Growing Up Weightless

by John M. Ford

Talented, imaginative, and self-confident, Matthias Ronay has never known any life but that on the moon, and he clashes with his brilliant politician father, Albin Ronay, in an attempt to change his future. Reprint. NYT.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult, Science Fiction Fantasy, Coming Of Age, Speculative Fiction, Audiobook

261 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1993

About the author

John Milo "Mike" Ford was a science fiction and fantasy writer, game designer and poet.

Ford was regarded (and obituaries, tributes and memories describe him) as an extraordinarily intelligent, erudite and witty man. He was a popular contributor to several online discussions. He composed poems, often improvised, in both complicated forms and blank verse, notably Shakespearean pastiche; he also wrote pastiches and parodies of many other authors and styles.At Minicon and other science fiction conventions he would perform "Ask Dr. Mike", giving humorous answers to scientific and other questions in a lab coat before a whiteboard.

Ford passed away from natural causes in 2006 at his home in Minneapolis.

Biography source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_M._...

Reviews

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
This is a coming of age science fiction novel that I likely would have never read if it hadn't been released as part of the Tor Essentials line.

This is a very character driven novel with a slow, yet engaging plot. I liked the character of Matt who was a likable young man. The setting of the Moon was equally compelling. The plot is not thrilling or fast paced, which might throw off readers who are used to the page turning narrative styles of modern publishing.

I would recommend this one to anyone looking for an underhyped science fiction novel that could otherwise get lost in the history of SF literature.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

[J.J. Garza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hazte a un lado, Becky Chambers. Así es como se hace una novela de ciencia ficción intimista, sosegada, tranquila, pero con una introspección tan honda que irrumpió y se precipitó en los primeros lugares de mi provisional top de lecturas de 2023.

Hace unos meses leí entre todos los newsletters y artículos que me da por leer una historia. De cómo un fallecido y semi-olvidado (pero otrora legendario) autor de fantasía y ciencia ficción llamado John M. Ford regresaba triunfante a las estanterías gracias a una investigación periodística que lograra resolver el tema de los derechos entre sus herederos. Tor hablaba maravillas de este autor, un veterano en el circuito de convenciones y entusiasta de todas las cosas que antaño se entendían por ‘cultura geek’. Y aunque hay veces que no le creo mucho a Tor, me llamó la atención esta novela, un bildungsroman de ciencia ficción que prometía ser un pastiche de los juveniles de Heinlein, las novelas con las que yo debí haber empezado en este género.

Me acabé yendo para atrás al terminar de leer esta obra, más bien corta, pero por partes densa. Es uno de los estudios de carácter más magistrales que he leído dentro de la ciencia ficción. El escenario es la luna. Como nos advierte la introducción, ésta no es la luna libertaria y efervescente de La Luna es una Cruel Amante, ni tampoco la rapaz y asesina de los libros de Luna de MacDonald. Ésta es una luna medio tecnocrática, aburrida, eficiente y segura para sus ciudadanos. Jo Walton la llama: donde los ciudadanos no saben que viven una utopía. Y en medio de todo, Mattias Ronay, un chico de trece o catorce años, vive a la perfección lo que Paul Simon describió mejor que yo:

“Nunca lo dije en serio.
Yo era sólo el hijo de mi padre
Ahorrando mi dinero
Soñando con la gloria
Sacudiéndome como el dedo
En el gatillo de una pistola”

Es decir, la desesperación por crecer, por rebelarse contra la figura paterna, por irse de un ambiente casero asfixiante. No hay ni maltrato ni abandono ni nada. Sólo falta de comunicación por parte de un padre ocupado en sus propios (y nada ordinarios) asuntos como funcionario del comité lunar de aguas. Estamos acostumbrados a que los adolescentes en estos dos géneros se enfrenten a la adultez a los trancazos, y en muchos casos terminen cargando al mundo en sus espaldas o que maduren de formas que estiran la credibilidad un poco de más. Te estoy viendo, Brekker. Y en este caso, es todo lo contrario. La adolescencia de Matt es como la de cualquier otro, jugando RPGs con sus amigos y soñando con salir de casa. Hay una nitidez y una transparencia en estos anhelos de juventud que resuenan y pegan muy fuerte.

La novela está escrita a dos velocidades. Además de Matt tenemos a su padre, que juega un juego político francamente indescifrable para asegurar el suministro de agua a la luna. Esto es una elección estilística de Ford y puede que aleje a muchos, muchos lectores. Pero nos sirve de forma tremenda para comparar y entender a la perfección los anhelos de la juventud y cómo éstos se complican ante las complejidades de la vida adulta. El final te destroza, o por lo menos destrozó a este viejo fanático del Planeta del Tesoro y lo llevó a sus días de enamoramiento con todo lo estelar.

[Jared Millet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this one based on a recommendation in a book by Jo Walton, otherwise I'd have never heard of it. Nevertheless, it's the kind of thing I love: a coming of age / slice of life story set on the moon, where the characters are a bunch of kids who grew up there and take everything for granted. There are big events going on for sure, such as an impending water supply crisis that concerns the main character's father, but it's all in the background. What the lead character, Matt Ronay, is mainly concerned about is what he's going to do with his life, how he can get off the Moon and into space, whether he and his friends can successfully take a clandestine train ride to a station on the Moon's far side, and how well his RPG character does in an ongoing game he and his friends have going.

This kind of thing, where there's no heroic quest or earth-shattering action climax, is what I think of as a kind of "anthropology of the future." Ford doesn't go easy on his readers, either. The kids all talk in a futuristic slang that has to be decoded; it's never directly explained, so getting your head around the language takes a bit of work in the opening. I almost said "the first few chapters" but that's another thing that makes this book something of a challenge - there are no chapters. There aren't even any "soft breaks" between scenes. One scene just blends into the next for the entire length of the book. It's neat in a "no one's ever done that before that I've read" way, but it also makes me scratch my head the same as Cormac McCarthy's lack of punctuation, making me wonder how the author got an editor to let him get away with it.

Still, if like the rest of us "slammers" (Earth residents who have a habit of slamming into walls in Lunar gravity), you'd fancy a vacation on the moon complete with train ride, I recommend picking this one up.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Excellent world-building; terrible pacing. Teenage Matt and his friends live on the moon and have grown up with its culture of resenting earth and being able to jump really high (a more accurate title would have been Growing Up in Low Gravity). It's a slice-of-life sci-fye, but it feels like something big is about to happen, and when nothing does, it's disappointing (I don't mind slice-of-life, just don't pretend to be something else).

[Nigel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Coming of age on the moon, when the great adventure is over and the accomplishments of the parents completely overshadow the lives of the children. Our hero feels trapped, oppressed and monitored and searches for a challenge that’ll make his life worthwhile. An effective story from the late, lamented Ford.

[Rachel (Kalanadi) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[ribbonknight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy shit.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read courtesy of NetGalley.

Honestly this book really shouldn't work. It's so full of lacunae it was like reading the second or third book in a series and not having the information to fill in the gaps. Another issue is the formatting, although I suspect that's a matter of it being an e-ARC: there are sections where the POV suddenly changes but it's not indicated by an extended break or anything like that. And if that's an artistic choice rather than a formatting thing... well, I don't particularly like it, but it did make me work harder and pay probably closer attention, so maybe that's what Ford wanted for me. And thirdly, it's not exactly a grand story. No explosions, no dramatic twists of fate for society, no incredible revelations.

And yet.

It shouldn't work, but it does.

It's not a grand story: it's an intimate one, a growing-up story - as the title suggest, 'growing up weightless': it's set on the moon, not all that far into the future but far enough that there's a settled, indeed governmentally independent, colony. And as children have done since time immemorial, some of the children of the moon are unsettled, feeling like they don't fit in and want more/different/other. And they're also playing games: surprisingly substantial parts of this story are the kids playing a role-playing game, as outlaws in Sherwood Forest (do I love the idea that this milieu could continue to be attractive for coming generations? yes I do).

Matt, the main character, is born into an important luna family, and is feeling the pressure to figure out what he'll do as an adult; he basically knows, but he's afraid to tell anyone else. He loves his friends, and acting, and the role-playing game they've had going for many hours now; his relationship with his family is a bit fraught. The moon is somewhere that teens can travel around quite safely, especially within their own domes; there's excellent train networks, so you can travel between domes too - and so they do. This is pretty much how the main action happens, such as it is. This is, on reflection, a fairly claustrophobic story, as befits one set on the moon.

Along - or perhaps slightly behind - Matt's story is his father's, and this is where even more lacunae exist. Albin's relationships with various figures, the decisions that need to be made for the moon's future, even how he feels about anyone - all of this is very shadowy. Which mirrors how Matt feels about his father, really, so again maybe that really makes sense and I'm only realising as I write this just how clever and deliberate Ford was.

It probably shouldn't have worked, but it did, and I am once again grateful that Tor is re-publishing Ford's work, so that people like me get to appreciate it.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Matt is the son of a lunar politician and is desperate to explore beyond the confines of his home. Together, he and his friends travel towards an exciting destiny as his father struggles with a diplomatic incident.

Ford shares his joy of writing with his readers and this plot is in homage to Heinlein's Juvenile novels, but there is so much more going on. This is a story about dreams and aspirations and maturing enough to reach your goals.

[Matt Yeager · Rating 5 out of 5]

More than just a growing up story, but blink and you’ll miss it. It’s so subtle and so good. Ford doing great character work as always.

[Leif · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here: this is where someone new to John M. Ford should start. Hear me out - and then find this book, or find your library's copy, or plead with your library to buy one.

In Growing Up Weightless, there are many stylistically-acute nods to Ford's peculiarly discursive form that, almost effortlessly, expresses its deep familiarity and loving care with generic tropes. This is no surprise to anyone familiar with his work, which is always informed by an almost suffocating sense of context. Here too, in this novel, there are also many historical snapshots and plays with names, times, and English history that, for many other writers, would feel indulgent or strange, but which Growing Up Weightless takes in stride with ease. These too are familiar Ford-isms, and yet they hit much differently here. Because also - and this is the truly impressive bit - what Ford unfolds here is a classic and very nearly pure bildungsroman, the plot of which is sophisticated, mature, and frankly even beautiful.

Without needing to take the poison-pill of epic storytelling that nearly kills many modern and contemporary science-fiction writers, Ford's tight focus on a few pivotal weeks in a young Lunar resident's life are full and alive with the sounds, sights, and emotions of his friends, family, and universe. The story feels momentous and life-changing, and its stakes are clearly enunciated at the beginning while being appropriately weighed against the political, economic, and social changes and currents flowing around him. Most of the central characters feel present and and it is clear how the narrative treats them with generosity, exposing just enough of them to the reader to provide a sense of depth while leaving enough in the penumbra to allow them their privacy and their secrets. At the heart, ringing sweet as a bell, is the conundrum of maturity: do we take the safe option in our lives and doing so please our friends and family? Or should we risk it all for the unknown?

As I say, a really exceptional book. I'm very happy to have seen the Ford resurgence and encourage you to give him a try as well!

[Barry King · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because of what seems to me to be a particularly ugly copyright dispute, this book is not available anywhere in retail, nor will it likely be available as an ebook in my lifetime. There are still good condition used copies to be found, which is good because it's a classic that shouldn't be forgotten.

In many ways it's a classic coming-of-age story, and like all good science fiction, it doesn't really represent society in the future, but today's society projected into the future. It was written in the early 90s, and predicted young adulthood of the 2010s well, in that parents and children live atomized from each other, in an isolation created by their relationship to technology. This increases the tension of the unsaid and the unshared, and the book captures that need to break out, to make a place outside of one's comfort zone in order to grow. And, as always, growing has growing pains both for the growing and those grown away from. It also captures that phenomenon that when a momentous decision is made, there is a moment teetering on the brink, where circumstances can go in any direction. In this, the book shows itself to be one of those works that was allowed to make, against market forces, to show that science fiction and literature can occupy the same space.

The world-building is very strong. Lunar society is multicultural and, ostensibly multilingual (except other than English, there is a patois of formal and idiomatic phrases bandied around the text). The schism between Earth and Lunar societies, and the Exosocieties that trace back to each follow a realistic human tribalism, and our protagonist and his parents and friends are very much creatures of this world.

A surprisingly good read. I'm glad to have had the recommendation.

[Nomadman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another smart and carefully crafted coming of age novel from this excellent and underrated writer. Unlike his other works, this is a bit easier to follow on a first read through (all Ford's novels reward multiple rereadings). World building is impeccable as always, and the fact that he confines his action to a single setting allows him to explore things in much more depth. A very fine, mature piece of work.

[Jeff Youngstrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

(May 12, 1999)

(May 18, 2003)

[Kim Zinkowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

B.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very immersive. I’m really liking how John Fords writing wraps me around and lets me feel I deeply understand these characters. Also I think Ford is a lot smarter than me and I like working to keep up but knowing that I’ll enjoy the books even if I miss some stuff.

I liked how the man and his son (and even the other characters)were treated as equally important in their own viewpoints, and even when they clashed we could see their interactions from an understanding of both characters.

[Ellie L · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars - it was incredibly sci-fi in a way that I simply wasn’t used to, nor did I understand all that well, not the authors fault
I found this book while on the precipice of a new life and how scary that feels. Thank you LoneStar for showing me how to do it afraid

[Whitney (SecretSauceofStorycraft) · Rating 3 out of 5]

An intimate 2POV tale, about a 13 year old boy who lives on the moon, who has to accept a job contract and isnt sure what to do with rest of his life. Contrast that with scenes from his father, a man who works in lunar water distribution, trying to do the moral thing in a selfish society. The alternating perspectives were both full of maturity, selfish ess and coming of age. It was a slow burn you have to be in the mood for—- but written so immersively, the characters were real, and the morals and themes were not spoonfed (aka lots of room for interpretation) just the way I like it.

[Billy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, John M. Ford has written a masterclass on the subjects at hand: coming of age, society, adventure, the Moon--or more properly Luna, lest you be mistaken for a tourist. Matt's adventures bringing him what he wants in the most unexpected way, and Albin's political drama, combine to make a book that begs to be read all at once, and not just because Ford wrote the book as one continuous intertwined narrative without any breaks. Perhaps the most beautiful and terrible book, in all the Romantic connotations of the phrase, I've read in a long time, and one I will visit again and again. I always heartily recommend Ford's work, but I don't think I can convey how much I loved this one without breaking down. Highest recommendation.

[SA · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book sticks with you long after you've first read it.

So, this was published in the mid ninties, as I recall, and the descriptions of the tech and structure of the colony don't quite hold up to what we now know about tech. But that doesn't really matter, because what Ford does so expertly is create a culture and society that is at once alien and familiar; his Lunar colony, divorced from Earth, told through the muddy third person omniscient narratives of his male characters, is different and unsettling and only comprehensible once you get small pieces of the history that brings their contemporary experience into focus.

It reminded me in that way of Lowry's The Giver, for creating another culture/society so effectively while still making them familiar.

I think this novel would benefit from a later re-read, though I'm not sure that I will do that. But I expect you grasp more of it when you work your way through it again. Classic, top notch hard sci-fi.

Also, the way Ford created dragons was hands-down my favorite part.

[Nicholas Barone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Winner of the 1994 Philip K Dick award, Growing Up Weightless is an impressive coming of age story set on the moon 4 generations after permanent settlements have been established. The story is not action packed, by any means, but it does a wonderful job of sketching out a Lunar civilization that has only recently seceded from earth to form its own nation. The setting is revealed in the background as we follow the story of Matt Ronay - teenage son of one Luna's leaders. Matt and his friends are the cusp of their adult lives, and they are planning something big to test the limit of their freedom.

Matt's story intersects some intriguing political machinations (which revolve around Matt's father), but interesting as they are, they remain unresolved at the end of the book.

The strength's of the book are John M Ford's prose and his vision of a young Lunar society. It is fair to say that it is the best story set on the moon that I have read since Heinlein's classic, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, but it does not surpass that masterpiece.

[bkwurm · Rating 3 out of 5]

A coming of age tale set in an unspecified time in the future on the moon. Matthias Ronay lives in the lunar city of Copernicus. His father is responsible for the water supply for the lunar population and, at the time of the story, is faced with an aging fleet of ships that bring water back from the asteroids, a diminishing water supply relative to the growing lunar population and faced with a proposal that would ensure near unlimited water for the moon but at the cost of the sacrifice of a human life. Matthias considers his father to be distant and cold. Worse, as there are few places in the lunar cities that are free from electronic surveillance, Matthias believes he has no freedom and yearns to be a crewmember of one of the starships that travel to the distant colonies in other systems.

The charm of the story is in the description of lunar society and their attitudes and prejudices towards earth and its inhabitants.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a delightful story of a young man growing up on the moon. The author does a nice job of imagining what life on Luna would be like. It took me awhile to figure out what was going on because there are no chapters and the action jumps from character to character with little warning. Of course some of the references are unfamiliar as well. For example, a 'cold' place is one that is away from electronic surveillance. Earthlings are called "slammers' because, due to low gravity, they tend to slam into things as they move around.

[Gsmattingly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is okay but not great. I don't like that it has no chapters, no divisions of that which was written. Also there is action and not necessarily the best resolution. A number of things were left hanging.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not too bad, but not my favorite Ford book by any stretch. I really enjoyed the setting and some of the supporting characters, but the main character was a bit of a whiner, and the ending was both completely unsurprising and weirdly rushed. Meh.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admire dense, no-word-wasted writing as much as anyone, but maybe Ford could have spent a few extra words on making it slightly clearer what was going on? I don't expect my SF fun reading to be harder going than my academic reading.

LOVED the trains. The trains made it all worthwhile.

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story about father/son relationships, and also about what it might mean to live an everyday teenage life with your friends on the Moon. It's got some speculative-but-not-wild technology and environments, which is fun, and it doesn't try to assault you with any "big idea".

[Gaines Post · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very inspiring and imaginative. A wonderful coming of age story, too. Six stars our of five.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parenting without oppressive expectations

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Macmillian- Tor/ Forge for this reissue of a science fiction nove that was thought lost to time and legal issues.

The thing about being a teenager is that everywhere else is always better. Somewhere there are good times, never here. Things are happening over there, not here. The lights are brighter, life is sweeter and gravity might be stronger. Capturing the way teens think, speak to each others, and grudgingly to adults is very hard. A popular meme of actor Steve Buscemi with a skateboard asking his fellow kids how they do comes to mind. In Growing Up Weightless, the late science fiction writer John M. Ford captures not only the life of teens, but teens of the future, with their lingo, role playing games and feeling that life on the Moon isn't as fun as it should be.

Matt Ronay is a son of privilege, born and raised on the Moon, or Luna as they call it, in a colony that has been left behind by the new FTL drive that is opening up the universe. The colony is more of a stopping off point, where time seems to stop, nothing exciting happens, and life is safe and boring. Matt has reached the age, or hours as the call it, that he can look for jobs off colony, if only someone would accept him as crew. Until that happens he spends his days with his friends, and having an adventure on the other side of the colony. However under the surface there are problems with both the water supply, outsiders, and the luna colony's unhappiness with being passed by. Events are happening, events that might effect Matt's future in a big way.

The story is at once simple, yet a whole lot more. There is a big learning curve as Ford skips the wading pool and throws the reader full tilt into the ocean of the story with explanations gradually given. The lingo can be a little tough to decipher, and there are no real chapter breaks, or even spaces when the point of view of the characters change. However, the work is worth the journey. The world is very rich, and is more real than most futures seem to be. Matt and his friends are real people, with problems and ideas that seem so big to them, and yet in the grander scheme, are not. Decisions are made, with real repercussions, for Matt, his family and friends. Not just a great science fiction novel, but a great piece of fiction that should be more popular than it is.

I knew John M. Ford for his Star Trek novels, and his reference books, which were funny, and brilliant, and funny and true to the source material, and funny. I've read a few others, and I still find him one of the great authors who never seemed to find an audience. Well except for some of the biggest authors around now, like Neil Gaiman. A really good science fiction story that has been lost for far too long.