The Year of the Quiet Sun
Encyclopedia
The Year of the Quiet Sun is a 1970 science fiction
novel by Wilson Tucker
about the use of forward time travel
to ascertain future political and social events. It won a retrospective John W. Campbell Memorial Award
in 1976. It was also nominated for a Nebula Award
for Best Novel
in 1970, and a Hugo Award
for Best Novel
in 1971.
, is approached by a woman named Kathryn van Hise. Initially assuming her to be a reporter interested in a controversial book he just published on the Dead Sea scrolls
, she informs him that she works for the federal
Bureau of Standards and that she is recruiting him for a physical survey of the future via a secretly constructed "TDV" or time displacement vehicle
. When Chaney demurs, she informs him that his contract with has been purchased from the think tank
where he works, leaving him little choice.
The reluctant Chaney travels by armored train to a military installation south of Joliet, Illinois
. There he is teamed with two diversely talented military officers, United States Air Force
Major William Moresby and United States Navy
Lieutenant Commander Arthur Saltus. Chaney soon finds that he shares with Saltus an attraction to Kathryn, who is their civilian liaison, but unlike Saltus, Chaney lacks the assertiveness to pursue her aggressively. Instead he focuses his attention on the project, which is soon ordered by the President of the United States
to embark on their first mission, a trip two years into the future to discover whether he wins the 1980 presidential election.
The three travel to the Thursday after the election on individual trips, with first Moresby and then Saltus going first according to military seniority. Chaney, as a civilian, is the last to leave, but arrives earlier than the others due to a temporal navigation instrument error. They discover that the president, whom Chaney despises as a weak man (in fact, his name is given as "President Meeks"), wins the election in a landslide as a result of his successful handling of ongoing race riot
s in Chicago
, and that these riots have resulted in the building of a wall down the middle of Cermak Road dividing the north of the city from the south. They also learn that the nation is under martial law
after a failed attempt by the Joint Chiefs of Staff
to take over the government by coup d'état
, one thwarted because of the advance knowledge the time travelers will bring back of it. While preparing for their return, Saltus informs Chaney of an additional discovery: a marriage license between him and Kathryn. With Saltus gloating in the knowledge of his inevitably successful courtship, Chaney concedes the pursuit to him.
With the success of the initial mission, the three are authorized to travel further into the future. They plan to travel to dates of their own choosing within the coming two decades, with each trip to be separated by approximately a year in order to provide broader coverage.
Moresby goes first and travels to July 4, 1999 ("It has significance, after all!" he says), only to emerge in the middle of a racial civil war in which Chicago had recently been attacked with a nuclear bomb launched from China on behalf of black guerrillas
. Quickly getting involved in a battle between base troops and invading "ramjets", as the black guerrillas
are called, Moresby dies in an attack on a ramjet mortar
position.
Saltus is the next to go, traveling to the date of his fiftieth birthday in 2000. Upon his arrival he discovers remnants of the battle, and is nearly killed by survivors hiding out on the base. Wounded, he is assisted back to the displacement vehicle by an unknown figure and returns to the present, taking with him a tape-recorded report that Moresby had made upon his arrival.
Forewarned by Saltus's experience, Chaney travels further into the future. Not having chosen a date, and disillusioned by his experiences on the 1980 trip, he arrives at an indeterminate point in "2000-plus", by which time the power from the base's nuclear reactor has been disrupted, causing the chronometers set up for the travelers to shut down. Venturing outside the building, he finds the base to be long-neglected, apart from a cistern
and a grave. While further investigating the grave (which is that of Saltus), he is approached by a young man and a woman who identify themselves as Arthur and Kathryn's children. They take Chaney to Kathryn, now elderly, who reveals to Chaney that civilization collapsed as an indirect result of the time travel project; with the information from the future, the president made a series of disastrous decisions that led to war with China
, followed by the civil war and societal destruction. When Chaney asks how much of this information he reports, she informs him that he reported none of it, that with the loss of power the time displacement vehicle could no longer return to the past and that Chaney was forever trapped in the future.
Although it is foreshadowed earlier in the book, only at this point is the reader explicitly told a fact that makes Chaney's predicament all the more tragic. He is Black, the only such member of the project. "Everyone fears you; no one will trust you since the rebellion," Kathryn tells him. "I am the only one here who does not fear a black man."
edition of the novel, writer Sandra Miesel
praised the novel as "an intimate drama of Armageddon played out within the boundaries of Will County, Illinois by a cast of five principals." She noted the way Wilson linked the America of the novel and the Qumran
community of ancient Palestine, which are introduced through Chaney's background as a biblical scholar who had published a book on the Dead Sea scrolls
prior to the start of the novel. The parallels were made explicit through Biblical motifs that appear throughout the novel, with characters paralleling types out of the Dead Sea scrolls and such apocalyptic imagery as a radioactive Lake Michigan
substituting for the lake of fire in the Book of Revelation
.
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 by Wilson Tucker
Wilson Tucker
Arthur Wilson "Bob" Tucker was an American mystery, action adventure, and science fiction writer, who wrote professionally as Wilson Tucker....
about the use of forward time travel
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
to ascertain future political and social events. It won a retrospective John W. Campbell Memorial Award
Campbell award (best novel)
The John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel for best science fiction novel was created in 1973 by writers and critics Harry Harrison and Brian W. Aldiss to honor Campbell's name...
in 1976. It was also nominated for a Nebula Award
Nebula Award
The Nebula Award is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year...
for Best Novel
Nebula Award for Best Novel
Winners of the Nebula Award for Best Novel, awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. The stated year is that of publication; awards are given in the following year.- Winners and other nominees :...
in 1970, and a Hugo Award
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
for Best Novel
Hugo Award for Best Novel
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
in 1971.
Plot summary
During a vacation on a Florida beach in the summer of 1978, Brian Chaney, a demographer and biblical scholarBiblical studies
Biblical studies is the academic study of the Judeo-Christian Bible and related texts. For Christianity, the Bible traditionally comprises the New Testament and Old Testament, which together are sometimes called the "Scriptures." Judaism recognizes as scripture only the Hebrew Bible, also known as...
, is approached by a woman named Kathryn van Hise. Initially assuming her to be a reporter interested in a controversial book he just published on the Dead Sea scrolls
Dead Sea scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 972 texts from the Hebrew Bible and extra-biblical documents found between 1947 and 1956 on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, from which they derive their name...
, she informs him that she works for the federal
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
Bureau of Standards and that she is recruiting him for a physical survey of the future via a secretly constructed "TDV" or time displacement vehicle
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
. When Chaney demurs, she informs him that his contract with has been purchased from the think tank
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
where he works, leaving him little choice.
The reluctant Chaney travels by armored train to a military installation south of Joliet, Illinois
Joliet, Illinois
Joliet is a city in Will and Kendall Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, located southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. As of the 2010 census, the city was the fourth-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 147,433. It continues to be Illinois' fastest growing...
. There he is teamed with two diversely talented military officers, United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
Major William Moresby and United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
Lieutenant Commander Arthur Saltus. Chaney soon finds that he shares with Saltus an attraction to Kathryn, who is their civilian liaison, but unlike Saltus, Chaney lacks the assertiveness to pursue her aggressively. Instead he focuses his attention on the project, which is soon ordered by the President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
to embark on their first mission, a trip two years into the future to discover whether he wins the 1980 presidential election.
The three travel to the Thursday after the election on individual trips, with first Moresby and then Saltus going first according to military seniority. Chaney, as a civilian, is the last to leave, but arrives earlier than the others due to a temporal navigation instrument error. They discover that the president, whom Chaney despises as a weak man (in fact, his name is given as "President Meeks"), wins the election in a landslide as a result of his successful handling of ongoing race riot
Race riot
A race riot or racial riot is an outbreak of violent civil disorder in which race is a key factor. A phenomenon frequently confused with the concept of 'race riot' is sectarian violence, which involves public mass violence or conflict over non-racial factors.-United States:The term had entered the...
s in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, and that these riots have resulted in the building of a wall down the middle of Cermak Road dividing the north of the city from the south. They also learn that the nation is under martial law
Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...
after a failed attempt by the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Joint Chiefs of Staff is a body of senior uniformed leaders in the United States Department of Defense who advise the Secretary of Defense, the Homeland Security Council, the National Security Council and the President on military matters...
to take over the government by coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
, one thwarted because of the advance knowledge the time travelers will bring back of it. While preparing for their return, Saltus informs Chaney of an additional discovery: a marriage license between him and Kathryn. With Saltus gloating in the knowledge of his inevitably successful courtship, Chaney concedes the pursuit to him.
With the success of the initial mission, the three are authorized to travel further into the future. They plan to travel to dates of their own choosing within the coming two decades, with each trip to be separated by approximately a year in order to provide broader coverage.
Moresby goes first and travels to July 4, 1999 ("It has significance, after all!" he says), only to emerge in the middle of a racial civil war in which Chicago had recently been attacked with a nuclear bomb launched from China on behalf of black guerrillas
Black nationalism
Black nationalism advocates a racial definition of indigenous national identity, as opposed to multiculturalism. There are different indigenous nationalist philosophies but the principles of all African nationalist ideologies are unity, and self-determination or independence from European society...
. Quickly getting involved in a battle between base troops and invading "ramjets", as the black guerrillas
Black nationalism
Black nationalism advocates a racial definition of indigenous national identity, as opposed to multiculturalism. There are different indigenous nationalist philosophies but the principles of all African nationalist ideologies are unity, and self-determination or independence from European society...
are called, Moresby dies in an attack on a ramjet mortar
Mortar (weapon)
A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
position.
Saltus is the next to go, traveling to the date of his fiftieth birthday in 2000. Upon his arrival he discovers remnants of the battle, and is nearly killed by survivors hiding out on the base. Wounded, he is assisted back to the displacement vehicle by an unknown figure and returns to the present, taking with him a tape-recorded report that Moresby had made upon his arrival.
Forewarned by Saltus's experience, Chaney travels further into the future. Not having chosen a date, and disillusioned by his experiences on the 1980 trip, he arrives at an indeterminate point in "2000-plus", by which time the power from the base's nuclear reactor has been disrupted, causing the chronometers set up for the travelers to shut down. Venturing outside the building, he finds the base to be long-neglected, apart from a cistern
Cistern
A cistern is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by their waterproof linings...
and a grave. While further investigating the grave (which is that of Saltus), he is approached by a young man and a woman who identify themselves as Arthur and Kathryn's children. They take Chaney to Kathryn, now elderly, who reveals to Chaney that civilization collapsed as an indirect result of the time travel project; with the information from the future, the president made a series of disastrous decisions that led to war with China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, followed by the civil war and societal destruction. When Chaney asks how much of this information he reports, she informs him that he reported none of it, that with the loss of power the time displacement vehicle could no longer return to the past and that Chaney was forever trapped in the future.
Although it is foreshadowed earlier in the book, only at this point is the reader explicitly told a fact that makes Chaney's predicament all the more tragic. He is Black, the only such member of the project. "Everyone fears you; no one will trust you since the rebellion," Kathryn tells him. "I am the only one here who does not fear a black man."
Analysis
In her introduction to the 1979 Gregg PressGregg Press
Gregg Press was founded about 1965 by Charles Gregg in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey to distribute in the United States the antiquarian reprints published in the UK by Gregg Press International....
edition of the novel, writer Sandra Miesel
Sandra Miesel
Sandra Louise Miesel is an American medievalist, writer and science fiction and fantasy fan. Her early work was science fiction and fantasy criticism, fields in which she has remained active. She is a literary analyst; has described herself as "the world's greatest expert" on Poul Anderson and...
praised the novel as "an intimate drama of Armageddon played out within the boundaries of Will County, Illinois by a cast of five principals." She noted the way Wilson linked the America of the novel and the Qumran
Qumran
Qumran is an archaeological site in the West Bank. It is located on a dry plateau about a mile inland from the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, near the Israeli settlement and kibbutz of Kalia...
community of ancient Palestine, which are introduced through Chaney's background as a biblical scholar who had published a book on the Dead Sea scrolls
Dead Sea scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 972 texts from the Hebrew Bible and extra-biblical documents found between 1947 and 1956 on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, from which they derive their name...
prior to the start of the novel. The parallels were made explicit through Biblical motifs that appear throughout the novel, with characters paralleling types out of the Dead Sea scrolls and such apocalyptic imagery as a radioactive Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
substituting for the lake of fire in the Book of Revelation
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
.