Orbital Resonance, by John Barnes

Posted by: Redhead on: August 9, 2012

• In: John Barnes
• 15 Comments

Orbital Resonance, by John Barnes

published in 1991

where I got it: the library

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Melpomene Murray sees herself as a completely normal twelve year old. She looks up to her older brother, argues with her Mom, has plenty of friends at school, has just discovered boys, and enjoys math and low-g sports. And like all the kids in her class on the asteroid-turned-space colony known as The Flying Dutchman, Melpomene is fluent in five languages, and studies physics, cybernetics, and calculus during her ten hour schoolday. Yup, she’s a completely normal kid, right?

One of the brighter students in her class, Mel has been asked to write a book about life on The Flying Dutchman, something to help the people on Earth realize that the spacers are regular people, just like them.  Orbital Resonance is in effect, her first draft. Mel might be forced to watch news from Earth with her classmates, but it’s the sanitized version. She has no idea of the disasters of post-collapse Earth, of the horror of life outside the domed cities, of the different pressures that children raised on Earth face. And she has no idea that she’s been conditioned to specifically play well with others.  She has no idea of anything, until a boy from Earth transfers into her class and opens everyone eyes.

You see, the scientists of the The Flying Dutchman had a plan. They needed a fully operational and successful colony in the Earth / Mars orbit in the shortest possible time. The social plan for the colony was to raise the children in such a manner that they would be conditioned to love the colony, to want to work for the colony, and to be educated at a young age in fields that the colony needed.  Most citizens take their “full adult” exam at fourteen or fifteen, and are expected to work full time and begin a family shortly after that. There’s a creepy dissonance happening here – Melpomene is a supremely likeable kid, but how much of that likeability is brainwashing?

Many reviewers have likened Orbital Resonance to books like Enders Game, and while there are no war games in this story, it’s a worthy comparison, as every day is a test for the kids of The Flying Dutchman, they just don’t know it. Humanity is relying on the success of this colony, and on the morally questionable plan of the scientists and psychologists who are raising thousands of children there.

I was expecting a light, fun read. What John Barnes gave me was a completely engrossing, wonderfully addictive, and at times absolutely hilarious book. I certainly wasn’t speaking five languages when I was twelve, but I do remember being that age, of desperately wanting to be liked in school, of not understanding why grown ups were so weird, those tingly feelings of a first crush. I wanted Melpomene to have a happy ending, and when some of her social situations went sour, I wanted to punch her classmates. I would have wanted to have a friend like her when I was that age.

I wish I could recall the conversation I was involved in where someone had recommended this book, because I wish that person had told me ten years ago to start reading John Barnes. I doubt I was looking for a YA recommendation, nor am I sure this is a YA book. Melpomene may be a kid, but she swears like a sailor when she doesn’t think any adults are around, there is plenty of frank talk about sex and sexual escapades, and honestly, I think a younger reader wouldn’t be interested in the heavier issues that make up the crux of the story.

I had some issue with the end of the book, like another YA book I recently read it felt rushed, and somewhat at odds with what leads up to it.  But despite that, Orbital Resonance is one of the more fun books I’ve read this year, and it was a great introduction to the earlier works of John Barnes.

Tags: future, science fiction, teenagers, YA