The novel “Imperial Earth” by Arthur C. Clarke published for the first time in 1975 starts on Saturn’s moon Titan in 2276. The Makenzie family is the most important in the colony that thrives on Titan thanks to the trade of hydrogen, essential as fuel for the fusion engines that make space travel possible.

Unfortunately Malcolm Makenzie, the man who at the beginning of the XXIII century gave the impetus that led to the birth of the colony, paid for his exposure to cosmic radiation with a genetic damage that prevented him from having healthy children. To have an heir, however, Malcolm cloned himself giving birth to Colin who, as an adult, did the same thing giving birth to Duncan.

When an invitation to participate in the celebrations for the five hundredth anniversary of the U.S.A. independency arrives from Earth, Duncan Makenzie knows that this is the perfect opportunity to go to the clinic that had created Malcolm’s clones and give birth to another child that could continue the family but when he reaches humanity’s home planet he finds a more complicated situation than he expected. What’s his old friend Karl Helmer doing on Earth? Why does his name seem to be related to illegal activities?

The plot of this novel is basically simple despite some plot twists. Clarke uses the story of Malcolm Makenzie to describe Titan and its human colony but also the Earth in 2276 from the point of view of someone seeing it for the first time.

The story of Malcolm Makenzie, which in some ways is also the story of his friend Karl Helmer, gives Arthur Clarke a way to describe possible future technologies but also social changes. Certain aspects of the future society have become so commonplace that the protagonist refers to them only in the middle of the novel: for example we find out that Duncan Makenzie is black only because on the ship that is carrying him to Earth he finds a crew member who could be a distant relative by his name but that can’t be it because he is white. From that reference we understand that in the future the concept of race has ceased to matter and skin color is regarded as much as the eyes color.

Sexuality in the future is different as well and during the novel there are hints about the bisexuality of some characters, which is considered normal because Duncan Makenzie mentions it in one of his memories considering a relationship with a man exactly like one with a woman.

A focal point of the plot is the period of transition that is beginning. When Duncan Makenzie is traveling to Earth he discovers that the ship has a new engine technology that uses hydrogen in a much more efficient way and much smaller quantities. The long-term result will be a decline in the significance of Titan because of the gradual decline in hydrogen demand as new ships with the new engines will enter service.

Duncan Makenzie, along with his friend Karl Helmer, is facing a moment of transition from a personal perspective as well and not only because he’s going to be cloned. Years before a spacecraft carrying a group of wealthy Earhlings on a cruise in space had made a stop on Titan and the two young men had fallen in love with Catherine Linden (Calindy) Ellerman. When they go to Earth they both look for her in the hope of recreating the old magic left in their memories despite the fact that over the years they both got married.

For Duncan Makenzie the overcoming of that old love when he realizes that he and Calindy have become different persons marks the moment of awareness of the changes taking place throughout the solar system and in particular those Titan is going to face. Duncan has to take difficult decisions, however he must take them to get ready to face the future.

For logic games lovers, during the novel the protagonist has to do with pentominoes on several occasions.

“Imperial Earth” is not the best novel by Arthur C. Clarke: his speculations about the future are always fascinating but here are a few too many digressions, however for those who appreciate a science-based sense of wonder this novel is a pleasure to read.