Mining the Oort

Synopsis

Mining the Oort tells the story of young Martian-born Dekker DeWoe. He witnesses the first asteroid crashing onto Mars surface by the Oort mining program to replenish the atmosphere of the planet, in the hope to terraform it into earth's breadbasket.

But there is trouble ahead! Mars future is in jeopardy as Mars futures, intended to fuel the solar system wide endeavour, plummet at the stock market as the Japanese develop their alternative earth orbiting farm program.

Follow Dekker as he applies for the training program to become an Oort miner himself and learn everything there is to know about hurtling comets from the Oort cloud into the inner solar system in the hope to change the bleak future of his home planet. Unfortunately that means he has to go to Earth, an inhospitable place for a Martian not only for its crushing g-forces.

Review

Mining the Oort is not the best sci-fi novel Frederik Pohl has ever written, however, it is a solid work. One realizes how good a story it is, when compared to his earlier works or to other science fiction writers. The main story is of Dekker DeWoe whom we follow on his way to become an Oort cloud miner. Here the story brilliantly explains all the finer details and the knowledge necessary to mine the Oort, from dangers of space travel to life in zero g. This in on it self would be a story for a whole book. Frederik Pohl, however, adds additional layers by telling the story of the two worlds Mars and Earth and of the discrepancies between them on a social, economical and cultural level.

The situation becomes dire when Japan pushes for different solution to feed the planet.