The Outward Urge (Ballantine #341 K)

by John Wyndham and Lucas Parkes

Book Overview

The 'outward urge' was a factor in the Troon inheritance. Successive generations of Troons, looking up at the stars, heard the siren voices that called them out into Space. And, as the frontiers of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0000CK6WR
• Release Date: January 1959
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 143 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Ideas are fresh, even if the book is not

This is John Wyndham's most "technical" work, such is the reason he involved his alter ego Lucas Parkes to collaborate on the tech aspects. The idea of Brazil and Australia becoming super powers is interesting, so too the fact that Space exploration has only been motivated due to war and the quest for power. I sometimes wonder whether Wyndham was not confident in taking full credit for this book as it deviates from his usual British flavoured "cosy catastrophes" as such hid behind collaboration, nonetheless he should have been proud of his effort.

Wyndham's wit continues

Told in 5 parts, The Outward Urge is the story of 5 successive eras in the development of space travel and exploration. By now, the topic has covered ad nauseum and books of the sort are left (often with good reason) sitting in the corner or propping up an old table. What differentiates this from those though is that it was written in 1959 when space travel was still a passing dream to most and, as those who have read John Wyndham before will know, the author makes a perfect mix of fact, fiction and philosophy backed by genuinely good story telling to get his point across.The characters of the novel are very well conceived and all too realistic in their reactions to the circumstances presented to them. I find that John Wyndham has a talent for portraying his characters believably and accurately, which lends his far-out stories an air of realism that many authors lack. In one particular scene of Mars, the third part of the novel, one of two men stranded in a craft on Mars believes the other to be an alien in the man's body; positively bereft of reality, his calm insanity becomes absolutely chilling to one reading in the quiet of the night.Writing The Outward Urge presented serious obstacles to the author due to the technical nature of writing such a story, solved by consulting Lucas Parkes for the technological details to make it all more believable. Considering the erratic leaps and bounds technology has made since 1959, many predictions weren't so far off- such as the prediction of a space station by 1994 or the use of "narrow radar beams" used for tracking distances (think lasers).Most important however are the author's suggestions about the other aspects of space travel. While loosely connected, each story part brings its own unique interpretation and representations of the political, social and individual implications of space travel to the tale, with a very clear voice about where the he stands on each. Here too his predictions are eerily accurate. In the fourth part, Venus, he tells of the modern superpower, Brazil, claiming Space as its province, illustrating the absurdity of man's claim to territory. In the first part, The Space Station, man's desire to reach the stars is overshadowed by his government's desire to exploit its tactical possibilities (think STARWARS program) and futher its position in the global rankings. This theme of Government Agenda versus Man carries on throughout and what often begins in personal or technological triumph ends in aggressive positioning and political wrangling, robbing the moment of any victory. Pervasive in each also though is that glimmering possibility that Man will one day overcome his political chains.As with most of John Wyndham's other novels, The Outward Urge is nothing mind-blowing or particularly overwhelming, but it is a good story and very well written. What he lacks in explosive impact he exceeds in the art of subtlety and intelligence. The book can be read with ease in a day or two and, if

Family Connections

In "The Outward Urge" (1959) John Wyndham writes, along with his alter ego Lucas Parkes, a story describing four generations of a British, space-faring family - the Troons. The title of the book refers to a compulsion felt by this family to leave Earth and head for the stars. In their eyes there is a destiny to be fulfilled: to spread out and conquer ever-widening reaches of space.The first chapter takes place in 1994, when the first space station is being built and mankind is yet to claim the Moon. (Wyndham never dreamed there would be footprints on the Moon just four months after his death.) The rivalry between the United States and the Soviets is intense. Britain is somewhat neutral. Ticker Troon, 24, is taking part in the construction of the space station when the project is almost sabotaged by an unknown, wandering missile. Ticker's bravery saves the lives of his fellows and the project but he never sees his new-born son Michael...Fifty years later Michael Troon is the commander of a British station on the Moon. On Earth the northern hemisphere is being pounded in a nuclear bombardment. The extent of the damage can only be guessed at but casualties are known to be in the millions. Shocking statistics for a war that has only been going for ten days. Much of the northern hemisphere is reduced to ash.After the Great Northern War countries of importance are now in the southern hemisphere. The strongest of these is Brazil. In 2094 Geoffery Trunho, the first man on Mars, becomes stranded after a misadventure with the landing module. He writes an account of what happened, in the hope that someone will find it one day. From his description, Mars is a dreary, desolate place to be marooned.By 2144, Australians have landed on Venus. (One of the Troons became an Australian citizen.) This causes something of an uproar among the Brazilians, who consider space to be their province. It looks as if their monopoly of space is being challenged and plans are made to save face. Will Australia and Brazil come to blows?At the time "The Outward Urge" was written space travel was still a dream. The best views of space were in the paintings of Chesley Bonestell, even though they were fanciful. Lucas Parkes wrote the parts of the story detailing the science (such as it was then), in an effort to make the book more believable. In the end you can't help but agree with the Troons - space needs to be colonized, and soon. In the event of an apocalyptic meteor smashing into the Earth it would be comforting to know that other planets are populated. The human race needn't become extinct.