“Nova” still shines fifty years later

Last updated on: January 11, 2019 at 8:00 am by Coyle Neal

“Nova” still shines fifty years later 2019-01-03T09:57:43-07:00 Coyle Neal

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Science fiction in the 1960s was starting to get weird. Not quite 70s/surrealists/Philip K. Dick weird, but weird enough. Still, there was enough of the rollicking space adventure spirit of the 1950s left to let books like Nova by Samuel R. Delany remain a delight for modern readers, despite being published just over fifty years ago (1968).

Image: Wikipedia

In this book, we follow three characters in their pursuit of Illyrion—the element that falls somewhere in the 300s on the periodic table and which powers everything worth running (including the interstellar economy). Mouse is the poor Gypsy musician, only reluctantly a part of the technological modern world which intentionally plugs people into machines and which massacred his people for their refusal to conform to modern society. Katin is the upper middle class student, too smart for his own good and always getting ready to write his novel (an archaic form of art now functionally dead) but never quite getting started. Lorq Von Ray is the aristocrat, one of the three most influential and powerful people in the galaxy and sole defender of the Pleiades against the interests of the Draconis system and old Earth. These three individuals are racing against the Red family for the future of the galaxy.

As with most good science fiction, there are any number of interesting things here for Christians to think about. For example:

“You’ve got some odd ideas, Mouse–admitted, they’re fascinating. if somebody had told me I’d be working in the same crew, today in the thirty-first century, with somebody who could honestly be skeptical about the Tarot, I don’t think I would have believed it… A very romantic notion. I cotton to it myself: the idea that all those symbols, filtered down through five thousand years of mythology, are basically meaningless and have no bearing on man’s mind and actions, strikes a little bell of nihilism ringing. Unfortunately I know too much about these symbols to go along with it.” (110-111)

Obviously as a Christian I don’t think much of Tarot (or any other pagan nonsense out there). But the idea that what we believe is “superstitious” changes over time is an interesting one. The prejudices of the present are not necessarily universal, and it’s decidedly arrogant to be confident that we have it all figured out and that what we know now will be true for all time. Heck, given the pace of the modern world, no one should hang their hat too tightly on any given passion of the moment. (Do remember that just six short years ago Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton opposed gay marriage.) This isn’t to say there are no lasting truths–again, as a Christian it’s pretty clear that I think there are things that are true at all times and all places. One aspect of wisdom is being able to tell the difference between the lasting truths and the passing fads of the moment. The books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are especially good tools for Christians here. Nova, in turn, provides some useful fodder for practicing this exercise of wisdom. It’s also a fun story, which is an added benefit.

Dr. Coyle Neal is co-host of the City of Man Podcast and an Associate Professor of Political Science at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, MO

Previous Post

January 8, 2019

Review of Ryken's "The Soul in Paraphrase"

Next Post

January 15, 2019 In "The Outsider" King wins again

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Action AFI Top 100 Animation Best Picture Winner BFI Top 250 Biography Biopic Books Childrens Christian Classics Classics Comedy Crime Documentary Drama Editor's Choice Family Fantasy Fantasy Films Foreign Historical Historical Fiction History Horror Horror IMDB Top 250 Indie Memoir Modern Novel Musical Mystery Non-Fiction Oscars Philosophy Poetry Popular Literature Reading and Writing Reality Romance Science Fiction Science Fiction Silent Sports Thriller TV Show Uncategorized Western Westerns Young Adult

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 June 2017 January 2017 December 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In Revelation, what are the names of the two cities that the two witnesses' bodies lie in?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Sodom and Egypt (figuratively called) Damascus and Tyre Babylon and Jerusalem Rome and Athens