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Instrumentality of Mankind
Norstrilia
Rod McBan 151st farms 'stroon', the immortality drug, and is the last scion of one of the oldest and most honourable families on Norstrilia, only source of stroon. But he's also a telepathic cripple and faces the ever-present risk of being culled under the government's draconian population laws.
To protect himself, he uses his not-strictly-legal computer to play the market and amass an unimaginable fortune. But after he survives an assassination attempt, McBan discovers that having enough money to literally buy the Earth is no good if you're too dead to spend it . . .
To protect himself, he uses his not-strictly-legal computer to play the market and amass an unimaginable fortune. But after he survives an assassination attempt, McBan discovers that having enough money to literally buy the Earth is no good if you're too dead to spend it . . .
277 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 1, 1975
About the author
Cordwainer Smith
226 books305 followersPseudonym of:
Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger
Linebarger also employed the literary pseudonyms "Carmichael Smith" (for his political thriller Atomsk), "Anthony Bearden" (for his poetry) and "Felix C. Forrest" (for the novels Ria and Carola).
Linebarger was also a noted East Asia scholar and expert in psychological warfare.
Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger
Linebarger also employed the literary pseudonyms "Carmichael Smith" (for his political thriller Atomsk), "Anthony Bearden" (for his poetry) and "Felix C. Forrest" (for the novels Ria and Carola).
Linebarger was also a noted East Asia scholar and expert in psychological warfare.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 214 reviews
November 8, 2021
A fun, funny, and deeply quirky book, Norstrilia is, regrettably, the only novel-length work ever written by the great under-appreciated SFF author Cordwainer Smith, whose output was dominated by short stories. Norstrilia is part of Smith’s Instrumentality series, and is preceded by two collections: The Instrumentality of Man (the first in the series), and The Rediscovery of Man (the second).
As Norstrilia contains many allusions to characters and events from these preceding volumes, I would definitely recommend reading them first (although unfortunately, in my ignorance of the correct order of the Instrumentality cycle, I did not, and thus missed a lot of references I would otherwise have understood. Here’s to a reread!)
However you read it though, Norstrilia is an engaging, thoughtful, and slyly funny book. The prose and style reminded me of a less-polished version of Kurt Vonnegut: chock-full of humor, irony, absurdity, and, of course, preposterously madcap hijinks of every sort.
In the end, for all its (literally) alien strangeness, Norstrilia is very much a human story, and one of the central questions it explores is almost as old as mankind itself (or as old as wealth and commodity are, anyway). One could characterize this quandary as Epicureanism—or to be less charitable, hedonism—versus Stoicism—or to be less charitable, asceticism. Which is the more rewarding path? What good is money and wealth if you live a frugal and spartan existence? On the other hand, what good are indulgence and self-gratification, the fruits of wealth, if one becomes inured to the pleasures they afford? Which path leads to happiness and fulfillment; which to misery and sorrow?
Norstrilia explores these questions and many more in Smith’s uniquely entertaining, irreverent, and hilarious way.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
(The writing and the narrative can both be a bit sloppy at times, and some plot points are either under-explained or not very well thought out. Smith would have done well to have hired a better editor!)
As Norstrilia contains many allusions to characters and events from these preceding volumes, I would definitely recommend reading them first (although unfortunately, in my ignorance of the correct order of the Instrumentality cycle, I did not, and thus missed a lot of references I would otherwise have understood. Here’s to a reread!)
However you read it though, Norstrilia is an engaging, thoughtful, and slyly funny book. The prose and style reminded me of a less-polished version of Kurt Vonnegut: chock-full of humor, irony, absurdity, and, of course, preposterously madcap hijinks of every sort.
In the end, for all its (literally) alien strangeness, Norstrilia is very much a human story, and one of the central questions it explores is almost as old as mankind itself (or as old as wealth and commodity are, anyway). One could characterize this quandary as Epicureanism—or to be less charitable, hedonism—versus Stoicism—or to be less charitable, asceticism. Which is the more rewarding path? What good is money and wealth if you live a frugal and spartan existence? On the other hand, what good are indulgence and self-gratification, the fruits of wealth, if one becomes inured to the pleasures they afford? Which path leads to happiness and fulfillment; which to misery and sorrow?
Norstrilia explores these questions and many more in Smith’s uniquely entertaining, irreverent, and hilarious way.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
(The writing and the narrative can both be a bit sloppy at times, and some plot points are either under-explained or not very well thought out. Smith would have done well to have hired a better editor!)
June 8, 2024
I found Smith's The Rediscovery of Man collection, set in his Instrumentality of Mankind far future universe to be incredibly rich and imaginative. Full of stories of strange and curious oddities, they are emotionally stirring, frequently sentimental and motivated by concepts of humanism, ethics, social justice and equality.
Norstrilia, Smith's only novel, also set within his Instrumentality of Mankind universe, was a bit of a letdown unfortunately. It offers glimpses of his wildly bizarre and often farcical imagination, and some interesting plot lines, yet ultimately felt pieced together and plodding. It was with no great surprise that I learned he cobbled it together from two distinct stories. In keeping with many of the themes of social justice from other stories set in this universe, Smith largely focuses here on the subjugated status of the hybrid human/animal races of "underpeople". He also has fun playing with the notions of wealth in a post scarcity (and near post mortality) economy, and a society which has languished and is in need of unconventional infusions of vitality.
If you are looking for something different and truly out there, I highly recommend checking out Smith. You would do well to start with his short stories.
Norstrilia, Smith's only novel, also set within his Instrumentality of Mankind universe, was a bit of a letdown unfortunately. It offers glimpses of his wildly bizarre and often farcical imagination, and some interesting plot lines, yet ultimately felt pieced together and plodding. It was with no great surprise that I learned he cobbled it together from two distinct stories. In keeping with many of the themes of social justice from other stories set in this universe, Smith largely focuses here on the subjugated status of the hybrid human/animal races of "underpeople". He also has fun playing with the notions of wealth in a post scarcity (and near post mortality) economy, and a society which has languished and is in need of unconventional infusions of vitality.
If you are looking for something different and truly out there, I highly recommend checking out Smith. You would do well to start with his short stories.
August 8, 2007
What I learned from this book:
1. Inflation has its uses.
2. Sometimes the best computer for the job is the laminated brain of a mouse . . .
3. The economic significance of mutant sheep.
4. Go big or go home.
A sideways and roundabout look at a strange and twisted future involving everything from telepathic mink to bird-men with hypnotic mandalas to a man who literally bought the planet earth. I don't know why it works, but it most certainly does - this is a must read for anyone who appreciates a unique imagination of the world to come.
1. Inflation has its uses.
2. Sometimes the best computer for the job is the laminated brain of a mouse . . .
3. The economic significance of mutant sheep.
4. Go big or go home.
A sideways and roundabout look at a strange and twisted future involving everything from telepathic mink to bird-men with hypnotic mandalas to a man who literally bought the planet earth. I don't know why it works, but it most certainly does - this is a must read for anyone who appreciates a unique imagination of the world to come.
September 9, 2018
Rod McBan es un joven que vive en el planeta Norstrilia, el más rico del universo gracias al stroon, una sustancia que alarga la vida indefinidamente. Los habitantes de Norstrilia son telépatas, algo que a Rod le resulta casi imposible, y como todo joven del planeta, deberá pasar una prueba de vida o muerte. Ante esta perspectiva, Rod, junto a un viejo ordenador, decide comprar la Tierra. A partir de aquí, entramos en el viaje de Rod a la Tierra, en un viaje de maduración y descubrimiento.
‘Norstrilia’ (1964) es el tercer volumen dedicado a Los Señores de la Instrumentalidad del escritor Cordwainer Smith. El estilo de este autor resulta fascinante, con esa manera de narrar como si te estuviese contando una leyenda que todo el mundo conoce. Quizá esta novela, la única que escribió Cordwainer, no me haya impactado tanto como sus relatos, pero me quedo con esa primera parte en Norstrilia, y con algunos de los percances que le acontecen a Rod en la Tierra.
‘Norstrilia’ (1964) es el tercer volumen dedicado a Los Señores de la Instrumentalidad del escritor Cordwainer Smith. El estilo de este autor resulta fascinante, con esa manera de narrar como si te estuviese contando una leyenda que todo el mundo conoce. Quizá esta novela, la única que escribió Cordwainer, no me haya impactado tanto como sus relatos, pero me quedo con esa primera parte en Norstrilia, y con algunos de los percances que le acontecen a Rod en la Tierra.
January 12, 2015
"Tells the story of a boy from the planet Old North Australia (where rich, simple farmers grow the immortality drug Stroon), how he bought Old Earth, and how his visit to Earth changed both him and Earth itself."
A very eccentric novel, a bit frustrating at times, but quite entertaining. It was frustrating in that there were so many potentially interesting issues that could have been pursued--and they were left unexplored. For instance, telepathy is just a given in Norstrilian society and if you are judged to be disabled (i.e. not a telepath), you are executed at age 18. The reason given for this is population control--but surely that is easier to do before the children are born, rather than executing 18 years olds? Once they have passed this test, they have qualified to take the longevity drug, Stroon, and live a long life producing more of the drug for export. Population control and extreme long life seem to be at odds with each other, and no discussion of this conflict happens.
Rod McBan has great difficulty passing this test--he is an irregular telepath, although he is a nice enough fellow and his friends and family are distressed that he is likely to be executed instead of becoming the head of the farm and family. Except one man, a childhood frenemy, who really has a hate on for Rod.
After passing through the Garden of Death unscathed, Rod must deal with realities--he needs to get off Old North Australia in order to remain safe. With the help of his antique computer, he uses his Stroon wealth to buy the planet Earth (aka Manhome) and sets off on a wild adventure.
The most interesting part of the book for me was the "Underpeople" class, developed from animals such as cats, dogs, cows, even rats. They are treated as disposable, used to do the messy or boring work that "real" humans are reluctant to perform, despite their obvious human-ness. Once again, the history & development of these persons is glossed over, but the exploration of discrimination is well developed and the critique of institutionalized discrimination is organic and not preachy. (There were also a number of religious themes that might interest some).
Nowadays, this story would be done as a series, exploring all the history and fleshing out all of the characters. This book rattles from beginning to end in less than 300 pages, just hitting the high spots.
Things I particularly liked: attention to Australia, a country which rarely gets mentioned in science fiction; Rod's sensual appreciation of the environment of Old Earth.
Other observations: this books follows in a tradition of the 1960s science fiction that deals with telepathy as a real thing; it joins books like Kurt Vonnegut's Welcome to the Monkey House in dealing with longevity and population control issues.
A fun, fast, and quirky read.
A very eccentric novel, a bit frustrating at times, but quite entertaining. It was frustrating in that there were so many potentially interesting issues that could have been pursued--and they were left unexplored. For instance, telepathy is just a given in Norstrilian society and if you are judged to be disabled (i.e. not a telepath), you are executed at age 18. The reason given for this is population control--but surely that is easier to do before the children are born, rather than executing 18 years olds? Once they have passed this test, they have qualified to take the longevity drug, Stroon, and live a long life producing more of the drug for export. Population control and extreme long life seem to be at odds with each other, and no discussion of this conflict happens.
Rod McBan has great difficulty passing this test--he is an irregular telepath, although he is a nice enough fellow and his friends and family are distressed that he is likely to be executed instead of becoming the head of the farm and family. Except one man, a childhood frenemy, who really has a hate on for Rod.
After passing through the Garden of Death unscathed, Rod must deal with realities--he needs to get off Old North Australia in order to remain safe. With the help of his antique computer, he uses his Stroon wealth to buy the planet Earth (aka Manhome) and sets off on a wild adventure.
The most interesting part of the book for me was the "Underpeople" class, developed from animals such as cats, dogs, cows, even rats. They are treated as disposable, used to do the messy or boring work that "real" humans are reluctant to perform, despite their obvious human-ness. Once again, the history & development of these persons is glossed over, but the exploration of discrimination is well developed and the critique of institutionalized discrimination is organic and not preachy. (There were also a number of religious themes that might interest some).
Nowadays, this story would be done as a series, exploring all the history and fleshing out all of the characters. This book rattles from beginning to end in less than 300 pages, just hitting the high spots.
Things I particularly liked: attention to Australia, a country which rarely gets mentioned in science fiction; Rod's sensual appreciation of the environment of Old Earth.
Other observations: this books follows in a tradition of the 1960s science fiction that deals with telepathy as a real thing; it joins books like Kurt Vonnegut's Welcome to the Monkey House in dealing with longevity and population control issues.
A fun, fast, and quirky read.
June 25, 2010
4.5 Stars. The only novel ever written by Cordwainer Smith which is a real tragedy for fans of excellent, imaginative science fiction. This is a great big story full of great ideas and cool concepts.
Nominee Hugo Award Best Novel (1964) (The Planet Buyer)
Nominee Hugo Award Best Novel (1964) (The Planet Buyer)
September 12, 2023
Norstrillia reads like a science fiction fairy tale.
Lots of absurd, madcap adventures like a teenage boy buying the entire planet earth, changing himself into a cat person and engaging in what must have been the world’s first “furry” erotic fiction.
This is preceded by a bunch of short stories set in the same universe called the instrumentality of mankind, reading those first would help make sense of this but they’re just as crazy.
If you’re down for something way out there that defies classic western sci-fi tropes check it out.
Lots of absurd, madcap adventures like a teenage boy buying the entire planet earth, changing himself into a cat person and engaging in what must have been the world’s first “furry” erotic fiction.
This is preceded by a bunch of short stories set in the same universe called the instrumentality of mankind, reading those first would help make sense of this but they’re just as crazy.
If you’re down for something way out there that defies classic western sci-fi tropes check it out.
September 8, 2016
I described Norstrilia to a friend as 'a charming kind of bonkers', and for me it was. Nevertheless I understand why it was problematic in a number of ways (particularly the 1960s sexism and portrayals of slavery and xenophobia, albeit much of this was deliberately echoing older pulp sci-fi) as well as giving the impression of a rushed and cobbled-together mess at times. It also had one of the most passive protagonists in recorded history and a villain who was so underdeveloped as to be essentially an off-screen character. Some people aren't feeling the same charm I did underneath those issues and I don't blame them.
Perhaps we can mostly agree that much of the book is at least bonkers, whether charming or not. The portrayal of such absurdities as thousand-tonne giant mutant sheep being shorn with lawnmowers was enough to engage me in the world. It does throw these loopy ideas at you frequently and many of them are neither explained nor expanded upon, though I understand much of it ties into the short stories collected in The Rediscovery of Man. Apparently it was one of the more ambitious early examples of a sci-fi universe and the novel is meant to be read within that broader context.
Smith's prose tends to the literary and his influences and style are uncommon. He is clearly inspired by Chinese literature, not least Journey to the West. His interests in psychology, pscyhological warfare and political activism also inform the novel. There are hints of Christian allegory but he seems to retreat from embracing them. At times he arguably subverts them. Rod McBan is not the messiah, he's just a very naive (and rich) boy.
I for one was amused by the humorous (though at times severely dark) portrayal of a future culture based on the Crocodile Dundee image of 20th century Australians. Like so much in the book, the portrayal is consciously mythic and mythopoeic. This is a universe as people perceived it after the fact, with exaggerated characters and cultural self-images that would break down under critical scrutiny. The Chinese influence manifests in this aspect.
It's certainly a book with a convoluted publishing history, having taken about six years to write as a novel, then being hacked apart for various different versions in magazines and being split into two novellas not once but twice. Thus I'm privileged to have got my hands on the 1994 NESFA Press hardcover which is apparently the 'definitive' edition. I highly recommend it if you can find a copy as it includes an extensive introduction and an appendix with extracts from alternative versions of the text.
All things considered I would say this book may still appeal to fans of sci-fi of the irreverent variety (Douglas Adams et al), of space opera, of cool settings with a range of possibilities, and of 'New Wave' more generally.
Perhaps we can mostly agree that much of the book is at least bonkers, whether charming or not. The portrayal of such absurdities as thousand-tonne giant mutant sheep being shorn with lawnmowers was enough to engage me in the world. It does throw these loopy ideas at you frequently and many of them are neither explained nor expanded upon, though I understand much of it ties into the short stories collected in The Rediscovery of Man. Apparently it was one of the more ambitious early examples of a sci-fi universe and the novel is meant to be read within that broader context.
Smith's prose tends to the literary and his influences and style are uncommon. He is clearly inspired by Chinese literature, not least Journey to the West. His interests in psychology, pscyhological warfare and political activism also inform the novel. There are hints of Christian allegory but he seems to retreat from embracing them. At times he arguably subverts them. Rod McBan is not the messiah, he's just a very naive (and rich) boy.
I for one was amused by the humorous (though at times severely dark) portrayal of a future culture based on the Crocodile Dundee image of 20th century Australians. Like so much in the book, the portrayal is consciously mythic and mythopoeic. This is a universe as people perceived it after the fact, with exaggerated characters and cultural self-images that would break down under critical scrutiny. The Chinese influence manifests in this aspect.
It's certainly a book with a convoluted publishing history, having taken about six years to write as a novel, then being hacked apart for various different versions in magazines and being split into two novellas not once but twice. Thus I'm privileged to have got my hands on the 1994 NESFA Press hardcover which is apparently the 'definitive' edition. I highly recommend it if you can find a copy as it includes an extensive introduction and an appendix with extracts from alternative versions of the text.
All things considered I would say this book may still appeal to fans of sci-fi of the irreverent variety (Douglas Adams et al), of space opera, of cool settings with a range of possibilities, and of 'New Wave' more generally.
May 9, 2015
Norstrilia: The only novel set in the “Instrumentality of Mankind” universe
Originally posted at Fantasy Literature
I’ve always wanted to read the work of Cordwainer Smith (pen name of Paul Linebarger, a scholar and diplomat who was expert in East Asia and psychological warfare), who also moonlighted as a quirky SF author who wrote a number of short stories mainly in the 50s and 60s set in the Instrumentality of Mankind, a full-fledged galaxy-spanning far-future universe.
He has something of a cult following, but really only has a few books to his credit, the collected short stories that can be found in The Instrumentality of Mankind (1974), The Best of Cordwainer Smith (1977), and The Rediscovery of Man (1993). He wrote only one novel, Norstrilia (1975), which itself was initially two shorter books The Planet Buyer (1964) and The Underpeople (1968).
Not knowing which to read first, I decided to start with the novel Norstrilia, but I now think that was a mistake. Although Smith has created a rich and imaginative world that doesn’t resemble anything else I’ve read before, I think he really established his reputation with his short stories, and having just read the most famous one, Scanners Live in Vain (1950), I’d say that Smith’s skills lie in the short form, not the long. That is a poignant, bizarre, and haunting story that really is an amazing creation. I found more to like in that story than in the entire book, so I am now reading The Rediscovery of Man collection. If you want a taste of Cordwainer Smith, start with his short stories instead.
Norstrilia features an immortality drug called stroon (derived from a fungus that infects giant sheep) cultivated by hardy, frugal and conservative and now ultra-wealthy settlers from Old North Australia, space travel via planoforming, telepathic spieking and hiering, and a permanent underclass of Underpeople on Old Earth genetically engineered from various animals. Ruling over this is the Instrumentality of Mankind, a quasi-government body of immortals that seek to keep mankind vigorous by introducing imperfections and problems into what had become a stagnant and decadent utopia, and also reviving some of the ancient cultures of man, a process known as The Rediscovery of Man.
The protagonist of Norstrilia is Rod McBan the 151st, a young man born into the most venerable family on Old North Australia (“Norstrilia”), who lacks the telepathic ability to spiek and hier like his fellow Norstrilians, and thus faces a life-and-death test (“The Garden of Death”) at age 18 that determines whether he can a full-fledged man and citizen, or be given a lethal injection of the giggling death. Suffice to say he survives due to extenuating circumstances, but after that gets targeted by an assassin jealous of his status and immortality.
He decides to let his ancient computer, which has been idly calculating various scenarios to accumulate vast wealth for thousands of years out of cybernetic boredom, to leverage all of Rod’s considerable assets contained in his farm’s stroon fortune to do a byzantine series of futures transactions to corner the market for stroon. Incredibly, the computer manages to pull this off and makes Rod into the wealthiest individual in the universe overnight. With this new fortune, he literally buys Old Earth and everything it contains, and decides to travel through space via planoforming to visit his new acquisition.
Of course Rod’s incredible wealth attracts all sorts of thieves, gold-diggers, and revolutionaries, all who want something from him, so he genetically alters himself into a cat-man to travel Earth anonymously, with a gorgeous girlygirl cat-woman named C’mell and a tiny monkey physician named L’Agentur. He undergoes various adventures with aristocrats and underpeople, learning of the harsh inequalities that permeate Old Earth society, and finds himself sympathizing with the underpeople, who actually keep decadent human society functioning but get treated only with contempt in return. In the end Rod finally takes decisive actions that change the fate of the underpeople and himself.
I give the author full credit for creating an unusual and quirky universe, but I found the ultra-rich but stubbornly-frugal farmers of Norstrilia pretty hard to believe 15,000 years in the future. The idea that their society would be sustainable as a group of independent-minded sheep farmers sitting on vast wealth but prevented from spending it by a 20 million percent tax on imports seems pretty ridiculous, don’t you think? Yes, they allow citizens to cash out and lead an opulent life offworld, it’s hard to picture anyone not taking this option over time. Even more absurd is the idea that an antique semi-military computer could manipulate the stroon futures market of a galactic civilization spanning thousands of worlds, overnight. This is the equivalent of the NYSE or NASDAQ being taken over by a nerdy kid with a Commodore 64.
Norstrilia also betrays its origins as two different stories cobbled together. The first half featuring his trials on Norstrilia and the second half with his adventures with the Lords of the Instrumentality and the underpeople don’t really mesh well together. I’d have to say the second half is more interesting, but neither really captured my interest like I was hoping. If I was feeling harsh I would give it 2 stars as it feels a bit slapped together, but will be generous and assign 3 stars for the overall unique vision of the future he gave us.
Originally posted at Fantasy Literature
I’ve always wanted to read the work of Cordwainer Smith (pen name of Paul Linebarger, a scholar and diplomat who was expert in East Asia and psychological warfare), who also moonlighted as a quirky SF author who wrote a number of short stories mainly in the 50s and 60s set in the Instrumentality of Mankind, a full-fledged galaxy-spanning far-future universe.
He has something of a cult following, but really only has a few books to his credit, the collected short stories that can be found in The Instrumentality of Mankind (1974), The Best of Cordwainer Smith (1977), and The Rediscovery of Man (1993). He wrote only one novel, Norstrilia (1975), which itself was initially two shorter books The Planet Buyer (1964) and The Underpeople (1968).
Not knowing which to read first, I decided to start with the novel Norstrilia, but I now think that was a mistake. Although Smith has created a rich and imaginative world that doesn’t resemble anything else I’ve read before, I think he really established his reputation with his short stories, and having just read the most famous one, Scanners Live in Vain (1950), I’d say that Smith’s skills lie in the short form, not the long. That is a poignant, bizarre, and haunting story that really is an amazing creation. I found more to like in that story than in the entire book, so I am now reading The Rediscovery of Man collection. If you want a taste of Cordwainer Smith, start with his short stories instead.
Norstrilia features an immortality drug called stroon (derived from a fungus that infects giant sheep) cultivated by hardy, frugal and conservative and now ultra-wealthy settlers from Old North Australia, space travel via planoforming, telepathic spieking and hiering, and a permanent underclass of Underpeople on Old Earth genetically engineered from various animals. Ruling over this is the Instrumentality of Mankind, a quasi-government body of immortals that seek to keep mankind vigorous by introducing imperfections and problems into what had become a stagnant and decadent utopia, and also reviving some of the ancient cultures of man, a process known as The Rediscovery of Man.
The protagonist of Norstrilia is Rod McBan the 151st, a young man born into the most venerable family on Old North Australia (“Norstrilia”), who lacks the telepathic ability to spiek and hier like his fellow Norstrilians, and thus faces a life-and-death test (“The Garden of Death”) at age 18 that determines whether he can a full-fledged man and citizen, or be given a lethal injection of the giggling death. Suffice to say he survives due to extenuating circumstances, but after that gets targeted by an assassin jealous of his status and immortality.
He decides to let his ancient computer, which has been idly calculating various scenarios to accumulate vast wealth for thousands of years out of cybernetic boredom, to leverage all of Rod’s considerable assets contained in his farm’s stroon fortune to do a byzantine series of futures transactions to corner the market for stroon. Incredibly, the computer manages to pull this off and makes Rod into the wealthiest individual in the universe overnight. With this new fortune, he literally buys Old Earth and everything it contains, and decides to travel through space via planoforming to visit his new acquisition.
Of course Rod’s incredible wealth attracts all sorts of thieves, gold-diggers, and revolutionaries, all who want something from him, so he genetically alters himself into a cat-man to travel Earth anonymously, with a gorgeous girlygirl cat-woman named C’mell and a tiny monkey physician named L’Agentur. He undergoes various adventures with aristocrats and underpeople, learning of the harsh inequalities that permeate Old Earth society, and finds himself sympathizing with the underpeople, who actually keep decadent human society functioning but get treated only with contempt in return. In the end Rod finally takes decisive actions that change the fate of the underpeople and himself.
I give the author full credit for creating an unusual and quirky universe, but I found the ultra-rich but stubbornly-frugal farmers of Norstrilia pretty hard to believe 15,000 years in the future. The idea that their society would be sustainable as a group of independent-minded sheep farmers sitting on vast wealth but prevented from spending it by a 20 million percent tax on imports seems pretty ridiculous, don’t you think? Yes, they allow citizens to cash out and lead an opulent life offworld, it’s hard to picture anyone not taking this option over time. Even more absurd is the idea that an antique semi-military computer could manipulate the stroon futures market of a galactic civilization spanning thousands of worlds, overnight. This is the equivalent of the NYSE or NASDAQ being taken over by a nerdy kid with a Commodore 64.
Norstrilia also betrays its origins as two different stories cobbled together. The first half featuring his trials on Norstrilia and the second half with his adventures with the Lords of the Instrumentality and the underpeople don’t really mesh well together. I’d have to say the second half is more interesting, but neither really captured my interest like I was hoping. If I was feeling harsh I would give it 2 stars as it feels a bit slapped together, but will be generous and assign 3 stars for the overall unique vision of the future he gave us.
November 27, 2019
7/10 en 2007.
Nada nuevo que decir respecto a los anteriores. Os pueden gustar más o menos un libro u otro en función de que los relatos incluidos en cada tomo os gusten más o menos, pero todos merecen la pena.
Nada nuevo que decir respecto a los anteriores. Os pueden gustar más o menos un libro u otro en función de que los relatos incluidos en cada tomo os gusten más o menos, pero todos merecen la pena.
August 2, 2024
The wheels of fate are spinning around.
Between them the souls of men are ground
Who strive for throats to make some sound
Of protest out of the mad profound
Trap of the godmachine!
Uniquely bizarre. Norstrilia delves into class struggle and stratification, culture and human adaptation, economics, and frankly, a whole bunch of themes. The prose is very good, but occasionally I felt a bit lost, like I was missing out on something important, which often is the case with these “classic” novels (they tend to be very clever, and I tend to be, well, not).
The nature of the Instrumentalities universe is slowly revealed as the story progresses, with one large revelation following another. Everything feels very well established, even though not everything is clearly explained. The story alternates between delightful and dreadful, as the protagonist is carried along by events that are often none of his own making (even though on the surface they might appear to be). All in all, an impressive achievement, and a very well realised example of “world universe building”.
I suspect that if I were a scholar I would give this book 5 stars, but as it stands I am going to have to settle for 4. I suspect that another read, at some point, will be in order. I enjoyed it, but I think there are some layers that I have yet to tap into.
Between them the souls of men are ground
Who strive for throats to make some sound
Of protest out of the mad profound
Trap of the godmachine!
Uniquely bizarre. Norstrilia delves into class struggle and stratification, culture and human adaptation, economics, and frankly, a whole bunch of themes. The prose is very good, but occasionally I felt a bit lost, like I was missing out on something important, which often is the case with these “classic” novels (they tend to be very clever, and I tend to be, well, not).
The nature of the Instrumentalities universe is slowly revealed as the story progresses, with one large revelation following another. Everything feels very well established, even though not everything is clearly explained. The story alternates between delightful and dreadful, as the protagonist is carried along by events that are often none of his own making (even though on the surface they might appear to be). All in all, an impressive achievement, and a very well realised example of “
I suspect that if I were a scholar I would give this book 5 stars, but as it stands I am going to have to settle for 4. I suspect that another read, at some point, will be in order. I enjoyed it, but I think there are some layers that I have yet to tap into.
September 23, 2023
This novel may have been highly relevant when it was published, but it has aged badly.
October 22, 2014
To our detriment, this is Smith’s only novel, his output otherwise being a large number of quirky short stories mostly set in this universe of The Instrumentality of Mankind. Having said that, ‘Norstrilia’ has a complex origin since it was originally published in two shorter separate parts in 1964 as ‘The Planet Buyer’ (which itself was expanded from a shorter piece ‘The Boy Who Bought Old Earth’) and ‘The Store of Heart’s Desire’
Roderick Frederick Ronald Arnold William MacArthur McBan to the Hundred and Fifty-First (known as Rod McBan) is a boy living on the peculiar world of Norstrilia, heir to one of the prosperous mutant sheep ranches.
Norstrilia, or Old North Australia, where the people are still subjects of Queen Elizabeth II, (despite the fact she’s been dead for at least fifteen thousand years) was originally an Australian farming world until a virus attacked the sheep. What could have been tragedy changed the fortunes of mankind as a by-product of the sheep’s illness was Stroon, a longevity drug. Thus Norstrilia became the richest planet in the galaxy. The Norstrilians did not want to change their way of life however, and so incredibly high taxes are paid on any imported items to their world. Their children are tested in their teens to see if they are physically and mentally fit to survive, and those that fail get sent to a painless death.
Rod McBan is about to be tested, and his family are worried. Rod seems unable to hier or spiek. In other words, unlike the other telepathic natives of Norstrilia, he can neither hear thoughts nor project them. A girl who loves him, Lavinia, knows that this is not strictly true as there are times when Rod can hier everyone’s thoughts for miles around and when he is angry his mind is powerful enough to disable or kill.
Having survived the test, with the help of Lord Redlady, a member of the ruling body – The Instrumentality of Mankind – it seems Rod is still in danger from one Houghton Syme, an old schoolmate of Rod’s who is determined to kill or destroy him. Rod has access to an ancient computer, hidden on his land which, when Rod asks it for help, puts a financial scheme in motion. By the next day, Rod McBan is the owner of virtually all of Old Earth and therefore has to travel there to take ownership of his prize and escape the murderous attentions of Houghton Syme.
Once on Earth he becomes acquainted with the Underpeople; races of bioengineered animals who have a prophecy of a rich man coming to Earth to set them free. Could this be Rod McBan?
Smith certainly had a facility for creating well-defined characters. Norstrilia is set in a marvellously detailed if slightly unrealistic landscape. The narrative is peppered with songs and poetry which adds to a certain undercurrent of joy that suffuses the book.
Eccentric and fascinating figures appear and disappear, such as The Catmaster, who is a kind of guru/healer figure and the only Underperson allowed (by special dispensation of The Instrumentality) to take Stroon.
Smith throws in ideas right. left and centre, such as the giant alien architects who once visited human worlds and built indestructible buildings on various planets (on a whim) before leaving.
It’s a marvellously clever mix of comedy, drama, satire and romanticism, interspersed with poetry and song.
At the end of the day, however, it is simply the story of a young man who (much like Dorothy in ‘The Wizard of Oz’) travels to another world, has adventures, makes friends and enemies and ultimately realises that what he wants and needs has been at home in his own back yard all the time.
Roderick Frederick Ronald Arnold William MacArthur McBan to the Hundred and Fifty-First (known as Rod McBan) is a boy living on the peculiar world of Norstrilia, heir to one of the prosperous mutant sheep ranches.
Norstrilia, or Old North Australia, where the people are still subjects of Queen Elizabeth II, (despite the fact she’s been dead for at least fifteen thousand years) was originally an Australian farming world until a virus attacked the sheep. What could have been tragedy changed the fortunes of mankind as a by-product of the sheep’s illness was Stroon, a longevity drug. Thus Norstrilia became the richest planet in the galaxy. The Norstrilians did not want to change their way of life however, and so incredibly high taxes are paid on any imported items to their world. Their children are tested in their teens to see if they are physically and mentally fit to survive, and those that fail get sent to a painless death.
Rod McBan is about to be tested, and his family are worried. Rod seems unable to hier or spiek. In other words, unlike the other telepathic natives of Norstrilia, he can neither hear thoughts nor project them. A girl who loves him, Lavinia, knows that this is not strictly true as there are times when Rod can hier everyone’s thoughts for miles around and when he is angry his mind is powerful enough to disable or kill.
Having survived the test, with the help of Lord Redlady, a member of the ruling body – The Instrumentality of Mankind – it seems Rod is still in danger from one Houghton Syme, an old schoolmate of Rod’s who is determined to kill or destroy him. Rod has access to an ancient computer, hidden on his land which, when Rod asks it for help, puts a financial scheme in motion. By the next day, Rod McBan is the owner of virtually all of Old Earth and therefore has to travel there to take ownership of his prize and escape the murderous attentions of Houghton Syme.
Once on Earth he becomes acquainted with the Underpeople; races of bioengineered animals who have a prophecy of a rich man coming to Earth to set them free. Could this be Rod McBan?
Smith certainly had a facility for creating well-defined characters. Norstrilia is set in a marvellously detailed if slightly unrealistic landscape. The narrative is peppered with songs and poetry which adds to a certain undercurrent of joy that suffuses the book.
Eccentric and fascinating figures appear and disappear, such as The Catmaster, who is a kind of guru/healer figure and the only Underperson allowed (by special dispensation of The Instrumentality) to take Stroon.
Smith throws in ideas right. left and centre, such as the giant alien architects who once visited human worlds and built indestructible buildings on various planets (on a whim) before leaving.
It’s a marvellously clever mix of comedy, drama, satire and romanticism, interspersed with poetry and song.
At the end of the day, however, it is simply the story of a young man who (much like Dorothy in ‘The Wizard of Oz’) travels to another world, has adventures, makes friends and enemies and ultimately realises that what he wants and needs has been at home in his own back yard all the time.
May 27, 2009
It is one of the enduring tragedies of science fiction that the man who wrote as Cordwainer Smith died so young. His life was weird and fascinating - from living in China during the revolution to writing what is still considered to be one of the fundamental texts on psychological warfare - and his experiences with such a variety of people and cultures comes through in his stories. He takes perfectly believable aspects of people and twists them so far out of proportion that they are barely recognisable in order to show them in high relief - like the Norstrillans in this story, who are the wealthiest people in the known universe by orders of magnitude, but deliberately keep themselves in a simple lifestyle by imposing an import tax of 2 million percent on everything coming in to the planet. Or people whose lives are so perfect they have no challenge, so they deliberately re-introduce accidents and disease to their world to keep things interesting. He also tackles (in one of those strange coincidences of unknowingly reading two books about the same theme back-to-back, which seem to happen to me inordinately often) the same sticky question of how immortality would change human society that Elizabeth Moon was delving into in her Serrano books.
This is a story which describes a young man who buys the earth and goes to visit it, becomes a cat, meets some people, and goes home. That's not what its about, but thats how the story goes; to find out what its about you'll just have to go and read it - I can't imagine summarising it in any way that wouldn't do it an injustice.
This is a story which describes a young man who buys the earth and goes to visit it, becomes a cat, meets some people, and goes home. That's not what its about, but thats how the story goes; to find out what its about you'll just have to go and read it - I can't imagine summarising it in any way that wouldn't do it an injustice.
October 17, 2011
Ever read Dune? Like it? In particular, did you like the world, the spice concept, the idea of spaceflight powered by precognitives, a universal economy based on a life-extending substance, etc? Well, good. Because then you already like most of Norstrilia.
I can only imagine Frank Herbert liked this book a whole lot, because he borrowed a shocking amount of it wholesale. Norstrilia is basically Dune without the pretension, long monologues, weird social-political diatribes, and giant worms. Instead, it is fast-paced, humorous, and has super-giant sheep. A masterpiece, in my opinion, from an utterly forgotten sci-fi great.
I can only imagine Frank Herbert liked this book a whole lot, because he borrowed a shocking amount of it wholesale. Norstrilia is basically Dune without the pretension, long monologues, weird social-political diatribes, and giant worms. Instead, it is fast-paced, humorous, and has super-giant sheep. A masterpiece, in my opinion, from an utterly forgotten sci-fi great.
November 17, 2017
Interesting book, the author's only novel. Feels like a serial adventure, collected tales - and indeed this universe is detailed through the author's other short stories.
Set in the far future, this coming-of-age story fits in the space opera mold at times. Bigger ideas from the author's world are only hinted at. Originally written in 1960 and published in two parts, I read the restored version but have yet to read more than a few of Smith's short stories.
Dr. Paul Linebarger, aka Cordwainer Smith, died 8 years before this restoration was published. Norstrilia is considered an SF masterwork and is on David Pringle's list of 100 best SF novels. A solid 3½ stars, with a possible increase after reading the collected short works.
Set in the far future, this coming-of-age story fits in the space opera mold at times. Bigger ideas from the author's world are only hinted at. Originally written in 1960 and published in two parts, I read the restored version but have yet to read more than a few of Smith's short stories.
Dr. Paul Linebarger, aka Cordwainer Smith, died 8 years before this restoration was published. Norstrilia is considered an SF masterwork and is on David Pringle's list of 100 best SF novels. A solid 3½ stars, with a possible increase after reading the collected short works.
October 31, 2010
I felt like I had stumbled into the middle of something here, and then I read that Nostrilia, Smith;s only novel, is tied into a web of short stories that more fully explains the future world setting. Given that, he does an excellent job of establishing that world with enough information without weighing down the action with ponderous exposition and elaborately developed back stories.
Who wouldn't like a story about a boy who buys the planet Earth? And I love the self-imposed austerity of the Nostrilians, the wealthiest people in the universe thanks to stroon, a drug they derive from gigantic deformed sheep. Stroon allows earthlings to live thousands of years instead of the allotted 400 or so.To limit their wealth and keep to their simple farming ways, Nostrilians impose a 2 mllion per ent tariff on all inboud goods. (I maybe got that figure wrong, it could be two thousand or twenty million.) The hero, Rob McBan, is the innocent country lad who has to make his way through a decadent earth filled with those who want to exploit him, kill him, or who think of him as a kind of messiah.
The story is fun from beginning to end, but Smith does not stint on the dark background of his future world. Earth is maintained by a genetically engineered race of underpeople, human-like creatures derived from animals, Humans themselves, freed from disease and want, are given to boredom, intrigue, and entertainments that allow them to pretend they have actual problems. They are elitist and racist, and only a handful of them sense that the days of their civilization are justifiably numbered.
Who wouldn't like a story about a boy who buys the planet Earth? And I love the self-imposed austerity of the Nostrilians, the wealthiest people in the universe thanks to stroon, a drug they derive from gigantic deformed sheep. Stroon allows earthlings to live thousands of years instead of the allotted 400 or so.To limit their wealth and keep to their simple farming ways, Nostrilians impose a 2 mllion per ent tariff on all inboud goods. (I maybe got that figure wrong, it could be two thousand or twenty million.) The hero, Rob McBan, is the innocent country lad who has to make his way through a decadent earth filled with those who want to exploit him, kill him, or who think of him as a kind of messiah.
The story is fun from beginning to end, but Smith does not stint on the dark background of his future world. Earth is maintained by a genetically engineered race of underpeople, human-like creatures derived from animals, Humans themselves, freed from disease and want, are given to boredom, intrigue, and entertainments that allow them to pretend they have actual problems. They are elitist and racist, and only a handful of them sense that the days of their civilization are justifiably numbered.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 27, 2014
This is essentially a coming-of-age story with a difference. And what a difference! Roderick Frederick Ronald Arnold William MacArthur McBan to the Hundred and Fifty-First is a typical teenager in a most atypical place and time. By turns arrogant, naive, very intelligent, warm, clever, depressed, and ultimately very likeable, Rod McBan solves a personal problem by conniving with the McBan Family Computer to buy the entire planet Earth - lock, stock, and underpeople. The main narrative traces his growth to responsible adulthood as he comes to Earth to manage his purchase.
The story is set in Smith's marvelous alternate universe, the Instrumentality of Mankind (see The Rediscovery of Man). In his journey, Rod McBan meets personages both high and low, from the great Lords of the Instrumentality who ceaselessly work to help mankind reach its full potential, to the underpeople - genetically engineered animals bred to do the dirty work that mankind no longer wants to do. His interactions with them inform his own growth and the growth of mankind as it comes to inhabit the entire galaxy.
Cordwainer Smith has many axes to grind in his alternative universe, although he usually grinds them with considerable subtlety. Injustice, the advantages and disadvantages of religion, technology, duty, pride, power, lust, and dedication are but some of the big issues he takes up. Smith's own rather unique life gives some interesting twists to his opinions.
Norstrilia can be enjoyed on its own, but its constant references to Smith's larger universe suggest that the reader would get more meat out of the story by reading The Rediscovery of Man first.
The story is set in Smith's marvelous alternate universe, the Instrumentality of Mankind (see The Rediscovery of Man). In his journey, Rod McBan meets personages both high and low, from the great Lords of the Instrumentality who ceaselessly work to help mankind reach its full potential, to the underpeople - genetically engineered animals bred to do the dirty work that mankind no longer wants to do. His interactions with them inform his own growth and the growth of mankind as it comes to inhabit the entire galaxy.
Cordwainer Smith has many axes to grind in his alternative universe, although he usually grinds them with considerable subtlety. Injustice, the advantages and disadvantages of religion, technology, duty, pride, power, lust, and dedication are but some of the big issues he takes up. Smith's own rather unique life gives some interesting twists to his opinions.
Norstrilia can be enjoyed on its own, but its constant references to Smith's larger universe suggest that the reader would get more meat out of the story by reading The Rediscovery of Man first.
October 16, 2014
Wonderfully strange book; I suspect it is deceptively simple. However, it is overly long. Glad I had some idea about its melieu from reading "The Quest of Three Worlds" just prior.
June 15, 2024
Some cool ideas but weird characters that never made much sense to me. People kept “falling in love” on a dime and then wandering off.
August 11, 2016
When I'm done with this I'll have read all of Mr. Smith's work. He died young and had a very demanding day job so there's not much there. But ... what's there is cherce! My library copy is a small hardbound with a dull brown cover so I'll leave this cover up. Turns out, upon further investigation, that this is a re-bound paperback. It now has a hardbound cover, probably applied by the UMASS/Amherst library where it's on loan from. I never heard of such a thing before, though it seems like something that libraries would do to prolong the lives of paperback books.
Getting into this story now and enjoying it very much - love the humongous sheep! Yes indeed folks, this book was Dune before Dune was Dune. Pretty darned obvious I'd say! "The Demon Princes" is another work that this is suggestive of.
- "ceilinging"!!!
Rod has reached Earth - HOW??? - a typical CS mystery. Some kind of mysterious space travel which he explains in more detail in other stories. If you make it crazy enough who's to say it won't work? He doesn't explain that much ... Rod has met the amazing C'mell, whom I've already met in other stories. She seems to be CS's dream girl. YUM-YUM! In telling a longer story, i.e. one with a sort of linear plot with some logic(supposedly) involved our beloved Mr. Smith shows some weaknesses. He seems to get bogged down at times and action/details is not really described clearly and convincingly. A minor quibble ...
- Blue men!!! easy to visualize - these days ...
- Now a bit of "Stranger in a Strange Land" with the arrival of Rod(prophesized savior of the underpeople) on Earth-Manhome.
Been busy-busy lately so my reading progress has been a bit slow. Rod has been getting deeper into his earth adventures and the connections to "Stranger in a Strange Land" and "Dune" come up again. For Paul Atreides it was the Gom Jabbar and for Paul it was the Hate Room. Then there's the Catmaster C'william's similarity to good ole Yoda. Frank Herbert owes a LOT too this book! Bit of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" as well in the financial manipulations - "The Demon Princes" also...
- Moving roads - who was the guy who wrote stories about the moving roads??? Heinlein!~
Finished up last night with this intriguing but a bit disappointing book. Mr. S had trouble keeping his weird mojo going for a couple of hundred pages. No big deal ... Then there was the somewhat religious tone of the last part. He never got to expand much on the future of the Instrumentality because of his early death. His interest in religion and spiritual matters and the effect it had on his stories reminds me of J. D. Salinger, whose fiction went to almost total hell after he began to try to hook it onto his spiritual notions.
- Did I mention another connection or two: "Dies Irae"(Bryan M. Stableford) and "The Island of Dr. Moreau"
- Used the term "higher power" - maybe he was in AA?
- The big, big warehouse - "Raiders of the Lost Ark"
- E'telekeli(a bird man) = "The World of Tiers"(though those were bird-women)
Getting into this story now and enjoying it very much - love the humongous sheep! Yes indeed folks, this book was Dune before Dune was Dune. Pretty darned obvious I'd say! "The Demon Princes" is another work that this is suggestive of.
- "ceilinging"!!!
Rod has reached Earth - HOW??? - a typical CS mystery. Some kind of mysterious space travel which he explains in more detail in other stories. If you make it crazy enough who's to say it won't work? He doesn't explain that much ... Rod has met the amazing C'mell, whom I've already met in other stories. She seems to be CS's dream girl. YUM-YUM! In telling a longer story, i.e. one with a sort of linear plot with some logic(supposedly) involved our beloved Mr. Smith shows some weaknesses. He seems to get bogged down at times and action/details is not really described clearly and convincingly. A minor quibble ...
- Blue men!!! easy to visualize - these days ...
- Now a bit of "Stranger in a Strange Land" with the arrival of Rod(prophesized savior of the underpeople) on Earth-Manhome.
Been busy-busy lately so my reading progress has been a bit slow. Rod has been getting deeper into his earth adventures and the connections to "Stranger in a Strange Land" and "Dune" come up again. For Paul Atreides it was the Gom Jabbar and for Paul it was the Hate Room. Then there's the Catmaster C'william's similarity to good ole Yoda. Frank Herbert owes a LOT too this book! Bit of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" as well in the financial manipulations - "The Demon Princes" also...
- Moving roads - who was the guy who wrote stories about the moving roads??? Heinlein!~
Finished up last night with this intriguing but a bit disappointing book. Mr. S had trouble keeping his weird mojo going for a couple of hundred pages. No big deal ... Then there was the somewhat religious tone of the last part. He never got to expand much on the future of the Instrumentality because of his early death. His interest in religion and spiritual matters and the effect it had on his stories reminds me of J. D. Salinger, whose fiction went to almost total hell after he began to try to hook it onto his spiritual notions.
- Did I mention another connection or two: "Dies Irae"(Bryan M. Stableford) and "The Island of Dr. Moreau"
- Used the term "higher power" - maybe he was in AA?
- The big, big warehouse - "Raiders of the Lost Ark"
- E'telekeli(a bird man) = "The World of Tiers"(though those were bird-women)
August 1, 2011
Rod McBan, master and owner of a farm on the planet Norstrilla where giant sick sheep exude a drug which refined gives people immortality, is at risk to his life due to an old quarrel in his 3rd childhood. What does he do? He turns his old computer on the world and lets it buy up Old Earth itself. Even that isn't enough, as he has to escape to it. Once there, he gets involved in the wild plots of the Instrumentality of mankind and might just find himself.
The book is a riot of color and language. It is more than just a novel, but a mythic tale of a future world that feels like a legend. The characters are unforgettable, each one. From the girlygirl C'mell. derived from a cat but one of the most perfect women in the universe, to the Catmaster, master of the Department Store of Hearts Desires and the last psychologist on earth, and to Rod McBan himself, a boy from a world where they kill their own people to keep the population down and a handkerchief costs more to import than a if he bought a planet. He has a gift for making what would seem to be absurd and outrageous believable and epic.
It also has some profound meditations on what it means to be human, and is one of the most religious SF novels I've ever red. Perfect people live 400 year lives free of worry and want, but are dying inside, while the poor oppressed Underpeople, derived from animals, live full and rich lives under the sign of the Fish. The rediscovery of man involves teaching them imperfection and suffering so they can live again. It's like almost every chapter you find something.
It gets even more meaning when you read his short stories, and you know who Joan is, or who Paul loved and lost on top of Alpha Ralpha Boulevard. The world is rich and linked together like a living thing, and only Dickson's Childe Cycle novels come close. There's honestly nothing like it, from his wild creativity to his poetic use of language. A forgotten masterpiece of SF.
The book is a riot of color and language. It is more than just a novel, but a mythic tale of a future world that feels like a legend. The characters are unforgettable, each one. From the girlygirl C'mell. derived from a cat but one of the most perfect women in the universe, to the Catmaster, master of the Department Store of Hearts Desires and the last psychologist on earth, and to Rod McBan himself, a boy from a world where they kill their own people to keep the population down and a handkerchief costs more to import than a if he bought a planet. He has a gift for making what would seem to be absurd and outrageous believable and epic.
It also has some profound meditations on what it means to be human, and is one of the most religious SF novels I've ever red. Perfect people live 400 year lives free of worry and want, but are dying inside, while the poor oppressed Underpeople, derived from animals, live full and rich lives under the sign of the Fish. The rediscovery of man involves teaching them imperfection and suffering so they can live again. It's like almost every chapter you find something.
It gets even more meaning when you read his short stories, and you know who Joan is, or who Paul loved and lost on top of Alpha Ralpha Boulevard. The world is rich and linked together like a living thing, and only Dickson's Childe Cycle novels come close. There's honestly nothing like it, from his wild creativity to his poetic use of language. A forgotten masterpiece of SF.
January 1, 2012
Cordwainer Smith comes up with some really original ideas. I like his writing, although he writes oddly, and doesn't always follow the patterns a person is used to in stories. For example, in this novel, the protagonist, Rod, never takes a lot of initiative. The plot is not driven by his actions. I would have preferred a more active protagonist, but it can't be that way: this story is part of a larger bunch of stories, and the story has to be driven by the needs of humanity, the underpeople, the Instrumentality, etc. So this book is how one man's story fits into the "Rediscovery of Man" and the story of the underpeople.
I would probably give it just 3 stars by itself, but having read all the other fiction that goes with it in the Corwainerverse, I think it works pretty well. The ending also made me happy, and that might have bumped it to 4 stars just there, especially the dream elements. That's a great way to have your (impossible) cake and (dream about) eating it too. This way he gets to
I'm vastly amused by the premise, too. Points for imagination here: giant sick sheep producing an immortality drug; a boy who buys the Earth; a telepathic eagle that lives deep under the ground! What a creative mind...
I would probably give it just 3 stars by itself, but having read all the other fiction that goes with it in the Corwainerverse, I think it works pretty well. The ending also made me happy, and that might have bumped it to 4 stars just there, especially the dream elements. That's a great way to have your (impossible) cake and (dream about) eating it too. This way he gets to
I'm vastly amused by the premise, too. Points for imagination here: giant sick sheep producing an immortality drug; a boy who buys the Earth; a telepathic eagle that lives deep under the ground! What a creative mind...
January 9, 2015
I adored the collection of Cordwainer Smith's short stories called The Rediscovery of Man so was pretty pleased to track down this related novel. And I totally enjoyed it, but was a little let down. It isn't as good as some of the shorts.
The plot of Norstrilia is pretty great, as far as it goes -- it's like a smart deconstruction of the gee-whiz sci-fi of Asimov or Heinlein. But the characters are shallow and underdeveloped. And there are a few annoying features, like the VERY '60s post-beat poetry introduction. Yikes.
It's also amazing to read this (and lots of other good classic science fiction) and think about the male writers of the time who were so insightful and imaginative about the future of technology and human existence, yet were unable to imagine updated gender relations or a changed role for women in human society. How did they miss that? It was bubbling up right under their noses!
Anyway, I remain fascinated by Cordwainer Smith and his strange twisted images of the future. While reading this book, I kept wishing there was more Smith to read, that he had spent more time honing his science fiction. I also think that if I ever had the insane idea to get a Ph.D. in English (maybe when I am retired??) I would love to do a serious assessment of Cordwainer Smith and his complicated life and career.
The plot of Norstrilia is pretty great, as far as it goes -- it's like a smart deconstruction of the gee-whiz sci-fi of Asimov or Heinlein. But the characters are shallow and underdeveloped. And there are a few annoying features, like the VERY '60s post-beat poetry introduction. Yikes.
It's also amazing to read this (and lots of other good classic science fiction) and think about the male writers of the time who were so insightful and imaginative about the future of technology and human existence, yet were unable to imagine updated gender relations or a changed role for women in human society. How did they miss that? It was bubbling up right under their noses!
Anyway, I remain fascinated by Cordwainer Smith and his strange twisted images of the future. While reading this book, I kept wishing there was more Smith to read, that he had spent more time honing his science fiction. I also think that if I ever had the insane idea to get a Ph.D. in English (maybe when I am retired??) I would love to do a serious assessment of Cordwainer Smith and his complicated life and career.
December 23, 2023
Cordwainer Smith's Norstrilia is a delightful and inventive journey through a bizarre and captivating universe. This novel captures the essence of whimsy and originality, making it a must-read for fans of unconventional science fiction. Reminiscent of Jodorowsky's The Incal, Norstrilia immerses readers in its peculiarities and eccentricities through a rich collection of unique settings and engaging characters.
The book's beginning immediately grabs attention with a phenomenal hook that sets the stage for an adventurous narrative. The ending is equally impressive, providing a satisfying conclusion that ties together the story's various threads. However, the middle portion of the book does experience some saggy narrative lulls, occasionally losing momentum, which might detract from the overall experience for some readers.
Despite this minor shortcoming, Norstrilia remains a remarkable piece of science fiction literature. Its ability to blend the strange with the familiar makes it a fascinating read. The novel's strengths lie in its creativity, the depth of its world-building, and the uniqueness of its characters, all of which contribute to its charm and appeal.
The book's beginning immediately grabs attention with a phenomenal hook that sets the stage for an adventurous narrative. The ending is equally impressive, providing a satisfying conclusion that ties together the story's various threads. However, the middle portion of the book does experience some saggy narrative lulls, occasionally losing momentum, which might detract from the overall experience for some readers.
Despite this minor shortcoming, Norstrilia remains a remarkable piece of science fiction literature. Its ability to blend the strange with the familiar makes it a fascinating read. The novel's strengths lie in its creativity, the depth of its world-building, and the uniqueness of its characters, all of which contribute to its charm and appeal.
May 10, 2016
This is one of the best SF or fantasy novels I’ve read in a long time. McBan’s transformation into a simple farmer to the owner of the entire planet earth is cleverly executed and paced so well that it makes the unlikely storyline feel plausible and makes for a fascinating, though short, read. Once you’ve read this, you’ll find yourself believing in cat people, talking apes, and giant sheep with the ability to extend human lifespans.
May 18, 2019
Když už přečtete všechny povídky Cordwainera Smitha, rozhodně nemůžete vynechat jediný román ze světa Instrumentality. A mít ty povídky přečtené předem je skoro nutnost. Je tu na ně totiž veliká spousta odkazů, jak na postavy, tak na události z té "minulé budoucnosti". Potkáte třeba kočkoženu K'Mell, mihne se tu bulvár Alfa Ralfa, hodně se mluví o P'Johance...
Čte se to p��kně, stylem je to prostě Cordwainer Smith, tak jak ho známe. Víc mi ale sedí jeho kratší práce.
Čte se to p��kně, stylem je to prostě Cordwainer Smith, tak jak ho známe. Víc mi ale sedí jeho kratší práce.
September 19, 2008
It's a tragedy that Cordwainer Smith left so little behind; this book, along with the collection of short stories from the same universe whose title escapes me now, is an example of absolutely masterful science fiction.
October 3, 2015
Cordwainer Smith was an odd anomaly of his time in the world of SF. An expert on East Asia and the author of a pretty well regarded book on psychological warfare, he basically wrote SF in his spare time (along with some other scattered novels under other pen names) and didn't accumulate many of them in his somewhat short life (he died in his early fifties in 1966) . . . all of his short SF works can be found in a single six-hundredish page volume and he only had one slim SF novel to his credit.
But what sets his writing apart from his peers who were operating in the genre at the time was his dedication to a very wide-spanning and elaborate future history featuring what he called "The Instrumentality" . . . pretty much all of his stories can be set somewhere on that chronology which he had seemed to work out to a fairly thorough extent. But if all he was capable of doing was coming up with great ideas for a future history that wouldn't have been too notable, bargain basement SF and fantasy authors do that kind of thing all the time. Without having the stories to back up the weight of the history, he probably would have faded into obscurity (well, more than he already has . . . while he's highly regarded among people familiar with the history of the genre, it's not like he's a household name) but those stories do exist and they are strange things, infused with an off-kilter sensibility that can be oddly playful or vicious in equal measure and featuring that seems to be truly alien, as weird to us as this century would be for someone born a hundred years ago and transplanted suddenly into today.
The best place to experience him is probably in the short stories but with only this novel to his credit it's fair to say that pretty much everything he did is worth exploring. Reading the short stories first probably will expose you to that history and let you settle in easier but in my case I read the novel first (hey, it was shorter) and while some people seemed to have issues settling into the setting, it didn't throw me too much. Smith tends to write in an elusive, strangely roundabout style that feels ahead of its time but never self-consciously literary or stiflingly academic. He's not experimenting or being overly lyrical for the sake of trying to impress us with his education, it seems that he found this was the best way to tell the story. It feels much less forced than later attempts in the 60s and 70s by other authors to prove that incomprehensible writing was the sign of great intelligence and that being willfully obscure was no longer purely the domain of post-modern writers.
Smith presents his tale at the start as almost mythology and one gets the sense that he's immersed his characters in traditions that long pre-date them and are the result of strange societal circumstances. To that end, we encounter the planet of Norstilia, an out of the way world where everyone lives forever thanks to their ill sheep (as goofy as this sounds, the novel plays it straight and succeeds brilliantly at it). The production of this immortality granting substance has made everyone on the planet stupidly rich but thanks to extraordinarily high taxes nobody lives like an endless production of "Wolf of Wall Street" but basically makes their living as ranchers with noble titles. Because of this longevity some decisions have to be made, and there's a test all the young have to go through where if they fail they're poisoned in such a way that they die in hysterics, so at least they go happy. Oh, and everyone's telepathic.
This is all background for the novel that Smith manages to convey in about twenty pages, with a lyrical economy that is quite stunning. Other authors would have based entire series around this scenario but he merely uses as the jumping off point to show us Rod McBan, who after passing the test after his third attempt (thanks to wonky telepathy), manages to become the richest person of all time by basically gaming the stock market and appears to buy the entire planet Earth in the process. Being a proud new owner and needing to get briefly out of Dodge, he heads over to Earth to find that being rich is a little more complicated than having a lot of money and gives the Instrumentality some headaches in the process.
One thing interesting about the novel is that for a relatively simple plot (it boils down to Rod becomes richer than he expects, has some adventures on Earth and feels bad about screwing someone over who is trying to kill him and seeks to make it right) Smith invests it with a lot of complexities, not only from the differences in the societies of the two planets but even within the planets themselves . . . Earth features "underpeople" basically augmented animals and everything is fairly stratified unless you're somehow affiliated with the Instrumentality in which case it sort of shifts how everyone reacts to each other. The underpeople alone could probably populate their own volume (and probably feature in some of the short stories) but we spend a lot of time here with them while Rod gets turned into one so he can go into disguise (he also gets chopped up for shipping purposes but seems cool with that). Meanwhile we're treated to interludes in various segments of society (or back in Norstrilia) to give a more complete picture of what's going on (along the lines of what John Brunner often did) and what impresses is how completely Smith seems to have worked everything out . . . all the background material seems to extend off the edges of the pages, as in the best fictional worlds and even the moments that seem to be satirical (the intersections of the economies and how Rod may not be as rich as he thinks he is) have a weight to them.
On the surface the tale is a lark, with the drama sometimes seeming episodic (perhaps reflecting how long it took him to write it . . . it was eventually published as two separate volumes, one of them posthumously) but there's an underlying seriousness to the affair that suggests even if the story never seems to be taking itself seriously (for all his travails, Rod never really loses his cool and maintains a steady aura of pluck and confidence) the transpired events are serious indeed (if the story can be "about" anything, it's as much about the underpeople trying to be recognized as more than second-class citizens and the efforts of some of the Instrumentality to take advantage of the chaos Rod causes to further that end), as are all their resolutions. Even Rod's inability to properly use telepathy is treated as nearly crippling in a society where such things have evolved to be nearly commonplace.
For all its seeming simplicity, there's a scope to it that demands closer reading. It's rare that SF from this era is this immersive and this strange yet clear enough in how it relates to us. It brings us a future that is alive in every way, one that we glimpse the smallest fragment of its numberless dramas and lets us be content with that, while it continuously spreads out of our view both forwards and backwards. To that end, the ending is perhaps the starkest slap of all, calm yet heartstoppingly sad and not tragic at all in this context. Because as lighthearted as this story can be on the surface, as much fun as everyone seems to be having at times (he's big on songs and poetry, most of which is not bad), the ending seems to take place in a field as wide as forever where the gathering of everyone you know is still very small indeed compared to it, and reminds us of the one fact that we all have to endure, now and in the future, in light or in darkness, on our street or in a world so far away that we can't even see where we once came from: life goes on no matter what and sometimes it isn't very fair. But it's the same for us all, and that's the fairest thing about it.
But what sets his writing apart from his peers who were operating in the genre at the time was his dedication to a very wide-spanning and elaborate future history featuring what he called "The Instrumentality" . . . pretty much all of his stories can be set somewhere on that chronology which he had seemed to work out to a fairly thorough extent. But if all he was capable of doing was coming up with great ideas for a future history that wouldn't have been too notable, bargain basement SF and fantasy authors do that kind of thing all the time. Without having the stories to back up the weight of the history, he probably would have faded into obscurity (well, more than he already has . . . while he's highly regarded among people familiar with the history of the genre, it's not like he's a household name) but those stories do exist and they are strange things, infused with an off-kilter sensibility that can be oddly playful or vicious in equal measure and featuring that seems to be truly alien, as weird to us as this century would be for someone born a hundred years ago and transplanted suddenly into today.
The best place to experience him is probably in the short stories but with only this novel to his credit it's fair to say that pretty much everything he did is worth exploring. Reading the short stories first probably will expose you to that history and let you settle in easier but in my case I read the novel first (hey, it was shorter) and while some people seemed to have issues settling into the setting, it didn't throw me too much. Smith tends to write in an elusive, strangely roundabout style that feels ahead of its time but never self-consciously literary or stiflingly academic. He's not experimenting or being overly lyrical for the sake of trying to impress us with his education, it seems that he found this was the best way to tell the story. It feels much less forced than later attempts in the 60s and 70s by other authors to prove that incomprehensible writing was the sign of great intelligence and that being willfully obscure was no longer purely the domain of post-modern writers.
Smith presents his tale at the start as almost mythology and one gets the sense that he's immersed his characters in traditions that long pre-date them and are the result of strange societal circumstances. To that end, we encounter the planet of Norstilia, an out of the way world where everyone lives forever thanks to their ill sheep (as goofy as this sounds, the novel plays it straight and succeeds brilliantly at it). The production of this immortality granting substance has made everyone on the planet stupidly rich but thanks to extraordinarily high taxes nobody lives like an endless production of "Wolf of Wall Street" but basically makes their living as ranchers with noble titles. Because of this longevity some decisions have to be made, and there's a test all the young have to go through where if they fail they're poisoned in such a way that they die in hysterics, so at least they go happy. Oh, and everyone's telepathic.
This is all background for the novel that Smith manages to convey in about twenty pages, with a lyrical economy that is quite stunning. Other authors would have based entire series around this scenario but he merely uses as the jumping off point to show us Rod McBan, who after passing the test after his third attempt (thanks to wonky telepathy), manages to become the richest person of all time by basically gaming the stock market and appears to buy the entire planet Earth in the process. Being a proud new owner and needing to get briefly out of Dodge, he heads over to Earth to find that being rich is a little more complicated than having a lot of money and gives the Instrumentality some headaches in the process.
One thing interesting about the novel is that for a relatively simple plot (it boils down to Rod becomes richer than he expects, has some adventures on Earth and feels bad about screwing someone over who is trying to kill him and seeks to make it right) Smith invests it with a lot of complexities, not only from the differences in the societies of the two planets but even within the planets themselves . . . Earth features "underpeople" basically augmented animals and everything is fairly stratified unless you're somehow affiliated with the Instrumentality in which case it sort of shifts how everyone reacts to each other. The underpeople alone could probably populate their own volume (and probably feature in some of the short stories) but we spend a lot of time here with them while Rod gets turned into one so he can go into disguise (he also gets chopped up for shipping purposes but seems cool with that). Meanwhile we're treated to interludes in various segments of society (or back in Norstrilia) to give a more complete picture of what's going on (along the lines of what John Brunner often did) and what impresses is how completely Smith seems to have worked everything out . . . all the background material seems to extend off the edges of the pages, as in the best fictional worlds and even the moments that seem to be satirical (the intersections of the economies and how Rod may not be as rich as he thinks he is) have a weight to them.
On the surface the tale is a lark, with the drama sometimes seeming episodic (perhaps reflecting how long it took him to write it . . . it was eventually published as two separate volumes, one of them posthumously) but there's an underlying seriousness to the affair that suggests even if the story never seems to be taking itself seriously (for all his travails, Rod never really loses his cool and maintains a steady aura of pluck and confidence) the transpired events are serious indeed (if the story can be "about" anything, it's as much about the underpeople trying to be recognized as more than second-class citizens and the efforts of some of the Instrumentality to take advantage of the chaos Rod causes to further that end), as are all their resolutions. Even Rod's inability to properly use telepathy is treated as nearly crippling in a society where such things have evolved to be nearly commonplace.
For all its seeming simplicity, there's a scope to it that demands closer reading. It's rare that SF from this era is this immersive and this strange yet clear enough in how it relates to us. It brings us a future that is alive in every way, one that we glimpse the smallest fragment of its numberless dramas and lets us be content with that, while it continuously spreads out of our view both forwards and backwards. To that end, the ending is perhaps the starkest slap of all, calm yet heartstoppingly sad and not tragic at all in this context. Because as lighthearted as this story can be on the surface, as much fun as everyone seems to be having at times (he's big on songs and poetry, most of which is not bad), the ending seems to take place in a field as wide as forever where the gathering of everyone you know is still very small indeed compared to it, and reminds us of the one fact that we all have to endure, now and in the future, in light or in darkness, on our street or in a world so far away that we can't even see where we once came from: life goes on no matter what and sometimes it isn't very fair. But it's the same for us all, and that's the fairest thing about it.
November 1, 2023
Cordwainer Smith's "Norstrilia" holds a special place in my heart, evoking a sense of nostalgia that's hard to put into words. Like Asimov's books, it was one of the first science fiction novels I delved into as a young reader, nearly four decades ago, and it ignited my fascination with the possibilities of the genre. This book, in the recesses of my memory, shone as a five-star masterpiece. So, when my wife stumbled upon an old copy in a used bookstore, I eagerly anticipated a second journey through its pages.
It's difficult to say I was entirely disappointed, as "Norstrilia" still exudes a magnetic charm and an aura of novelty even after 40 years of exploring the realms of science fiction. Cordwainer Smith's creative prowess is evident in his prescient ideas, such as envisioning concepts like 3D printing and gender transformation. Nevertheless, this time around, the experience lacked that "wow" factor. Perhaps it's the result of growing older, becoming more cynical, and developing a jaded perspective that's hard to impress. Rather than wholeheartedly immersing myself in the narrative, I began to notice the fissures in character motivations, the absence of adequate explanations, and the somewhat old-fashioned storytelling.
Additionally, my reading experience was marred by the subpar editing of the Hebrew translation, which placed paragraphs and even whole pages in the wrong sequence, disrupting the flow of the story.
In summary, "Norstrilia" remains a very good book, deserving of a solid four-plus stars out of five. While it didn't quite live up to my nostalgic recollections of it as a masterpiece, I still wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone with an interest in science fiction. It's a testament to Cordwainer Smith's imaginative genius and the enduring allure of the genre, even as our perspectives evolve over time.
It's difficult to say I was entirely disappointed, as "Norstrilia" still exudes a magnetic charm and an aura of novelty even after 40 years of exploring the realms of science fiction. Cordwainer Smith's creative prowess is evident in his prescient ideas, such as envisioning concepts like 3D printing and gender transformation. Nevertheless, this time around, the experience lacked that "wow" factor. Perhaps it's the result of growing older, becoming more cynical, and developing a jaded perspective that's hard to impress. Rather than wholeheartedly immersing myself in the narrative, I began to notice the fissures in character motivations, the absence of adequate explanations, and the somewhat old-fashioned storytelling.
Additionally, my reading experience was marred by the subpar editing of the Hebrew translation, which placed paragraphs and even whole pages in the wrong sequence, disrupting the flow of the story.
In summary, "Norstrilia" remains a very good book, deserving of a solid four-plus stars out of five. While it didn't quite live up to my nostalgic recollections of it as a masterpiece, I still wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone with an interest in science fiction. It's a testament to Cordwainer Smith's imaginative genius and the enduring allure of the genre, even as our perspectives evolve over time.
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