Jem

Jem (2001) – Frederik Pohl
Gollancz | ISBN: 9781857987898
Condition: Very Good | Sold by Crappy Old Books

Humanity. A species that has spent thousands of years developing civilisation, scientific knowledge, advanced technology and increasingly sophisticated methods of killing one another. Having successfully divided its own planet into competing nations, economic blocs and mutually suspicious political systems, mankind eventually reaches the stars, where it discovers an entirely new world upon which to continue behaving like complete idiots.

Welcome to Jem, Frederik Pohl’s brilliantly cynical science-fiction novel about extraterrestrial colonisation, Cold War rivalry and humanity’s apparently incurable determination to export its worst habits to wherever it happens to go.

The planet Jem, orbiting a distant star, represents one of the most extraordinary discoveries in human history. Here is an alien world inhabited by several intelligent species, each adapted to its own remarkable environment and possessing forms of society utterly unlike anything found on Earth.

One might reasonably imagine that such a discovery would inspire international cooperation, scientific curiosity and a renewed appreciation of humanity’s place in the universe.

Unfortunately, the visitors are human.

And humans, as Pohl repeatedly demonstrates, have a remarkable talent for transforming opportunities into disasters.

Instead of approaching Jem with humility and wonder, competing terrestrial powers descend upon the planet carrying their familiar political rivalries, economic ambitions and military suspicions. The alien inhabitants, who have managed perfectly well without the assistance of Earth, suddenly find themselves caught in the middle of humanity’s latest territorial argument.

Naturally, everybody insists that their particular national interests are entirely reasonable.

Originally published in 1979, Jem reflects the tensions of the Cold War, when ideological competition between rival power blocs extended into practically every aspect of international life, including the exploration of space.

Pohl imagines what might happen if those rivalries followed humanity beyond the Solar System, transforming the supposedly noble enterprise of interstellar exploration into another exercise in political manoeuvring and strategic self-interest.

The novel’s alien ecology provides a fascinating counterpoint to the human drama. Its intelligent inhabitants are genuinely strange, challenging the comfortable assumption that extraterrestrial life must resemble human beings with slightly unusual foreheads.

Yet despite the extraordinary setting, the most bewildering creatures on Jem frequently turn out to be the visitors from Earth.

Pohl combines imaginative world-building with biting political satire, examining imperialism, environmental exploitation, militarism and the persistent human tendency to assume that discovering somewhere automatically confers the right to interfere with it.

The result is both entertaining science fiction and an uncomfortable commentary on the history of terrestrial civilisation.

Jem was nominated for the Hugo and Nebula Awards, reflecting its standing among the more ambitious works of late twentieth-century speculative fiction.

This 2001 Gollancz edition, offered in Very Good condition by Crappy Old Books, is an excellent acquisition for admirers of intelligent science fiction, alien-world adventures and political satire with a distinctly pessimistic view of human progress.

A fascinating, inventive and darkly humorous novel that asks whether humanity might become wiser after reaching the stars.

The answer, unfortunately, is not especially encouraging.

Because mankind may eventually develop the technology to cross interstellar distances, discover intelligent alien civilisations and establish settlements on distant planets.

But apparently nobody will think to leave the politicians at home.

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