THE SYKAOS PAPERS

by E.P. Thompson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 26, 1988

Uproarious, blistering science-fiction satire/polemic from the British historian, essayist, and antinuclear activist, ranging from screamingly funny to deadly serious, with plenty of wit and wisdom thrown in. Distant planet Oitar's sun is dying, so the inhabitants are looking for a congenial spot to plant colonies; the first alien to approach Sykaos (Earth: psycho-chaos?) is the poet Oi Paz, who crashes into a tree in England when his spaceship fails. Overwhelmed by the abundance and diversity of Earthly life, innocent and totally unprepared for Earthly ways, Oi Paz wanders in a daze--until he's hit by a car and ends up in the hospital, where he demands to be returned to the Moon (the Oitarians have a base there). Released as a harmless eccentric, Oi Paz is tabbed by a ruthless entrepreneur, who plies him with whiskey (""the McCoy"") and puts him on TV. Oi Paz inveighs against the madness of Earth and warns of the approaching Oitarians (picture Network's Peter Finch--in spades). Finally convinced that Oi Paz really is an alien, the British seize him and hold him incommunicado--though the stuffed-shirt scientists and military men appointed to study him make little progress. However, the more flexible Helena Sage trades information on Earth for information about Oitar, learning that the latter has a highly advanced society ordered by 70th-generation computers called Gracious Goodnesses; normal Oitar speech is Neuter Utter, an advanced programming language that entirely and absolutely controls the behavior of the citizens. Slowly, Oi Paz becomes humanized, and fails in love with Sage. But the Oitarians on the Moon, unable to imagine, let alone comprehend, Earth's pluralistic society so utterly at odds with itself, project an electromagnetic pulse, destroying equipment and disrupting communications. The paranoid leaders of the world's nuclear nations promptly go to full alert, anticipating an invasion. It turns out that the destructive pulse was an Oitarian message, equivalent to ""shut up a minute, will you?,"" but by this time the politicians and military are no longer listening. Sage and Oi Paz become lovers and journey to the Moon as ambassadors; but, with Earth in a belligerent turmoil, a ship with Oitarian ambassadors on board is assumed to be hostile, and nuclear war envelops the globe. Clearly relishing every moment, Thompson gleefully demolishes politicians, the military, the CIA, the British establishment, and a dozen other deserving edifices and follies. But this is a terrific novel, too, deeply thought-out, delightfully askew, with full-wrought characters and bursting with energy: astonishing, provocative, fascinating work.

Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1988

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Pantheon

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1988

Categories: FICTION