Colors

I do not read much science fiction, but Gordon Young gave me a copy of his book "Colors" because he thought I would like many of the ideas he presents through the story of a time and space traveler. It took me a chapter or two to get into the flow of the story, which I enjoyed more as I learned about Ralph a "tweener" who has found himself transported from Earth to Earthe, another world similar to Earth, but farther ahead in time and development. Eventually, Ralph returns to Earth and explains his experiences to a small, but growing group. Young makes the story interesting by providing information about current technologies and thoughts about future technologies. Ralph's ideas and his explanations about how the people of Earthe sound somewhat libertarian and as the story unfolds, readers learn that Earthe went through a period--the Grey time--that in some ways parallels that underway today (2008). Loss of personal freedoms, classifications of humans by somewhat arbitrary criteria, curtailing criticism of elected officials (think "election reform") and an expanding array of laws, rules, and regulations that encroach on individual choices and rights. On Earthe, the citizens broke out of the Grey time and learned a new way to live with simpler rules and regulations and more personal responsibility. Young postulates Earthe as a world with almost unlimited energy and advances such as anti-gravity, high-speed travel, replication of almost anything, and unlimited access to information. It seems like fun to think about life in such a world, but it also seemed to me a bit far fetched. But, I reminded myself, this is science fiction. Readers must put skepticism aside and concentrate on the ideas Young postulates through his characters. If you have a libertarian bent and enjoy science fiction, I think you'll like this book. In the end, I did.

Two worlds in parallel universes with a weakly understood bridge between the worlds--Earth in our universe and Earthe in the other. The unfolding zeal of the citizenry of Earthe, having a century earlier saved itself from self-destruction through actions and inactions similar to those currently carrying Earth into a seemingly dim future, find a means to inform--across the bridge--the citizenry of Earth that there are better and more constructive steps to a bountiful future. The story gently draws you into a story of love between two people of these two worlds who give of themselves to carry the caring message of there is a better way for Earth to reverse the downward spiral to losses of resources for life and of liberty of thought and expression that are beginning to characterize life on Earth today. The bridge and the technology of Earthe rest on a science which is a fictionalized extension of current science we know on Earth today. This is an enjoyable and thought provoking read. It is a call to pay attention to what we are allowing ourselves become--as individuals, as societies, and as a global community.

This book kept me intrigued until the end. The technology used is realistic. The characters are real. Reading should be an adventure and this book does that - it takes your mind on an adventure through time and space. It makes you think and imagine, believe and hope in a better world. It helps the reader to understand that one should live for the happiness of the day and not wait until tomorrow. Enjoy what you have and not worry about what you haven't got. Don't let life pass you by. Anyone who can read should love this book and the messages it contains. You can read it time and time again and think something new. It is an awesome reading experience.

This book presents ideas that challenge current western social/political and scientific norms. The idea of science fiction looking at how earth could be different is not new. But this book does present some different ideas. At the end of each chapter The author, who is a scientist himself, comments about the technology used in the story. It was interesting that much of the technology isn't as 'far out' as I thought. Some of it is within reach or close to it today. The story didn't rely on bad lanquage, violence or sexual descriptions as a way to 'sell' the story. Instead the story and characters were interesting and kept me wanting to turn pages to find out more. He wove religious ideas into the story that in a way reminded me of CS Lewis. It was interesting.