- Lovelock
infobox Book |
name = Lovelock
orig title =
translator =
author =Orson Scott Card &Kathryn H. Kidd
cover_artist =
country =United States
language = English
series =The Mayflower Trilogy
genre =Science fiction
publisher =Tor Books
release_date =1994
media_type = Print (Hardcover &Paperback )
pages = 285 pp
isbn = ISBN 0-312-85732-2
preceded_by =
followed_by = Rasputin"Lovelock" (1994) is a
science fiction novel byOrson Scott Card andKathryn H. Kidd . It is the first novel inThe Mayflower Trilogy . The novel's eponymousnarrator takes his name from James Lovelock, the scientist-inventor who formulated theGaia Hypothesis . The Gaia Hypothesis figures heavily into the book.Plot introduction
"Lovelock" is set in a near-future in which mankind is preparing to send out its first interstellar colonization ship, called the "Mayflower". Lovelock, a genetically- and cybernetically-enhanced
Capuchin monkey relates the story in the first person. Lovelock serves as the "Witness" for Carol Jeanne Cocciolone, meaning that his job is to record every waking moment of the life of a prominent member of society. As the Gaiaologist of the "Mayflower", Carol Jeanne is responsible for managing the extensiveterraforming their new planet will require, integrating the terrestrial species needed for the colonists' survival with the planet's existing ecology. In the speculative future describes by the novel, a new field of science, Gaiaology, has come into existence, based on the Gaia Hypothsis. Like every Witness, Lovelock has beenindoctrinated to love and obey his owner unconditionally.Plot summary
When the book begins, the Cocciolone family is packing for their new life aboard the "Mayflower". The family consists of Carol Jeanne, her husband Red, their daughters Lydia and Emmy, and Red's parents Mamie and Stef. They take a shuttle to the Ark, during which Lovelock is ashamed of his primitive, terrified response to
free-fall .Aboard the "Mayflower", the Cocciolone family begins to integrate themselves into the society of the Ark. When Lovelock meets a scientist who attempts to communicate with him via sign language, Carol Jeanne explains that she hadn't taught her Witness sign language because she didn't want him "chattering to [her] all the time." [Card, Orson Scott. "Lovelock" (1994): 104] This event marks Lovelock's first feelings of furious rebellion.
Lovelock begins to long for a mate, and children of his own. After learning about a supply of cryogenically frozen capuchin monkeys, he steals a young female monkey and hides her in the low-gravity poles that support the Ark. Unfortunately, she grows up stunted and sickly. Lovelock, realizing that should his actions be discovered he would be put to death, begins to write his story in a hidden file on the Ark's computer.
Related works
* Card, Orson Scott. "Rasputin".
References
ee also
*
List of works by Orson Scott Card
*Orson Scott Card External links
* [http://www.hatrack.com/osc/books/lovelock.shtml About the novel "Lovelock" from Card's website]
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