Captive Universe

Infobox Book |
name = Captive Universe


image_caption = Sphere paperback, 1978
author = Harry Harrison
cover_artist = Angus McKie
country = United States
language = English
genre = Science Fiction novel
publisher = Sphere Books
release_date = 1969 (First Edition)
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 185
isbn = ISBN 0-7221-4423-7

"Captive Universe" is a science fiction novel by American author Harry Harrison, which was first published in 1969.

Plot introduction

Chimal is a young Aztec tribesman living in an isolated valley which was sealed off from the rest of the world in ages past by a massive earthquake. Unlike the rest of his people, who are content with the way things are, he shows more interest in what lies outside the valley, and in asking questions that no-one can answer. Indeed, he is altogether brighter; more intelligent than others, which often gets him into trouble, and makes him seem "unusual" to his peers.

The valley is home to two villages, each on one side of the river that flows through the middle, Quilapa, (Chimal's village), and Zaachila, both of which share a temple staffed with priests who perform holy duties and interpret the laws of the Gods.

This includes a ban on people from the two villages intermarrying, which is strictly observed. Despite this, Chimal's mother conceived Chimal by a man from Zaachila, a fact she manages to keep secret for many years.

After Chimal refuses to marry his intended bride, and inadvertently causes the death of the chief priest, he is arrested by the priests and condemned to sacrificial death. The Gods, angry at the sacrilege, cause the sun to fail to rise at dawn, and in the panic that ensues he is rescued by his mother, who takes his place in the cell where he is held. Before he leaves, she reveals who his real father was.

Escaping, he attempts to find a way out of the valley, while avoiding being hunted by the priests, and Coatlicue, the dreaded two-headed serpent-Goddess who stalks the land at night and kills those who foolishly wander past sunset.

He discovers that his world is not what he, or anyone else thought it was.

Major Characters

"Chimal" : The novel's main protagonist.
"Quiauh" : Chimal's mother.
"Malinche" : A Quilapa girl, betrothed to Chimal.
"Citlallatonac" : The chief priest.
"Watchman Steel" : The first of the "Observers" that Chimal meets.
"The Master Observer" : The leader of the "Observers".

Plot summary

When he finally manages to break through the blockage at the end of the valley, Chimal finds himself in a series of many strange tunnels. He is also surprised when he meets Coatlicue, whom he followed in, in a "deactivated" state, and thus harmless. Travelling on, he finally meets a stranger, unlike anyone he's ever met before. Forcing her to lead him on, he ends up meeting more.

Gradually, he learns the secret of the conspiracy which has been perpetrated against his people for centuries - the valley is merely the central cavity of a huge generation ship, and the Aztecs, and the people who inhabit the caverns (the Observers) are passengers, on a centuries-long flight to Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to our sun.

Five hundred years previously, "The Great Designer", an Earth dictator, converted the asteroid Eros into a mobile starship, spinning along its axis for gravity and sending it on its journey. Because of the enormous distance involved, and the relatively slow speed it could attain, it would be the descendants of the original passengers who would arrive.

Those chosen for the original flight were genetically engineered to possess low intelligence and conservative values, vital for such a long-range mission. The Observers would maintain the ship, and watch over the tribes in the central valley. The Aztec culture was chosen as it was hierarchical, self-sufficient, and order-loving. Near the end of the flight, the two villages would be allowed to breed together, which would remove the genetically programmed recessives and produce intelligent, forward-thinking individuals who would be able to colonise the new system.

However, the Observers, who were similarly programmed, took the mission so seriously that they did not want it to end so they made the decision to keep going. Chimal's emergence - as the first of the new, intelligent arrivals - causes a religious conflict when he discovers that the ship has actually passed Centauri and orders the Observers to turn back.

Release details

*1969 : First Edition : HardbackPublisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons

*August 1969 : PaperbackISBN 0-425-03072-5Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group

*February 1970 : HardbackISBN 0-571-08962-3 (UK edition)Publisher: Faber and Faber

*Sphere paperbacks:
March 1972, ISBN 0-7221-4348-6
March 1973, ISBN 0-7221-4347-8
November 1978, ISBN 0-7221-4423-7

*March 1979 : PaperbackISBN 0-425-04308-8 (USA edition)Publisher: Berkley

*June 1983 : PaperbackISBN 0-586-05677-7 (UK edition)Publisher: Granada

*December 1984 : PaperbackISBN 0-441-09142-3 (USA edition)Publisher: Ace Books

External links

* [http://www.iol.ie/~carrollm/hh/n09.htm Captive Universe page] on Official website
* [http://www.truefresco.org/bookshop/viewproduct.php?country=us&asin=0441091423 Book reviews]