Review: The Cosmic Courtship by Julian Hawthorne

A lost work by Julian Hawthorne – son of the legendary Nathaniel Hawthorne – is brought back to life by Cirsova Publishing.

It's been called the American [easyazon_link identifier="0743234901" locale="US" tag="upstreamreviews-20"]Out of the Silent Planet[/easyazon_link] and it's easy to see why.

The story

In the distant future of 2001 (the story was written in 1917) Miriam Mayne and Jack Paladin both live in the upper crust of New York society. She is a promising young scientist and he an artist of immense talent and neither seems to have a particular interest in the opposite sex, until they meet that is.

That changes rather suddenly when their mutual love for and skill with horses brings them together. Jack is instantly taken with her when he sees the young woman at social event before a horse race. He’s unsure if the attraction is mutual until he has the opportunity of save her life on the horse track.

The pair fall in love immediately, but the affair is seemingly cut short when Miriam disappears suddenly after their first meetings. When Jack tracks her to the lab of Mary Faust, the mystery is only deepened. While Miriam’s body is there, her consciousness is (along with a suitable body) on Saturn with no clear way of return.

Jack follows, promising to bring her back. When he arrives, he finds that the task will not be easy as Miriam has also caught the eye of Torpeon, a despot with designs of ruling not only the moon of Tor but the whole solar system and beyond. Fortunately, Jack has been followed by his trusty servant Jim, a deformed but streetwise and loyal youth he had rescued from the gutter.

The characters

If you are a modern reader with certain preconceived notions of how people wrote a hundred years ago and how they portrayed people, especially women, then prepare to have your mind blown. Not only are many of the main characters women, they are not mere love interests. Mary is clearly ahead of her time with her inventions. Miriam is not only a worthy pupil, she is a skilled horse rider, and has enough intelligence and will to defy Torpeon and even develop a backup plan that would require her sacrifice her life.

Lamara, the benevolent ruler of the Saturnians, also seems to have a status slightly below that of a goddess. It’s clear that she has immense power at her disposal but would rather avoid using it lest she call more harm than good.

The excellence of the women also does not come at the expense of the men. Jack Paladin might be the most obvious protagonist name in literary history and the character does not disappoint. While he obviously struggles with understanding the pacifism of the Saturnians, he demonstrates his fidelity to Miriam as well as his bravery many times over.

The star of the show though is Jim. Much like Samwise Gamgee, he is fiercely loyal, thinking the world of his master, while also considering him to dangerously naïve in certain areas. In fact, it is Jim, acting with complete selflessness that really moves the story along at many points, saving Jack and taking the fight straight to Torpeon.

The world

Especially given the time period in which The Cosmic Courtship was written one should forgive certain liberties Hawthorne takes when it comes to filling in the massive holes in scientific knowledge. Instead, focus on the way he describes a society that is in many ways truly alien from our own. While they are pacifistic, their advances also make war completely unnecessary, even with Torpeon. Yet, they are still clearly tempted by fear, anger, desire, and vengeance.

Saturn is also contrasted well with Torpeon’s world of Tor which is a violent place ruled with Torpeon’s iron fist and turned into a giant lab for the depot’s experiments.

The politics

There are few overt politics in the book. What little there is would at first seem to be center left with the strong focus on nonviolence and lack of punishment for criminals. Yet, pay a bit more attention and you realize these things are only possible because of the immense virtue of the citizens of Saturn which is such that a criminal brought to judgment is so shamed that he or she would willingly sacrifice themselves to make amends. It’s also clear that these virtues are only so well developed because their immense devotion to God. That places a bit right of center as whole.

Content warning

There is little content that could be found objectionable here. There is some use of magic and attempts at seduction undertaken by the villains of the story but it only ever skirts the edge of PG-13 once. There also a couple violent deaths near the end but not described in a graphic way.

Who is it for?

I’d recommend this to anyone with a taste for an older style of storytelling. It is slower paced and relies on the character relationships and concepts to carry the story. If you are a Chris Nolan fan, or you greatly enjoyed C.S. Lewis’ sci-fi trilogy, then this is for you. I’d also recommend this to a teenage boy or girl who has a more advanced reading ability and expose them to the way men and women should act when courting.

Why read it?

To return to a simpler time, to a different way of telling stories, unencumbered by the many silly rules we impose on ourselves.