Book Review – Arthur C. Clarke’s “Cradle”
A few days ago I finished reading Arthur C. Clarke’s Cradle.
To classify this book as a work of science fiction is a bit of a stretch. Romance maybe. Certainly not sci-fi.
Cradle tells the tale of an ambitious female reporter investigating the story about a lost experimental missile developed by the U.S. Navy. The missile unexpectedly changed paths during a test flight and splashed down somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico near the Florida Keys. What ultimately happens during the quest for the missile is what gives an ordinary story a brief encounter with science fiction.
To hunt for the missile, Carol Dawson charters a fishing vessel commanded by Nick Williams and maintained by Troy Jefferson. The three of them sail the waters and a strange anomaly within a photo leads to underwater exploration and an unforgettable encounter.
In the meantime, Commander Winters and Lieutenant Todd of the U.S. Navy are on the hunt for the lost missile, determined to be the first to find it and keep the story under wrap. When not being a Naval officer, the novel spends too much time detailing Commander Winters’ secret life as a stage actor. Exciting stuff there.
Instead of giving the readers an exciting tale of UFOs, aliens, distant worlds and space travel, we learn about how a young reporter ultimately falls in love with the grungy fishing boat captain. That is, after we go through an endless series of flashbacks and learn way too many unnecessary details in relation to the story. This includes some surprisingly graphic romantic encounters for a few of the characters.
Don’t get me wrong though.
This novel isn’t terrible.
The parts with the alien spaceship (before arriving on Earth) are outstanding, and the underwater exploration scenes are pretty interesting. There’s also a fun robbery scene involving swimming through underwater caves and avoiding booby traps. But apart from that it’s hard to think back to highlights.
Unfortunately, Cradle falls short of being a great, let alone mediocre, science fiction novel.
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