Norstrilia
Cordwainer Smith
From its wealth of ideas alone, it is obvious that Norstrilia was destined to be an
influential work of science fiction. Its central plot and many of the
surrounding details of the setting- which pertain to diverse subjects such as
genetic modification, near-immortality, and the economics of scarcity- cover
many traditional science fiction tropes and pet subjects of the genre. The book
can become a bit difficult to follow at times, burdened by the weight of its
ideas and a loose sense of the importance of plot, but it is nonetheless worth
reading for the power of its concocted reality. The inherent humor within the
book, tied largely to a critique of monopolistic economic practices and an
interesting twist on the Abandoned Old Earth trope, would be better received if
the plot were a bit sturdier, but overall the plot is sufficient to buoy its
ideas- if just barely. Norstrilia is
worth reading for these ideas and for its insight into the mind of its author,
but as a book laden with characters and narrative, it falls a bit flat.
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