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OtherRealms Issue 19 Part 03
Electronic OtherRealms #19
Winter, 1987
Part 3
The Jehovah Contract
Victor Koman
Franklin Watts, 256pp, $16.95
Reviewed by
Rick Holzgrafe
Copyright 1987 by Rick Holzgrafe
Koman has brought off a difficult feat. Few authors can write a novel
that functions well on more than one or two levels. The Jehovah
Contract can be read in at least four ways: as a gentle pastiche of the
"tough private eye" genre of pulp fiction; as a straight
action-adventure SF yarn; as social satire; and as a philosophical
treatise. All of these efforts are successful, and they don't interfere
with each other. In fact, they blend.
The meat of the book is the philosophy. Koman has a bone to pick with
established religion (all established religions). This is one of the
"tough questions": the issue is complex, deep, and emotionally charged.
The cheapest kind of attack is to write a fiction in which all the
antagonists (in this case, priests, ministers, rabbis, ayatollahs, et
al) are either hypocritical bad guys, or naive and misled dupes.
Koman's are: but that doesn't prove anything, and he knows it.
The next stage of attack is satire, holding the antagonist up to
ridicule. This is more difficult, and approaches the matter more
closely. To ridicule well, there must be chinks in the opponent's
armor. Koman's satire is pointed, effective, and funny, but satire
still doesn't prove anything. Koman wants a clean kill and goes after
it the hard way, with a rigorous philosophical attack. Philosophy is
not merely a collection of personal opinions, vague aphorisms, and warm
feelings. It is a mental discipline relying on clear recognition of
basic values, precise definition of terms, and careful logic. Koman
understands this, and it is with a merciless vision and sharp logic
that he carries his attack. He is not satisfied with making you feel
that he is right; he wants to prove it to you. More: he wants to make
you think it through for yourself, for this issue is too big to polish
off in one book, even were it all philosophy. (In fact, hundreds of
years of books which are all philosophy have failed to polish this one
off.) Koman makes his point as sharply and rigorously as he can... and
then leaves you to ponder further on your own.
A book like this can bog down in learned dissertation, but here Koman's
skill at blending carries the day. The deep discussions are lightened
by the first person's flippant, Bogart-tough-guy conversational style.
Exciting action alternates with serious logic-chopping. Solemn
treatises are relieved by witty satire. These contrasting elements
could be jarring, but Koman rarely overdoes any of them. They work
together. The Jehovah Contract is not perfect, and may not be to
everyone's taste. But no book can be all things to all people; you
can't fit enough words between the covers to do that. This book excited
me, surprised me, made me laugh and made me think. I could (and do) ask
for more, but I don't often get it.
In a nutshell, I thought The Jehovah Contract was a good book. (If that
seems like faint praise, I mean a "good" book as opposed to a "lousy"
book, a "so-so" book, or a "great" book. Damn few books make it onto my
"great" list.) In some ways, it is a rough diamond. Koman is not a
great wordsmith, though in places his prose is lyrical. He is not the
master storyteller that Heinlein is (few of us are!), but for every
place where the storyline dragged, there were two where you couldn't
have paid me to close the book. Character development could have been
stronger, but it wasn't absent.
Marooned in Real Time
Vernor Vinge
Baen Books, $3.50, 312pps.
Reviewed by
Wayne Throop
Copyright 1987 by Wayne Throop
mcnc!throopw
[****+]
I finally got to read it. I like it a lot. Basically, the story is a
murder mystery, the victim being a person deliberately left outside of
an area of time-stasis (called a "bobble") as a group of people jump
futureward. Naturally, this person is "marooned in real time", and
dies of old age before the travelers' bobble bursts. The whole
background of why this group of people are jumping futureward, how they
come to have the resources to do what they do, and so on and on, form a
large and very interesting part of the book. But basically, we have
W.W. Brierson, detective extrordinare, trying to understand which of
the people in the group of time-travelers has done the deed.
In one of the most moving scenes, Brierson reads the extensive diary
left by the marooned Marta Korolev. I got the impression from earlier
passages that Brierson didn't think the crime was all that horrible...
after all, Marta had lived more than fourty years before dying of old
age. True, she could have lived quite a lot longer with adequate
medical attention, but her life was not a lot more brutal, and
certainly not a lot shorter, than that many have had to deal with. As
he reads the diary, he realizes that in some ways the exile was worse
than murder, even worse than his own predicament (which he already
considered in some ways worse than murder). He thinks:
Someone had done this to Marta. W.W.Brierson had been shanghaied,
separated from his family and his world, thrown into a new one. But
[the crime against him] was a peccadillo, laughable, hardly worth Wil's
attention. Compared to what was done to Marta. Someone had taken her
from her friends, her love, and then squeezed the life from her, year
by year, drop by drop. Someone must die for this.
The murder mystery itself would make a fine book. But a larger
speculation underlies the whole story: the story of how the travelers
came to be jumping futureward, and what they hope to accomplish. In the
far past (and our relatively near future), humanity had vanished from
the earth, in what some of the travelers call the Extinction, and
others call the Singularity. Some of the travelers hold that humanity
was murdered. Some think it comitted suicide. Most don't pretend to
know. But their aim is to save enough of the people who inadvertently
survived the event (by skipping past it in time-stasis) to have a
viable starting point from which to restart a technical civilization,
so that humankind will survive.
The possible murder of an entire civilization and the tremendous power
of that civilization as revealed by the capabilities of the "hi-tech"
futureward-traveling survivors, brings back definite echoes of the good
(or bad) old space-opera days of E.E. "Doc" Smith, and John Campbell.
And yet, in Vinge's hands, it is definitely not corny or hackneyed. We
are slowly let in on just how powerful humanity had gotten before the
Singularity when W.W. Brierson interviews the person who was
"embobbled" the shortest time before the dissapearance of humanity in
an industrial accident.
Tunc describes the project he was working on when a matter-antimatter
blast caused automated safety devices to embobble his spacecraft:
"Such a fine idea it was. Our parent company liked big
construction projects. Originally, they wanted to stellate
Jupiter, but they couldn't buy the necessary options. Then we
came along with a much bigger project. We were going to
*implode* the Dark Companion, fashion of it a small Tipler
cylinder." He noticed Wil's blank expression. "A naked black
hole, Wil! A space warp! A gate for faster-than-light travel!
Of course, the Dark Companion is so small that the aperture
would be only a few meters wide, and have tidal strains above
1E13g's per meter -- but with bobbles it might be usable. If
not, there were plans to probe through it to the galactic core,
and siphon back the power to widen it."
And in talking about why there was matter-antimatter stored where it
could cause his accident:
"We were running a matter/antimatter distillery. But look at
the numbers. Yelen's stations can distill perhaps a kilo per
day -- enough to power a small business. We were in a different
class entirely. My partners and I specialized in close solar
work, less than five radii out. We had easements on most of the
sun's southern hemisphere. When I ... left, we were distilling
one hundred thousand *tonnes* of matter and antimatter every
*second*. That's enough to dim the sun, though we arranged
things so the effect wasn't perceptible from the ecliptic. An
absolute condition of our insurance was that we move it out
promptly and without leakage. A few days production would be
enough to damage an unprotected solar system."
So much for physical power. Tunc now lives separated from much of the
mentally-linked computing power he was used to. Even so, his personal,
portable computing resources, what you might think of as a pocket
calculator, are greater than those of all the other saved resources
combined. He allows others to use his personal interface computer in
his headband as a mainframe to run compute-intensive problems. He is
left with such a pittance of the computing power that he is used to,
however, that Brierson is prompted to ask him:
"I've never experienced direct-connect -- much less the mind
links you talk about. But I know how much it hurts a high-tech
to go without a headband. [...] If I understand what you say
about your time, you've lost much more. How can you be so
*cool*?" The faintest shadow crossed Tunc's face. "It's not a
mystery really. I was nineteen when I left civilization. I've
lived fifty years since. I don't remember much of the time
right after my rescue. Yelen says I was in a coma for months.
They couldn't find anything wrong with my body; just no one was
home. [...] We spent every spare gAu on our processor system
and the interfaces. When we were linked up, we were something
... wonderful. But now that's all memories of memories -- no
more meaningful to me than to you." His voice was soft. "You
know, we had a mascot: a poor, sweet girl, close to
anencephalic. Even with prosthesis she was scarcely brighter
than you or I. Most of the time she was happy." The expression
on his face was wistful, puzzled. "And most of the time, I am
happy, too."
So we see that even with more computing power than any of the other
travelers, he considers himself crippled, almost brain-dead.
Personally, I think this is the best book I've read in a few years. The
technological speculation is fascinating, and handled well, so it
doesn't become a space opera, or a ridiculous mish-mash (even if you
disagree with it, as I do). And anybody who can read the first and last
scenes above in context and remain unmoved has all the empathy of a
stone. Read it. I think you'll like it. PS: Even the cover is well
done, showing one of the high-tech probes observing the Peacer bobble
floating on a sea of magma. Nice.
Interview
Jack Chalker
September 20, 1986
This interview was held on the Delphi timesharing system
by Ralph Roberts and other Delphi members.
If you are interested in joining the Delphi Science Fiction
group, the local access number can be located byt calling
800-544-4005. Log onto Delphi with account JOINFICTION and
password URANUS, which will qualify you for a special discount]
Albatross> One thing I've always admired about your writing style are
the beginnings, especially the first few paragraphs. When I
started writing, I sometimes referred to certain of your books
to get into the swing of things. Do those come easily to you?
Chalker> Writing is hard work, just like anything else. I am a natural
writer of sorts in that I have never had much trouble writing
well, but it's still hard work to write fiction. As you do more
of it you learn the tricks of the trade, as it were. I also
entered writing this genre by the back door -- I was an editor
and publisher first.
Albatross> You seem to straddle the line between fantasy and SF. In the
future, are you planning to keep to that line, or are you going
to bend one way or the other?
Chalker> Most of my books are actually hard SF, but the physics I use
is apparently a bit beyond the average reader. It doesn't
matter. The Dancing Gods and my new Changewinds project are
fantasy Whatever best does the job.
Albatross> So, what's on about the Middle Dark series? You raised a lot
of questions in the first book, so I figured the second one
must have already been pretty much in the bag...
Chalker> Actually I've done three of them. Not even recently. I object
to Del Rey's decisions to spread them out so far but what can I do?
Frobotz> How long ago did you really write Jungle of Stars and Identity Matrix?
Chalker>Jungle was 1975, Matrix was 1977.
Albatross> Why do you use Tor books some times, and Del Rey others?
Chalker> I write a lot and I write fast. Also, there are editorial
restrictions on some of the matter for some publishers. Soul
Rider's sex could not have been published by Del Rey, for
example. I'm just finishing a book (of three) for Berkley, too.
My Del Rey books will be PG and R and my Berkley R and my Tor X.
Frobotz> What was the creative force behind your little purple haystack?
Chalker> The haystack was Jungle. Actually, the little purple haystack
that preyed on kids from the back of an ice cream truck was a
very early story of mine -- written when I was 16 or so.
Frobotz> Thanks for bringing out Flux and Anchor #5!
Chalker> I had to. The story wasn't finished. It is now. I am putting
together a collection of my short stories.
Albatross> When will it be out?
Chalker> When I finish. I'm doing a Harlan -- lots of intro, etc. It
even has a rejection letter from John W. Campbell in it as well
as the favorite of all my writing, Dance Band on the Titantic.
That will also be the collection name. Probably 1988.
Albatross> And you'll be doing screenplays next, and producers will
curse the day you were born.... or are you forgoing the full
Harlan?
Chalker> I don't do screenplays. I just sell the books to Hollywood and
collect when they can't afford to produce them.
Albatross> War of Shadows seems like something that wouldn't be too bad
to make.
Frobotz> Which of your books would you like to see on the silver screen?
Chalker> Midnight. And so would almost every major Hollywood producer I
have a passing acquaintance with. But it would cost 70 million
so it's unlikely to be done. And the Devil Will Drag You Under
is most likely. War of Shadows actually got to the
pre-production stage before they went broke. I don't need to
write screenplays. I make more than most of them writing what I
want to write -- more than Harlan according to him on just my
last deal. And I don't have to live in LA.
Ralph> I would love to see a movie of And the Devil Will Drag You Under.
Chalker> Ralph, neither you nor I are going to like what they do with
it. Remember Damnation Alley? You just take the money and run
and hope it hypes the book.
Albatross> My favorite was The Identity Matrix. It seemed frighteningly
relevant.
Chalker> More than you think. The fact is, there is a lot of research
going in that field right now that is proving my nutty ideas
more right than wrong. They aren't doing it my way, but I think
the selective editing and rewrite of human memory is no more
than 20 years away.
Albatross> One of the things that disturbed me about the book was that
a person is their memories... there's either nothing more, or
it doesn't matter.
Chalker> That's the point. Lots of critics blasted the book because
they took it as a sex switch book. But the point was that it
was being written in the first person by somebody who's been
through the process at least three times and the character is
somebody else's idea of what "she" should be. Well, most
readers got it from the mail & comments I get, and the
mainstream critics got it just fine. It's only the SF critics
who seem to need it all spelled out.
Frobotz> How many critics do you know that only skim-read?
Chalker> Most critics read it all. It's their judgment and sense I question.
Albatross> What are you working on now?
Chalker> I am 90,000 words into When the Changewinds Blow, a new
project for Berkley-Putnam. I should have it done some time
around mid-October but you won't see it for a year or so.
Albatross> Is Changewinds going to be another multi-volume series,
agonizingly spread out over several years?
Chalker> Well, I have some hope for you. When a series starts from Tor
in January called God, Inc. (first title The Labyrinth of
Dreams) this is not a serial but a series. Each book stands on
its own They are parallel worlds private detective novels.
Ralph> Jack, can you tell us why Lester turned down Judy Lynn's Hugo?
a real shock to me.
Chalker> I think his letter said it all. There was a campaign by Ben
Bova in the fanzines to give it to her posthumously which he
really detested. But if they really meant it they would have
given it to her while she lived I would have the same reaction.
Albatross> It seems that women prefer your Dancing Gods series to any
others. Is this true?
Chalker> Not from my mail. Women seem to like my stuff in general but
Well World is their favorite. The more classical type of SF
like Four Lords is less to their liking. I write for me,
though. It's nice that so many others of both sexes like it,
too. It occured to me just a couple of days ago that I have a
tendency to plot like a soap opera. I wonder if that has
anything to do with it.
Albatross> I've noticed that you leave several subplots going from one
book in a series to another. Could that be the reason? Your
writing based on the way the story is published?
Chalker> Well, there are series and there are serials I write both.
Yeah, you always are aware that you have to break the book up.
That calls for some planning.
Albatross> Will any characters carry over to the last Soul Rider book?
(And, will we finally go to some of the other Anchors?)
Chalker> Oh, sure Even Cassie makes a walk-on but it's Suzl's book.
More Fluxlands, not more anchors. Anchors are dull. It's a
chase that ends in the climax with a massive battle between one
force and New Eden.
Albatross> In the first three books, they did magic. Then in the fourth,
it turns out that the hyper-intelligent computers figured all
along that things would turn out like this. So what happens
to the computers, anyway? Give it up for lost, and stay away?
Chalker> See Chapter 16 of Children and all will be revealed. But read
the first 15 chapters first. Magic is just a scientific or
mathematical way of doing something we can't. Soul Rider is
based on the old idea of matter transmission. If you can do
THAT, then you can do what I describe. It's a lot more than
beam me up, Scotty.
Albatross> Maybe magic is what people do when they don't understand science.
Chalker> No, magic has logic and rigid rules. It has to. The problem
is, I'm cursed with a logical mind. That's why sometimes we get
the sex and power and control things in my books. If A is true,
then B must be. And, historically, if something is possible and
logical, even if it's negative, some bright boy will find a way
to do it and somebody else to misuse it.
Albatross> Yes, but it never happens so fast in real life... which is
why, I guess, it's real.
Chalker> Our knowledge in virtually every field is doubling every ten
years along with the improvement in our tools. Twenty years ago
I worked at Hopkins on a mainframe with far less power and
memory than this. That was state of the art. Now I have four
times that on my desk.
Albatross> Jack, you mentioned a couple of years ago that all the
societies in your books were real, sometime, somewhere. Okay,
where and when was New Eden?
Chalker> New Eden is based primarily on the writings of the Ayahtollah
Rafsanjani, currently Iran's real leader, and a few of the most
radical thinkers of that revolution. It was coupled with some
basics from lots of other cultures including some African ones
and Mormonism. I'm a historian by training and I read all their
stuff. I wrote a book based on the writings of some esoteric
far left French and Chinese communists called Dancers in the
Afterglow and their followers took power in Cambodia and put it
into practice before the book even got published.
Albatross> Jack, did you read Greg Bear's Blood Music? How did his view
of micro-life jibe with your Dreensa?
Chalker> Greg and I are old friends. I don't mind that he took one of my
ideas and ran with it. I often claim to be the father of cyberpunk.
Albatross> Well that's two, then for Greg Bear. I just finished Eon,
and thought, "This is Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama taken to
it's logical conclusion."
Chalker> I think Greg is an excellent writer with a good future. He
grew up in this field as I did. Would you believe he started
out as a pretty good artist? He's also married to Poul
Anderson's daughter. Me, I married an SF con chairwoman. We
keep inbreeding. The powers that be type critics lump Bear,
Gibson, Sterling, and a few others together as cyberpunk
writers. Actually, it's an attempt to put them all together so
critics can explain it.
Albatross> I don't see a similarity.
Chalker> They once called Zelazny and Delany New Wave writers -- to
Zelazny's horror, at least.
Albatross> Zelazny is much more zennish. If I were forced, I'd put
Steven Brust as Zelazny's younger counterpart, but that's all.
Chalker> No, Brust is a dedicated ideologue (Trotskyite type). Roger is
not. Brust is a nice guy and a good writer and he consciously
tries to imitate Roger's style in places but their interests
and purposes in their books is totally different, even
radically so.
Albatross> Jack, is there any author you ever tried to imitate?
Chalker> Imitate? No. It's pretty easy to imitate most writers, even
Harlan or Bradbury. Stolen from? Sure. Eric Frank Russell most
of all, Phil Farmer, too.
OtherRealms #19
Winter, 1987
Copyright 1987 by Chuq Von Rospach
All Rights Reserved
One time rights have been
acquired from the contributors.
All rights are hereby assigned
to the contributors.
OtherRealms may not be reproduced in any form without written
permission of Chuq Von Rospach.
The electronic edition may be distributed or reproduced in its entirety
as long as all copyrights, author and publication information remain
intact. No individual article may be reprinted, reproduced or
republished in any way without the express permission of the author.
OtherRealms is published quarterly (March, June, September and December) by:
Chuq Von Rospach
35111-F Newark Blvd.
Suite 255
Newark, CA 94560.
Usenet: chuq@sun.COM
Delphi: CHUQ
