Status
Available
Call number
Library's review
Et selvmordsprojekt bliver udført ved at bruge en sender på jorden og en modtager på månen til at sende en kopi til månen. Kopien bliver så ofret mens man tager notater, så den næste kopi kan komme lidt længere mod gådens løsning. Hverken chefen eller ham, der bliver kopieret, synes det
Ok behandling af teleportation og de mulige probleme
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er ret sjovt.Ok behandling af teleportation og de mulige probleme
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Collection
Publication
Avon (1978), Mass Market Paperback
Description
A monstrous apparatus has been found on the surface of the moon. It devours and destroys in ways so incomprehensible to humans that a new language must be invented to describe it and a new kind of thinking to understand it. So far, the human guinea pigs sent there in hopes of unraveling the murderous maze have all died terrible deaths-except the last, now on suicide watch. The ideal candidate won't go insane, even as he feels the end approaching. And now they think they've found their man. Al Barker has already stared into the face of death-he can handle it again. But Barker won't merely have to endure the trauma of dying: he will have to endure it over and over again-mentally linked to an ongoing series of duplicates of himself created and sent to the Moon by matter transmission-until the artifact reveals its secret. With a cast of fascinating characters taking center stage, Rogue Moon is a rare thriller that doesn't just make you sweat-it makes you think.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member tungsten_peerts
This is one of the rare "science fiction" titles I've kept around forever ... just because it's so good. If it has a flaw, it's that Budrys is a subtle writer, which means that this will leave some people shaking their heads saying "whatsa big deal?" because not enough stuff exploded. Never mind.
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am unsure how the shorter version (in /The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, vol. IIB) became the somewhat longer novel. There are actually some things about the shorter version I like better. Do pick this up, though. It's an arresting study of character and human nature in the face of something distressingly alien. Show Less
LibraryThing member clong
This is definitely not your run of the mill 1960s science fiction adventure yarn. In fact, it’s the only books I can remember reading that I would put solidly in the scifi noir genre, if there is such a thing. The plot, which centers around scientists’ efforts to explore a mysterious and deadly
Rogue Moon is character driven science fiction, and features three unscrupulous manipulators in leading roles: our protagonist Ed Hawks, who willingly expends life after life in his quest to solve the riddle of the artifact; Vincent Connington, a personnel man whose instinctive understanding of the motivations of those around him allows him to direct them towards his own ends; and the deliciously manipulative Claire Pack, who uses sex like a blunt object, effortlessly driving the men around her to compete for her favors (Claire is a character who would fit in a Raymond Chandler yarn). Juxtaposed with these three are three innocents: the heroic thrill seeker (and yet somehow an everyman) Al Barker, who gradually unlocks the artifact’s secrets; Hawks’ cancer ridden protégé Sam Latourette; and the young artist Elizabeth Cummings, whose romantic relationship with Hawks develops at a glacial pace over the course of the book.
I found the ending somewhat enigmatic and surprising: a poignant question mark as to the nature of identity. I am not aware that this has ever been made into a movie, but it would seem to offer great potential as a film (though with a different title, I would hope). Not really a book that I would call great--but jarringly different and certainly interesting enough to warrant your time.
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artifact discovered on the moon, certainly offers some interesting elements, but is not really what drives the book. Rogue Moon is character driven science fiction, and features three unscrupulous manipulators in leading roles: our protagonist Ed Hawks, who willingly expends life after life in his quest to solve the riddle of the artifact; Vincent Connington, a personnel man whose instinctive understanding of the motivations of those around him allows him to direct them towards his own ends; and the deliciously manipulative Claire Pack, who uses sex like a blunt object, effortlessly driving the men around her to compete for her favors (Claire is a character who would fit in a Raymond Chandler yarn). Juxtaposed with these three are three innocents: the heroic thrill seeker (and yet somehow an everyman) Al Barker, who gradually unlocks the artifact’s secrets; Hawks’ cancer ridden protégé Sam Latourette; and the young artist Elizabeth Cummings, whose romantic relationship with Hawks develops at a glacial pace over the course of the book.
I found the ending somewhat enigmatic and surprising: a poignant question mark as to the nature of identity. I am not aware that this has ever been made into a movie, but it would seem to offer great potential as a film (though with a different title, I would hope). Not really a book that I would call great--but jarringly different and certainly interesting enough to warrant your time.
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LibraryThing member AltheaAnn
I've long been aware of Budrys as a 'classic' author in the SF genre, and 'Rogue Moon' was a Hugo nominee, so this seemed like a good place to check out his work.
A mysterious alien artifact has been discovered on the Moon. Under the supervision of a brilliant researcher, Dr. Hawks, it's being
Dr. Hawks' solution, presented to him by a slimy administrative type, is to recruit an adrenaline junkie with a deathwish, Al Barker, rather than the upstanding young astronaut types he's been going through. Will Barker have the "right stuff"?
The story isn't really 'just' a science-fiction adventure. Budrys uses his premise to do a lot of implicit editorializing about "types of men," "relations between the sexes" and whatnot, by contrasting Hawks (and the program administrator) with Barker, and their girlfriends with each other. Unfortunately, I felt that this attempt to elevate the tale beyond its basic speculative premise weakened the piece rather than strengthening it. I wasn't fully on board with his whole 'essential differences between men, and what makes a 'real man'' digressions - but his ideas about the nature of women are just deeply peculiar (and flat-out wrong, IMO.) (Basically, he seems to be saying that a woman can either be supportive or non-supportive of her man, but the idea that a woman might have qualities independent of how she relates to a man seems to have never occurred to him.)
I appreciate a good, deeply thoughtful spec-fic story, but I prefer simplistic adventure stories to half-baked social theory.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Open Road Media for the opportunity to read. As always, my opinions are solely my own.
A mysterious alien artifact has been discovered on the Moon. Under the supervision of a brilliant researcher, Dr. Hawks, it's being
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investigated, with the help of a new, Star Trek-style transporter technology which allows men to beam to the moon. Luckily, the body that ends up on the moon is only a duplicate. "Luckily," because the artifact on the moon is an enigmatic "American Ninja Warrior"-style obstacle course, and men keep dying. The horrible experience leaves even the duplicates back on Earth insane. Dr. Hawks' solution, presented to him by a slimy administrative type, is to recruit an adrenaline junkie with a deathwish, Al Barker, rather than the upstanding young astronaut types he's been going through. Will Barker have the "right stuff"?
The story isn't really 'just' a science-fiction adventure. Budrys uses his premise to do a lot of implicit editorializing about "types of men," "relations between the sexes" and whatnot, by contrasting Hawks (and the program administrator) with Barker, and their girlfriends with each other. Unfortunately, I felt that this attempt to elevate the tale beyond its basic speculative premise weakened the piece rather than strengthening it. I wasn't fully on board with his whole 'essential differences between men, and what makes a 'real man'' digressions - but his ideas about the nature of women are just deeply peculiar (and flat-out wrong, IMO.) (Basically, he seems to be saying that a woman can either be supportive or non-supportive of her man, but the idea that a woman might have qualities independent of how she relates to a man seems to have never occurred to him.)
I appreciate a good, deeply thoughtful spec-fic story, but I prefer simplistic adventure stories to half-baked social theory.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Open Road Media for the opportunity to read. As always, my opinions are solely my own.
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LibraryThing member baswood
Another book from the SF masterwork series: Rogue Moon was published in 1960, but its characters seem to belong to the 1950's rather than the 1960's and this is important because Budrys works as hard to present his protagonists as he does to tell a science fiction story. It is the dawning of the
Hawks meets the thrill seeker and genuine all American hero at his home and walks into a tangled web of relationships. The girlfriend Clair Pack (where does he get these names from) is a wisecracking femme fatale who is weighing up her options with Barker and Connington, admitting to Hawks that she cannot help acting like a bitch (the dialogue is typical hard bitten detective novel fare). Hawks himself is not at ease with women, but after the stormy meeting at Barker's home, where the host and his girlfriend are as infuriating as each other, he meets and becomes attracted to a woman: Elizabeth Cummings (yes really) who picks him up on the long walk home.
While all of this has been going on, the artefact on the moon is largely forgotten, but the reader might have guessed by now, that it may have some influence on life on earth. Of course Barker cannot resist the challenge and agrees to be duplicated so that he can explore the mystery on the moon: the second part of the novel details his attempts to conquer the space inside the artefact with the help of Hawks and his team.
The main theme that emerges from the novel is death. Barker must conquer his own repeated deaths to explore the artefact. Hawks assistant Sam Latourette (another significant name) has terminal cancer and must soon accept his mortality. Hawks and his new girlfriend who genuinely fall in love, may have found a way to circumvent their fears with a more humanist approach. Clair Pack and Connington's attempt to ignore and run away from the human condition because of their own ego's is another approach. The puzzle for the reader is: what is the connection with the artefact on the moons surface? All well and good, but in my opinion Budrys's characters are so sharply conformist to 1950's cultural norms; for example the egotistical hero, the femme fatal, the inexperienced lover and the conniving cheat, that they lose some of their influence on the story. The actual exploration of the artefact is also a bit of an anticlimax. I could say that the novel is almost as crass as the names of its characters, but that would be unfair, as after all it is a 1960's science fiction novel that did hold my interest and so 3.5 stars.
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age of space travel and a mysterious artefact has been discovered on the dark side of the moon. It defies description, but occupies a space probably as big as a football field and it kills anybody trying to enter it. Doctor Edward Hawks has built a matter transmitting machine in an effort to probe the artefact. His machine can make duplicate copies of volunteers from earth, which it can transmit to the moon, allowing them to explore the artefact. Unfortunately the duplicates have not been able to last more than a few seconds inside the artefact without being killed and their destruction leads to insanity for the original copy remaining on earth. Hawks is running out of time and monetary support and so when the chief of human resources: Connington (the clue might be in the name) presents him with a candidate who has no fear of death, Hawks grabs at this last chance and agrees to meet Al Barker (for that is his name).Hawks meets the thrill seeker and genuine all American hero at his home and walks into a tangled web of relationships. The girlfriend Clair Pack (where does he get these names from) is a wisecracking femme fatale who is weighing up her options with Barker and Connington, admitting to Hawks that she cannot help acting like a bitch (the dialogue is typical hard bitten detective novel fare). Hawks himself is not at ease with women, but after the stormy meeting at Barker's home, where the host and his girlfriend are as infuriating as each other, he meets and becomes attracted to a woman: Elizabeth Cummings (yes really) who picks him up on the long walk home.
While all of this has been going on, the artefact on the moon is largely forgotten, but the reader might have guessed by now, that it may have some influence on life on earth. Of course Barker cannot resist the challenge and agrees to be duplicated so that he can explore the mystery on the moon: the second part of the novel details his attempts to conquer the space inside the artefact with the help of Hawks and his team.
The main theme that emerges from the novel is death. Barker must conquer his own repeated deaths to explore the artefact. Hawks assistant Sam Latourette (another significant name) has terminal cancer and must soon accept his mortality. Hawks and his new girlfriend who genuinely fall in love, may have found a way to circumvent their fears with a more humanist approach. Clair Pack and Connington's attempt to ignore and run away from the human condition because of their own ego's is another approach. The puzzle for the reader is: what is the connection with the artefact on the moons surface? All well and good, but in my opinion Budrys's characters are so sharply conformist to 1950's cultural norms; for example the egotistical hero, the femme fatal, the inexperienced lover and the conniving cheat, that they lose some of their influence on the story. The actual exploration of the artefact is also a bit of an anticlimax. I could say that the novel is almost as crass as the names of its characters, but that would be unfair, as after all it is a 1960's science fiction novel that did hold my interest and so 3.5 stars.
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LibraryThing member auntmarge64
A short science fiction novel from 1960, but unfortunately not short enough. This would have made a terrific short story but instead in burdened by several secondary characters of no interest to the reader but with lengthy scenes with the main characters.
LibraryThing member RandyStafford
My reaction to reading this novel in 1993. Spoilers follow.
Budrys writes in a concise, clear style that makes it clear he’s considered the many implications of his idea of a matter duplicator and transmitter. Not only is there a clear working out of the details of scanning matter, recording its
The uneasy relationships in this novel, the tensions in the dialogue reminded me of film noirs where characters spend a lot of time talking about and dissecting each others’ characters. Most of this novel consists of characters irritating each other, delibrately provoking each other, testing each other. Only two relationships in this novel – between Edward Hawks and his assistant Sam Latourette and that between Hawks and his platonic girlfriend Elizabeth Cummings – are not touched with this quality. Even the relationship with Latourette is not free of tension. He is replaced at Hawks’ request and, dying, he asks Hawks to duplicate him.
This novel is about questions of human identity, how humans change the universe in their heads and how each individual conception of the universe can only endure in another person’s head, philosophies on how life is to be faced and the purpose of life, of the relationships between men and women, in short, it really is a novel that fits the cliché about being about the “human condition”. Hawks and alien maze explorer Al Barker (I found the maze thoroughly alien and surrealistic) annoy each other. Hawks is calm, motivated, in his one way ruthlessly dedicated to exploring the maze (though he warns Barker of the dangers and gives him plenty of chances to back out). To him, humans are elements in an equation. He views things as cause and effect and constantly angers people by seeing the motives (the causes) behind their behavior (effects). Hawks is dedicated to proving his superiority as a man, to beating death before an audience and is baffled by his girlfriend’s behavior. Barker’s lover, Claire Pack, a self-described bitch, constantly annoys men, flirts with them to get Barker to fight for her. Vincent Connington, personnel director for Hawks’ company, throws Barker and Hawks together in a successful, but unsatisfying bid to get Pack. Connington views people as elements to be used for a desired reaction.
It’s a complex novel. In the end, Barker learns that a man must live by his own standards and goals and realizes the truth of Hawks’ statement to Cummings that a man has to work with what he is as a “lump of carbon can’t rearrange its own structure.” Hawks’ double on the moon chooses death on the moon over the chance he will returned altered (due to the inadequate transmission equipment on the moon) to Earth. The book is understandably concerned with the question of identity like when Hawks refuses to duplicate the dying Latourette. The novel is infused with the Campbellian notion of an impersonal, lethal, unfair universe and the pensive grandeur of the struggle to understand and conquer it. A puzzlement is the title of this novel. It seems to relate to nothing in the story.
Budrys writes in a concise, clear style that makes it clear he’s considered the many implications of his idea of a matter duplicator and transmitter. Not only is there a clear working out of the details of scanning matter, recording its
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information, and the attendant problems of sending the signal from one duplicator to another, but Budrys goes into the political implications. The U.S. matter teleporter on the moon is kept a secret from the world in this novel. The shadow of the Cold War hangs over a lot of Budrys’ work – understandable given his history as a Lithuanian exile. The main focus of the novel is the psychological and social implications for those who are scanned and transmitted. Budrys does not go into the economic implications of his device. The uneasy relationships in this novel, the tensions in the dialogue reminded me of film noirs where characters spend a lot of time talking about and dissecting each others’ characters. Most of this novel consists of characters irritating each other, delibrately provoking each other, testing each other. Only two relationships in this novel – between Edward Hawks and his assistant Sam Latourette and that between Hawks and his platonic girlfriend Elizabeth Cummings – are not touched with this quality. Even the relationship with Latourette is not free of tension. He is replaced at Hawks’ request and, dying, he asks Hawks to duplicate him.
This novel is about questions of human identity, how humans change the universe in their heads and how each individual conception of the universe can only endure in another person’s head, philosophies on how life is to be faced and the purpose of life, of the relationships between men and women, in short, it really is a novel that fits the cliché about being about the “human condition”. Hawks and alien maze explorer Al Barker (I found the maze thoroughly alien and surrealistic) annoy each other. Hawks is calm, motivated, in his one way ruthlessly dedicated to exploring the maze (though he warns Barker of the dangers and gives him plenty of chances to back out). To him, humans are elements in an equation. He views things as cause and effect and constantly angers people by seeing the motives (the causes) behind their behavior (effects). Hawks is dedicated to proving his superiority as a man, to beating death before an audience and is baffled by his girlfriend’s behavior. Barker’s lover, Claire Pack, a self-described bitch, constantly annoys men, flirts with them to get Barker to fight for her. Vincent Connington, personnel director for Hawks’ company, throws Barker and Hawks together in a successful, but unsatisfying bid to get Pack. Connington views people as elements to be used for a desired reaction.
It’s a complex novel. In the end, Barker learns that a man must live by his own standards and goals and realizes the truth of Hawks’ statement to Cummings that a man has to work with what he is as a “lump of carbon can’t rearrange its own structure.” Hawks’ double on the moon chooses death on the moon over the chance he will returned altered (due to the inadequate transmission equipment on the moon) to Earth. The book is understandably concerned with the question of identity like when Hawks refuses to duplicate the dying Latourette. The novel is infused with the Campbellian notion of an impersonal, lethal, unfair universe and the pensive grandeur of the struggle to understand and conquer it. A puzzlement is the title of this novel. It seems to relate to nothing in the story.
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LibraryThing member keebrook
at its core, science fiction holds society and culture up to the light for inspection and criticism. this book does that well. it goes further into our fears by asking the question "what does it mean to die/be conscious?"
i think the way this idea is presented by the characters in the book is
the concepts dealt with seem tangled throughout the book but finally resolve into clarity at the end. characters seemingly contradict themselves and make no sense- maybe Budrys attempted too much. he seemed to want to write some kind of commentary on certain personality types while remaining engaged with the central maguffin but the detail and realism were not there for me. explorations of machismo, femininity, and introversion play themselves out within and between the characters but falls flat when run up against the main theme.
it held me purely by the merit of the scientific existentialism presented. the story and people did not hold me; it seemed like an unfinished book.
i think the way this idea is presented by the characters in the book is
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interesting but the characters themselves and the interpersonal play among them are bland and not quite believable. at least, maybe i would believe it had the author been a better storyteller. or, perhaps, it's me who is missing the point- either way, the book did not gel with me on a socially realistic level.the concepts dealt with seem tangled throughout the book but finally resolve into clarity at the end. characters seemingly contradict themselves and make no sense- maybe Budrys attempted too much. he seemed to want to write some kind of commentary on certain personality types while remaining engaged with the central maguffin but the detail and realism were not there for me. explorations of machismo, femininity, and introversion play themselves out within and between the characters but falls flat when run up against the main theme.
it held me purely by the merit of the scientific existentialism presented. the story and people did not hold me; it seemed like an unfinished book.
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LibraryThing member kvrfan
The best science fiction is about ideas, and Rogue Moon wrestles with at least a couple of big existential ones, e.g. what meaning can there be living in an impersonal universe? In its day (the late 1950s), the book was considered pretty ground-breaking, and perhaps it was. After all, Americans at
In the half-century since, however, there have been enough crises of confidence that it is no longer considered heresy to entertain the belief that our universe is indeed impersonal and that surrendering to that "truth" and discovering personal meaning within it can be a real struggle. In short, while Budrys' ideas may have been challenging at the time of Rogue Moon's publication, a reader of today's generation will probably come to it already having considered them in other contexts.
I'm a creature of the post-Rogue Moon generation. While I liked the book in its presentation of the question, it's nothing that knocked my socks off.
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that time were fairly confident they knew their place in the universe: few questioned America's dominance and with the churches full on Sunday mornings, everyone could easily ride the complacent wave that that's exactly the way God wanted it.In the half-century since, however, there have been enough crises of confidence that it is no longer considered heresy to entertain the belief that our universe is indeed impersonal and that surrendering to that "truth" and discovering personal meaning within it can be a real struggle. In short, while Budrys' ideas may have been challenging at the time of Rogue Moon's publication, a reader of today's generation will probably come to it already having considered them in other contexts.
I'm a creature of the post-Rogue Moon generation. While I liked the book in its presentation of the question, it's nothing that knocked my socks off.
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LibraryThing member renbedell
While the name and cover make it look like a typical classic SF book, there is very little SF in this book. The premise is based around going to the moon and the ending is very much SF, but the bulk of the book looks at more individuals and our fears. Fear of being insignificant, fear of being a
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failure, fear of not being loved, etc. The ideas Algis Budrys is making the reader think through is craftily done and the book's storyline is also great. The SF aspects of the book are very creative and interesting. The writing is good, but descriptions and technical details can get very long winded. (The protagonist even gets called out for it once or twice by other characters in the book). This is a classic SF book that I believe really stands the test of time. Show Less
LibraryThing member Cheryl_in_CC_NV
Well that was different. ?In 1960 it was probably pretty darn cool. ?áThe 'hard' SF, about the instant cloning, and the transmission of a man as a signal to another location (in this case, from Earth lab to mysterious artifact on the Moon), and the nature of the artifact, and the fact that the
The (two) women, both 'love interests,' are interesting too. ?áClaire is almost a a man-eater. ?áDef. a bitch. ?áBut also a kind of lost soul. ?áShe probably would have been a terrific choice for the mission, actually. ?áAnd Elizabeth is a sweet thing, but insightful as well. ?áNot quite a Madonna (Budrys isn't quite that stupid) but still limited, could have done more, could have been more complex.
Otoh, Elizabeth does at one point explain to Hawks that his 'thing' with women is that, You treat them like people." ?áI know plenty men now, over five decades later, that don't get this.
But it's a common thing in every situation. ?áBarker has the sense to make sure the technician who is about to 'clone' and transmit him, "The name is Barker, son. ?áAl Barker. ?áI'm not just another guinea pig for you to stuff into a tin can. ?áYou got a name, son?.... ?áBe sure to tell me what it is when I come out of this, huh?"
It could be said that Budrys anticipated modern neuro-psychology, too: ?á"The backs of our minds are smarter than we are, sometimes."
Recommended if my lame review makes it sound at all interesting."
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artifact kills the clone, would be a smart, intriguing?áshort story. ?áBut this short novel is fleshed out with some interesting extra characters who provide other points of view on psychologies only peripherally related to the mission of deciphering the artifact. ?áThe (two) women, both 'love interests,' are interesting too. ?áClaire is almost a a man-eater. ?áDef. a bitch. ?áBut also a kind of lost soul. ?áShe probably would have been a terrific choice for the mission, actually. ?áAnd Elizabeth is a sweet thing, but insightful as well. ?áNot quite a Madonna (Budrys isn't quite that stupid) but still limited, could have done more, could have been more complex.
Otoh, Elizabeth does at one point explain to Hawks that his 'thing' with women is that, You treat them like people." ?áI know plenty men now, over five decades later, that don't get this.
But it's a common thing in every situation. ?áBarker has the sense to make sure the technician who is about to 'clone' and transmit him, "The name is Barker, son. ?áAl Barker. ?áI'm not just another guinea pig for you to stuff into a tin can. ?áYou got a name, son?.... ?áBe sure to tell me what it is when I come out of this, huh?"
It could be said that Budrys anticipated modern neuro-psychology, too: ?á"The backs of our minds are smarter than we are, sometimes."
Recommended if my lame review makes it sound at all interesting."
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LibraryThing member brakketh
Very well written though a bit dated. Psychological study of what drives men (use men intentionally) to achieve what is ultimately a pointless goal.
LibraryThing member codeeater
Interesting setup, but not my type of story. I had a hard time finishing it. Also I feel, that the German translation is not very good.
LibraryThing member JackMassa
Intense, often puzzling SF yarn about the Cold War and the human costs of matter transmitters. Not for the pure action fan, but rather an odd mixture of well-crafted hard science with wild psychodrama. Some pretty distrubed characters smashing themselves against each other and picking apart each
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other's Existential emptiness. If Asimov had collaborated with Edward Albee, it might look something like this. Show Less
Awards
Hugo Award (Nominee — Novel — 1961)
The Guardian 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read (Science Fiction and Fantasy)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1960-12 (F&SF)
1960
Physical description
168 p.; 17.5 cm
ISBN
0380389509 / 9780380389506
Local notes
Omslag: Carl Lundgren
Omslaget viser en person i rumdragt, der går rundt på Månen. Bag ved ham ses et meget kraftigt lys og en uskarp kontur af noget stort
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Omslaget viser en person i rumdragt, der går rundt på Månen. Bag ved ham ses et meget kraftigt lys og en uskarp kontur af noget stort
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Similar in this library
Pages
168
DDC/MDS
| 813.54 |