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Macrolife: A Mobile Utopia by George Zebrowski
01/04/2006 . Source: Shaun Green 
pub: Prometheus Books. 373 page illustrated enlarged paperback. Price: $15.00 (US). ISBN: 1-59102-341-6. Buy Macrolife: A Mobile Utopia in the USA - or Buy Macrolife: A Mobile Utopia in the UK  check out website: www.pyrsf.com
Originally published in 1979, 'Macrolife' is Zebrowsky's magnum opus: a time-and-space spanning epic in three parts. These concern three key stages in the development of the titular macrolife and are linked by the presence of the Bulero family.
In many ways, the Buleros are the founders of macrolife. In the first part of the novel, 'Sunspace: 2021', we are offered a tantalising glimpse of capitalist utopia. The ailing Earth has been saved by the manifold possibilities of a new element, discovered and developed by the Bulero family. Power, living space, food and water are all provided for in plentiful quantity thanks to Bulerite technology. Developing nations are bootstrapping themselves to industrial maturity thanks to the same but this is only a glimpse. As the novel opens, the earliest deployed Bulerite is reaching a critical stress point and around the Solar System it is failing. Ships and vehicles detonate and before long cities are crumbling. Those who can flee the Earth and her colonies entirely and the smaller settlements in sunspace ditch all Bulerite technology. Some form of energy wave, a side-effect of the Bulerite catastrophe, engulfs the Earth.
This apocalyptic near-extinction prompts the possibility of macrolife to take form. Some members of the Bulero family and allies convert an asteroid settlement into the first macroworld, ensuring that the habitat is self-sufficient and heading out of sunspace. This is not without problems, as some who remain behind do not want the macroworld to be permitted to depart.
'Macrolife: 3000' follows. Almost one thousand years on, the first macroworld has reproduced a number of times, as have some of its children, and now multiple settlements and colonies are scattered around the galaxy. This part of the novel is concerned primarily with the discussion of planetlife versus macrolife, as Richard Bulero - a clone grown from Bulero stock - attempts to resolve his directionless existence by exploring and living on a planet. Later, his macroworld returns to Earth to discover what has happened in their absence. Here we are introduced to future possibilities for macrolife.
The final section of the book, 'The Dream Of Time', is set at the end of the universe. Everything is collapsing into a final black hole and the massive group minds of macrolife - the ultimate stage of its evolution - are unable to find a solution to their imminent demise. In desperation, they recall Richard Bulero from the group consciousness, informing him that he must make the decision that they cannot. As an isolated individual, he can gamble everything and hope to win. The only alternative is the end of macrolife as they know it.
This is a novel of ideas and they are very big ideas indeed. Zebrowsky's chief concern is the exploration of macrolife as a potential utopia. There are a number of infodumps to this extent - a little clunky by modern standards, but they get the job done - as well as examination of macrolife through antithetical planetlife. Zebrowsky sees planetlife as doomed to civilisation collapse, as explored in 'Macrolife: 3000'. The strength of macrolife is in its dispersion and flexibility as much as anything else. The end of one macroworld does not represent as great a threat to the species as the loss of a planet and Zebrowsky argues that a macroworld is a substantially more stable and safe environment than a planet. His arguments to this effect are convincing, although exactly why the argument has come down to an either/or is a little lost on me. Nonetheless, Zebrowsky also critiques the possible failings of macrolife. The group-minds of 'The Dream Of Time' are paralysed by their inability to take on a terrible risk and only a weaker individual can save them. This is a welcome consideration.
The characters of 'Macrolife' are disappointingly flat, with most of their motivations and conflicts after 'Sunspace: 2021' being directly linked to the exploration of macrolife. Although this does allow Zebrowsky to focus exclusively on what most interests him, it can often result in a dry read, despite the big ideas and sometimes cataclysmic backdrops. As a result, this is not a book to universally recommend. To those interested in an imaginative and thought-provoking take on space habitation and fans of hard SF in general, 'Macrolife' will be right up your street. Others may struggle with the lack of more general entertainment.
This edition contains an introduction by Ian Watson, in which he rails against anti-intellectual trends in American SF and against the domination of the genre by 'print television' - action-packed novels devoid of deeper and more intellectually stimulating content. You may or may not agree with this analysis of contemporary genre fiction but Watson is correct in that stories like 'Macrolife' are an essential and glorious part of Science Fiction and for all their failings they should be treated with the seriousness and respect that is their due.
Shaun Green
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