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600:
The ploy works, but the
Jovians—who live for millions of years and rely on an arcane and tedious system of legal councils—spend too long arguing and contemplating to successfully redirect the comet. The Instrumentality stages a successful coup, but in the end it is Dunsmoore (who has been redeemed by
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the blimp body. Blimps evolved this ability after migrating to
Jupiter (which they call "Secondhome") where the element-rich atmosphere necessitated the ability to filter and pass metallic waste. While blimps of old used to merely let this waste fall back into the atmosphere, the new society learned
547:
As the story progresses, another main character materialises in the form of the aptly named Moses Odingo, son of
Prudence's sister Charity and animal-handler extraordinaire. His life becomes one of the novel's several core plots, circumstance and apparent fate conspiring to send him on a worldwide
578:
artefacts on earth will aid in establishing communiqué with the
Jovians. The years tick by without consequence as Dunsmoore and his team search in vain for evidence of alien life on Jupiter's moons, convinced by terrestrial scientists that the planet itself is entirely inhospitable to life (he is
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orbits that take them far from the terrestrial planets, or may lose momentum and drift peaceably into the Sun. Without the incredible gravitational presence of
Jupiter, it's possible that our planet would experience so many impacts and close calls as to prevent advanced evolution or even the
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of Earth's oceans. This being the case, cities can become sick (either through accident or at the hands of rebel groups like The
Instrumentation) or starve of their own accord—though, like any living system, repair is possible if the issue is caught in
306:
819:, to services rendered for the Order of the Cuckoo. There is no interstellar travel in human hands, though late in the novel a system of slingshot rocks are used to propel Moses' travel to speeds far beyond those attainable by conventional engines.
507:
Professionally and personally embittered by the success of
Dunsmoore, Prudence begins a life of semi-legal interplanetary exploration (referenced by the book but never fully explained) and makes a living selling cosmic oddities to the highest
504:. A lover's quarrel between the two sends Prudence off in a blind rage, and leaves Dunsmoore the sole caretaker of an important discovery—a position which catapults his career and sets the tension for the novel's second half.
431:. The book was originally released in hardcover form in the year 2000, and a more common paperback printing was begun in 2001. It has enjoyed modest commercial success and is perhaps best known for its conceptions of alien
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into a diversionary orbit around the comet itself, barely saving Earth from total annihilation—though millions die as the remnants of the comet and the sulphurous outgassing of ruined Io cascade into Earth.
713:, as they call the Earth. Despite this seeming goodwill, the blimp Halfholder comes to understand through the course of the novel that they are as much concerned with political gain as moral fortitude.
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sets in and the masses of foam become gigantic floating platforms, trailing specialised tendrils that sift food and nutrients from the densely populated atmosphere in method similar to that of the
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Odingo encourages Moses, now a young man, to make a harrowing high-speed journey out to the moons, hoping to use his uncanny knack for animal communication to establish a rapport with
Halfholder.
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who are constantly mired in mindlessly bureaucratic detail that makes any decision a lengthy process. They are aided by administratively minded symbiauts which take the roles of secretaries and
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inside the moons of
Jupiter, which allow them to control the orbits and alignments thereof. There is little explanation of this technology, though the term "repulsion field" is tossed about.
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As the tension on Earth grows unbearable, Prudence Odingo flies her personal craft out to give
Dunsmoore's team a push in what she believes to be the correct direction.
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Through a quirk of fate and timing, her team manages to save a blimp by the name of Bright Halfholder of the Violent Foam, part of a 'skydiving' rebel faction known as
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and setting in motion a direct collision with Earth. This is courtesy of the stuffily bureaucratic blimps—intelligent extraterrestrials living in the turbulence of
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Blimp culture has been irrevocably shaped by the tragic loss of Firsthome, and the society at large has come to value personal safety over individualism or cosmic
650:; for instance, there is an emphasis on traditional Chinese culture and medicine (the trade in poached animals for the purposes of concocting elixirs and potions
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The Order of the Cuckoo, who continued advancing during The Pause and who make a living shuffling around and subsequently mining large asteroids, have developed
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wheels remained as a means of energy-conserving locomotion). By Halfholder's time, the symbiauts had become an integral part of both individual and social life.
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are the closest that any blimp comes to a permanent residence, and these specialised chambers can be used for short, recuperative rests or for long periods of
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of the planet's moons and thereby avoid the type of cometary impact which, obliquely, precipitated their exodus from an unknown 'Firsthome' to Jupiter itself.
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in hopes of contacting the as yet unseen alien lifeforms. Dunsmoore is selected to lead the group, with the assumption that his experience with decrypting
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is a rebellious faction which is ostensibly concerned with the possibility that redirected comets might impact intelligent life on other planets—even
731:, which begins in the year 2210, is set over a backdrop of future technologies which play a role—though not an especially defining one—in the story.
544:. She takes these 'wheelers' to Earth intending to sell them, but a government investigation headed by Dunsmoore concludes them to be inauthentic.
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of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be shown, the article is likely to be
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Left with twelve years until impact and now convinced of the wheelers' authenticity, Earth's governmental authorities speed a mission to the
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chronicles mankind's first contact with an alien intelligence, a meeting which takes place out of necessity when a rogue asteroid enters the
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into one of the probes that Dunsmoore's been carefully bobbing around the lifeless stratosphere of Jupiter, Odingo's team sends the
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Much like the 'net today, it facilitates communication, information exchange, hacking, and even personal navigation (courtesy of a
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Cars and trucks are the average means of travel for the citizens of Ectopia and Free China, but government agencies and elite
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with pure mass, they can alter the course of the relatively hefty pieces of iron and other metals that The Order deals in.
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technology, or VV for short. Details are scarce, but the implication is that it, like a wristnode display, is holographic.
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warned of the danger of this erroneous presupposition by, appropriately enough, contemporary science-fiction authors).
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bidder. This dangerous and profitable lifestyle acquaints her with legal authorities as well as the Belters—a group of
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540:. Her smuggling career culminates with the discovery of a trove of buried, wheeled, and presumably alien artefacts on
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Blimp cities are alive. Made of the combined efforts of trillions of tiny gas-filled creatures, they are actually
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methods, guide the growth of buildings, roadways (for the symbiauts), and other staple civic structures.
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Prudence Odingo) work in the year 2194 to interpret and preserve artifacts found in the vicinity of the
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Through the developments precipitated by symbiaut advances, the blimps were able to remotely construct
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Once the 'cities' have formed slabs, intelligent creatures like the blimps can move in and, through
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into the lower atmosphere, immediately encountering alien lifeforms both advanced and simplistic.
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is an important plot point in the novel). Further parallels to modern China include purposeful
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of their own, both Stewart and Cohen have worked continually with friend and fantasy author
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over time to guide the construction and programming of basic machines. In time, the art of
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The book pits the earth and its inhabitants against a universe of diplomatic but equally
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Spaceships are available, but remain expensive luxuries. Prudence Odingo owes hers, the
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on an individual basis, but their governance is handled at the topmost levels by an
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the threat to his home planet) who hijacks the alien gravity technology and pilots
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and is set on a collision course with Earth by an advanced and hitherto unknown
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During this time, both Earth-bound scientists and the Belters notice that the
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have mysteriously realigned, altering the trajectory of a once unimportant
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An important part to the functioning of blimp society, the symbiauts are
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962:(or producing a symbiaut) grew more refined, producing mobile designs
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species as a way of avoiding a devastating impact to their own world.
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may actually be a necessary factor in the formation of habitable
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contains an artificial world complete with sacred mountains like
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Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing
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Though this is the first time the pair has written a fictional
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all but halted forward progress), there is a mix of far-flung
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creations that are organically constructed by and actually
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whose advanced gravity technology allows them to alter the
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Earth in the novel is divided into two enormous political
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powered by magnetic induction motors." By manipulating a
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All the same, Jupiter also pulls many objects from the
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fiction is based on hypotheses that the presence of
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92:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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826:which has been made to recreate the majesty of
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646:Free China shares similarities with today's
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822:The Order itself owns a giant hollowed-out
55:Learn how and when to remove these messages
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284:Learn how and when to remove this message
266:Learn how and when to remove this message
152:Learn how and when to remove this message
16:2000 novel by Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen
1005:, as their mass deflects and breaks up
872:. The novel describes these as "linear
423:novel written by English mathematician
760:The Internet has been replaced by the
1068:Internet Speculative Fiction Database
548:journey of hardship and tribulation.
7:
1103:Books by Ian Stewart (mathematician)
90:adding citations to reliable sources
989:Role of Jupiter in the Solar System
443:for books, movies, and television.
1123:Novels about extraterrestrial life
480:The story opens with a feeling of
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672:The blimps are for the most part
36:This article has multiple issues.
852:and achieves normal gravity via
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794:Television has been replaced by
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1007:potentially devastating threats
179:may not meet Knowledge (XXG)'s
77:needs additional citations for
44:or discuss these issues on the
1093:English science fiction novels
779:All citizens of Ecotopia wear
435:and intelligence—hallmarks of
181:notability guideline for books
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1108:Fiction about asteroid mining
1013:past Jupiter and launch into
751:and relatively mundane tech.
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660:two-way information control
516:(known as The Order of the
439:'s work as a consultant on
427:and reproductive biologist
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906:. Over billions of years,
893:and other chemical tools.
561:Jupiter's upper atmosphere
553:innermost moons of Jupiter
524:both Earth's Moon and the
500:after the collapse of the
188:reliable secondary sources
177:The topic of this article
904:enormous organic colonies
724:Technologies in the novel
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1113:Novels set on Io (moon)
610:Government in the novel
810:clandestine operations
755:Personal communication
528:that lies between the
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783:(often shortened to '
215:"Wheelers" novel
101:"Wheelers" novel
1098:Collaborative novels
937:Symbiauts / Wheelers
841:Rendezvous with Rama
812:may own helicopters.
595:The Instrumentality.
454:on his best-selling
421:hard science fiction
86:improve this article
1083:2000 British novels
1018:formation of life.
1003:terrestrial planets
707:The Instrumentality
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1031:inner Solar System
538:outer Solar System
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1048:Publishers Weekly
982:Diversion Engines
908:self-organization
854:centripetal force
846:New Tibet Habitat
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618:alien lifeforms.
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142:November 2019
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510:black market
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84:Please help
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38:Please help
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1023:Kuiper belt
964:with wheels
920:biochemical
850:Chumulangma
789:holographic
674:egalitarian
482:anachronism
425:Ian Stewart
320:Ian Stewart
192:independent
1077:Categories
1037:References
1027:Oort cloud
1015:hyperbolic
999:gas giants
960:offcasting
891:pheremones
874:trebuchets
803:Conveyance
781:wristnodes
711:Poisonblue
701:equanimity
694:precedents
637:Free China
631:—those of
498:Nile River
441:exobiology
429:Jack Cohen
324:Jack Cohen
226:newspapers
200:redirected
112:newspapers
41:improve it
1011:slingshot
995:Wheelers'
968:vestigial
741:The Pause
717:Skydiving
680:group of
502:Aswan Dam
456:Discworld
448:narrative
356:Publisher
190:that are
47:talk page
1063:Wheelers
1046:review,
1044:Wheelers
943:Cast off
824:asteroid
791:display.
749:futurism
729:Wheelers
633:Ecotopia
542:Callisto
532:and the
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458:series.
416:Wheelers
340:Language
298:Wheelers
796:vidivid
774:orbital
766:the X.'
739:Due to
643:Worlds.
641:Eastern
584:Hacking
433:zoology
343:English
240:scholar
204:deleted
126:scholar
955:within
930:stasis
897:Cities
844:, the
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682:Elders
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518:Cuckoo
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828:Tibet
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622:Human
557:comet
522:mined
437:Cohen
419:is a
392:Pages
387:Print
348:Genre
247:JSTOR
233:books
202:, or
133:JSTOR
119:books
1025:and
762:Xnet
745:A.I.
692:and
658:and
635:and
371:2000
219:news
105:news
770:GPS
588:RCV
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88:by
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