Nova

By Arthur Newcomb

Given that the suns of Draco stretch almost sixteen light years from end to end, it stands to reason that the cost of transportation is the most important factor of the 32nd century. And since Illyrion is the element most needed for space travel, Lorq von Ray is plenty willing to fly through the core of a recently imploded sun in order to obtain seven tons of it. The potential for profit is so great that Lorq has little difficulty cobbling together an alluring crew that includes a gypsy musician and a moon-obsessed scholar interested in the ancient art of writing a novel. What the crew doesn't know, though, is that Lorq's quest is actually fueled by a private revenge so consuming that he'll stop at nothing to achieve it. In the grandest manner of speculative fiction, Nova is a wise and witty classic that casts a fascinating new light on some of humanity's oldest truths and enduring myths.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375706704
• ISBN13: 9780375706707
• Release Date: June 2002
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Perhaps my fav next to Dhalgren

This is a great space adventure novel from the 1970's ripe with all the excess and energy of the "sixties" and as dreamy as any Roger Dean painting. If you want a great big purple psychedelic mushroom of a novel, this or a few others of Delaney's will do the job. This one is a fav though. It's straight-up sci-fi, but with a much higher passionate, dramatic flair, and BTW perhaps the first sci-fi novel I encountered where...

Melville in the Future

I have a feeling this is going to be my summer of Delany. I read Nova on the heels of his short story collection Aye, and Gomorrah and the virtues that I found in that collection are also to be found in this novel in spades. Delany writes with an attention to detail, prose and character that is astounding, and in doing so he creates a scifi world that is truly natural and lacks the self-consciousness of much of the genre...

Stellar (Dis)-Integration

I consider Nova to be one of Delany's best works. While written comparatively early in his career (1968), it shows maturity in handling of both language and character. The narrator, the Mouse, is Delany's typical nail biting, one shoed foot outsider from civilization (gypsy like, in this case), who, while intriguing in his own right, makes an excellent contrast to Prince Red, spoiled, rich, and equipped with an artificial...

Eloquent space opera with a dash of cyber.

Delany, considered by many to be the most complex and original sci-fi author out there, shines in this book. Nova is probably Delany's most mainstream work, meaning that he cranked the intellect and dialect dial down just a tad so us mortals can just enjoy a fun book for once. And Nova delivers. The story centers around a the haunted captain of the Roc (a ship) that is on a quest for the equivalent of his Holy Grail. Along...