valentine narrates his own flashbacks for the reader, and as much as states that he may be an unreliable narrator
.
It is revealed in both the main and flashback storylines that Valentine killed (or is believed himself to have killed) his father. In the main storyline, he is, after 70 years on the run, eventually put on trial for this murder, and his case is weighed by the Central Computer of Luna. Genetic tests reveal that Valentine is actually a clone of his father (further evidence of the maniacal self-absorption of the father). The fact that cloning was illegal at the time of his father's murder causes the Central Computer to declare that no crime was committed, as the only legal remedy in place at the time was for one clone or the other to be destroyed.
At the conclusion of the novel, Valentine says that he has reclaimed his fortune (long inaccessible to him during his life on the run) and thrown in his lot with the Heinleiners
, a reclusive group of libertarian idealists who are building a starship and planning a voyage to the stars.
John Varley (author)
John Herbert Varley is an American science fiction author.-Biography:Varley grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, moved to Port Arthur in 1957, and graduated from Nederland High School. He went to Michigan State University on a National Merit Scholarship because, of the schools that he could afford, it...
, a science fiction
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...
writer who has won both the Hugo
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
and Nebula
Nebula Award
The Nebula Award is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year...
Awards multiple times. The Golden Globe is set in the same continuity as Steel Beach
Steel Beach
Steel Beach is a novel by John Varley, a science fiction writer who has won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards multiple times. Steel Beach is set in the same continuity as The Golden Globe, but takes place much earlier, and was published in 1993....
, taking place about 10 years later, and was published in 1998.
Synopsis
The Golden Globe and Steel Beach take place in a universe similar to, but different from, Varley’s "Eight Worlds" universe; in both universes, the solar systemSolar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
has been colonized by human refugees fleeing aliens (known simply as "the Invaders") invading the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. Earth and Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
are off-limits to humanity, but Earth's moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
(known as Luna) and the other planet
Planet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
s and moons of the solar system have all become heavily populated. There are also minor colonies set in the Oort cloud
Oort cloud
The Oort cloud , or the Öpik–Oort cloud , is a hypothesized spherical cloud of comets which may lie roughly 50,000 AU, or nearly a light-year, from the Sun. This places the cloud at nearly a quarter of the distance to Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to the Sun...
beyond the solar system itself. The Golden Globe story is told initially from a first person
First-person narrative
First-person point of view is a narrative mode where a story is narrated by one character at a time, speaking for and about themselves. First-person narrative may be singular, plural or multiple as well as being an authoritative, reliable or deceptive "voice" and represents point of view in the...
perspective, but a substantial portion of the book comes in the form of extended flashbacks.
The Golden Globe in question is Luna, Earth's moon and the most heavily inhabited world in the solar system since the Invaders obliterated human civilization on Earth.
The novel begins as a first person account of Valentine's adventures in the outer worlds of the solar system as he attempts to make his way to Luna in order to play King Lear in an upcoming production. Valentine is a consummate actor and a skilled con man. It is by exercising the latter skill that he runs afoul of the Charonese Mafia, personified by the cold-blooded and nigh-unkillable assassin Isambard Comfort.
The story is punctuated by several extended flashback sequences in which we learn that Valentine's father, a supremely egotistical and domineering stage actor, has groomed his son almost from birth to follow in his footsteps. It is Valentine Sr.'s megalomania and obsession with the stage that sets the tone for much of the flashback material.
While his father is auditioning for a role and has left young Kenneth sitting in a waiting room, Valentine wanders a little and gets swept up to audition for a part in a new children's adventure show called "Sparky and His Gang" and is cast in the lead role. As the show becomes increasingly popular, Valentine Sr. interferes more and more, and becomes more difficult for his son and the producers of the show to deal with.
We learn in these flashback segments that Valentine Sr. subjects his son to monstrous and potentially fatal child abuse
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
. This is framed quite realistically and Valentine, Sr. is apparently aware of but unable to control his nearly homicidal rage.
At times, both in the main story and in flashback, Valentine meets with a mysterious character named Elwood. It is ambiguous in the narrative exactly what type of being Elwood is, however. As the novel progresses, both in the present and in flashback, the character is more fully identified as Elwood P. Dowd and said to look very much like actor James Stewart
James Stewart (actor)
James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...
, who played a character of the same name in Harvey
Harvey (film)
Harvey is a 1950 film based on Mary Chase's play of the same name, directed by Henry Koster, and starring James Stewart and Josephine Hull. The story is about a man whose best friend is a pooka named Harvey—in the form of a six-foot, three-and-one-half-inch tall invisible rabbit.-Plot:Elwood P...
.
Though the reader gradually comes to believe Elwood is a figment of Valentine's imagination, the climactic confrontation between Valentine and his father blurs this distinction considerably. However, Valentine narrates his own flashbacks for the reader, and as much as states that he may be an unreliable narrator
Unreliable narrator
An unreliable narrator is a narrator, whether in literature, film, or theatre, whose credibility has been seriously compromised. The term was coined in 1961 by Wayne C. Booth in The Rhetoric of Fiction. This narrative mode is one that can be developed by an author for a number of reasons, usually...
.
It is revealed in both the main and flashback storylines that Valentine killed (or is believed himself to have killed) his father. In the main storyline, he is, after 70 years on the run, eventually put on trial for this murder, and his case is weighed by the Central Computer of Luna. Genetic tests reveal that Valentine is actually a clone of his father (further evidence of the maniacal self-absorption of the father). The fact that cloning was illegal at the time of his father's murder causes the Central Computer to declare that no crime was committed, as the only legal remedy in place at the time was for one clone or the other to be destroyed.
At the conclusion of the novel, Valentine says that he has reclaimed his fortune (long inaccessible to him during his life on the run) and thrown in his lot with the Heinleiners
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
, a reclusive group of libertarian idealists who are building a starship and planning a voyage to the stars.
External links
- The Golden Globe at Worlds Without End