Worlds by Joe Haldeman

First published in 1981; published digitally by Open Road Media on December 2, 2014

First published in 1981, Worlds imagined mankind's presence in space by the early twenty-first century, not to mention limitless fusion energy. Like a lot of older sf, you can advance the dates by a few (or several) decades and the story will still work.

New New York, a mining asteroid forced into Earth orbit, is the most prosperous of several Worlds that all share a dependence on Earth for the basic resources they need to sustain life. Nations on Earth have also become dependent upon the Worlds for raw materials and energy. That balance (or imbalance) is threatened by a discovery that could allow the Worlds to become independent of Earth. Chaos ensues.

Marianne O'Hara, a young woman born in New New York, goes to Earth for a year of study. Much of the first quarter of the novel, in diary or letter form, presents Marianne's thoughts about Earth in comparison to New New York (shorter version: Earth is exciting but vile). After that, Marianne becomes involved with a group that wants to foment revolution using means that are not immediately made known to her. Eventually her involvement iwith that group puts Marianne at risk while the group itself puts the orbiting Worlds (and the Earth itself) at risk.

Haldeman advances some clever ideas in Worlds, including the notion of "line families" that are essentially families that have incorporated and merged in order to avoid estate taxes. America has experienced a lower middle class revolution called "People's Capitalism." Citizens must join a lobby to vote (which police and soldiers cannot do, giving them effective control of guns but not of politicians).

Much of Worlds feels like a set-up for a plot that only gets underway in the last third of the novel. Worlds is the first novel in a trilogy, which explains the unresolved feeling when the novel abruptly ends. As a "teaser," I found the political background of Worlds (and, to a lesser extent, the characters) sufficiently intriguing to motivate me to read the remaining volumes. Because Worlds does not work well as a stand-alone novel, I would not recommend it unless you are prepared to read the entire trilogy.

The Open Road edition of Worlds contains a brief biography of Joe Haldeman as well as some photographs that chronicle his life and hair loss. A couple of other (aging) sf writers show up in snapshots taken at awards ceremonies. The Open Road edition also includes the first several pages of the second novel in the trilogy, Worlds Apart.

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