http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2024983.html

A few years back I very much enjoyed Brenda Clough's two short stories about the revival of Captain Oates, of Scott's Antarctic expedition, by researchers in 2045, and when I bumped into her last weekend at PhilCon I made sure to let her know. Oh, she said, did you realise that I adapted them into a full-length novel, available online? Oh, I said, I didn't, and went off to download it.

My memory has faded of the details of the previously published stories, which you may not have read anyway, so I can't really detail the changes. The novel as it is now takes Oates through his culture shock at the gender and ethnic emancipation of the twenty-first century, through a passionate love affair and then a daring rescue of his lover from an alien planet. It is actually much better than that makes it sound, with Clough's memorable depiction of Oates as fish-out-of-water the best part of the book, though her alien intelligence is unusual and memorable also.

I did wonder whether Oates could have been as emotionally inexperienced as Clough depicted him. He died on or about his 32nd birthday, having fought in the Boer War, and it seems rather improbable that he had never encountered female intimacy beforehand. Recent research suggests a very different, much more sordid story though with admittedly little evidence. Of course, Clough's story is about her imagined Oates rather than a historical reconstruction.

It's a bit surprising that no paper publisher has picked up on Revise the World. Thanks to the internets it is available from Book View Cafe here. I'm also sorry that Clough didn't keep the excellent title of the original Hugo- and Nebula-shortlisted novella, "May Be Some Time", for the novel-length expansion. It is a book that deserved to be better known. ( )

I recently read an awesome book by Brenda Clough called Revise the World. It's near-future SF, featuring the Antarctic explorer Titus Oates, and it fills me with astonishing glee. Note: This is an e-book only: http://www.bookviewcafe.com/option,com_deeppockets/task,contShow/id,408/Itemid,5...

1912: Titus Oates, an actual member of Scott's doomed South Pole Expedition, is dying of starvation and gangrene and walks into the blizzard to die and give his comrades a better chance to survive.

2045: Titus is revived by scientists attempting to prove the efficacy of time-travel without altering the past. Oates' body was never found in Antarctica, and knowing this, the scientists have traveled back to snatch him before he dies in the blizzard. The reason for the time-travel experiment? - to determine if a faster-than-light, time-traveling drive is safe for use in space travel. The specifications for the drive have been received from a distant planet, and modern society would like to visit the alien civilization and return to report to Earth within the span of only a few years.

Titus awakens into a world he cannot comprehend. The language is the same, but usage and terminology for all the intervening years renders most sentences unintelligible. Constant and instant communication, medical miracles (his rotting limbs have all been cloned and replaced), total equality of race, gender and orientation, and scientific marvels, all are a challenge to his notions of reality, propriety, and his place in life. Much of the books is concerned with his struggles to find trust and purpose again. His rescuers fear for his sanity, and there are many times he must readjust his judgments and attitudes lest he succumb. At one point he tries to find a way to return to the past and die as was meant. He falls in love with one of his doctors, makes friends and some enemies, revolts and runs, tries again, watches his lover sail off in space for a years-long mission to the distant planet, decides to try again to be an explorer and meaningful member of society. The last third of the book takes place 8 years later, with Titus almost fully integrated into 21st century life and embarking on a final huge adventure.

Titus is a fascinating character, an Edwardian gentleman adjusting to an egalitarian, space-age, consensus-ruled society. The author has researched the realities of early 20th century Antarctic exploration, and her imagining of a far future life for one of them is creative and realistic, with natural dialogue. The 500 pages go by quickly, and the last 100 are almost guaranteed to be read in one sitting. Highly recommended! ( )