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A World of Difference (Harry Turtledove)
Encyclopedia
A World of Difference is a 1990 science fiction novel by Harry Turtledove
.
, in the orbit occupied by Mars
in our reality, is named Minerva, which is similar in size and makeup to Earth
.
space probe lands on Minerva in 1976 it takes a picture of a native Minervan wielding a primitive tool, thus proving the existence of intelligent life on other worlds.
The main action of the story involves separate American
and Soviet missions, who both pay lip service to non-interference with Minervan society, but in the course of their research, the teams' respective political ideologies inevitably come to the fore. This leads the teams and their commanders back home to use the Minervans in a transparent analogy to Third World
/Cold War
proxy conflicts on Earth. One of the Americans saves the life of a female Minervan after she gives birth. Eventually Minervans get their hands on high tech items like steel hatchets, rubber rafts, and finally AK-74
s, which severely disrupt their way of life.
exists in significant quantities on the surface. The planet's mean atmospheric temperature is lower than Earth's due to the greater distance from the sun, although the greenhouse effect
of its thicker atmosphere means that it is not as cold as our universe's Mars. The ancient astronomers of the novel name the bright blue/gray planet Minerva after the goddess of wisdom
.
Minervans) are hexameristically radially symmetrical. This means that they have six eyes spaced equally all around, see in all directions and have no "back" where somebody could sneak on them unnoticed. The different way that Minervans perceive their environment, and its major influence on their culture and way of life, is a significant plot element - especially important in the battle scenes towards the end.
Females (referred to as "mates" by the Minervans) give birth to litters that consist of one male and five females, and the "mates" always die after reproducing because of torrential bleeding from the places where the six fetus
es were attached; this gives a population multiplication of 5 per generation if all females live to adolescence and reproduce. Females reach puberty while still hardly out of childhood, and typically experience sex only once in the lifetime - leading to pregnancy and death at birth-giving.
Thus, in Minervan society male dominance
seems truly determined by a biological imperative - though it takes different forms in various Minervan societies: in some females are considered expendable and traded as property, in other they are cherished and their tragic fate mourned - but still their dependant status is taken for granted.
The American women arriving on Minerva and discovering this situation consider it intolerable; a major plot element is their efforts, using the resources of Earth medical science, to find a way of saving the Minervan females and let them survive birth-giving. At the end, they do manage to save a particularly sympathetic Minervan female - potentially opening the way for a complete upheaval in Minervan society.
Technically, the Minervans can be said to be living in a neolithic
society, since they use stone tools. However, though using no metals, their society is actually feudal and comparable to late Middle Ages
Europe, and actually one of the Minervan societies depicted - the one contacted by the Soviets - shows the beginnings of mercantile capitalism
(which is directly related to its being the more aggressive and predatory one).
Paradoxically, it is this nascent capitalist society which the Soviets decide to support in its effort to invade and conquer its feudal rival. This raises some eyebrows among the cosmonauts; however, as the resident ideologue explains to his bemused comrades, it is quite sound Marxist doctrine: Capitalism is more progressive than Feudalism; therefore, helping it win will help prepare Minervan society to get to Socialism some centuries hence.
rather than Neil Armstrong
.
However, fundamental differences seem to have started to develop since the mid-1970s. Following the discovery of intelligent life on Minerva, both superpowers engaged energetically on efforts to launch a manned spacecraft there. This evidently had an effect of exacerbating tensions on Earth, with American and Soviet planes engaging three times in direct aerial combat over Beirut
- presumably drawn, after the Israeli Invasion of Lebanon
in 1982, into a far deeper involvement than in our history.
An escalation into all-out nuclear war
was avoided only with difficulty, and though things have calmed down a bit by 1989 when the plot takes place, the Cold War
is still very much on, and the Soviet Union
is still very much a dictatorship
keeping its citizens (even cosmonauts millions of miles from home) on a short leash. Mikhail Gorbachev
had led for only nine months, and barely got started on Glasnost
, before dying from a stroke (though there are rumors of a secret assassination, which Soviet characters prudently avoid discussing too loudly).
.
by Hodder & Stoughton
.
Harry Turtledove
Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...
.
Plot introduction
The book begins with a space voyage that departed Earth in an alternate 1989. In the universe of the book, the fourth planet from the SunSun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
, in the orbit occupied by Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
in our reality, is named Minerva, which is similar in size and makeup to Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
.
Plot summary
When the Viking 1Viking 1
Viking 1 was the first of two spacecraft sent to Mars as part of NASA's Viking program. It was the first spacecraft to successfully land on Mars and perform its mission, and until May 19, 2010 held the record for the second longest Mars surface mission of 6 years and 116 days .- Mission :Following...
space probe lands on Minerva in 1976 it takes a picture of a native Minervan wielding a primitive tool, thus proving the existence of intelligent life on other worlds.
The main action of the story involves separate American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Soviet missions, who both pay lip service to non-interference with Minervan society, but in the course of their research, the teams' respective political ideologies inevitably come to the fore. This leads the teams and their commanders back home to use the Minervans in a transparent analogy to Third World
Third World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...
/Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
proxy conflicts on Earth. One of the Americans saves the life of a female Minervan after she gives birth. Eventually Minervans get their hands on high tech items like steel hatchets, rubber rafts, and finally AK-74
AK-74
The AK-74 is an assault rifle developed in the early 1970s in the Soviet Union as the replacement for the earlier AKM...
s, which severely disrupt their way of life.
The planet Minerva
Minerva has an atmosphere similar to Earth's and breathable by humans, and liquid waterWater
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
exists in significant quantities on the surface. The planet's mean atmospheric temperature is lower than Earth's due to the greater distance from the sun, although the greenhouse effect
Greenhouse effect
The greenhouse effect is a process by which thermal radiation from a planetary surface is absorbed by atmospheric greenhouse gases, and is re-radiated in all directions. Since part of this re-radiation is back towards the surface, energy is transferred to the surface and the lower atmosphere...
of its thicker atmosphere means that it is not as cold as our universe's Mars. The ancient astronomers of the novel name the bright blue/gray planet Minerva after the goddess of wisdom
Minerva
Minerva was the Roman goddess whom Romans from the 2nd century BC onwards equated with the Greek goddess Athena. She was the virgin goddess of poetry, medicine, wisdom, commerce, weaving, crafts, magic...
.
Minervan Biology and Society
Minervan animals (including the sentientSentience
Sentience is the ability to feel, perceive or be conscious, or to have subjective experiences. Eighteenth century philosophers used the concept to distinguish the ability to think from the ability to feel . In modern western philosophy, sentience is the ability to have sensations or experiences...
Minervans) are hexameristically radially symmetrical. This means that they have six eyes spaced equally all around, see in all directions and have no "back" where somebody could sneak on them unnoticed. The different way that Minervans perceive their environment, and its major influence on their culture and way of life, is a significant plot element - especially important in the battle scenes towards the end.
Females (referred to as "mates" by the Minervans) give birth to litters that consist of one male and five females, and the "mates" always die after reproducing because of torrential bleeding from the places where the six fetus
Fetus
A fetus is a developing mammal or other viviparous vertebrate after the embryonic stage and before birth.In humans, the fetal stage of prenatal development starts at the beginning of the 11th week in gestational age, which is the 9th week after fertilization.-Etymology and spelling variations:The...
es were attached; this gives a population multiplication of 5 per generation if all females live to adolescence and reproduce. Females reach puberty while still hardly out of childhood, and typically experience sex only once in the lifetime - leading to pregnancy and death at birth-giving.
Thus, in Minervan society male dominance
Male dominance
Male dominance, or maledom, refers to BDSM activities where the dominant partner is male.Maledom scenarios are common in BDSM fiction, including works such as the Story of O and the works of John Norman and Adrian Hunter...
seems truly determined by a biological imperative - though it takes different forms in various Minervan societies: in some females are considered expendable and traded as property, in other they are cherished and their tragic fate mourned - but still their dependant status is taken for granted.
The American women arriving on Minerva and discovering this situation consider it intolerable; a major plot element is their efforts, using the resources of Earth medical science, to find a way of saving the Minervan females and let them survive birth-giving. At the end, they do manage to save a particularly sympathetic Minervan female - potentially opening the way for a complete upheaval in Minervan society.
Technically, the Minervans can be said to be living in a neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
society, since they use stone tools. However, though using no metals, their society is actually feudal and comparable to late Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
Europe, and actually one of the Minervan societies depicted - the one contacted by the Soviets - shows the beginnings of mercantile capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
(which is directly related to its being the more aggressive and predatory one).
Paradoxically, it is this nascent capitalist society which the Soviets decide to support in its effort to invade and conquer its feudal rival. This raises some eyebrows among the cosmonauts; however, as the resident ideologue explains to his bemused comrades, it is quite sound Marxist doctrine: Capitalism is more progressive than Feudalism; therefore, helping it win will help prepare Minervan society to get to Socialism some centuries hence.
Earth
In addition to the existence of Minerva the book alludes to a variety of subtle differences between its history and ours. The fact that the fourth planet was blue rather than red as in our universe, and named for a different deity of the Classical pantheon, did not significantly change life on Earth. Galileo is mentioned as having seen Minerva in his telescope and made the first drawing of its surface; this did not, however, make his general career significantly different than in our timeline. The first difference noted is that in this history the first human to land on the Moon was Buzz AldrinBuzz Aldrin
Buzz Aldrin is an American mechanical engineer, retired United States Air Force pilot and astronaut who was the Lunar Module pilot on Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing in history...
rather than Neil Armstrong
Neil Armstrong
Neil Alden Armstrong is an American former astronaut, test pilot, aerospace engineer, university professor, United States Naval Aviator, and the first person to set foot upon the Moon....
.
However, fundamental differences seem to have started to develop since the mid-1970s. Following the discovery of intelligent life on Minerva, both superpowers engaged energetically on efforts to launch a manned spacecraft there. This evidently had an effect of exacerbating tensions on Earth, with American and Soviet planes engaging three times in direct aerial combat over Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
- presumably drawn, after the Israeli Invasion of Lebanon
1982 Lebanon War
The 1982 Lebanon War , , called Operation Peace for Galilee by Israel, and later known in Israel as the Lebanon War and First Lebanon War, began on 6 June 1982, when the Israel Defense Forces invaded southern Lebanon...
in 1982, into a far deeper involvement than in our history.
An escalation into all-out nuclear war
Nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...
was avoided only with difficulty, and though things have calmed down a bit by 1989 when the plot takes place, the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
is still very much on, and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
is still very much a dictatorship
Dictatorship
A dictatorship is defined as an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual, the dictator. It has three possible meanings:...
keeping its citizens (even cosmonauts millions of miles from home) on a short leash. Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
had led for only nine months, and barely got started on Glasnost
Glasnost
Glasnost was the policy of maximal publicity, openness, and transparency in the activities of all government institutions in the Soviet Union, together with freedom of information, introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the second half of the 1980s...
, before dying from a stroke (though there are rumors of a secret assassination, which Soviet characters prudently avoid discussing too loudly).
Allusions to other works
The Georgian member of the Soviet crew, who has some frictions with his Russian crewmates due to cultural differences, is named "Shota Rustaveli" after the 12th Century poet Shota RustaveliShota Rustaveli
Shota Rustaveli was a Georgian poet of the 12th century, and one of the greatest contributors to Georgian literature. He is author of "The Knight in the Panther's Skin" , the Georgian national epic poem....
.
Publication history
A World of Difference has been published in hardcover in Great BritainGreat Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
by Hodder & Stoughton
Hodder & Stoughton
Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.-History:The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged fourteen, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publisher for the Congregational Union...
.
Translations
- ItalianItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
: (Mission to Minerva) (transl. by Carlo Borriello) Fanucci Editore, 2000. - RussianRussian languageRussian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
: (A Space Battle) (transl. by G.A. Il'insky) Rusich, 1997, ISBN 5-88590-654-8.
See also
- BarsoomBarsoomBarsoom is a fictional representation of the planet Mars created by American pulp fiction author Edgar Rice Burroughs, who wrote close to 100 action adventure stories in various genres in the first half of the 20th century, and is now best known as the creator of the character Tarzan...
- The Sky PeopleThe Sky PeopleThe Sky People is a 2006 science fiction novel by American writer S. M. Stirling. It takes place on the planet Venus in an alternate solar system where probes from the United States of America and the Soviet Union, find intelligent life and civilizations on both Venus and Mars. The book is heavily...
- In the Courts of the Crimson KingsIn the Courts of the Crimson KingsIn the Courts of the Crimson Kings is a 2008 alternate history, science fiction novel by American writer S. M. Stirling.-Plot introduction:...