This is actually a compendium which includes two novels (Mission of Gravity & Star Light) and 5 short pieces, all of which together comprises The Complete Mesklin Stories of Mr. Clement. I've been meaning to read this for a long time...even started it a couple of times...but this stuff is so OTHER that I realized it would take more bearing down on than I had it in me to give at the time.
How OTHER is it? Well, the hero is a foot and a half long centipede who lives on a planet where the gravity varies from 2 1/2 times Earth normal to hundreds of times greater. And an Earth day is equal to 80 Mesklin days. So, yeah, it takes a bit of concentration.
It's 414 pages long, and I'm ready to go Go GO!
Day 1 (DDRD 2,448) July 14, 2024
Read to page 41. Wanted to read mire, but had to stop to watch Caitlin Clark.
Day 2 (DDRD 2,449) July 15, 2024
Read to page 74. These pages contain a lot more words than the THH books, so I'm probably reading at least twice as much... but it's good stuff. My initial awkwardness with the book has completely disappeared, and now I'm just grooving on it.
One moment of "reverse anachronism": the astronaut responds to a question by pulling out a slide rule to do a calculation. Imagine if we were still bound to slide rules.
Whilst poking about on the internet, looking for a picture of Mesklin, I found so many different covers for thus book that I was astonished. How many printings has this book gone through? Well, since this is the 21st century, I'm fairly sure than I can answer that. Hang on for a minute.
And our survey says...31 editions, not including the original magazine publication (over the course of four issues) and translations (19 of them). There are several covers which picture a Mesklinite, the best of which is this:
Day 3 (DDRD 2,450) July 16, 2024
Read to page 109. Really groovin' on this book now. So much so that I bought another Hal Clement book (Needle) that I saw at Half-Price Books today. Also found out that there's a third Mesklin novel--Close to Critical--in the series. Why wasn't this included in Heavy Planet? Dunno. I'll have a look around for it when I finish Mission of Gravity, but if it proves elusive or expensive, there's this: https://archive.org/details/isbn_0345245083150/mode/1up.
Or you can read it in its original magazine form, starting with this: https://archive.org/details/sim_astounding-science-fiction_1958-05_61_3/page/n9/mode/1up.
Then this: https://archive.org/details/sim_astounding-science-fiction_1958-06_61_4/page/93/mode/1up.
And finally this: https://archive.org/details/sim_astounding-science-fiction_1958-07_61_5/page/99/mode/1up.
Btw, according to Wikipedia, "each Mesklin day is 17.75 minutes long." (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesklin)
Day 4 (DDRD 2,451) July 17, 2024
Read to page 141...which only leave 23 more pages in this novel, so if I'm going to read Close to Critical (Mesklin #2, according to several semi-reputable sources), I'm going to have to go e-book on it. Which wouldn't be my first choice, but hey, that's what I get for thinking that a Complete Mesklin Stories compendium would include the Complete Mesklin Stories.
And as for this book...well, its quite a thrill ride, then, ennit it?
And since I have an appointment for an oil change later, I might well finish Mission of Gravity today!
I think this is the first time we're given a full-blown picture of the Mesklinites:
"Eight hundred miles is a long walk for a man, and a longer one for a creature only fifteen inches long who has to "walk" by rippling forward caterpillar style...." (142)
ADDENDUM: Read to page 163, The End. Oddly enough, the ending was a bit rushed, abrupt, even. Maybe because Mr. Clement knew he had a sequel / sequels in the wings? Dunno. But I'm off to Close to Critical mañana.
Day 5 (DDRD 2,452) July 18, 2024
Close to Critical: 184 pages. And judging from that cover art, we're clearly not in Kansas...or Mesklin...anymore. Which makes me wonder why this is considered Mesklin #2. But time will tell. Maybe.
Read to page 41. Still a "gravity problem, but different planet and different " people."
Day 6 (DDRD 2,453) July 19, 2024
Read to page 76.
More slide rule action. Funny how cutting edge technology becomes ridiculous anachronism, ennit?
And here's another interesting word I've never heard before:
tombolo
[ tom-buh-loh ]
- a sandbar connecting an island to the mainland or to another island.
Word History and Origins
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/tombolo
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| Public Domain |
Day 7 (DDRD 2,454) July 20, 2024
Read to page 112. Well...less than half of the book to go (78 pages), and I still see ZERO connections between this book and Mission of Gravity. Which is fine, it's just that I can't stop wondering why this is regarded as Mesklin #2.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/78536-mesklin
Day 8 (DDRD 2,455) July 21, 2024
Read to page 142.
Day 9 (DDRD 2,456) July 22, 2024
Read to page 175. Which is a mere 15 pages from the end, so...
BTW...I looked up the issues of Astounding Science Fiction in which Close to Critical originally appeared--
and on the first page of each installment there was the credit "Illustrated by van Dongen." The illustrations ranged from competent to pretty awful (here's an example of the latter:
).And I took a little Google to see who this van Dongen feller might be. The first hit that looked likely was Kees van Dongen, so I had a look at him. As soon as I saw an example of his work--I knew not to bark up that 🌳. So I Googled again, and this time came up with Henry Richard Van Dongen. Bingo. No relation to Kees. I kind of like Kees' painting, though, so I felt that this was a nice little canter.
ADDENDUM: Read to page 190. The End.
Y'know...I never really connected with this book, I'm sorry to say. It wasn't bad, and it wasn't work to read it, but it never sucked me in, either. Part of that is no doubt because I was expecting at least some connection with Mission of Gravity...since it was listed as the second book in the Mesklin series. But there was nothing. No characters, no plot elements. Hell, it wasn't even on the same planet. What's up with that? Dunno...but I'm going back to my Heavy Planet compendium now.
Day 10 (DDRD 2,457) July 23, 2024
Read to page 195. Feels good to be back in the omnibus...and "Under," which I'm almost finished with, picks up where Mission of Gravity left off. Ahhhh. 😌
Word of the day:
"chela (/ˈkiːlə/) – also called a claw, nipper, or pincer – is a pincer-shaped organ at the end of certain limbs of some arthropods."
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| Public Domain |
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chelae&diffonly=true
So there's that.
Day 11 (DDRD 2,458) July 24, 2024
Read to page 224.
Finished "Under"--pages 165 to 207, so a pretty substantial short story.
Also finished "Introduction to Lecture Demonstration " and "Lecture Demonstration," the first of which was very brief, the second of which was an interesting little story about surviving a disaster. Next up is Star Light, A REAL sequel to Mission if Gravity, and then it's just "Whirligig World"--whatever that is.
Btw, I just saw that you can get a Kindle edition ofHeavy Planet for a mere $2.99. Definitely worth it, definitely a great deal.
Day 12 (DDRD 2,459) July 25, 2024
Read to page 254.
"Thanks, Easy." (236, which is the first page of Chapter 2.)
And THAT'S why Close to Critical is considered to be a Part of the Mesklin series. Easy, now all grown up, was Easy Rich, the twelve-year-old girl in CtC. Seems like a pretty thin thread to hang the term "sequel" from. But at least it's SOMEthing.
Speaking of The Essential Hal Clement 3-book set, I found a great deal for Volumes 1 and 2 on Amazon, then found a very nicely priced Volume 3 on Thrift Books, so that was exciting. They listed for $25 apiece when they came out, and they now go for anywhere from a low of around $60 for the set to double that. Mine cost about $40, so I'm feeling good about that, thank you very much.
🎇H✪A✪L✪C✪L✪E✪M✪E✪N✪T🎇
Day 13 (DDRD 2,460) July 26, 2024
Read to page 284.
Day 14 (DDRD 2,461) July 27, 2024
Read to page 314. Tomorrow is going to a tricky day, though--leaving for Indianapolis @ 6 am, probably won't be back home until late--so I'm going to put a big dent in tomorrow's thirty as well...just in case.
䷪
Read to page 334. That ought to do it.
Day 15 (DDRD 2,462) July 28, 2024
Read to page 344. Might try for a bit more, but I'm pretty tired, so I wouldn't bet on it.
Whilst in the Indianapolis Children's Museum, I saw this
and of course I thought of Hal Clement.
Day 16 (DDRD 2,463) July 29, 2024
Read to page 374.
One of the humans thinks about a Mesklinite as a "red-and-black inchworm." (351) This was the second time (the first being just a page or two earler) for that. Kind of funny that I'm 85% of the way through this omnibus, and this is the first time (so far as my aging brain can discern) that that detail's been given.
"Human ability to judge likelihood, you might call it statistical insight, has always been shaky...even if you skip purely classical examples like Lois Lane." (365)
That's a good one, eh? And here's some more of that ha ha:
"Do you think that man's presence on earth won't be geologically obvious a billion years from now, with looted coal seams and the beer bottle as an index fossil?" (365 to 366)
ADDENDUM: Went back and read to the end of of Star Light, page 399. And I enjoyed it, for sure, but once again an abrupt fuckin' ending...and no sequel this time. Sigh. Just a few more pages left in the omnibus now. Another sigh.
Day 17 (DDRD 2,464) July 30, 2024
Read to page 414, The End. "Whirligig World" and "Addendum to 'Whirligig World'" were several miles over my head, but I enjoyed what I could of them.
Now...what's next?
TBD.
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