On the other, the fetid swamps of the Snae–froglike magicians who seem to predate the human colonists. On one side, the towers of the islands, inhabited by Irish lords whose beautiful works are created on the backs and tears of countless generations of peasants. His ship crashes and disintegrates, leaving him stranded in a Celtic nightmare. Finally unable to resist, he becomes the first of his corps to pierce the viridian veil. His flights of exploration frequently take him close to a mysterious, green-shrouded object. Now, Petaja plumbs Irish myth for this truly strange, but also rather conventional science fantasy.ĭiarmid Patrick O’Dowd (a fine Jewish name) is a scout captain for X-Plor, Magellanic Division. I suggest he either work harder on the fighting pits, or stick to thinky bit stories (like his excellent Courting Time).Įmil Petaja is a new writer perhaps best known for his science fiction sagas based on the Karevala, the Finnish body of mythological work. I noted that the weakest parts of I Want the Stars and Tom’s latest short story, Reduction in Arms, were the curiously detached combat scenes. And a more fleshed out ending (but perhaps that was a fault of the editing, not the writing). It almost reads like a chronicle of a homebrew wargame (ah, what a wargame this novel would make!) If I’d been the editor, I’d have sent it back and asked for…more. After those exciting first chapters, the chess-like contest between the rebels and Jammett feels perfunctorily written, as if Tom had to get from A to C, and he wasn’t particularly interested in writing B. Sadly, where the book falls down is the execution. As in Tom’s other stories, we have intimations of free love and even polygamy/andry, and there is no real distinction between sex or race. Purdom is excellent at conveying material that will not be dated in a decade. The descriptions of technology and society are largely timeless. Arlane is a nicely drawn world, mostly tidally locked so its days last forever and only the pole is inhabitable. As Migel’s cadre begins to turn the tide against Arlane’s leader, the abuse of the controllees gets pretty grim. These “controllees” are fully conscious, but their bodies belong to the dictator, obeying his every whim. His biggest ace in the hole is his ability to slap mind-control devices onto citizens. Thus ensues a ever-widening conflict between the outnumbered but canny rebel troops and Jammett, who resorts to increasingly draconian methods to retain control. Why doesn’t he just get one for free from the government hospitals? Because Migel, Anata, and three others are rebels whose goal is to topple Jammett, dictator of the planet Arlane. His goal: to get an artificial heart for his companion and love, Anata. We are thrown into the action as Migel Lassamba (explicitly of African descent no lily-white casts in Tom’s books) holds up a rich man and his personal doctor. The first two chapters do not disappoint. Thus, I was quite excited to see that the new Ace Double at the local bookstore featured my writer friend. He’s a very nice fellow, and his first book, I Want the Stars, was a stand-out. As you may know, I am a big fan of Tom Purdom.
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