Earth Made of Glass
Encyclopedia
Earth Made of Glass is a science fiction
novel
, the second book of the Thousand Cultures series, by John Barnes
whose story is told from the perspective of a middle-aged special agent named Giraut. Earth Made of Glass examines religious extremism when two different cultures are forced into proximity.
Giraut and Margaret arrive as their marriage is falling apart but focus on their work and establish contact with key Tamil people, but cannot speak directly to the reclusive Mayans. After an attack on the embassy's personnel permission for first Mayan contact comes unexpectedly quick and Giraut travels via an airplane, as the Mayan refuse to adopt certain technologies based on their cultural heritage of simple subsistence farming. When Giraut arrives he learns the Mayan ambassador is the grandson of a powerful priest, who despite being in charge of the conservative temple, is a reformer trying behind the scenes to reconcile with the Tamils. A plan is put into motion where a respected and talented Mayan prophet begins a cult movement of tolerance, modernization and truth about their founding. The new cult is brutally oppressed by Mayan authorities and according to plan Giraut and the prophet escape to the Mayan satellite settlement next to the Tamil capital.
Through speeches the Mayan prophet begins to recruit Mayans and some Tamils. He starts dating a notable and attractive Tamil critic who had dated his nephew the Mayan ambassador and a notable bigot Tamil poet. The prophet then confesses the plan put in motion by the Mayan leadership and causes mass riots. He manages to contain the rioting and organizes a massive rally that could be the tipping point in the conflict. Just prior to the rally his Tamil lover is found dead. The prophet, Giraut, and the Tamil poet bring her body to the televised rally. As he speaks to the mixed Tamil/Mayan crowd he uses his pain, her murder and his forgiveness to whoever did it as a starting point for reconciliation between the cultures.
The prophets nephew (Mayan ambassador) confesses he killed her out of jealousy. His uncle tries to forgive him but the nephew shots him in the head and the Tamil poet starts killing Mayans and a race war erupts. Giraut gets back to the Embassy through the violence where he is ordered to evacuate immediately. Almost everyone in the embassy is evacuated through springers to Earth, but Ambassador Kiel is captured by Tamils. Giraut, Margaret and Shan watch the civil war unfold from headquarters as Mayan forces invade the Tamil city through secret Mayan springers. Illegal anti-matter weapons are used by both sides and the habitable areas of the planet are destroyed along with the springers. Briand becomes isolated from the rest of humanity until a springer ship arrives.
Giraut finds out from Margaret that she was sleeping with a Tamil since the mission began, and was ordered to continue by his friend and boss Shan to acquire intelligence. The failure on Briand of the Office of Special Projects forces the secretive agency into the limelight and they brace for public scrutiny and oversight. Giraut opts to take his one year leave on the planet Hedon to try to salvage his marriage and to get away from Shan, but after that one year he wants back into the Office of Special Projects to continue the important mission of integrating humanity to provide a united front for possible alien contact.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
, the second book of the Thousand Cultures series, by John Barnes
John Barnes (author)
-Writing:Two of his novels, The Sky So Big and Black and The Duke of Uranium have been reviewed as having content appropriate for a young adult readership, comparing favorably to Robert A. Heinlein's "juvenile" novels...
whose story is told from the perspective of a middle-aged special agent named Giraut. Earth Made of Glass examines religious extremism when two different cultures are forced into proximity.
Plot summary
Giraut and Margaret are now married and sent on a diplomatic mission to the hotspot of interstellar space Briand, one of many Outer Sphere colonies cut off from the rest of humanity for centuries until instantaneous travel became possible with the springer. Not only is Briand a very hot, high gravity planet, but the oppressive environment is matched by the increasing hatred between the proud Tamil and Mayan cultures which have been forced together as a result of a volcano disaster. Giraut and Margaret are given orders by Shan, their Office of Special Projects supervisor, to find the real power brokers of each culture in order to defuse the headline grabbing daily ethnic attacks and steer the planet clear of all out war. They must do this under the nose of Ambassador Kiel, a high ranking ambassador from Earth on Briand, who believes strengthening elected government officials is the only way to address a crisis.Giraut and Margaret arrive as their marriage is falling apart but focus on their work and establish contact with key Tamil people, but cannot speak directly to the reclusive Mayans. After an attack on the embassy's personnel permission for first Mayan contact comes unexpectedly quick and Giraut travels via an airplane, as the Mayan refuse to adopt certain technologies based on their cultural heritage of simple subsistence farming. When Giraut arrives he learns the Mayan ambassador is the grandson of a powerful priest, who despite being in charge of the conservative temple, is a reformer trying behind the scenes to reconcile with the Tamils. A plan is put into motion where a respected and talented Mayan prophet begins a cult movement of tolerance, modernization and truth about their founding. The new cult is brutally oppressed by Mayan authorities and according to plan Giraut and the prophet escape to the Mayan satellite settlement next to the Tamil capital.
Through speeches the Mayan prophet begins to recruit Mayans and some Tamils. He starts dating a notable and attractive Tamil critic who had dated his nephew the Mayan ambassador and a notable bigot Tamil poet. The prophet then confesses the plan put in motion by the Mayan leadership and causes mass riots. He manages to contain the rioting and organizes a massive rally that could be the tipping point in the conflict. Just prior to the rally his Tamil lover is found dead. The prophet, Giraut, and the Tamil poet bring her body to the televised rally. As he speaks to the mixed Tamil/Mayan crowd he uses his pain, her murder and his forgiveness to whoever did it as a starting point for reconciliation between the cultures.
The prophets nephew (Mayan ambassador) confesses he killed her out of jealousy. His uncle tries to forgive him but the nephew shots him in the head and the Tamil poet starts killing Mayans and a race war erupts. Giraut gets back to the Embassy through the violence where he is ordered to evacuate immediately. Almost everyone in the embassy is evacuated through springers to Earth, but Ambassador Kiel is captured by Tamils. Giraut, Margaret and Shan watch the civil war unfold from headquarters as Mayan forces invade the Tamil city through secret Mayan springers. Illegal anti-matter weapons are used by both sides and the habitable areas of the planet are destroyed along with the springers. Briand becomes isolated from the rest of humanity until a springer ship arrives.
Giraut finds out from Margaret that she was sleeping with a Tamil since the mission began, and was ordered to continue by his friend and boss Shan to acquire intelligence. The failure on Briand of the Office of Special Projects forces the secretive agency into the limelight and they brace for public scrutiny and oversight. Giraut opts to take his one year leave on the planet Hedon to try to salvage his marriage and to get away from Shan, but after that one year he wants back into the Office of Special Projects to continue the important mission of integrating humanity to provide a united front for possible alien contact.
Characters
- Giraut - a Nou Occitan musician with the official role as a facilitator for artistic exchange, but also on a mission quell Briand's hostile cultures by coordinating power brokers outside the government.
- Margaret - Giraut's depressed wife in charge of tourism and keeping track of Tamil opinions.
Planets referenced
- Earth (central planet for humanity, in the Inner Sphere)
- Briand (home of the [Tamil] and Mayan cultures in conflict)
- Wilson (home planet of Giraut, close to the Outer Sphere and successfully integrated into interstellar culture)
See also
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