Scan barcode
A review by mburnamfink
Tuf Voyaging by George R.R. Martin
3.0
Tuf Voyaging is mid-80s science fiction fluff from George RR Martin before he was the Game of Thrones guy, a series of 7 linked short stories that flicker between charming and rancid, depending on how generous you're feeling.
The story introduces us to a group of rogue academics and criminals on a search for a ancient starship of immense power, an Ecological Engineering Corps seedship with a library of billions of cell samples, quick cloning tanks, and the power to remake worlds. They hire as their transport failing freelance trader Haviland Tuf. Tuf himself is an odd freak (absolutely autism coded, as the kids on TikTok would say). Physically, he's a pale hairless eight foot tall giant who speaks in a bass monotone. He's overly literal, honest to a fault, is a committed vegetarian, hates to be touched, loves dark ale and mushroom wine and strategy games, and prefers the company of his cats to any people.
When they arrive at the Ark, Tuf's trading ship is damaged by the defense systems and the crew immediately falls out over how they'll split the unimaginable wealth and power of the seedship. Betrayal and the hazards of a Big Dumb Object in space whittle down their numbers until Tuf is the last man standing. He decides to embark on a new career as an ecological engineer, and then the rest of the book.
The three main stories focus on S'uthlam, a city planet facing an immanent Malthusian crisis (the planet's name is an anagram for Malthus-subtle). Religious and social mores prevent any form of population control, and the planet's exponentially growing population of 40 billion plus is perennially years away from famine and/or an existential war with their neighbors. In three stories, Tuf gives them new crops, criticizes their society, and finally forces mandatory birth control, observing that as with cats, either you choose to sterilize them, or you find yourself tossing a sack of kittens out an airlock.
The intervening stories are a bit more fun. "Guardians" is the best, where Tuf helps a planet under assault from viciously evolving sea monsters reach a peace accords with the natives. The other stories have him undermining an aristocracy of animal pit fighters, and dropping plagues on an anti-technology zealot calling himself Moses.
GRRM knows what to do on a sentence to sentence level. But the setting and characters are a sketchpad for the moral lessons, and how much you'll enjoy the stories depends on how much you like Tuf's "Oh dear, no one appreciates my honesty and assumes that I'll use my god-like power to screw them over. Well, time to use my god-like to do what I think is best for them." I split the difference and gave this collection three stars.
The story introduces us to a group of rogue academics and criminals on a search for a ancient starship of immense power, an Ecological Engineering Corps seedship with a library of billions of cell samples, quick cloning tanks, and the power to remake worlds. They hire as their transport failing freelance trader Haviland Tuf. Tuf himself is an odd freak (absolutely autism coded, as the kids on TikTok would say). Physically, he's a pale hairless eight foot tall giant who speaks in a bass monotone. He's overly literal, honest to a fault, is a committed vegetarian, hates to be touched, loves dark ale and mushroom wine and strategy games, and prefers the company of his cats to any people.
When they arrive at the Ark, Tuf's trading ship is damaged by the defense systems and the crew immediately falls out over how they'll split the unimaginable wealth and power of the seedship. Betrayal and the hazards of a Big Dumb Object in space whittle down their numbers until Tuf is the last man standing. He decides to embark on a new career as an ecological engineer, and then the rest of the book.
The three main stories focus on S'uthlam, a city planet facing an immanent Malthusian crisis (the planet's name is an anagram for Malthus-subtle). Religious and social mores prevent any form of population control, and the planet's exponentially growing population of 40 billion plus is perennially years away from famine and/or an existential war with their neighbors. In three stories, Tuf gives them new crops, criticizes their society, and finally forces mandatory birth control, observing that as with cats, either you choose to sterilize them, or you find yourself tossing a sack of kittens out an airlock.
The intervening stories are a bit more fun. "Guardians" is the best, where Tuf helps a planet under assault from viciously evolving sea monsters reach a peace accords with the natives. The other stories have him undermining an aristocracy of animal pit fighters, and dropping plagues on an anti-technology zealot calling himself Moses.
GRRM knows what to do on a sentence to sentence level. But the setting and characters are a sketchpad for the moral lessons, and how much you'll enjoy the stories depends on how much you like Tuf's "Oh dear, no one appreciates my honesty and assumes that I'll use my god-like power to screw them over. Well, time to use my god-like to do what I think is best for them." I split the difference and gave this collection three stars.