Makenzie returns home to earth

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Makenzie Returns Home (English original title Imperial Earth ) is a science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke , which was published in 1976 in time for the bicentenary of the United States' Declaration of Independence . The plot follows the protagonist, Duncan Makenzie, who travels from his home on Titan to Earth . Apparently he is making the trip as a diplomatic visit on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the United States, but the main purpose is to have a clone created there .

action

Duncan Makenzie is the last representative of the "first family" on Titan, a colonized moon of Saturn . After the original settlement in the 23rd century by his "grandfather" Malcolm Makenzie, the local economy flourished. The basis is the extraction and sale of hydrogen from the atmosphere of Titan, which is used as fuel for the fusion drive of interplanetary spaceships.

When the action begins in 2276, various factors come together that make a diplomatic visit to earth necessary. First, the 500th anniversary of the United States' Declaration of Independence is imminent, for which representatives from all colonies in the solar system will travel - and for which a suitable representative for Titan is needed. In second place is the fact that the Makenzies carry an irreversible genetic defect that makes it impossible to continue the family line naturally. Hence, both Duncan and his father Colin are clones of his grandfather Malcolm. At the time of the novel, human cloning is a mature technology, but it is still ethically controversial. Thirdly, there is a technical advance in propulsion systems for spaceships - the new “asymptotic propulsion” threatens to deprive Titan's economy of its foundations, as it manages with a fraction of the hydrogen that the fusion propulsion systems previously used require.

A number of sub-storylines also suggest a greater mystery, but are not pursued any further. The book ends with Duncan's homecoming, bringing his new "child" with him, who turns out to be a clone of his brilliant but unpredictable former best friend Karl Helmer, who dies in an accident while Duncan's stay on earth. Some of the other storylines remain open at the end of the novel.

content

Furthermore, the game Pentominos occupies a prominent place in some storylines.

The novel also offers some socially very liberal views. For example, Duncan Makenzie has black skin , which is only mentioned in the middle of the book, and then only to find out that society does not attach more importance to his skin color than to hair color. At several points in the book, Duncan thinks back to sexual relationships with men and it becomes apparent that bisexuality was considered the norm in his day. Monosexuality is the social exception in the book. In addition, Clarke deals in the book with the ethical aspects of cloning (a very young topic in the early 1970s) and the economics of control and production of energy sources.

Finally, in the novel, Clarke also describes in detail a personal communication device that he calls "Minisec" - basically a combination of a mobile video phone and PDA with worldwide access to the data network. A larger communication console ("Comsole") is also described, which also provides access to all communication and information services worldwide.

expenditure

The original UK hardcover edition is subtitled A Fantasy of Love and Discord and has 38 chapters and an Acknowledgments and Notes section. The later hardcover edition for the American market dispenses with the subtitle and has 43 chapters. In addition, the acknowledgments and notes have been expanded there and a quote from Ernest Hemingway is added at the beginning of the book. In the later paperback edition, another note was added about a possible biological error in the plot.

literature

  • Arthur C. Clarke: Imperial earth: a fantasy of love and discord . Gollancz, London 1975, ISBN 0-575-02011-3 . (UK hardcover edition)
  • Arthur C. Clarke: Imperial Earth . Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York 1976, ISBN 0-15-144233-9 . (US hardcover edition)
  • Arthur C. Clarke: Makenzie returns home to earth . Heyne, Munich 1979, ISBN 3-453-30558-2 .