William F. Temple (1914–1989)

1966 novel, the author avoided technicalities by stating these were already covered in a (fictional) book - Burton's Conquest of the Moon, about the first atomic-powered space-ship (The Endeavour). The book instead concentrates on the relationships of the unlikely crew, the Captain, a politician and his daughter, and two other men. Secret plans to recover a strange new element on the moon's surface located at the Tycho crater. The mysterious deaths of the crew, and a dead cat (and reference to Jules Verne's dead dog floating alongside the spaceship). Fun read, but a little far-fetched.… (meer)

I had this science fiction novel on my 1951 to read list, but it was actually published in book form in 1949, no matter it proved to be an entertaining read. This was Temple's first novel worked up from his short story, which appeared some ten years earlier. Terence Fisher directed a film version for Hammer Film Productions some two years later.

The story is told in the first person by Dr. Harvey who takes care of an extremely intelligent boy (Bill Leggat) who comes from an abusive family. Bill becomes something of a scientific prodigy and after meeting Robin Grant at University the two men work together to produce a successful duplicating machine. Along the way they have employed the beautiful free spirited Barbara and the team form the three sides of the triangle. Both men fall in love with Barbara, but she chooses Robin as her partner, but there is the duplicating machine standing by and it is pressed into action.

This novels strengths are not so much the science fiction, but some very good characterisation and a plot that kept me reading until the denouement. William F Temple captures small town England well and the class system that pervades everything. Robin comes from a rich family and is the natural winner in the contest for the love of Barbara, but his adherence to the culture in which he was raised always threatens to blow the relationships apart:

"They were so certain of their ideas of right and wrong, these people. They could be coldly logical in practical things, yet hopelessly illogical in things that touched their emotional springs. They would be aghast at the moral wrongness of using poison gas in warfare, but if the enemy used it just once they would with a burning sense of righteousness, drench him and his family with it, with interest......"

It is the moral issues that dominate this book, they to a large extent drive the plot. The science and the choices made by the protagonists are in the realms of fiction, but the moral issues that they face are not and this is where I think the novel succeeds. It does show signs of being padded out from a short story. Temple includes some scientific theory, along with some literary references and I wondered how much of this was featured in the original short story. This is a good, well written science fiction yarn and so 4 stars… (meer)