Debatable Space

by Philip Palmer

Book Overview

Flanagan (who is, for want of a better word, a pirate) has a plan. It seems relatively simple: kidnap Lena, the Cheo's daughter, demand a vast ransom for her safe return, sit back and wait.

Only the Cheo, despotic ruler of the known universe, isn't playing ball. Flanagan and his crew have seen this before, of course, but since they've learned a few tricks from the bad old days and since they know something about Lena that should make the plan...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316068098
• ISBN13: 9780316068093
• Release Date: September 2008
• Publisher: Orbit
• Length: 533 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 4.2" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

Sometimes slow, but not bad.

First, I'd like to say that Lena's logs are boring. If they bother you as much as they did me, I recommend skipping all of them except for the last one, which, if I recall correctly, is "book 9" in the story. The others aren't particularly consequential to the story and might not be worth the tedium. I think that's useful advice for anyone who would read this novel. Now, I'm young, I typically don't read fiction, and I've only read a handful of sci-fi novels, so from the perspective of someone unaccustomed to fiction in general, I can say I enjoyed this book, despite its inconsistency. I agree with other reviewers that the lengthy "personal journals" of Lena that occasionally break up the action could have been left out almost completely to speed things up. After sloughing through the first two of them, I dreaded seeing the others, but forced myself to stick with them for the sake of completion. In truth, they just weren't particularly interesting and far too lengthy. I understand they were meant to add some complexity to Lena's character, but I never found Lena to be very likable and her personal sexual escapades weren't any fun to read about. I would have enjoyed the novel much more if they were heavily trimmed or even left out completely; they did not need to be separate "books" in the novel. Outside of those logs, though, I found an enjoyable read that I finished within a few vacation days. The characters were interesting and diverse (but in Lena's case, overdeveloped), and the multiple first-person perspectives used allowed for details into each character's thoughts in a way I've never read before. It was exciting to have so many characters play brief roles as "main characters" sporadically throughout the story. Overall, I recommend the book if you need something new to read (which is exactly what happened to me, and is how I found this in an international bookstore) and know ahead of time that Lena's personal journals often slow the story down to a crashing stop. Focus on the rest of it, and I think this is a good read.

Fresh Hard SciFi in a Quirky Style

Unlike the typical space opera drivel, this book is DIFFERENT - granted most of us who read SciFi on the plane for pure mindless entertainment may not like this one, but while it surely does not bring any new grand hard sci-fi ideas to bear, it does read in a pleasant and unusual manner. Recommended - even only for the endearing, extra dry, Brit sense of humor.

More Thought than Action

"Debatable Space" has really been beaten up in the reviews. The book is a little excessive in places; it suffers from the British predilection toward wordiness, their peculiar usage and dry delivery, and that other British fascination, graphic sexual language. Having read many books by British author J.G. Ballard, who also cuts loose all of his inhibitions in print, I'm accustomed to these quirks, especially the dirty sex talk, and so just take these in stride as the price of reading British fiction. Beyond these issues, and despite the poor reviews, I gave "Debatable Space" a chance--and I enjoyed it. It is not space opera in the American vein of raucous kicking of butt; it is instead a nuanced exploration of humanity: the dichotomies of human character, the simultaneity of good and evil, and the possible ramifications for the future if humans achieve almost indefinite life spans. I did not find Lena's character to be boring or miscast as other reviewers have commented. I was intrigued by the arc of her long life and appreciated the deftness with which Philip Palmer handled Lena's ego and self delusion, ambition and frailty. By hopping back and forth between the perspectives of each of his characters, Palmer demonstrates how our perceptions of each other influence our actions, and how these perceptions are often misguided. "Debatable Space" is a character study woven throughout some interesting speculative science.

Amazingly creative and original novel with characters to match

I don't normally write reviews for books; but once I saw the other reviews I felt I had little choice. My fellow reviewers do this book little justice. This is one of the first science fiction books in a long time which took a serious chance, not since Robert Heinlein's original masterpieces has a novel come along with a truly unique universe with imaginative and diverse assortment of characters. (If you don't like long reviews let me say if you like truly original science fiction. It's not for everyone but take a chance, by it used and read it. I did and was thoroughly surprised and impressed.) ***Possible Spoilers*** But let me say it reads very differently than most books. It is written in the first person present tense and is constantly switching from character to character. For some this may make for a difficult read but once I got into the style of writing I was hooked. You are able to explore the motivations, opinions and psyches of the main characters. For example, Lena is a self-deprecating, low self-esteem mess with a serious inferiority/superiority complex. You see this in the way she treats herself and others. When she tells her tale of being trapped in an abusive relationship she exhibits classics signs of dependence and abandonment issues; as seen in literally thousands of psychiatric cases studies. Individuals become fully aware of the dangers of the abusive but are unable to escape. (Palmer seriously did his homework on human behavior, or maybe just actually paid attention in psychology class.) Also Palmer makes great use of current theories about the nature of the universe and physics. He applies common concepts about quantum and Einsteinin physics; i.e. you can travel faster than the speed of light, time dilation. He also incorporates seemingly unbelievable aspects of quantum physics (which however are in fact plausible under the current theories) such as the quantum beacon which allows for instantaneous communication, not travel, through the use of Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen Paradox. (Cool stuff if you're the science type) This is a unique approach to human exploration and expansion into space. But it's not all science and psychology it has an enthralling and entraining storyline with a unique mix of sarcastic and conventional humor. A great tale of swashbuckling space pirates, wolf-men, enhanced `immortal' humans and very odd aliens. All-in-All a great read, I would seriously recommend this to anyone who likes science fiction that breaks the mold and is not simple a re-fabrication of other authors ideas. Take a chance, read something truly unique in a genre which of late really, really needs it.

terrific space opera

Lena is traveling solo in deep space glad to get away from the perfection of thirty-first century Earth when the computer implanted in her brain informs her that a pirate ship is heading her way. The leader of the pirates Flanagan wins the battle and boards her ship telling her she is a hostage to be used in negotiations with Cheo the dictator of Earth. He knows of the special relationship that exists between the two of them and intends to exploit that. Lena knows that when it looks hopeless, the Cheo will let her get killed. Flanagan has plans and one includes the liberation of his homeworld Cambria a slave colony ruled by Doppelganger Robots who are inhabited by the minds of the elite on Earth. He has a plan that would allow the crew to disconnect Cambrina from the universal web. From there he convinces the pirates from all over the galaxy to help him disconnect the beacons which would result in isolating Earth and freeing the empire. The only problem is the empire has warships in the millions and the pirates have ships in the six digit range. Philip Palmer writes a terrific space opera and DEBATABLE SPACE would make a great marquee movie in the tradition of Star Wars. Alien races co-exist with humanity and the aliens are major characters so readers feel as if they actually exist. Readers ride an orbital roller coaster that takes us to various planets in the galaxy, making the audience realize how enslaved the human race is if they don't live on Earth. Harriet Klausner