Babel-17/Empire Star by Samuel R. Delany

Rydra proves to be incredibly intelligent and a master at languages, eventually being recruited by the Alliance for their code decryption program. She later is transported to Earth and undergoes therapy to cure her from her catatonic state. The book's protagonist is Rydra Wong, who had been born on Uranus, but orphaned during an Invader attack when she was a child. Not even the Alliance military know the nature of their enemy, whether they are an alien species or renegade humans, or perhaps a combination of the two. Death in this world is rarely the end of existence, as many have their consciousness and/or body preserved for later use.Ī war has been raging for over twenty years between the Earthpeople's Alliance and forces identified only as The Invaders. The ship's scanning systems are manned by Eyes, Ears and a Nose, which are traditionally discorporate entities, ghosts if you will. Navigators are always a three-person team that have to be compatable and work together so perfectly their relationship is as intimate as any marriage. Pilots must meld their brain and nervous systems into the ship's controls. The crews that man these interstellar and inter-galactic vessels are unique and enhanced in various ways. It's set several hundred years into a future that has civilizations established and/or discovered throughout the 'five explored galaxies.' Propulsion systems and 'hyperstatic' engines have been developed to make vast distances accessible in short periods of time. Again, like the majority of his work, this is essentially a story of a quest. Most all of Delany's characters and societies are bizarre and alien, even when they are on Earth, and Babel-17 is no exception. He is generally associated with the New Wave, but there are a multitude of styles and themes here that not only transcend New Wave, they also hark back to old-style space opera as well as seem to be a forerunner of cyberpunk. Amazon gives the impression that the Kindle file of Babel-17 includes 'Empire Star,' but that is incorrect.ĭelany won his first Nebula for this novel, and it was also nominated for a Hugo. Babel-17 is available as a separate title for Kindle, and I would assume for the Nook and other e-readers too. The novella 'Empire Star' has appeared in paperback by itself or with other unrelated stories, as well as story collections and anthologies, but all of those are out of print at this time, although I'm sure you can find some of those others if you search enough. The images on this page are from the individual paperbacks I have, not the current edition. I'm reviewing these two together because the current print edition of Babel-17 includes both, per Delany's wishes since they are connected.

Babel-17/Empire Star by Samuel R. Delany