TRITON (NOVEL)

(Redirected from Trouble on Triton)

'''Trouble on Triton: An Ambiguous Heterotopia''' (1976) is a science fiction novel by Samuel R. Delany. It was nominated for the 1976 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and won a retrospective James Tiptree, Jr. Award in 1995. It was originally published with the shorter title '''Triton'''.
Delany has said that ''Trouble on Triton'' was written partly in dialogue with Ursula K. Le Guin's anarchist science fiction novel ''The Dispossessed'', whose subtitle was ''An Ambiguous Utopia''.^[1] It is also loosely linked to several others of his works (particularly ''Neveryóna'') in its references to "the modular calculus", a vaguely described future mathematics that would analyze analogies, fictional constructs, and possibly human personalities.

Contents

Plot introduction

Plot summary

Notes

Plot introduction

As the subtitle implies, the novel offers several conflicting perspectives on the concept of utopia (whereas ''utopia'' literally means "good place" or "no place", Delany uses the term ''heterotopia'' from the writings of philosopher Michel Foucault. Literally, heterotopia means "other place" or "a place of differences"). Foucault uses the term to designate spaces outside everyday fixed institutional and social spaces, for example trains, motels and cemetaries. In the novel's future solar system, Neptune's moon Triton supports one of several human societies independent from Earth, which has developed along radically libertarian lines in some ways: though a representative government exists, it has virtually no power to regulate private behavior, and citizens may choose to live in an area where no laws apply at all. Technology provides for a high degree of self-modification, so that one can change one's physical appearance, gender, sexual orientation, and even specific patterns of likes and dislikes.

Plot summary

The novel examines how Triton's freedoms and customs are perceived by the main characters, particularly Bron Helstrom, a young man who has previously worked on Mars as a male prostitute. The society of Mars is far harsher than that of Triton, and it has evidently influenced Bron's personality. He is self-absorbed, often lacks insight about himself and others, and has great difficulty with personal relationships. Though the civilization of Triton offers everything that he could reasonably want, he is unhappy with his life, out of harmony with those around him, and continually looking for others to blame whenever things go wrong.
As the novel continues, political tensions between Triton and Earth lead to a destructive interplanetary war. This is mainly used as the backdrop for Bron's (ultimately disastrous) relationship with a brilliant young woman known as the Spike, but Delany does speculate interestingly on how an interplanetary war might unfold.

Notes

1. On Triton and Other Matters: An Interview with Samuel R. Delaney