(reviewed by Rick Robinson in 2012)
The Deep Range by Arthur C. Clarke © 1957, Signet 1964 mass market paperback (second printing), – science fiction – cover painting by Paul Lehr
According to the note inside, I read this one in September 1964. I
didn’t put a grade down for it, as I sometimes did, but that means
nothing. Honestly I didn’t remember a darn thing about the book, though
it’s easy to tell from the cover art by Paul Lehr that it takes place in
the sea.
Walter Franklin was a senior crewmember on the space vessel Antares
when he had to go outside to repair an antenna knocked askew by a small
asteroid. His suit rocket got stuck wide open and he sailed off into
cold, empty space out of control and expecting to die by oxygen
starvation after several hours in the cold reaches of space.
He was rescued, four hours later, but it was the last time he would
ever go into space. The trauma was deep and seemingly permanent. So the
psychological staff treated him as best they could and he was returned
to Earth to start a new life, leaving his wife and two sons on Mars. All
this is briefly told in flashbacks throughout the first half of the
book.
Franklin was put through a special course to become a Warden in the
Bureau of Whales. The sea was being harvested for it’s food and mineral
wealth, and – along with plankton farms – whales play a big part, for
milk, oil, meat. Wardens keep watch over the herds and keep away
predators. It’s an underwater, exciting job, and the sea provides a kind
of security the very opposite of space.
The book follows the career of Franklin from raw rookie through
Second Warden, First Warden, Chief, then on into the bureaucracy and
finally to head of the Bureau. There are some exciting adventures, some
dangerous encounters with sea life and the equipment that can be deadly
if not properly handled, there are under-sea rescues, a light love
story, challenges and rewards.
Yes, this is science fiction, nothing like what is depicted here
existed in 1957 and still doesn’t, but the equipment Clarke describes is
a lot closer to becoming real– and some already has – certainly much of
the undersea submersible equipment is in use today. Clarke as usual had
a good eye for future technology.
A very different science fiction book, almost more of an adventure
tale. I found myself thinking a few times as I read it that it would
make a pleasing audio book. There was one done in 1980, on cassette, a
special library edition, which may be out there somewhere. Though how
many people still have cassette players? If you’re looking for something
different in science fiction, light but interesting, this may be one
worth trying. I enjoyed it.
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