Starbreed

by Martha deMey Clow, Steele Savage (Illustrator)

From the very beginning, the nameless youngster showed incredible promise. In fact, had he been raised anywhere but in the cloistered innocence of a convent, humans might have grown suspicious, fearful of the rapid development that made him a beautiful, full-grown male of superlative intelligence at the approximate age of fourteen.But by the time he was ready to go out on his own, it was already too late for humanity.

Genres: Science Fiction

220 pages, Paperback

First published January 12, 1970

Reviews

[Andrewcharles420 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very engaging story about 5 half-alien orphans who overcome their lowly, illegitimate, beginnings and come to rule the world. They wreak a lot of destruction on their path, frequently causing continent-wide rebellions, and disrupting the interstellar trade between Earth and an advanced alien civilization. In the end, perhaps the Earth is more stable and independent (or could be in another few years)?

I thought the characters were very easy to sympathize with, a chip on their shoulders for sure, but their motivations were not unrelatable. Their experience would suggest that power corrupts, although their positions at the offset never encouraged much moral development (their illegitimacy being to the point of illegality). While not entirely dismissive, the book was not terribly kind to women and had a very stereotypic cast of prostitute, nun, maiden, secretary, and wife (and only one female character with a name). The book wasn't ignorant of racial diversity either, but had a strange, single "Moslem" character with a Hindu name.

I enjoyed the ending of the book. There's plenty of intrigue in this universe remaining for a sequel, though I can't find another book by the author (and I appear to be leaving the book's first online review?).

[Marki · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am reading this for the fourth time. Not perhaps a review filled with ebullient enthusiasm, but that means it must rate at least in some way worthy.

[Bryan Singleton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Martha deMey Clow (1932-2010) was the author of one science fiction novel, titled "Starbreed". Despite the fact she produced an oeuvre of one title, it's very good. Her father told her that science fiction is the only true fiction that might actually happen. All else was falsity superimposed on history.
Starbreed was published in 1970. It has a method of interstellar travel I've never encountered before, which she invented to make the story feasible. The Earth is trading goods with the Alpha Centauri system and in order to keep the transit time down to two weeks, the people on the starship age by twenty years. I was scratching my head over this for a while, because it violates relativity. In reality, the people on a starship would age less than people back on Earth during interstellar travel at near light speed velocities. In this novel, the people on the starship are forced to age more than the people on Earth by entering a parallel universe, so that the buyers and sellers on both planets can keep the trade going. Of course, the pay is lucrative, so one only needs to complete one transit and then retire.
The political maneuvering and conquering in this book is the real meat of the story; the science fictional aspect is merely secondary. It's unfortunate that Clow didn't write anything else. However, I have an idea of the reason: this book is written well. Around the mid-1970s, it was discovered that science fiction books that were written well were being outsold by crap. Lower rates were paid to authors that tried to write well and more money was paid to authors that produced easy reads.
I like to be challenged. I like a book that forces me to go back and reread certain parts, or take notes. If a book makes me get up repeatedly because I have to consult my dictionary or some other reference, then I am VERY HAPPY. I like writers that MAKE ME WORK.

[Gingaeru · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought it for Steele Savage's cover art; there's nothing good inside. At the start, it's unclear what you're in for. A fourteen-year-old peasant girl offers her body to a frustrated red-skinned man from Alpha Centauri IV after he's rejected by every other woman in town during his six-hour shore leave in Ecuador. She subsequently becomes pregnant in a society where unauthorized children are slaughtered, so she seeks sanctuary at a convent until the child is born. The girl dies in childbirth, but her hybrid son survives, and it soon becomes evident to the nuns that he's far more intelligent than a regular human. He leaves the convent at fourteen and quickly falls in with a gang of four other hybrid boys in Guayaquil. They're all convinced they were "born to rule the universe."

This story's presentation is unusual. You'd think this kid would be the "protagonist", but there really isn't one, as the humans and the five hybrids are all evil. This very dull and pointless account of the ambitious boys growing into power is full of politics, war, and infanticide. The humans inevitably win, but it's unsatisfying as both sides were equally villainous.

Hybrids are sterile; it's a biological fact. This should've been obvious to the "intelligent" hybrid men, especially Roger (who spent twenty years absorbing books on all subjects!). Yet they somehow expected to produce offspring, and are shocked at the realization of their sterility...

Another thing is the transparency of the trap at the end. It's so blatantly plain that there's no way three super-intelligent men would fall for it. But they do... In his fake correspondence with Roger, Freddie uses the pseudonym "Frerl Caddie." Take out the "rl Ca," and you've got "Freddie"; it's right there in black and white! Heck, the leftovers even spell "Carl," the other conspirator! And again, as they're about to enter the point of no return, all three remaining hybrids are present when Freddie casually proclaims, "... my boss called me 'Freddie.'" If that's not a red flag, I don't know what is. How dumb can you be?! They knew Freddie had been working for Velas, and had all the information on them... Argh!

For some reason, the spaceports all have to be on mountain tops. This makes no sense to me. Take Cape Kennedy/Canaveral, for instance. That's as flat as it gets...
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Despite the female author, the women in this novel aren't treated well.
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One of the boy's mothers "was a Negro prostitute from the coast and his skin showed strong overtones of black." Inappropriately, this character is named "Nero" (just one letter shy of "Negro"). It would have been fine for any of the others to bear that name, but come on... Similarly, another of the boys assumes the surname "Guerra," and becomes the leader of guerrillas in South America ("Thousands of Guerra's guerrillas...")...
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There's some discrepancy concerning the number of weeks that pass on Earth during Roger's trip to Alpha Centauri and back. "Although you'll be twenty years older, Earth will age only two weeks." (p. 20) Then, "We'll see you back in a few weeks." (still p. 20!) And lastly, "... in three weeks." (p. 25) Make up your mind!
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"He reached out and clasped the President's hand." At this point, the man in question has not been the President for some time.
...

Uses of "here and there": 1
Uses of "said lamely": 2
Uses of "said simply": 1
Uses of "blurted" 1 (+1 "spurted")
Characters "whirl": 1
Characters "shrug": a lot
Uses of "raucous": 3+
Uses of "He/Roger was on the spot when... ": 2
...

Typos:
"She prayed God... " (prayed to God) (p. 5)
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"... nothing's going to cheat me of that again. (cheat me out of) (p. 48)
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"... to self-seeking martinets grabbing for there private corner of power... " (their) (p. 130)
...

4/10