Down There in the Darkness

by George Turner

Book Overview

Turner was already a significant Australian novelist before he turned to science fiction in the 1970s and became one of the great SF writers, winning the Arthur C. Clarke Award for best novel.In a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312868294
• ISBN13: 9780312868291
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.8" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

A Psychological, genetic and sociological sci-fi masterpiece!

I've been reading constantly reading SF for a full two years now (totaling about 200 books) and I have rarely read anything that grabbed me from the first pages of the book... nor have I rarely read anything that rockets itself into my TOP 5. Down There in Darkness was just that kind of book which I instantly fell in love with also hence put itself into my TOP 5 SF along with classics like We by Yevgeny Zamyatin and Voyage of the Space Beagle by A.E. van Vogt. An amazing mix of sciences of psychology, genetics and sociology is unfolded into the plot, which spans 130 years (2033, 2068 and 2168)and touches the expanse of human consciousness. During the 2030s, Earth is in an era similar to the Roaring 20s during the 1920s. The economy is growing (as well as the population) while everyone is blissfully ignorant of the imminent ecological collapse around them. At this time, an experiment is conducted to probe question within the mind through sensory deprivation, which ends in one man becoming comatose. Fast-forward to the 2060s and the world has obviously taken a turn for the worst: global warming, joblessness, crime, paranoia... the works. Turner writes, "It was a time when murder was commonplace; respect for life was not a prime commandment in a world wherein the vast bulk of population had no hope of rising out of Suss poverty and nurtured little morality beyond self-preservation." Main character Harry gets a strange case about an experiment from the 2030s and is asked to probe the repercussion of the comatose man's wakening. It's shrouded in mystery as the man hasn't aged and has been given over to a cult church by his own wife. Harry calls on his friend Gus to assist him in the awakening along with a psychologist and a host of observers. The plot then links the story to the year 2168, one hundred years later, and we find Harry and Gus confronting a more terrible future. Here, the few people still alive are "products of an inheritance too garbled for resolution by nationality." They must confront a new world order and the unfortunate history which has passed them by. It's a mind bending read, which isn't based far from the current speculative future we are seeing today. Turner has rocketed himself into my TOP 5 with this gorgeous read!

Down There in Darkness

I am an Aussie and I stumbled across this book not long ago. I was impressed with the cover so decided to take a chance to read as I had not heard of the author before but since it was an Aussie book i decided to give it ago. I read this book and was very impressed. I wondered why George Turner is unknown when he writes great books such as "Down There in Darkness." I recommend it to anyone who enjoys stories about the near future and the social decay that is predicted with it.

Zigs and Zags to a stirring conclusion

I found this novel a bit troublesome to read on several accounts. The story is extremely well written and very absorbing, but it takes several great leaps and in so doing leaves the previous plots and major characters behind. The second problem stems from the fact that the author was Australian and has incorporated a fair amount of Australian Koori lore and Australian vernacular into his tale.That said, I found it a remarkable book. Each "section" is very interesting in its own right. Turner's dark vision of a future Earth is well rendered and gives considerable pause to reflect. The characters are finely wrought, but I feel that the star of this effort is the concept itself.The intense drama revolving around the "cleansing" of the Earth is as much a shock to us as it is to Gus, one of the few survivors from the bitterly difficult earlier times. The ending of the story is a curious and curiously refreshing twist that speaks of hope and lifts us above the dark brew.Not a simple read, but highly recommended.

Exploring the dark future of humanity proves illuminating.

George Turner was a superb writer, and this novel brings together many themes explored in his earlier novels. The future as distopia, the power of the mind, the bleakness of humanity and it's reactionary procession through time.As dark as it all sounds, it really is quite illuminating to see the author's vision, and as a tale showing a possible future without shoving cautionary rhetoric down the readers gullet. It *is* a remade "Brave New World"--updated for the new century, and told with the voice of an aging writer who has seen worlds of change in his lifetime. There is a lot more here than is first exposed, and put's this in the "thoughtful" school of science fiction--possibly a bit heavy for some. Entertaining as well as enlightening, and highly recommended.