Hothouse (novel)

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Title Hothouse
Author Brian Aldiss
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Genre(s) science fiction novel
Publisher Faber and Faber
Released 1962
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages 206 pp
ISBN ISBN 0-451-08575-2

Hothouse is a 1962 fantasy/science fiction novel by British author Brian Aldiss, composed of 5 novelettes that were originally serialized in a magazine. In the US, an abridged version was published as The Long Afternoon of Earth; it wasn't till 1976 that the full version was published there.

Contents

[edit] Explanation of the novel's title

Earth, with one side constantly facing the sun (larger and hotter than now), is a veritable hothouse, where plants have filled almost all ecological niches. According to Aldiss's account, the US publisher insisted on the name-change so that the book wouldn't be put amongst the horticulture books in bookshops.

[edit] Plot introduction

Set in a far future Earth, where the earth has stopped rotating, is attached to the Moon with cobwebs, the Sun has increased output, and plants are engaged in a constant frenzy of growth and decay like a tropical forest enhanced a thousandfold, a few small groups of humans (a fifth of the size they are now) still live, on the edge of extinction, beneath the giant banyan tree that covers the day side of the earth.

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Lily-yo, leader of a small, matriarchal human tribe, decides that the group should break up, as the adults are too old, and should go to the Tips, the dangerous top levels of the forest in order to go "Up". Burnurns - transparent seed-casings - are collected, and the adults seal themselves inside after which the young attach them to the webs of the giant spider-like Traversers, plant-animal hybrids who will hopefully brush against them and thus carry them to the moon (which now has a breatheable atmosphere).

The unconscious adults reach their destination, where they discover they have transformed into Flymen, mutated by space radiation into flight-capable forms. They meet others, and a plot is hatched for an expedition back to Earth to kidnap human children to increase the population.

Back in the jungle, Toy is the new leader. While attempting to kill a large, seed-shaped suckerbird, the tribe accidentally become passengers on the suckerbird, and after a long flight they crashland on the coast at the base of a 'termight' castle on a peninsula.

Walking back to the forest through "Nomansland" - the interface-area between land and sea, a lethal place, Gren is waylaid by a "morel", a sentient fungus which attaches itself to his head and talks to, and controls him. After a power-struggle, Gren leaves the tribe with his friend Poyly, who is also taken-over by the morel.

On their travels, they meet Yattmur, of the "Herder" tribe, who live in caves in a congealed lava bed. Nearby, at the "Skirt of the black mouth", an unknown creature with Siren-like capabilities almost leads them to their deaths. Escaping, they meet the Tummy-belly men, some of whom they free by cutting the umbilical cords with which they are attached to a parasitic tree. All board a boat belonging to the tummy-bellies, and during the escape Poyly is killed.

The boat, uncontrolled, floats downriver, and into the sea. After several adventures, the crew find themselves on an iceberg, the boat destroyed, after which the berg abuts a small islet. They leave by hitching a ride on a plant which propagates by using self-propelled, stilt-walking seeds, which instinctively walk to the mainland.

They find themselves at the terminator, the boundary between the day and night sides, and to their horror they realise they are being carried over it. After a long journey, the seed stops near the top of a mountain, which, being high, is still lit by the (low) sun. There, Yattmur gives birth to a child, and they meet the Sharp-furs.

Here, also, they meet the Sodal Ye and his three helpers. Gren, increasingly taken over by the morel, wants the baby to host it as well. In return for food, the Sodal Ye thinks of a way to remove the morel from Gren's head by coaxing it into a bowl, where it is kept.

They decide to accompany the Sodal Ye back to Bountiful Basin, an arm of the sea close to the terminator. On the way, the creature explains to them that the world is about to end, and the strange, green columns they begin to see beaming into space is life itself, transferring to a new star.

They are followed by Sharp-furs and others, and notice that a traverser has landed, and blocked the passage to their destination. At this point, the morel manages to take over the Sodal Ye, and when they reach the giant spider, Gren meets Lily-yo again. All board the traverser, which is going to lift off to the stars (after being taken over by the morel) - all except Gren, Yattmur, and the baby, who decide to walk back to, and live, in the familiar forest.

[edit] Characters

  • Gren : Young male tribesman. Later, hosts a morel.
  • Lily-yo : Leader of Gren's tribe.
  • Band Appa Bondi : Flyman; stolen from Earth as a child.
  • Poyly : Gren's tribal friend.
  • The morel : Sentient fungus; forms symbiotic relationships with other lifeforms.
  • Yattmur : Gren's friend from the Herder tribe.
  • Flymen : Human sub-species; able to glide and fly.
  • The Tummy-belly men (fishers) : Humans who have become symbionts with the Tummy Trees.
  • Sharp-furs : Denizens of the Nightside, descended from baboons.
  • Sodal Ye : Prophet of the Nightside mountains; of the catch-carry-kind, descended from dolphins.
Spoilers end here.

[edit] Literary significance & criticism

Author and critic James Blish called the stories "utter nonsense" and took Aldiss to task for ignoring basic rules of physics 1. The magazine editor actually sought scientific advice about one aspect of the book. He was told that the orbital dynamics involved meant that it was nonsense, but the image of the earth and moon side by side in orbit, shrouded with cobwebs woven by giant vegetable spiders, was so outrageous and appealing that he published it anyway.

[edit] Awards and nominations

[edit] The magazine stories

  • There were originally 5 short stories, which appeared in 5 1961 issues of the magazine ... 1 ... 2


Story Issue Date Issue #
Hothouse February 1961 117
Nomansland April 1961 119
Undergrowth July 1961 122
Timberline September 1961 124
Evergreen December 1961 127

[edit] Trivia

[edit] Release details

[edit] Sources, references, external links, quotations

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