SOJALS rating:

Good (2/5)

I first read this on the 14th June 2003.

A few days in the life of the near-future European Super-state. Aldiss shows us that a united Europe doesn't necessarily make a better or a less aggressive Europe. He shows us that prosperity doesn't have to make us better people and that on the whole, people muddle on much as they have always done, sometimes surprising themselves but more normally not. Kathram, Rick and Alexy are astronauts on their way to Europa, satellite of Jupiter. They are the representatives of the human race, our best and bravest and they are looking for alien life. Paulus Stomeyer is trying to find the biological basis for humanity's irrationality. These two wonderful and hopeful quests are all but lost in the swamp of humanity's greed and self-obsession, amidst wars and natural disasters, and of course are not immune from suffering these problems themselves. This novel's view of the human condition includes murder and rape, infatuation and Alzheimer's disease, fanatics and bewildered robots. Black and bitter but very funny indeed, Aldiss cares about us and this mildly optimistic novel offers some hope. I have to say it's a bit on the dry side though. I must, really must, read some old Aldiss, e.g. "Hothouse, "Report On Probability A" and "Greybeard" - these were very good and, well, a little more exciting.