Noise by Hal Clement
01/12/2003 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 
pub: TOR. 252 page hardback. Price: $23.95 (US), $33.95 (CAN). ISBN: 0-765-30857-6. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check
out website: www.tor.com
If you ever want to learn how to create
a realistic alien world then one of your first stops should always
include works by the author Hal Clement. Kainui is one of a pair of
planets of a binary star system.
 It
is a primeval water world with lightning, water spouts and tsunamis
all arguing over its 1700 mile deep single ocean. All this noise
is defining and if you go outside, you wear a noise-suit suppresser
so you can hear yourself speak.
Kainui was colonised by Polynesians who leave their floating cities
in seed grown boats looking for food and other produce which they
can barter with other colonies.
Linguist Mike Hoani
arrives on the planet and stays with one boat as he hopes it will see him across
the world and see how their language has changed since their settlement. Not only
have the Polynesians evolved a much leaner body thanks to the low gravity they
have also utilised a non-verbal language called 'finger' in which they can communicate
without depending on their suit radios.
From the above outline, you
should realise that you're not dealing with a standard SF adventure book. A lot
of the time, it's really Man against the elements and isn't until the end of the
book that they encounter another colony living in the south. I do think
occasionally that Clement had re-enforced more to the reader just how noisy this
place is to live on and in - knowing how to swim underwater is essential - but
that can largely be attributed to this being a book not live action.
Although
some of you will no doubt think this book a little on the slow slide, I suspect
the real problem is that too many SF stories these days don't look so much at
the environment as making various planets too Earth-like. This is a legacy that
shouldn't be ignored and you really need to read an SF master like Hal Clement
to appreciate how this is done.
I wrote the above review a couple days
before the sad announcement of Hal Clement's death in November. One can only hope
that his publishers will see fit to ensure his legacy is displayed throughout
the world by a re-issue of his books, especially in the UK where we see so little
of his material. A talent such as Hal Clement's will be sorely missed and
few are capable of creating alien worlds let alone make them part of the story
as this talented author.
GF Willmetts 
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