Think Global: The Celestial Plot

Hello Cam-fictionists,

There has been something on my mind for a while. I have noticed that our vision of science-fiction is mostly associated to English or US authors or productions. It is true that there are a lot of sci-fi works which come from the two countries, but the genre is by no means limited to them.

So this post is about relating our favourite genre to other areas in the world. I happen to specialize in Hispanic Literature, and today, I would like to present you an excellent work of science-fiction by a Latin American author: Adolfo Bioy Casares.

But, before we start, let's talk a bit about the author. Casares is an Argentine writer who wrote science-fiction and more. He also wrote fantastic and crime novels, which owed him the Premio Miguel de Cervantes in 1990. Maybe you have heard of him already, does the work The Invention of Morel sound familiar to you? It is his most famous work, and is also science-fiction, for which he won a prize in 1941. It is a true masterpiece which inspired episodes in series such as Lost.

However, I want to present you another work of Casares: The Celestial Plot - or Trama Celeste (1948). Being shorter, it makes it easier for you to try out Casares' style and if you like it, launch directly into the reading of The Invention of Morel (1940). But if some of you are feeling lazy, there are also two movie adaptations, one French and one Italian, of The Invention.

The Celestial Plot is a wonderfully complex narration. It plays with various parallel universes, building an Inception-like atmosphere. The main character is Capitan Ireneo Morris, a pilot in the army. During a piloting exercise finds himself trapped into a parallel universe where he was never born. He never worked for the army, and none of his friends recognise him. Judged to be a spy, he finds himself in great danger. Will he figure out how to move from one universe to the other? Will he ever find his way back home? I will say no more, so as to avoid spoilers.

Do not hesitate to read it!  As soon as you start its triple narrator, disturbing historical facts and fancy touch of romance will keep you hooked until the end. It is all an exceptional literary riddle. Like a good science-fiction work, it asks you to question reality, especially your conception of time and space, and to see the impossible become possible.

Have a good read,

Cam