Frederik Pohl is a science fiction great who published work between 1937 and 2011 before he passed away in 2013. Pohl won multiple awards, including the Nebula Award for Man Plus. He followed that up with a Hugo and a Nebula in 1977 for Gateway. Man Plus features a brilliant premise in which a human, Roger Torraway, is biologically engineered to live on Mars unaided by a suit or breathing equipment. Such a premise enabled Pohl to explore the outer limits of technology and the future of space travel. Although we are no where near developing cyborgs, humanity is beginning to take significant steps in space and there is a real sense of urgency, with the Mars One project and the likes of Steven Hawking warning that humans must become a multi-planet species in order to avoid extinction.Although Pohl is clever enough not to be specific, Man Plus is set in what appears to be an early twenty first century future. Things are typically going badly for humanity, although forays into space have become common enough for there to have been a number of manned missions to Mars. Tensions are high between the Earth’s most powerful countries - America and China, and natural resources have become scarce. Computer modeling indicates that the extinction of humanity is probable and this spurs America to develop the Man Plus program that will enable humans to live on Mars. After the death of the first “monster” Roger Torraway becomes the cyborg savior of humanity (now there’s a headline I’d love to see...). Ostensibly Man Plus is about the colonization of Mars, but perhaps the most significant theme is humanity’s relationship with technology. Cyborgs are a common science fiction trope, but Pohl’s treatment is uniquely visceral. Torraway is an everyman astronaut whose fallible humanity makes his transformation into a monstrous cyborg profoundly affecting. The horror of what the surgeons do to his body is palpable because Pohl succeeds in making a fairly improbable near future biotechnology believable. Torraway effectively becomes a Martian demon with superhuman strength and augmented senses. The sequences in which he is testing his new found senses are almost psychedelic in nature; it would have thoroughly entertained all those mid seventies acid-heads.The great strength of Man Plus is the portrayal of a man who no longer recognizes himself as human, yet is still governed by human psychology. There is a brilliant sequence in which Torraway, desperate to see his wife, escapes the desert complex he’s sequestered in and appears in the bedroom of his home. The interaction between Dorrie and Torraway perfectly encapsulates the feeling of the ‘uncanny valley’ not that long after the concept was invented. Pohl also manipulates the reader into both enjoying the spectacle of Torraway as cyborg monster and engaging emotionally with the tragedy of his lost humanity. Pohl’s writing style is now perhaps a touch old fashioned and the fact that the story is told in hindsight means that some narrative tension is sacrificed. To Pohl’s credit the hard science of travelling and surviving on Mars in Man Plus is believable. When the expedition finally makes it to Mars what transpires is exciting and intriguing. As with many of the great science fiction novels there is a twist. Perhaps I’ve read a few too many as I guessed what was happening about two thirds of the way through, but it didn’t spoil my enjoyment in the end. There is a 1994 sequel called Mar’s Plus for those curious as to what happened next; isn’t that the essence of science fiction, the question of what happens next? Although improbable in some aspects, Man Plus captures the sense of what it must be like to be on the cutting edge of what is scientifically possible; something that the participants of the Mars One project must be familiar with. They may not be about to be transformed into cyborg Martian freaks, but if they succeed it will transform humanity in ways that perhaps we have yet to imagine.
Δεν είναι η πρώτη φορά που διαβάζω Φρέντερικ Πολ, πριν τέσσερα χρόνια είχα διαβάσει το πολύ καλό και εξίσου ενδιαφέρον Οι έμποροι του διαστήματος, γραμμένο μαζί με τον Σίριλ Κόρνμπλαθ. Λοιπόν, το Άνθρωπος Συν μου φάνηκε καλό, μου άρεσε, είχε μια ωραία και ενδιαφέρουσα κεντρική ιδέα και η εκτέλεση δεν ήταν καθόλου άσχημη, απλά μην περιμένετε πολλή δράση και περιπέτεια. Είμαστε κάπου στην δεκαετία του '90, οι χώρες έχουν αλλάξει λίγο, κάποιες έχουν ενωθεί με άλλες και έχουν δημιουργηθεί διάφορες ενώσεις, και ο ψυχρός πόλεμος είναι πιο... θερμός από ποτέ. Μικροί πόλεμοι γίνονται παντού, υπάρχει έλλειψη τροφίμων και καυσίμων και δεν είναι καθόλου απίθανο την επόμενη κιόλας μέρα να γίνει πυρηνικός πόλεμος. Με αυτά τα δεδομένα λοιπόν, δημιουργήθηκε το πρόγραμμα Άνθρωπος Συν, όπου ένας κανονικός άνθρωπος πρέπει να υποστεί δεκάδες εγχειρίσεις ώστε να αλλάξει το σώμα του για να μπορεί να ζει στον Άρη δίχως στολές και αναπνευστικά μηχανήματα! Ουσιαστικά θα γίνει ένα σάιμποργκ, αλλά και παράλληλα ένα τέρας... Η πρώτη δοκιμή απέτυχε, μιας και ο άνθρωπος πέθανε, οπότε επόμενος διαθέσιμος στην λίστα ήταν ο πρωταγωνιστής μας Ρότζερ Τόραγουεϊ. Μετά βλέπουμε όλες τις αλλαγές που υπέστη η ζωή του Ρότζερ, πως επηρεάστηκε η σχέση του με την γυναίκα του, πως οι επιστήμονες και οι νοσοκόμες έκαναν τα πάντα για να νιώθει άνετα και ούτω καθεξής, μέχρι να φτάσουν τελικά στον πλανήτη Άρη. Σίγουρα βιβλίο-τροφή για σκέψη, δεν το διαβάζεις τόσο για την πλοκή του ή την δράση του αλλά για τις ιδέες του. Εννοείται πως έχει κάποια προβληματάκια, λίγη δράση εδώ και κει δεν θα ήταν άσχημη, θα ήθελα να ήταν και μεγαλύτερο το κομμάτι της ιστορίας που είχε να κάνει με τον πλανήτη Άρη, αλλά τέλος πάντων, είναι ένα καλό βιβλίο ΕΦ που άξια πήρε το βραβείο Nebula το 1976. Η γραφή μου φάνηκε καλή, ευκολοδιάβαστη και ευχάριστη. Το βιβλίο στα ελληνικά είναι εδώ και χρόνια εξαντλημένο και σχετικά δυσεύρετο, εγώ φάνηκα τυχερός και το βρήκα με πέντε ευρώ. Αν το πετύχετε πουθενά, ρίξτε του μια ματιά, είναι κλασικό στο είδος του. Από Φρέντερικ Πολ έχω στ'αγγλικά το Wolfbane και στα ελληνικά την Πύλη των άστρων (Gateway). Ελπίζω να βρω και τα άλλα δυο του βιβλία στα ελληνικά, που είναι συνέχειες της Πύλης των άστρων.
Do You like book Man Plus (2000)?
Man Plus is more of an idea story than a character story, but the ideas are interesting. Implicitly, Pohl seems to be asking what is it exactly that makes us human. Though his predictions of how much humans can improve ourselves mechanically is profoundly exaggerated as of now. The human machine is perhaps a bit more complex than Pohl imagined. Explicitly, Pohl is dealing with the old philosophical question: "What can we trust if we know our senses aren't trustworthy?" That is a difficult question to answer, and Pohl doesn't try to. He just raises the question. Similar to the way the movie Inception raised the same question.
—Josh Meares
I most science fiction the cyborg if the bad guy, the borg from Star trek, the daleks and cybermen from Doctor Who to name a few, but its nice to find a story where the cyborg is the good guy. A different spin on the character, although I'm sure other examples can be thought of.If a story has a good guy, shouldn't it have a bad guy? Well I struggled to find one in this. May be Brad who was having an affair with Roger's wife, may be Dorrie who is Roger's wife for having the affair. May be the pre
—Mike
3.0 stars. Classic SF story by Pohl. Just re-read this story for the second time and it does feel a little dated. However, it is still an excellent read and, like much of Pohl's science ficiton, deals with emotional and psychological issues of its characters. In this case, the increasing sense of "disconnect" between the main character and the rest of humanity as a result of being modified to go to Mars. Winner - Nebula Award Best NovelNominee -Hugo Award Best NovelNominee - Campbell AwardNominee -Locus Award Best Science Ficiton Novel
—Stephen
