Winner of the John W. Campbell award in 1999 for best novel, this is definitely a book that won't appeal to everyone. The premise is interesting: in the late 21st century, asteroids are brought into near Earth orbit to be mined and then converted into orbital prisons once the mining is over with. A hollowed out asteroid is placed into a solar orbit that will bring it back around in 10, 20, 50, or 100 years, however long the prison term of those particular internees is. Or not. Deliberate errors in the calculations can insure that "undesirables" never return and the penal asteroids soon become the dumping grounds for political prisoners in addition to hardened criminals. So far, so good. The premise sounds great, but a good portion of the book is written almost like a college thesis on crime and punishment with the author belaboring his theories on society and the root causes of crime in far too many asides:"All attempts at law, all religion, all ethical norms might be nothing more than attempts by the weak to restrain the strong. Then, within the law, arise the new strong, who subvert the law for their own ends of power and family interest, leaving the old strong outside their circle to pursue the waiting possibilities which they call crime. The weak, the cowardly, the decent ones, live between these groups.”The philosophical musings tend to slow things down a bit and the fact that there isn't a central character or story makes it diffilcult for the reader to fully invest himself into what is happening. Zebrowski thinks up several different scenarios and spends a few chapters on each: one asteroid consists of all male internees convicted of murder, another is all female killers, a third consists of both genders, one only holds sexual sadists/serial killers, another one is all political prisoners, etc. He then speculates how each group adapts to their situation. Interesting to some extent, but not enough time is really spent on each scenario to give it more than a cursory examination.My biggest issue with the book is the sexual violence that occurs throughout it. I don't mind violent books, but I do dislike books where violence is against women. One woman is gang raped twice by the same group of men and in another disturbing scene, a serial killer fantasizes about what he did to his favorite victim. I'd probably rate this book 3 stars, but the rape scenes bring the score down a bit.
Please note: The Goodreads description referring to Tau Ceti IV does not belong with Brute Orbits.This isn't really a novel in the usual sense. Starting with the premise that Earth uses mined-out asteroids as prisons sent on long orbits around the Sun, a lot of the book is Zebrowski reciting a future history mixed with his social views on crime, justice, the causes of law-breaking and of [legal] socailly-harmful actions of elites, and the social structures related to these matters. While there is quite a bit of future history narrative, there are also bits and pieces of stories of some of the prisoners on the various asteroid prisons.These narratives and story fragments lead the reader up to a time when historians investigate the asteroids. In that sense, the book shows us progression rather than just fragments and presentation of social theory. If a reader is interested in the ideas and provocation of thought, it can be worthwile. It may not work as well for someone seeking literature in a true novel format.The book won the 1999 John W. Campbell Memorial Award. So, it's unusual format shouldn't be taken to mean it should be avoided.
Do You like book Brute Orbits (1999)?
The premise of this book is excellent. Build prisons on near earth astroids to house an ever increasing population of criminals and send them out into space. Several inmate stories are woven together in this and while each one is interesting, they don't stand together as a whole. There are moments of great writing and action in this that caught me up in the story but since the full story doesn't revolve around any character in particular, there is no real way for the reader to become truly vested. Splitting this into two or three books to flesh out these characters lives over the timespan this book covers might have done the trick.
—Joe Sargent
An excellent and interesting foray into crime and punishment. Thoroughly enjoyed the philosophizing and speculating. The story and characters were highly interesting as well. Although I must say, the lack of a single character spanning the entire book may make it unappealing to some readers. It may give the feeling of a lack of continuity. That said, I personally don't feel that it overly detracted from the books impact and importance.If you are one who finds any facination in the study of crime and punishment, then this is a definite must read.
—Jeremy Kohlman
