Learning the World
{{Short description|2005 novel by Ken MacLeod}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox book |
| name = Learning the World:
A Scientific Romance
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image = LearningTheWorld.jpg
| caption = Cover of first edition (hardcover)
| author = Ken MacLeod
| cover_artist = Lee Gibbons
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| series =
| genre = Science fiction
| publisher = Orbit
| release_date = 2005
| media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
| pages = 303
| isbn = 1-84149-343-0 |isbn_note= (hardcover),
{{ISBN|1-84149-344-9}} (paperback)
| oclc= 59878405
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
}}
Learning the World is a science fiction novel by British writer Ken MacLeod, published in 2005. It won the 2006 Prometheus Award, was nominated for the Hugo, Locus, Clarke, and Campbell Awards{{cite web
| url = http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=2006
| title = 2006 Award Winners & Nominees
| work = Worlds Without End
| accessdate=2009-07-20
}} that same year, and received a BSFA nomination{{cite web
| url = http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=2005
| title = 2005 Award Winners & Nominees
| work = Worlds Without End
| accessdate=2009-07-20
}} in 2005. Since the book's publication MacLeod has written two short stories set in the same universe, "Lighting Out"{{Cite web | url=http://www.sfrevu.com/Review-id.php?id=3776 | title=Ken MacLeod Interview }} and "Who's Afraid of Wolf 359?".
Premise
A human generation ship named But the Sky, My Lady! The Sky! approaches the Destiny Star to make first contact. The discovery of an industrial age-level alien species (the first encountered by humans) upsets the established protocols of the ship and causes social unrest.
Reception
Carl Hays in his review for Booklist said that "MacLeod continues to dazzle readers with vividly rendered landscapes of technological splendor and fascinating yet plausible visions of humanity's future."{{cite journal|last=Hays|first= Carl|date=October 15, 2005|title=Learning the World|journal=Booklist|volume= 102|issue= 4|pages=37|issn=0006-7385}} Kirkus Reviews writes "MacLeod flips back and forth between stories of the humans and aliens, avoiding the usual pro-human slant and presenting both sides as equally complex. And as humans advance on their planet, the aliens are beginning to wonder why their slave race, the "trudges," is starting to act uppity."{{cite journal|date=September 1, 2005|title=LEARNING THE WORLD: Or, A Scientific Romance|journal=Kirkus Reviews|volume= 73|issue= 17|pages=947|issn=0042-6598}} Ted Rose in his review for Entertainment Weekly described this novel as "a compelling first-contact scenario, but MacLeod's confusing characters lead to a lackluster close encounter."{{cite magazine|last=Rose|first=Ted|date=December 9, 2005|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|issue= 853|pages=92|issn=1049-0434}}
References to other works
In the novel MacLeod uses "alien space bats", a science fiction MacGuffin, as characters in the novel as an in-joke.{{cite web |url=http://www.strangehorizons.com/reviews/2005/12/two_views_cit-comments.shtml |title=Two Views: Learning the World by Ken Macleod |accessdate=2008-10-08 |last=Harrison |first=Niall |author2=Dan Hartland |date=2005-12-15 |work=Book Review |publisher=Strange Horizons |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517091636/http://www.strangehorizons.com/reviews/2005/12/two_views_cit-comments.shtml |archive-date=2008-05-17 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.locusmag.com/2006/Issues/09MacLeod.html |title=Ken MacLeod: Politics & SF |accessdate=2008-10-08 |author= |date=September 2006 |work=Interview |publisher=Locus Online}} The text of the novel is interlarded with recontextualised quotations from the works of well-known science fiction writers.
Notes
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{ISFDB title|id=171778|title=Learning the World}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070926225002/http://www.zone-sf.com/wordworks/ltwkmac.html Review, Learning The World]
- [http://www.worldswithoutend.com/novel.asp?ID=810 Learning the World] at Worlds Without End
{{Prometheus Best Novel Award}}
Category:2005 science fiction novels
Category:Novels by Ken MacLeod