In addition to the book Cemetery World, I also picked up from the front of Michael’s Books Simak’s Shakespeare’s Planet. I liked this book better than Cemetery World, but in the end it still wasn’t very interesting.
Carter Horton is one of a crew of four on a sub-light spaceship sent out from Earth to explore other star systems and find habitable planets. Sometime along the way though some sort of accident occurred and the other three crewmen were killed. All were in cold sleep
for the thousand year long voyage. Surviving though is Ship, a loose amalgam of three human minds that runs the ship, and Nicodemus the robot assistant. Finding a possible habitable planet, Ship wakes Horton and lands on the surface.
There Nicodemus and Horton meet Carnivore, a stranded alien. They find out about a human who made it there before them, known only to Carnivore as Shakespeare for his reading material, The Complete Works of Shakespeare. Shakespeare has died though, and his gleaming skull plays a late part in the story. Carnivore and Shakespeare arrived via some sort of wormhole-like tunnel system, but found the way out shut off. Those are the major characters and their backstories.
Simak adds a whole host of other character though. There’s an alien intelligence that looks deep into the souls of every person alive on the planet just after dusk. It’s extra-planetary. There’s a creature locked in a time bubble. There’s a mysterious pool of liquid nearby. There’s Elayne, another human who arrives mid-story. Her job is to map the tunnels. There’s a buried evil monster. And there are three alien slugs. Horton has to figure out why everyone is there, since it can’t be coincidence. Also, the three minds of Ship argue with themselves over what is keeping them from merging into one mind.
That’s a lot going on. Since I’m reviewing a 32 year old book that few are going to rush out to buy, I’ll spoil this just a bit. Horton does not figure out what the hell is going on. There’s resolution, but resolution without purpose. I suspect that there is some homage to Shakespeare going on here, but since I am barely familiar with any of his plays, I couldn’t tell you what that is. The whole thing might make more sense in that context. Shakespeare people, help me out here!
Title: Shakespeare’s planet
Author: Clifford Simak
Cover artist: Paul Lehr
Imprint / publisher: Berkley Publishing Corporation
Format: Book club edition (hardcover)
Length: 178 p.
Publication date: 1976
ISBN-10: 0-399-11729-6
LC classification: PZ3.S5884 Sh
