| Author: | Poul Anderson |
| Copyright: | 1973 |
| Date Reviewed: | 5/4/86 |
| Rating: | 8.0 |
Synopsis: Several hundred years after a nuclear holocaust, the world is dominated by a few large nations. The Domain encompasses most of what Europe is today. Thirty miles above a Domain city is Skyholm - a city in itself. Skyholm is a hovering aerostat which commands great authority through the power of its lasers and jet fighters. For the past few hundred years, Skyholm has kept the peace over the Domain.
Talence Iern Ferlay is an important man in the Domain. He is a top ranked weather pilot and his father is captain of Skyholm. When the captain dies, many believe Iern could take his place as a strong leader. Instead, his wife's friend, Jovian Aurillac, mounts an effective coupe and seizes control. Iern and Jovian had a strained relationship. Jovian dislikes Iern because of jealousy and Iern dislikes Jovian for having converted his wife to Gaea. Jovian once tried to kill Iern. When the revolution comes, Iern barley makes it off Skyholm alive.
The other two major powers are the Maurai Federation (New Zealand) and the Northwest Union (West Canada). The two counties fought the power war twenty years ago. The Norries wanted to build nuclear power plants and the Maurai stopped them. The Maurai Federation is a powerful, tightly bonded nation, while the Northwest Union forms a loose government structure. Most of the power in the Northwest Union is in the hands of the lodges. These grew out of the old hunting lodges.
With his alcoholic poet friend Plik, Iern hides onboard a Union ship and is then flown to the Northwest territory by Ronica and Mikli. Both are spies working for the Wolf Lodge. Mikli is your classical evil spy who believes the ends justify the means no matter how much pain is inflicted. After they take off, they are followed by two other spies from the Federation: Terai and Wairoa. These obviously are the good guys. Terai is not just trying to prevent Iern's escape. The plane Mikli is flying is carrying a deadly substance that could bring on another judgement, nuclear fuel.
Somewhere over the Great Lakes, a dogfight ensues and both planes are brought down into the lake. All five people survive and although there is much distrust, a pact is made that no hostilities will come between them. It takes months for them to reach the nearest city and fortunately they have Ronica with them. She was trained to survive in the wilderness. On their way to civilization, Ronica and Iern fall in love.
Eventually they make it to a Merican city where Mikli successfully plots to capture the others and have them brought to a Wolf Lodge in Laska. It is here we learn the true purpose of "Orion Shall Rise" which up until now has just seemed like a magical chant. Orion is a class of spaceships. The Wolf Lodge is building a few of these spaceships to dominate the world so the world won't stop them in their next step, colonization of the stars. Terai doesn't believe anyone can control that much power and manages to escape. Meanwhile, Iern joins forces with the Union as a pilot.
When word is released that the Union has collected fissionable, the Five Merican States prepare to march on the Northwest. Their army is mercilessly obliterated by atomics. Now the Maurai attack by sea but they too are no match against the nuclear weapons. All they manage to do is get the Norries to use up all of their weapons. Meanwhile, Iern and Ronica realize that the beautiful dream has been burned to dust and with Wairoa's help, they steal the one working prototype. Wairoa and Mikli die in the process.
The Merican army is defeated and before the Maurai can muster more troops, the next Orion will be in operation. The only tool of potential destruction left is Skyholm and Jovian takes it to the Northwest. The Norries won't bargain so Jovian readies the aerostat to lay waste to the whole area when Iern sends Orion straight through Skyholm destroying it. Then there is peace.
Review: "Orion Shall Rise" seemed to have all the elements I demand of a great novel but it just didn't do it for me. The novel was complex enough with the four nation states and the principal characters. Each had its own history which I would have liked to learn more about. Very few details about how things came to pass right after the nuclear was were explained. The devastation wasn't so total (as in "A Canticle for Leibowitz" by Walter M. Miller) that they wouldn't be known. I think the book lost it for me during the trek through the wilderness. That trek seemed a lot longer than it was and it didn't need the sudden out of place love interest. Perhaps the worst aspect of the book was that I never really cared about the characters. They all had their duty to do and some were honorable but none of them was really likable. I also had a problem with the end of the story. I don't believe Iern and Ronica were justified in destroying Skyholm, nor that Iern could do it so easily; any more easily than Ronica could let the Northwest territory be demolished. And after Skyholm is gone, what's to keep the Wolf Lodge from continuing with their plan.