The Trouble with Tycho
By Clifford Simak
Reviewed by Ted Gioia
In his classic 1968 novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke
builds the centerpiece of his narrative around the discovery of
magnetic aberration centered on the moon crater
Tycho. Further investigation uncovers a large
black slab hidden beneath the lunar surface—a
puzzling artifact not made by humans. The
mystery of this monolith links the different
elements of Clarke’s plot, which span some three
million years of history, and more than 300
million miles.
Yet seven years before Clarke’s novel, Clifford
Simak wrote his taut adventure story The
Trouble with Tycho which also presents a
mysterious alien relic on the moon—and one
centered in the exact same crater later chosen by Clarke. What are the
odds that two different authors would select the same plot of lunar real
estate—only fifty miles in diameter—as the epicenter of activity for
extraterrestrial intelligent life?
Simak’s novel is more compact than Clarke’s, and more limited by pulp
fiction conventions. Simak blends in a love story—never Mr. Clarke’s
strong suit, thank you very much—and a hero who (in time-honored
sci-fi fashion) takes on the worst that the universe can throw at him. In
this case, the protagonist is Chris Jackson, who is working over the
deserted lunar landscape the way prospectors took on California in the
wake of the Gold Rush.
Funded by a syndicate back on earth—really just the banker, barber,
and assorted retailers from his home town—Jackson is hoping for the
big strike in uranium or diamonds that will make him some serious
money and please his backers. But the “eureka moment” eludes our
ambitious treasure hunter. His prospecting trips have yielded little—
mostly a few strange moon lichens which contain microbes that can be
used for medical treatment. These strange quasi-life forms seem to be
concentrated in the area around Tycho.
But none of the moon prospectors are willing to visit this ominous
crater. Thirty years before our story begins, the Third Lunar
Expedition landed in Tycho, only to vanish—two ships and eleven
astronauts gone without a trace. Further attempts to survey the area
led to further disappearances. Nowadays lunar residents give the area
wide clearance.
Jackson runs into Amelia Thompson, another prospector who is an
illegal immigrant on the moon—yes, they probably need a big fence up
there too—who thinks she can find her way to the remnants of the
missing Tycho expedition parties. If Jackson will accompany her,
they could be on top of the story of the century, and pick up some
valuable odds and ends along the way. Fame, money, adventure,
maybe romance too—what self-respecting moon prospector can turn
that down?
Simak works all the angles on his story, which makes up for lackluster
writing with its pacing and endearing details. A master of sci-fi pets—
Simak’s City is the Lassie of speculative fiction—our author
hypothesizes a type of free-floating lunar energy which resembles a
hound dog, at least in its loyalty to humans and skill in hunting (lichens
in this instance). He also takes time to add commentaries on the best
places to construct a building on the moon, or the best of way of
exiting from your lunar rig (“like a worm wriggling from an apple”).
Simak’s imaginative immersion into his story and setting are often best
demonstrated in the asides and throwaway passages.
Other sly details add to the texture of the book. On the moon, you
never need to send your spacesuit out to the cleaners, no matter how
stinky and sweaty it has become; just leave it on your doorstep,
exposed to the atmosphere-free outdoors, and the next day it is clean
as a whistle. And did you know that the booze on the moon is always
the best?—given how ridiculously expensive freight costs are, no one
saves money to buy a lesser brand.
Simak has put enough thought into these particulars to flesh out an
otherwise thin story. Our hero and his lady friend, needless to say,
decide to journey into the depths of Tycho to find out the source of all
the trouble—and create some of their own. They don’t run into a big
black slab. But leave the monoliths to Arthur Clarke. Simak likes
extraterrestrial intelligent life forms that bring better special effects
along with them on their journeys. Probably more than few readers
will as well.
By Clifford Simak
Reviewed by Ted Gioia
In his classic 1968 novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke
builds the centerpiece of his narrative around the discovery of
magnetic aberration centered on the moon crater
Tycho. Further investigation uncovers a large
black slab hidden beneath the lunar surface—a
puzzling artifact not made by humans. The
mystery of this monolith links the different
elements of Clarke’s plot, which span some three
million years of history, and more than 300
million miles.
Yet seven years before Clarke’s novel, Clifford
Simak wrote his taut adventure story The
Trouble with Tycho which also presents a
mysterious alien relic on the moon—and one
centered in the exact same crater later chosen by Clarke. What are the
odds that two different authors would select the same plot of lunar real
estate—only fifty miles in diameter—as the epicenter of activity for
extraterrestrial intelligent life?
Simak’s novel is more compact than Clarke’s, and more limited by pulp
fiction conventions. Simak blends in a love story—never Mr. Clarke’s
strong suit, thank you very much—and a hero who (in time-honored
sci-fi fashion) takes on the worst that the universe can throw at him. In
this case, the protagonist is Chris Jackson, who is working over the
deserted lunar landscape the way prospectors took on California in the
wake of the Gold Rush.
Funded by a syndicate back on earth—really just the banker, barber,
and assorted retailers from his home town—Jackson is hoping for the
big strike in uranium or diamonds that will make him some serious
money and please his backers. But the “eureka moment” eludes our
ambitious treasure hunter. His prospecting trips have yielded little—
mostly a few strange moon lichens which contain microbes that can be
used for medical treatment. These strange quasi-life forms seem to be
concentrated in the area around Tycho.
But none of the moon prospectors are willing to visit this ominous
crater. Thirty years before our story begins, the Third Lunar
Expedition landed in Tycho, only to vanish—two ships and eleven
astronauts gone without a trace. Further attempts to survey the area
led to further disappearances. Nowadays lunar residents give the area
wide clearance.
Jackson runs into Amelia Thompson, another prospector who is an
illegal immigrant on the moon—yes, they probably need a big fence up
there too—who thinks she can find her way to the remnants of the
missing Tycho expedition parties. If Jackson will accompany her,
they could be on top of the story of the century, and pick up some
valuable odds and ends along the way. Fame, money, adventure,
maybe romance too—what self-respecting moon prospector can turn
that down?
Simak works all the angles on his story, which makes up for lackluster
writing with its pacing and endearing details. A master of sci-fi pets—
Simak’s City is the Lassie of speculative fiction—our author
hypothesizes a type of free-floating lunar energy which resembles a
hound dog, at least in its loyalty to humans and skill in hunting (lichens
in this instance). He also takes time to add commentaries on the best
places to construct a building on the moon, or the best of way of
exiting from your lunar rig (“like a worm wriggling from an apple”).
Simak’s imaginative immersion into his story and setting are often best
demonstrated in the asides and throwaway passages.
Other sly details add to the texture of the book. On the moon, you
never need to send your spacesuit out to the cleaners, no matter how
stinky and sweaty it has become; just leave it on your doorstep,
exposed to the atmosphere-free outdoors, and the next day it is clean
as a whistle. And did you know that the booze on the moon is always
the best?—given how ridiculously expensive freight costs are, no one
saves money to buy a lesser brand.
Simak has put enough thought into these particulars to flesh out an
otherwise thin story. Our hero and his lady friend, needless to say,
decide to journey into the depths of Tycho to find out the source of all
the trouble—and create some of their own. They don’t run into a big
black slab. But leave the monoliths to Arthur Clarke. Simak likes
extraterrestrial intelligent life forms that bring better special effects
along with them on their journeys. Probably more than few readers
will as well.
| conceptual fiction |
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Conceptual Fiction:
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(with links to reviews)
Home Page
Abbott, Edwin A.
Flatland
Adams, Douglas
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Allende, Isabel
The House of the Spirits
Amado, Jorge
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands
Amis, Martin
Time's Arrow
Apuleius
The Golden Ass
Asimov, Isaac
The Foundation Trilogy
Asimov, Isaac
I, Robot
Atwood, Margaret
The Handmaid's Tale
Banks, Iain M.
The State of the Art
Ballard, J.G.
Crash
Ballard, J.G.
The Crystal World
Bester, Alfred
The Demolished Man
Borges, Jorge Luis
Ficciones
Bradbury, Ray
Dandelion Wine
Bradbury, Ray
Fahrenheit 451
Bradbury, Ray
The Illustrated Man
Bradbury, Ray
The Martian Chronicles
Bradbury, Ray
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Brockmeier, Kevin
The View from the Seventh Layer
Bulgakov, Mikhail
The Master and Margarita
Burgess, Anthony
A Clockwork Orange
Card, Orson Scott
Ender's Game
Carpentier, Alejo
The Kingdom of This World
Carroll, Lewis
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Chabon, Michael
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Chiang, Ted
Stories of Your Life and Others
Clarke, Arthur C.
Childhood's End
Clarke, Arthur C.
A Fall of Moondust
Clarke, Arthur C.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Clarke, Susanna
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Crowley, John
Little, Big
Danielewski, Mark Z.
The Fifty Year Sword
Danielewski, Mark Z.
House of Leaves
Davies, Robertson
Fifth Business
Delany, Samuel R.
Babel-17
Delany, Samuel R.
Dhalgren
Delany, Samuel R.
The Einstein Intersection
Dick, Philip K.
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
Dick, Philip K.
The Man in the High Castle
Dick, Philip K.
Ubik
Doctorow, Cory
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
Donoso, José
The Obscene Bird of Night
Esquivel, Laura
Like Water for Chocolate
Fuentes, Carlos
Aura
Gaiman, Neil
American Gods
Gaiman, Neil
Neverwhere
Gibson, William
Burning Chrome
Gibson, William
Neuromancer
Grass, Günter
The Tin Drum
Greene, Graham
The End of the Affair
Grossman, Lev
The Magicians
Haldeman, Joe
The Forever War
Hall, Steven
The Raw Shark Texts
Harrison, M. John
Light
Heinlein, Robert
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Heinlein, Robert:
Stranger in a Strange Land
Heinlein, Robert
Time Enough for Love
Helprin, Mark
Winter's Tale
Herbert, Frank
Dune
Hoffman, Alice
Practical Magic
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
Keret, Etgar
Suddenly, A Knock at the Door
Kundera, Milan
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
Kunzru, Hari
Gods Without Men
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Lathe of Heaven
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Left Hand of Darkness
Leiber, Fritz
The Big Time
Leiber, Fritz
Conjure Wife
Leiber, Fritz
Swords & Deviltry
Leiber, Fritz
The Wanderer
Lem, Stanislaw
His Master's Voice
Lem, Stanislaw
Solaris
Lethem, Jonathan
The Fortress of Solitude
Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia
Link, Kelly
Magic for Beginners
Mann, Thomas
Doctor Faustus
Márquez, Gabriel García
100 Years of Solitude
Matheson, Richard
What Dreams May Come
McCarthy, Cormac
The Road
Miéville, China
Perdido Street Station
Miller, Jr., Walter M.
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Millhauser, Steven
Dangerous Laughter
Mitchell, David
Cloud Atlas
Morrison, Toni
Beloved
Murakami, Haruki
1Q84
Murakami, Haruki
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the
End of the World
Niffenegger, Audrey
The Time Traveler's Wife
Niven, Larry
Ringworld
Noon, Jeff
Vurt
Obreht, Téa
The Tiger's Wife
O'Brien, Flann
At Swim-Two-Birds
Okri, Ben
The Famished Road
Pohl, Frederik
Gateway
Pratchett, Terry
The Color of Magic
Pynchon, Thomas
Gravity's Rainbow
Rabelais, François
Gargantua and Pantagruel
Robinson, Kim Stanley
Red Mars
Rowling, J.K.
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone
Rushdie, Salman
Midnight's Children
Saramago, José
Blindness
Shelley, Mary
Frankenstein
Silverberg, Robert
Dying Inside
Silverberg, Robert
Nightwings
Simak, Clifford
City
Simak, Clifford
The Trouble with Tycho
Smith, Cordwainer
Norstrilia
Smith, Cordwainer
The Rediscovery of Man
Stephenson, Neal
Snow Crash
Stross, Charles
Glasshouse
Sturgeon, Theodore
More Than Human
Sturgeon, Theodore
Some of Your Blood
Swift, Jonathan
Gulliver's Travels
Thomas, D.M.
The White Hotel
Tolkien, J.R.R.
The Hobbit
Updike, John
The Witches of Eastwick
Van Vogt, A.E.
The Mixed Men
Van Vogt, A.E.
Slan
Van Vogt, A.E.
The Voyage of the Space Beagle
Van Vogt, A.E.
The World of Null A
Verne, Jules
Around the Moon
Verne, Jules
From the Earth to the Moon
Verne, Jules:
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Vonnegut, Kurt
Cat's Cradle
Vonnegut, Kurt
The Sirens of Titan
Vonnegut, Kurt
Slaughterhouse-Five
Wallace, David Foster
Infinite Jest
Walpole, Horace
Hieroglyphic Tales
Wells, H.G.
The First Men in the Moon
Wells, H.G.
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Wells, H.G.
The Time Machine
Winton, Tim
Cloudstreet
Woolf, Virginia
Orlando
Zabor, Rafi
The Bear Comes Home
Zelazny, Roger
Lord of Light
Special Features
Notes on Conceptual Fiction
Ray Bradbury: A Tribute
The Year of Magical Reading
Remembering Fritz Leiber
Samuel Delany's 70th birthday
The Sci-Fi of Kurt Vonnegut
Curse You, Neil Armstrong!
Robert Heinlein at 100
A.E, van Vogt Tribute
Links to related sites
The New Canon
Great Books Guide
Postmodern Mystery
Ted Gioia's web site
SF Site
io9
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review
Los Angeles Review of Books
Big Dumb Object
Jospeh Peschel
The Misread City
Reviews and Responses
SF Signal
True Science Fiction
Disclosure: Conceptual Fiction and
its sister sites may receive review
copies and promotional materials
from publishers, authors, publicists
or other parties.
www.twitter.com/tedgioia
Conceptual Fiction:
A Reading List
(with links to reviews)
Home Page
Abbott, Edwin A.
Flatland
Adams, Douglas
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Allende, Isabel
The House of the Spirits
Amado, Jorge
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands
Amis, Martin
Time's Arrow
Apuleius
The Golden Ass
Asimov, Isaac
The Foundation Trilogy
Asimov, Isaac
I, Robot
Atwood, Margaret
The Handmaid's Tale
Banks, Iain M.
The State of the Art
Ballard, J.G.
Crash
Ballard, J.G.
The Crystal World
Bester, Alfred
The Demolished Man
Borges, Jorge Luis
Ficciones
Bradbury, Ray
Dandelion Wine
Bradbury, Ray
Fahrenheit 451
Bradbury, Ray
The Illustrated Man
Bradbury, Ray
The Martian Chronicles
Bradbury, Ray
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Brockmeier, Kevin
The View from the Seventh Layer
Bulgakov, Mikhail
The Master and Margarita
Burgess, Anthony
A Clockwork Orange
Card, Orson Scott
Ender's Game
Carpentier, Alejo
The Kingdom of This World
Carroll, Lewis
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Chabon, Michael
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Chiang, Ted
Stories of Your Life and Others
Clarke, Arthur C.
Childhood's End
Clarke, Arthur C.
A Fall of Moondust
Clarke, Arthur C.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Clarke, Susanna
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Crowley, John
Little, Big
Danielewski, Mark Z.
The Fifty Year Sword
Danielewski, Mark Z.
House of Leaves
Davies, Robertson
Fifth Business
Delany, Samuel R.
Babel-17
Delany, Samuel R.
Dhalgren
Delany, Samuel R.
The Einstein Intersection
Dick, Philip K.
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
Dick, Philip K.
The Man in the High Castle
Dick, Philip K.
Ubik
Doctorow, Cory
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
Donoso, José
The Obscene Bird of Night
Esquivel, Laura
Like Water for Chocolate
Fuentes, Carlos
Aura
Gaiman, Neil
American Gods
Gaiman, Neil
Neverwhere
Gibson, William
Burning Chrome
Gibson, William
Neuromancer
Grass, Günter
The Tin Drum
Greene, Graham
The End of the Affair
Grossman, Lev
The Magicians
Haldeman, Joe
The Forever War
Hall, Steven
The Raw Shark Texts
Harrison, M. John
Light
Heinlein, Robert
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Heinlein, Robert:
Stranger in a Strange Land
Heinlein, Robert
Time Enough for Love
Helprin, Mark
Winter's Tale
Herbert, Frank
Dune
Hoffman, Alice
Practical Magic
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
Keret, Etgar
Suddenly, A Knock at the Door
Kundera, Milan
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
Kunzru, Hari
Gods Without Men
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Lathe of Heaven
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Left Hand of Darkness
Leiber, Fritz
The Big Time
Leiber, Fritz
Conjure Wife
Leiber, Fritz
Swords & Deviltry
Leiber, Fritz
The Wanderer
Lem, Stanislaw
His Master's Voice
Lem, Stanislaw
Solaris
Lethem, Jonathan
The Fortress of Solitude
Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia
Link, Kelly
Magic for Beginners
Mann, Thomas
Doctor Faustus
Márquez, Gabriel García
100 Years of Solitude
Matheson, Richard
What Dreams May Come
McCarthy, Cormac
The Road
Miéville, China
Perdido Street Station
Miller, Jr., Walter M.
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Millhauser, Steven
Dangerous Laughter
Mitchell, David
Cloud Atlas
Morrison, Toni
Beloved
Murakami, Haruki
1Q84
Murakami, Haruki
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the
End of the World
Niffenegger, Audrey
The Time Traveler's Wife
Niven, Larry
Ringworld
Noon, Jeff
Vurt
Obreht, Téa
The Tiger's Wife
O'Brien, Flann
At Swim-Two-Birds
Okri, Ben
The Famished Road
Pohl, Frederik
Gateway
Pratchett, Terry
The Color of Magic
Pynchon, Thomas
Gravity's Rainbow
Rabelais, François
Gargantua and Pantagruel
Robinson, Kim Stanley
Red Mars
Rowling, J.K.
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone
Rushdie, Salman
Midnight's Children
Saramago, José
Blindness
Shelley, Mary
Frankenstein
Silverberg, Robert
Dying Inside
Silverberg, Robert
Nightwings
Simak, Clifford
City
Simak, Clifford
The Trouble with Tycho
Smith, Cordwainer
Norstrilia
Smith, Cordwainer
The Rediscovery of Man
Stephenson, Neal
Snow Crash
Stross, Charles
Glasshouse
Sturgeon, Theodore
More Than Human
Sturgeon, Theodore
Some of Your Blood
Swift, Jonathan
Gulliver's Travels
Thomas, D.M.
The White Hotel
Tolkien, J.R.R.
The Hobbit
Updike, John
The Witches of Eastwick
Van Vogt, A.E.
The Mixed Men
Van Vogt, A.E.
Slan
Van Vogt, A.E.
The Voyage of the Space Beagle
Van Vogt, A.E.
The World of Null A
Verne, Jules
Around the Moon
Verne, Jules
From the Earth to the Moon
Verne, Jules:
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Vonnegut, Kurt
Cat's Cradle
Vonnegut, Kurt
The Sirens of Titan
Vonnegut, Kurt
Slaughterhouse-Five
Wallace, David Foster
Infinite Jest
Walpole, Horace
Hieroglyphic Tales
Wells, H.G.
The First Men in the Moon
Wells, H.G.
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Wells, H.G.
The Time Machine
Winton, Tim
Cloudstreet
Woolf, Virginia
Orlando
Zabor, Rafi
The Bear Comes Home
Zelazny, Roger
Lord of Light
Special Features
Notes on Conceptual Fiction
Ray Bradbury: A Tribute
The Year of Magical Reading
Remembering Fritz Leiber
Samuel Delany's 70th birthday
The Sci-Fi of Kurt Vonnegut
Curse You, Neil Armstrong!
Robert Heinlein at 100
A.E, van Vogt Tribute
Links to related sites
The New Canon
Great Books Guide
Postmodern Mystery
Ted Gioia's web site
SF Site
io9
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review
Los Angeles Review of Books
Big Dumb Object
Jospeh Peschel
The Misread City
Reviews and Responses
SF Signal
True Science Fiction
Disclosure: Conceptual Fiction and
its sister sites may receive review
copies and promotional materials
from publishers, authors, publicists
or other parties.