 Ballroom of the Skies (1952)
Bought at the monthly library used book sale, using the following ratio:
• 70% joke purchase (it was only a quarter)
• 15% intrigued by title and back cover
• 10% curious to read some old forgotten sci-fi
• 3% the name John MacDonald rang a bell
• 2% I'm a hopeless nerd
(Though technically that last percentage explains all of the other reasons for buying the book in the first place.)
I really intended to read a few pages and either throw it out in disgust, or donate it to charity with the rest of the hideous "comedy book buys" I've made in recent years.
Frankly, I'm starting to tire of the joke purchase. Yes, many joke purchases give me endless private delight. But the majority are only valuable in the reaction they get from others. And since I'm only allowed a few visitors a month to my locked cell, and only a few of those ever comment on or appreciate the comic value of the item in question, ultimately the only joke in one of my joke purchases is the one played on me, by God, for implanting the desire to show off my sophisticated sense of humor to a world filled with people who'd rather watch "America's Funniest Child Molesters" or whatever.
Then again, once in a while you find a hidden treasure in a joke purchase, which calls into question the various layers of intention. Was it really as a joke, or was some unconscious delight getting stroked? Do I love/hate these items I buy with a slightly embarrassed smirk, or do I love/love them?
With regard to Ballroom of the Skies, it's love/love. I have deep reservations and skepticism about sci-fi, mainly because it's often either prancy hokum about planets filled with dragons, or elaborate bunkum about futuristic space wars.
But BOTS is neither of these. It's instead a nifty little paperback that envisions a quite believable future/present (early 1980s as written from the early 1950s), but more importantly explains human civilization in a totally radical but recognizable fashion.
Written only a few years after the end of WWII, BOTS presents a world remade by nuclear war, but totally without cliché. The US has become a third-world country with most of its major cities now mostly underground thanks to radiation and poverty. The superpowers are those that avoided nuclear conflict and combined to form massive nations such as Pak-India, which spans the Indian subcontinent and most of Southeast Asia, a huge single Islamic republic called Irania, all of South America united under Brazil, and if memory serves, a new China consisting of China and Russia.
This is one of the many fascinating aspects of BOTS—numerous well-explained but unexpected reversals of fortune.
Rumors of another war have begun, but a secret agreement among world leaders is about to create lasting peace. Dake Lorin, top aide to the American negotiator, and excited about the prospect of peace, is shocked to discover a sudden change of heart in his famously anti-war boss. Then Dake notices that the man he's worked with is physically changed as well. Which is when the plot takes off.
Dake discovers that some kind of alien presence is fucking with world affairs at the highest levels— switching bodies, playing mind tricks, and leading humanity towards another horrific war. He vows to expose the aliens so that mankind can finally enjoy some peace. But he quickly becomes the target of alien mind control, and finds himself running for his life with the help of a sympathetic alien female, and later an attractive but suicidal artist.
Yeah, it sounds very "X-Files," but it's very not. MacDonald has crafted a scenario filled with twists and surprises right up to the end. Dake's absolutely dead wrong about what's going on, even after he receives training in the alien mind-control tricks.
The writing is excellent and the story compelling. Yeah, it's a little creaky—some of the dialogue is overblown and trite, and the character names are annoyingly sci-fi—but keep in mind it was written over 50 years ago. I usually try not to excuse bad writing on the basis of age, but in this case, the work is overall so good, and the fact of its age so mind-blowing, I can forgive a few obvious errors in judgment.
The book has like ten times more little twists and surprises than most other books—central characters suddenly get killed or go insane, individual scenes shoot off in unexpected directions. There's a really loose feel to the writing, like it's a great first draft that just flew off MacDonald's fingers … but it's too well-crafted to be pure furious inspiration.
BOTS felt so fully modern and convincing, I forgot that I was supposed to be mocking it, and simply enjoyed it cover to humorously-designed cover. Part of what helped is how effortlessly MacDonald presents his imaginary society. It seems not only possible but increasingly probable, especially if you remove the alien aspect.
I know with deep regret that you'll probably never read this book, but I still refuse to give away the central big secret that Dake eventually uncovers, and what happens to him in the end.
At less than 200 pages, this is a slim novel that fully explains our screwed up civilization and offers a meaningful character arc. Based on its core theory, I will probably always think of Ballroom of the Skies whenever I watch the news and feel angst about all the fucking chaos everywhere.
I was frankly shocked at how "into" this book I got. So much for a 25-cent joke purchase.
Review by Crimedog |