|
|
| Cover art by David B. Mattingly |
| THE NITROGEN FIX Hal Clement Janet Aulisio (Illus.) |
Rating: 5.0 High |
||||
| New York: Ace Books, Oct. 1981 | ISBN 0-441-58117-X | 289pp | SC | $2.75 | |
Harry Stubbs (1922-2003), who used the pen name Hal Clement, was known for science-fiction novels that always toed the line of established science. Not for him the force fields, warp drives, and matter transmission so common in SF. Mission of Gravity (1954), his best-known work, has humans working with natives of a high-gravity planet (they look a little like crayfish) to retrieve a scientific probe. Everything that happens is true to life and science as we understand them today.
The Nitrogen Fix (1980) is similar in sticking strictly to known science. It even avoids other planets; it is set on Earth. However, this is an Earth that is vastly changed. Only a trace of oxygen remains in the atmosphere; it seems that an organism bioengineered to efficiently oxidize nitrogen for agricultural uses did so too efficiently. It is a reasonable inference that this organism was developed in response to the food shortages brought on by global warming. Clement does not say so explicitly, but he does mention global warming.
"All Earth's water was warm these days, except next to the still-vanishing pole caps. The acid seas had given off most of their dissolved carbon dioxide, and carbonate minerals were busy doing the same; greenhouse effect was warming the planet. Nitrogen dioxide, blocking some of the incoming radiation, was slowing the process, but where it would end no one could tell. Fortunately for general peace of mind, no human being left on the planet had any idea of the process, and it had not even occurred to Bones." – Page 172 |
Two thousand years after the debacle, humans are few. But they have survived. No other large land animals that we know exist. Much knowledge has been lost, and there is controversy over the cause of the change in the atmosphere. A faction of the population thinks Bones1 and his kind did it to make Earth comfortable for them. This faction wants to capture the Invaders, as it calls them, and force them to change things back. The main characters, Kahvi and Earrin, are Nomads friendly with Bones. They know he and his kind are not responsible; but can they convince the others before something drastic happens?
The novel drags a bit in places where Clement explains the attitude of one or another character, or the thought-process that led them to some conclusion. This is necessary exposition, but it can distract from the flow of action in the narrative. There is plenty of action, however, especially in the second half of the book; and all of it is plausible in the context of the situation Clement has created.
The cover calls this Clement's greatest novel since Mission of Gravity. I tend to think that's overstatement. But this novel and Mission are the only two of Clement's novels I have read so far, so my assessment is tentative. But The Nitrogen Fix is without a doubt a page-turner, well plotted and with adequate characterization. It's worthy of full marks.
To contact Chris Winter, send email to this address.