coris's review against another edition
4.0
Set on the frozen planet Mesklin, its disc-shape formed by its crushing gravity, this story is narrated partly by a human inside comprehensive safety gear, and partly by one of the 15 inch long creatures who've evolved there. The humans have lost something, and are trying to work with the Mesklinites to find it. Complexities ensue. I enjoyed the alien POV most, especially the detail around not being able to imagine projectile weapons -- anything thrown would hit the ground a nano-second later due to the gravity -- and having a deep, rational fear of falling any distance at all, for the same reason. However, this is also a fluffy book in some ways, and change happens rather more smoothly and conveniently than it would be if written today. Fifties sci-fi really just got on with the story! However, it's a fun, short read; recommended to anyone who'd like to try hard science fiction, without committing to a 600 page "physics textbook with plot."
Content Warnings
Minor: Death
timbo001's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
chromium_misting's review against another edition
3.0
I expected to like this book because it's partly from the perspective of some unique aliens and scientifically the planet it takes place on was believed to be possible to exist in our universe at the time of writing but it didn't really catch me. It wasn't that interesting and the aliens didn't have much of a unique culture, they kinda felt like tiny humans being scared of heights.
I liked the ending though and it made me consider continuing with the series for a moment.
Also a lot of actual science explained in a way you could understand or atleast pretend to understand.
I liked the ending though and it made me consider continuing with the series for a moment.
Also a lot of actual science explained in a way you could understand or atleast pretend to understand.
mike_word's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
jonmhansen's review against another edition
4.0
Hardest of hard SF, excepting the aliens are 15" centipede merchant-pirates, sailing the methane seas. Quite good.
weaselweader's review against another edition
4.0
Some pretty "heavy" ideas here!
In Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement created Mesklin, a very odd planet indeed - so massive, so oblate and spinning so rapidly that its gravity varies from 3g at its equator to 700g at its poles! Its day is little more than 20 of our minutes long and its temperature is so low that it has liquid methane oceans. Its high eccentricity orbit causes seasons of grotesquely uneven length. Charles Lackland and his team of human space faring scientists can manage at the equator with mechanically assisted survival suits but existence under 700g at the poles is simply beyond human engineering capabilities. Recovery of a rocket with all of its instrumentation landed at one of the poles is a problem that seems insurmountable until our intrepid explorers stumble into a serendipitous encounter with Barlennan, a rather audacious native traveling merchant. Barlennan's species, best described as 15 inch caterpillars with outrageously strong pincers, has evolved under the extreme conditions at Mesklin's pole. Being on an exploratory mission themselves in Mesklin's equatorial region, they admit to feeling somewhat giddy and "light"-headed under what they describe as virtually non-existent gravity in comparison to what they are used to on their home turf!
Clement has created a delightfully simple plot that revolves around the hard science of his hypothetical planet. Lackland enlists Barlennan's aid in recovering the stranded hardware in exchange for information such as maps and weather forecasts. Along the route to the pole, Clement proposes physical problems and raises questions - What might the weather of such a planet be? How does a reconnaissance satellite achieve a low altitude geosynchronous orbit of a planet that is spinning at such an enormous speed? How might its natives appear having evolved under such dramatically different conditions? How might their psychological outlook on this world be different as a result of those physical conditions? How might engineering problems, simple on earth, be made astonishingly difficult on Mesklin and what modified approaches would be used in their solution? What surprising effects are caused by the universality of physical rules that apply regardless of the local gravity?
It should come as no surprise to a reader to learn that Clement was also a skilled high school science teacher. The development of the science in his story is lean, lucid and clear to a fault. Clement lets the plot and his characters naturally encounter the problems, puzzle through their difficulties and propose and create clear logical solutions which seem to clarify the science. Clement never bores the reader with dull narrative explanations, never over-explains and shows rather than tells.
Sadly, at less than 200 pages, Mission of Gravity suffers by its very brevity. Mesklin is such a vast, unique and dramatic concept that Clement barely scratched its surface. I found myself wanting much, much more science and a greater depth in the development of potential avenues to explore. The soft science was effectively ignored. For example, Barlennan's attitudes and reactions were anthropomorphized to the extent of being cartoonish (C'mon, Hal ... let your aliens be alien!). Barlennan's mastery of English came conveniently easily but communication with other races on the planet was abandoned as an unsolved problem.
Mission of Gravity, while not a frenetic page-turner, is an enjoyable story that ends on a mild plot twist and a universally warm, optimistic note. It has earned the moniker "classic" and I certainly look forward to the sequel Starlight. Perhaps the broadened scientific horizons that I hope for will appear there!
Paul Weiss
In Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement created Mesklin, a very odd planet indeed - so massive, so oblate and spinning so rapidly that its gravity varies from 3g at its equator to 700g at its poles! Its day is little more than 20 of our minutes long and its temperature is so low that it has liquid methane oceans. Its high eccentricity orbit causes seasons of grotesquely uneven length. Charles Lackland and his team of human space faring scientists can manage at the equator with mechanically assisted survival suits but existence under 700g at the poles is simply beyond human engineering capabilities. Recovery of a rocket with all of its instrumentation landed at one of the poles is a problem that seems insurmountable until our intrepid explorers stumble into a serendipitous encounter with Barlennan, a rather audacious native traveling merchant. Barlennan's species, best described as 15 inch caterpillars with outrageously strong pincers, has evolved under the extreme conditions at Mesklin's pole. Being on an exploratory mission themselves in Mesklin's equatorial region, they admit to feeling somewhat giddy and "light"-headed under what they describe as virtually non-existent gravity in comparison to what they are used to on their home turf!
Clement has created a delightfully simple plot that revolves around the hard science of his hypothetical planet. Lackland enlists Barlennan's aid in recovering the stranded hardware in exchange for information such as maps and weather forecasts. Along the route to the pole, Clement proposes physical problems and raises questions - What might the weather of such a planet be? How does a reconnaissance satellite achieve a low altitude geosynchronous orbit of a planet that is spinning at such an enormous speed? How might its natives appear having evolved under such dramatically different conditions? How might their psychological outlook on this world be different as a result of those physical conditions? How might engineering problems, simple on earth, be made astonishingly difficult on Mesklin and what modified approaches would be used in their solution? What surprising effects are caused by the universality of physical rules that apply regardless of the local gravity?
It should come as no surprise to a reader to learn that Clement was also a skilled high school science teacher. The development of the science in his story is lean, lucid and clear to a fault. Clement lets the plot and his characters naturally encounter the problems, puzzle through their difficulties and propose and create clear logical solutions which seem to clarify the science. Clement never bores the reader with dull narrative explanations, never over-explains and shows rather than tells.
Sadly, at less than 200 pages, Mission of Gravity suffers by its very brevity. Mesklin is such a vast, unique and dramatic concept that Clement barely scratched its surface. I found myself wanting much, much more science and a greater depth in the development of potential avenues to explore. The soft science was effectively ignored. For example, Barlennan's attitudes and reactions were anthropomorphized to the extent of being cartoonish (C'mon, Hal ... let your aliens be alien!). Barlennan's mastery of English came conveniently easily but communication with other races on the planet was abandoned as an unsolved problem.
Mission of Gravity, while not a frenetic page-turner, is an enjoyable story that ends on a mild plot twist and a universally warm, optimistic note. It has earned the moniker "classic" and I certainly look forward to the sequel Starlight. Perhaps the broadened scientific horizons that I hope for will appear there!
Paul Weiss
trevorjameszaple's review against another edition
2.0
Really interesting setup and a cool setting, shame there wasn't a story to go along with it.
danburn's review against another edition
3.0
I rarely delve into older science fiction, and I'm often rather unimpressed when I do - while there are often some interesting ideas in there, the characters and plots tend towards the flakey and unbelievable (well, more so than modern scifi). Mission of Gravity, written by Hal Clements in 1954, was a refreshing change. It deals with some interesting ideas (mostly, aliens that are basically intelligent centipedes, and a planet with huge gravity that is rotating very quickly which has lots of interesting physical effects), but the characters are also quite reasonable and not ridiculous. The plot wanders a bit (it was written to be serialised in magazines, so it's rather episodic), but retains a vague overall arc and comes together surprisingly well at the end. Overall, it was quite an enjoyable read, even though parts of it read a bit like a high school science lesson.
barry_x's review against another edition
3.0
A dip into 1950's hard SF which has some great ideas but doesn't fully work on all levels.
The general premise is that humans have crashed a rocket on the planet Mesklin where gravity is 700 times greater than Earth at the poles but three times at the equator. Since gravitational pull is so significant the humans cannot get at the rocket and the scientific data it holds. Consequently they engage with the planets inhabitants, the Mesklinites to help them get the data from the rocket.
The Mesklinites have perfectly adapted to their environment and can be best described as intelligent 15" centipedes - their body structure designed to stay as close to the surface as possible.
The central Mesklinite character Barlenaan is a great character. He's pretty much a trader / entrepreneur / explorer who takes risks in the quest for knowledge, exploration and profit. He interacts with the humans on ship on a quest to search for the rocket. He's funny and intelligent and has a real free adventuring spirit.
As a novel which has an incredible journey across strange landscapes this novel works. Barlenaan has a sea faring raft and a crew which he uses on his voyage. Much of the action is at sea or on river but the overland sections are interesting too. The crew encounter problems which they solve with or without the humans help, other Mesklinite civilisations (which are predominantly hostile) and generally come through - there is a 'boys adventure / journey into the unknown' thing going on which seems a little dated now but it's fun and it works.
Where the novel falls down is the significant volume of physics and mathematical problems the Mesklintes overcome through knowledge and collaboration with the humans. Much of the novel I found myself skimming over or not fully understanding, I'm not really sure I got what was going on until about a third through. There is a LOT of gravity discussion and it's impact to get one's head around. It's interesting but I'm not sure it's entertaining. I can't help but feel that the 'hard SF' gets in the way of a good romp.
One pleasing aspect of course is the collaborative efforts of humans and an alien species to work together for common goals - a nice change from the 'alien as threat' prevalent in much SF of the time.
The general premise is that humans have crashed a rocket on the planet Mesklin where gravity is 700 times greater than Earth at the poles but three times at the equator. Since gravitational pull is so significant the humans cannot get at the rocket and the scientific data it holds. Consequently they engage with the planets inhabitants, the Mesklinites to help them get the data from the rocket.
The Mesklinites have perfectly adapted to their environment and can be best described as intelligent 15" centipedes - their body structure designed to stay as close to the surface as possible.
The central Mesklinite character Barlenaan is a great character. He's pretty much a trader / entrepreneur / explorer who takes risks in the quest for knowledge, exploration and profit. He interacts with the humans on ship on a quest to search for the rocket. He's funny and intelligent and has a real free adventuring spirit.
As a novel which has an incredible journey across strange landscapes this novel works. Barlenaan has a sea faring raft and a crew which he uses on his voyage. Much of the action is at sea or on river but the overland sections are interesting too. The crew encounter problems which they solve with or without the humans help, other Mesklinite civilisations (which are predominantly hostile) and generally come through - there is a 'boys adventure / journey into the unknown' thing going on which seems a little dated now but it's fun and it works.
Where the novel falls down is the significant volume of physics and mathematical problems the Mesklintes overcome through knowledge and collaboration with the humans. Much of the novel I found myself skimming over or not fully understanding, I'm not really sure I got what was going on until about a third through. There is a LOT of gravity discussion and it's impact to get one's head around. It's interesting but I'm not sure it's entertaining. I can't help but feel that the 'hard SF' gets in the way of a good romp.
One pleasing aspect of course is the collaborative efforts of humans and an alien species to work together for common goals - a nice change from the 'alien as threat' prevalent in much SF of the time.