Imperial Earth, by Arthur C. Clarke (Harcourt, Brace, 303 pp., $7.95). Travel with Duncan Makenzie, scion of Titan’s important hydrogen industry, as he accepts an invitation to speak at the July 4, 2276 festivities in Washington. Duncan has, appropriately, five reasons for making this journey: diplomatic, since the Makenzies dominate the political life of Titan; romantic, since the lost love of his youth, the glamorous Calindy, is a Terran; sentimental, since he was cloned on Earth, but can’t remember seeing it before; intellectual, since, like most offworlders, he’s curious about the civilization from which all human communities in the solar system sprang; and, perhaps most important of all, domestic, since only on Earth can he arrange for the cloning of an heir. This novel has as many angles as the geometric figures that so fascinated Duncan as a boy. Its dozen or so noticeable faults are extremely minor, although some readers may be offended by the futuristic treatment of sex, which is, to put it mildly, startling. All such reservations aside, Imperial Earth is a book nobody should miss. It’s an utterly delightful tale, suspenseful and moving, full of unexpected chuckles and stunning surprises right up to the last sentence, all related with wry humor, scholarly intelligence, and extraordinary charm.
steve ownbey
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