e-Book Through the Eye of a Needle download

Hal Clement may be known best for his Mesklin stories (starting with Mission of Gravity), but the pair of Needle novels are his other fine contribution to hard science SF. The species to which Hunter belongs is a fine invention, so good that James White "borrowed" the idea in some of his Sector General stories. Hunter is a symbiont, living inside a human body, earning his keep by protecting the human against injury or disease. Hunter is also a detective. It's an unusual basis for a story, and a good one. Strongly recommended if you like your science fiction with actual science.

For those that love the hard science, older science fiction, I can't think of a better author than Hal Clement. He has penned several "older styles" of science fiction that was based on hard science. Overall it was a great read. Just the right amount of mystery as an alien "cop" tries to solve a mystery involving his "host"

My guy often is trying to "find" old books he read as a youngster that he'd like to view with "current" eyes - and always with the proviso: "Subject to
change without notice!"

The first of the two, Needle, was original and a fun read. This one is slow, and actually pretty boring. Nothing much new is coming at you here and it just drags. As much as I love Clement, this is definitely not one of his better jobs.

I read Needle many years ago, probably in the 60's (it was published in 1950, when I was five). More recently I read this sequel, and just now I've reread it. I see there is one review of it, five stars, and I have to disagree. Needle was pretty interesting, and the sequel is not too bad either, though like most sequels, it's not as good as the original. However, both novels are severely flawed. Basically, this seems to be an alternate universe with an alternate race of humans who have no emotions, like the Vulcans in the original Star Trek series, and speak and think like hyper-rational machines.

(mild spoilers)

The science, fine, and mildly interesting. Not very believable in an absolute sense, but it's pretty easy to suspend disbelief. The detective aspects, OK, pretty good; better in the original than the sequel. But the way people act and talk!!!!! Basically no one ever bats an eye when they find out about these alien parasites-- "well, symbionts", but even the good guys among them frequently enter people and spy on them without their knowledge or consent. (btw, Clement accidentally coined the term "symbiote" in the first book. He's sorry, but the damage is done). The protagonist Bob, in the original, accepts his symbiont, when he finds about him, without complaint, accepts having a passenger looking through his eyes, listening through his ears, and monitoring all his bodily functions 24/7/365, for years. He's not mad, or apparently even upset, when he finds out that his symbiont, Hunter, has made him extremely and probably fatally sick. His friends and family allow Hunter to go into them, too, and no one makes a peep. And everyone talks in exactly the same hyperintellectual way. When Bob, his mother, his father, the doctor, and the Betty and Veronica who are contending for his affections get together in a circle and discuss strategy, it might as well be one person talking out loud. Well, that's Hal Clement for you. He's all about the science, and does really cool world-building and aliens, but his characters are always like this. But you wouldn't put it up with it from anyone else; it's a serious flaw in all his books, and especially glaring here.

Also, Hunter, the intrepid interstellar detective, who flew his own spacecraft here from his home planet, knows nothing about the stellar density of this part of the Galaxy, how his ship works, or even how fast it goes!!

It gets much worse. There is a child in this sequel who commits "practical jokes" that get people seriously hurt, hiding broken glass in the sand for someone to step on, sabotaging bicycles, and even sticks a skewer right through Bob, through his heart, to see if it will kill him or not. He's been doing stuff like this for years, though nothing quite this severe, and no one has put him on psych medication, sent him to the Mainland for treatment, nothing, and even when he commits what is tantamount to attempted murder, they still just seem to think, "oh, the little devil". They even let him participate in their search! This kid also witnessed a climactic event from the first book, seven years ago I believe it is, at the age of four, and remembers all about it.
Also, by the way, besides the emotional impossibility of how people respond to this little psychopath, what do you think? Does a pudgy 11 year old really have the strength to shove a barbecue skewer clear through an adult male and nail him to the ground with it? I don't think so.

I also wonder about the community where these people live, which is a tiny island in the Pacific, about 7 miles long, with two-hundred some people living there. It belongs to an oil company (benevolent, though, gets its oil from plants, treats its people well, and has a negative carbon footprint!)
Kids are growing up there, with evidently no radio, TV or internet, apparently not even movies, and basically nothing to do except swimming, hiking, science projects and getting into mischief. (In the first book, there were evidently no girls either. In this one, there are two, and they both have the hots for Bob.) Clement makes it sound like Paradise, but seriously, I don't think that's the way it would be done. Make it an offshore oil platform and you'll see what I mean. Nobody raises children on one of those. A tropical island, OK, but not if it's only 7 miles long and about 3/4 of it is impenetrable jungle. Basically two hundred people living along one road about 5 miles long, and when a ship or plane arrives, the whole island turns out.

Some people can't stand to live on Oahu, despite its charms, because it's so small and the Mainland is so far away; this is a thousand times worse.
We're not talking about natives; the people are said to be a mixture of French, American (all white, apparently) and Polynesian, but the adults are chemical engineers and such, or sailors, pilots, construction workers, who've all come from somewhere else much bigger than this tiny island; either America, or maybe some place like Tahiti. Nobody's bored, no one has cabin fever, there are no racial animosities, and above all, NOTHING TO DO!

One more thing-- Clement violates the rule of Chekhov's gun in this book. That is, if you have a gun in the wall in Act One, it has to go off by the end of Act Two. Well, there is a buddy of Bob's who was fairly prominent in the first book. In this second book, Bob has been away for four years at school (no summer or Christmas vacations in four years? OK, whatever). When he comes back his buddy Shorty is acting very strange, and is suspected in the string of vicious practical jokes/attacks for a while, but we never see him again after the first chapter, and never find out what the heck is going on with him. He doesn't have to be in the book at all; he could be crewing on a ship, or moved to Australia to be an actor. He's just here to be a red herring, a suspect, but he never gets investigated, never comes around to see his old buddy.

So the book has major, serious, crippling flaws, but it has its good points too, and if you can just roll your eyes, hold your nose, and pass over the defects, it's a fairly enjoyable, easy read.

A very good story but a little dated.

Hal Clement can certainly spin a thumping good yarn! At the same time, Mr. Clement is as hard sf as they come. (Meaning that he tries to be as accurate with the science as he can and still tell a good story.)

Through the Eye of a Needle is the sequel to Needle. Bob and Hunter have been together in a symbiotic relationship for some years now. Unfortunately, Bob is beginning to fray at the edges. (Meaning that Hunter has not been able to maintain Bob in good health, despite his best efforts.)

In fact, Bob is slowly dying.

Hunter's only recourse is to try to contact his people (who would have come to Earth to investigate why he never reported back from his last mission) and get help from his race's specialists for Bob.

Fortunately, Bob has graduated from college now and has returned to the island to work off his debt (the company paid for college, including his books, asking only that he come back and work for them for six years in return).

Hunter & Bob decide that the first step is to locate his quarry's starship (Hunter is only too aware his own starship was smashed to pieces when he crashed). The alien investigators would have started with this ship so he and Bob need to do the same.

Highly recommended!