JOHN BRUNNER: THE LONG RESULT

(Not the copy I used. Taken from the web.)

John Brunner(1934-1995): The Long Result, Del Rey 1981, 190 pages.

The Long Result was originally published in 1965 and thus near the end of the early stage of John Brunner's career just before his prime. It's a toned down, under-developed novel, likely suffering both from the limits set for the length of novels by genre publishers back then and Brunner's rapid production of novels. It's essentially a polished draft of what could have been an above average and somewhat ambitious novel for Brunner.

Short in action, theoretically 'heavy' in subject, in a mid-brow manner, it's essentially a story of the protagonist Roald Vincent experiencing (some) personal growth, and him and the human civilization on Earth both finding a new role for themselves in the further development of interstellar humanity and the shaping humanity's role towards other intelligent species, in a mature, responsible manner. It might be said to be an attempt at a 'realistic' - in science fiction terms - utopian novel. Or it could have been, if it would have been further developed.

The novel should really have had another hundred pages to do more world building, to develop in more depth the central themes and the supporting characters, three of which still come out well-drawn in the constraints of the novel (the alien Anovel, the protagonist's boss Tinescu and his superior friend Torres). One of the supporting characters who should have been developed more is the Starholme courier and terrorism facilitator Kay, who ends up as the eventual 'love interest', although to describe her role thus is stretching it, considering that the character, after appearing to have a major role early on, disappears until the very final pages beyond few exploratory musings aboutr her by the protagonist in the between.