By WILLIAM S. RUBEN (Manor Books; 1977)
This book outlines a little remarked-upon but quite pertinent facet of space travel: sex in zero gravity. It’s something that most science fiction stories, if they bother to bring up the subject at all, tend to take as a given—but, as this novel makes clear, space sex is actually an extremely arduous and complicated process, in both theory and practice.
In DIONYSUS: THE ULTIMATE EXPERIMENT Jill and Sten, living in the “future” year 1997, are selected to be the subjects of an experiment that involves the two of them copulating in a space capsule called the Dionysus, with their every movement closely monitored by researchers back on Earth. This experiment is kept secret from the public, which in this book’s 1997 consists of well-heeled rich folk and the considerably less well off “invisibles” who live underground. What the masses are informed of is that Jill and Sten are on a remote controlled trip to Mars, with the details of their mission left unclear.
Also left unclear, to the public and also Jill and Sten, is that the experiment is an attempt by a megalomaniacal president to foster a new breed of human. Yet this randy space flight ultimately serves as an inspiration to the downtrodden invisibles, who are growing tired of their confinement and see in the Dionysus and its passengers a symbol for their revolutionary longings.
The book may sound pervy, and indeed it is, but it has a thoughtful and intellectual thrust (pun intended). In fact, I’d say it could have done with a bit more erotic content, although the salaciousness on display is fairly copious, with the narrative revolving around Jill and Sten inside the Dionysus and the subplots and subsidiary characters presented as, essentially, lengthy asides. In this respect the book naturally grows a bit claustrophobic and monotonous, although the short page length (208 pages with very large printing) is a mitigating factor.
Also helpful is author William S. Ruben’s depiction of the calamitous and often bizarre minute-to-minute reality experienced by Jill and Sten as they attempt to carry out their mission. Problems they encounter include a crippling sense of self-consciousness due to the knowledge that their every action is being closely monitored, the fact that Jill is only marginally attracted to Sten and the zero-g induced hallucinations to which both are subject, with Jill visualizing Sten as a giant disembodied penis and he seeing her as a distorted figure with massive breasts. Weird!