In the ensuing pages, the reader is taken on a screwball sci-fi adventure involving Joe Cube (the names in this novel are awful), his wife Jena, and other characters with such names as Spazz, Tulip and the strange Wackles. As Joe works towards attaining this strange new technology, he is caught up in a geopolitical struggle between two different fourth-dimensional worlds, while having his body "augmented" so he can leave Spaceland (i.e. the three-dimensional world where humans live) in order to be able see into the hyperspace of 4-D.
This book is a modern rendition of the sci-fi classic Flatland, the 19th century story of a two dimensional creature that is introduced to the third dimension. Unlike the original story, however, Spaceland is hampered by some terrible writing. The dialogue is particularly horrific, while the cheesy humor throughout Spaceland comes across as a weak attempt to hide wooden characters that are (if I can use the expression) one-dimensional.
This is the second book by Rudy Rucker that I have read and, once again, I have not been impressed. It's true that Rucker's ideas are interesting, and that his background as a mathematician, computer scientist and professor give him a lot of legitimacy. As a novelist, however, I find him quite weak, and I am still not sure why he is held in such high esteem by some science fiction fans.
If you are interested in stories about multi-dimensional space, you should forego this book and read instead such works as Flatland, Sphereland and the Planiverse.
1 out of 5 stars
