Recently read: Advanced technology vs. lower tech

[steuard]

I've recently read a couple of books that in one way or another explore the introduction of advanced technology into a less developed world. Island in the Sea of Time by S.M. Stirling is an alternate history story set in Earth's past, while Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber is a sci-fi story set on a human colony world that has abandoned technology.

Island in the Sea of Time:

The island of Nantucket of 1998 has been mysteriously transported back to 1250BC. The inhabitants must quickly develop enough agriculture and trade to support themselves without the benefit of modern society. But they must also confront those who want to use modern technology to set themselves up as kings.

I find this concept very interesting: I've long been intrigued by the question of how I could survive and make a difference in a primitive society (no, I don't know why). The ideas seem to have been executed reasonably well, touching on a lot of issues that the stranded modern people would have to deal with. Two or three main characters get most of the attention, and while they don't necessarily develop all that much, they feel fairly realistic and well-drawn.

On the other hand, some of the minor characters descend into pure caricature in ways that make it feel like the author is condemning whole groups of people. One character's introduction involves what could be fairly normal S&M sexual interests, but she becomes a major villain who delights in horrific torture. Another character is a stereotypical environmentalist who idealizes native cultures, and her painfully clueless attempt to "help" the locals end in completely overblown disaster (lots of people are killed, she suffers a particularly awful rape and then gets killed, and just to rub it in the native culture is wiped out by mumps). And of course there's my usual complaint about this sort of story: about half of it revolves around war and military issues.

Off Armageddon Reef:

Humanity has been almost annihilated by an alien race. The survivors have abandoned all modern technology that would draw the aliens' attention and have established a culture without knowledge of their history and in which the church forbids all technological progress. Now an android with the memories of one of the military officers who helped establish this world must help them to overcome the stifling church and redevelop the technology to defend themselves before the aliens find them again.

In the end, the point of this book is apparently to answer that age-old question: "What would happen if one nation in maybe the 18th century was given technology from the 19th and information and communications from the 21st or 22nd? Could they kick the butts of everyone else put together?" (In case you're wondering, the answer is "Yes.")

This book bugs me. The initial premise is exciting and interesting: how can the characters preserve the human race in the face of an overwhelming enemy bent on genocide? Even the brief sketch of the conflict and the bleak options was enough to hook me into the story. So what does Weber do with it? Absolutely nothing. We're quickly dropped into a society stuck permanently in the Age of Sail, where gunpowder is the most advanced technology on the planet. The backstory seems to exist only to justify the android, whose role is basically "superhero" (due to both superhuman physiology and a whole lot of "technology indistinguishable from magic"). The android also acts as a source of technological hints and advice, which are understood and accepted and implemented ridiculously quickly by the people who receive them (which means they aren't particularly believable characters, either). Apart from the first few chapters, the story has nothing to do with the original plot and everything to do with incremental improvements in guns and sailing technology, supplemented with support from super-samurai-man and his ubiquitous network of miniature spy drones.

This isn't the first time that Weber has pulled a bait and switch like this. His "Empire of Man" series starts briefly with intriguing hints of a coup attempt against the royal family of an interstellar empire, but then spends three books following the survivors as they march across a primitive planet and repeatedly slaughter thousands of low-tech natives. (The fourth book finally ties back in to the initial plot.) In fact, quite a bit of this book's specific scenario is familiar from Weber's other books: he deals with powerful aliens determined to wipe out all competing sentient species in his "Dahak" trilogy and half of his "Starfire" books, and he addresses conflicts between higher and lower technological levels in the "Empire of Man" series (as noted), in his contributions to the 1632 series, and in the book Heirs of Empire in the Dahak series. (That last book is awfully similar to this one.)

I think I would have been much happier with this book if it had been organized as a sequence of minor interventions by the android spaced years apart (perhaps even in the style of a short story collection like the original "Foundation" trilogy). Heck, it might have even been possible to avoid so much bloodshed along the way. But that wouldn't satisfy Weber's main interests (or, I suppose, his main audience). And more charitably, it would mean that the android would be the only character who got the chance to develop throughout the book and the series. I'll bet it could have been done well, though.

Short summary: Island in the Sea of Time is an interesting read even though it's frustrating at times; I may eventually read its sequels. But I wouldn't recommend Off Armageddon Reef, and I have no real interest in following it up.