Re: Rolling Thunder, was Re: Ha'penny

In article <2008031318581975249-kurt@busiekcomics>,
Kurt Busiek <kurt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
And now I've finished ROLLING THUNDER (well, actually, I finished it a
couple of days ago), so a few words on this one.

My copy was either returned or destroyed so I will have to
leave most of this until I can quote text.

And that brings me back to why I hope it's not the final volume. I can
understand the Europan constructs being mysterious, but so much of the
plot hinges on them, causing developments that never come back
together, that it feels like setup without resolution. The Europan
constructs' "whale songs" (for lack of a better term) are the source of
Podkayne's fame, the reason for her blackouts, her link with Jubal and
some sort of metaphysical pathway that may lead her to being able to do
what Jubal does. But...

So what? Her fame doesn't get her much but wish fulfilment and money;
it doesn't affect Earth or Mars or the crisis. The blackouts don't
affect anything but her and Jubal. Her link to Jubal makes them a
couple, but them being a couple doesn't affect the plot any. And by
the novel's end, her potential ability to do what Jubal does hasn't led
anywhere except to hints and possibilities. If this is the finale,
it's all plate-spinning, no resolution.

snip here and there

It just seems to be a complete lack of resolution. There are these
things, they do weird stuff, they're wrecking Earth, and they affected
the lead in strange ways, but none of that leads anywhere because she's
leaving, and we're making no attempts to deal with the weird things.
Just leaving. But hey, she got rich and famous before she went. Huh?


I'm really tempted to say "It's post-9/11 Angst and he
can't see any better solution than to run away," but...

Varley's first novel involved the Earth being reduced to
a pre-technological state by mysterious beings (from gas giants
instead of their moons). The protagonist in that ends up running
off to the stars just like Poddy *and* as with the end of RT it's
made very clear that the universe is not an empty stage that
humans can use as their own. Instead, they will have to work not
to die out. I think it's just an ending that he likes.

In fact, if I haven't forgotten an important detail:



Wasn't Jubal the only known person who could make the
basic parts for squeezers (Except for one other person who
picks up the trick later on)? So by taking him to the stars they
have left the solar system with as many squeezers as they have
on hand but no way to make more.

OH also ends with a human-instigated calamity but in that
case it was checking to see just what it would take to provoke
a reaction from the Invaders.


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