The Space Oracle by Ken Hollings


The Space Oracle
Title : The Space Oracle
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 1907222537
ISBN-10 : 9781907222535
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 256
Publication : First published September 8, 2017

A radical retelling of our relationship with the cosmos, reinventing the history of astronomy as a new form of astrological calendar.

Astronomy is another form of cinema. Time is fragmented and extended. Matter becomes light in motion. The camera remains fixed, looking outwards into the darkness, while the earth moves beneath our feet.

A carefully constructed text in sixty numbered sections, The Space Oracle reinvents the history of astronomy as a new form of astrological calendar. This radical retelling of our relationship with the cosmos reaches back to places and times when astronomers were treated as artists or priests, to when popes took part in astral rites and the common people feared eclipses and comets as portents of disaster.

Panoramic and encyclopedic in its scope, The Space Oracle brings astronauts and spies, engineers and soldiers, goddesses and satellites into alignment with speculative insights and everyday observations. The universe, Hollings argues, is a work in progress—enjoy it.

The Space Oracle Reviews

  • Clarice

    This is a really special book.

  • Eleanor

    Lots of my customers like to describe their tastes as “eclectic”. They virtually never really are. If they were, they might be more open to books like The Space Oracle, which I find myself utterly unable to describe in any genre terms whatsoever. It’s nonfiction, but that’s where my certainties end. It’s definitely mostly astronomy, but sometimes it’s history and sometimes it’s mythology and sometimes it’s kind of, maybe, alchemy? It’s more or less an exploration of how different world cultures have used the ordering principles of the night sky to impose order on life, but Hollings uses unfamiliar names for the members of the zodiac, which immediately throws off all the things you think you know. Really interesting, really weird.

  • Dawn

    Unfixing astrology for sophisticated ramblings on stars, space, ancient cultures, myths, gods, the human body, pop culture, history and maths. Ping ponging between subjects and leaving faint trails for the reader to create an unfixed and fluctuating image. Whilst I would almost consider this essential reading the overall impression is hampered by some chapters that leave more of an impression than others. It's generally just too diverse and wide reaching to be an instant recommendation but there is something in here for most people who have somehow happened upon the book.

  • Pavel

    This is a curious, poetic, witty, informative and thought-provoking gem of a book, a treasure trove of fun facts and rare trivia related to space and astronomy. Some parts I failed to understand, but I take that as a challenge. The book is beautifully produced and diligently copy-edited. I look forward to future books of the author, with whom I’d love to have a conversation over a cup of cofee, in Starbucks or elsewhere.

  • Dan Sumption

    This is a fantastic, wide-ranging book, ostensibly talking about astronomy (from prehistoric times to the present) via the medium of a fresh set of astrological symbols. It's mostly just an excuse for author Ken Hollings to ramble across numerous topics, from science to history to religion, in a way that is utterly compelling and consuming. One of the best books I've read recently.

  • Zac Hawkins

    Finished my reread, only cementing itself in my mind of one of the great modern examples of cosmic philosophy through the lenses of ancient and contemporary popular culture. The presentation on the physical edition is cum worthy, so good.

  • Nicholas Pendleton

    Since the old man had given up adventuring and retired to his birth name Alcaeus, he'd gladly handed the whole damned enterprise to his many children. Most famous of these offspring are The Heraclids. Fresh off their tenth season of a top rated E! reality series, these fraternal octuplets now spend most of the year living on the dirigible sky-yacht ARGO II. They wear faded Levis 501s with blown knees, aged and supple steel toed work boots, and go shirtless. Their ripped upper torsos, bearded faces, swole arms and shaved kneecaps are evenly bronzed by the high altitude Mediterranean sun. Their brand of adventuring is frequent trips to Dubai, sex with heirs and heiresses, and some lite monster hunting for heads of state.

    --excerpted from THE NEW ARGONAUTS