A World Between

My degrees are not in literature...so although it's tempting to analyze this title in the literary context of Spinrad's other outstanding works, I'll confine my comment to my own profesional field (social sicences): Any other master of speculative fiction (Ellison springs to mind) could MAYBE have crafted this humorous yet at its core dead-serious examination of the balance of power between the two Human sexes. But leave it to Spinrad to set the stage so masterfully by first immersing us in the TOTALLY BELIEVABLE Earth-colonized world of Pacifica (you do the linguistics) where the "55%/45%" balance of power we currently enjoy between males and females in the professional and personal world is reversed: females are JUST THAT TAD BIT UP in both professional and personal power, yet males feel fully empowered in business and politics and proud in their personal lives to partner with powerful women. Spinrad is very careful here. He doesn't skew the balance of power enough to really upset anybody here/now/today...but he does tip it JUST enough to make any careful reader of either gender THINK. Into this ever-so-slightly-disrupted, just-enough-that-you're-already-THINKING-about-that-balance-of-power world Spinrad injects two groups of power-hungry outworlders: a militant female-dominant culture and a militant male-dominant culture, each bent on "intellectually colonizing" Pacifica. No spoilers here, sorry. Suffice to say that a generous handful of UTTERLY BELIEVEABLE, three-dimensional characters who are in, of, against, for, not-of, not-for, and a-plague-on-both-their-houses are followed through all the thorny personal and relationship decisions that this political clash among otherwise peaceful Humans must always occur s when socio-sexual worlds collide. Sounds like a lot to handle for one "science fiction book," neh? Heh. Read it and see. Spinrad will blow your mind every time. (Not quite a spoiler: If you like this title, try "The Void Captain's Tale." THAT title will blow your mind so bad/good/indescribable you just might oughtta put in for a week's vacation before you open its cover.) The ending provides no easy answers...but when I first encountered it as a Young Human almost 30 years ago, this book gave me that "1/4 turn" on the usual viewpoints society and the media present to us that is SO essential to adult social/political/psychological thought. It packs no less of a punch to me than it did when I first read it in high school than re-reading it now after several social science degrees and two decades of immersion-experience as a military wife as well as a social scientist of various very-strange-to-me societies around the world. As Pope put it so quotably, "The proper study of Mankind is Man." There is no better place for young folks to start than Norman Spinrad's "A World Between."

A fun and gripping story about global politics and the "war between the sexes," 'A World Between' does an excellent job of showing how fanaticism can warp perception and thus alter reality. When the peaceful world of Pacifica is subjected to 'missions' from the rabid Femocrats of Earth and the male-dominated Transcendental Scientists, both intent upon converting Pacifica to their own viewpoints, it's a real challenge to the citizens and the government. Public opinion is moulded through the media, and Pacifica prides itself on being the most media-savvy and sophisticated world in the human Galaxy. Only now the Pacificans' own 'First Amendment' type laws are being used against them.. Frequently graphic, occasionally disturbing, and always enjoyable. Warning: This book contains some explicit passages that are definitely adult in nature. Despite my immense liking for it, I have to rate this title 'R' because of the language and sexual explicitness.

The male/female war is fun, but the Technocrat/Femocrat war is even better.The Technocrat/Femocrat war is the best SF description of the USA/USSR ideological cold war, as seen from the perspective of "neutral" Pacificans aka Europeans.But I'm not sure that Spinrad intended this comparison!Anyway, the book's great fun!

There are three main themes in this book: Tension between the sexes, Media Influence, and Politicking. These three are melded into a fun and readable novel that keeps you turning pages. While some the characters would be considered slightly stereotypical today if you read this book in the context of its copyright date 1979 I think it was doing all right. Some of the issues it brings up, pertaining to tension between the sexes, still remain. It is interesting to contrast the issues the book deals with to what we is happening, or not happening in this area today. The media twisting that goes on was fun and effective, I got the impression that a debate with Norman Spinrad would be fun to watch as well as hard on his opponent. The policing in the book is the weakest written of the three themes but still enjoyable to read and twisty enough to keep your attention.