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Macroscope
by Piers Anthony
by Piers Anthony
Stephen's review
bookshelves: award-nominee-hugo, easton-press, mind-blowing, favorite-ideas, 1954-1969, science-fiction, exploring-the-universe, galactic-civilizations, political-fiction
May 05, 11
bookshelves: award-nominee-hugo, easton-press, mind-blowing, favorite-ideas, 1954-1969, science-fiction, exploring-the-universe, galactic-civilizations, political-fiction
Read from May 02 to 05, 2011, read count: 2
In case my 5 star rating is insufficient to persuade you to try this book, I prepared the following comparison scale to chart the exact amount of awesomeness contained in the story.
5.0 Stars. I think we all have those books that we absolutely love that just never seem to get the attention that we are feel deep down in our giblets they deserve. I call these my literary babies. Well this is one of my babies**.
** I have previously reviewed two others Liege-Killer and Heroes Die which I am mentioning again because my babies need all the exposure they can get as I want them to be well-liked and popular with the other books.
While this novel was nominated for a Hugo Award when it was published in 1969, it has not remained in the collective consciousness of the SF world in the intervening years. This is something that constantly frustrates me because this book is a serious, complex, mind-expanding tour de force that seriously deserves to enjoy a wider audience as well as a spot among the towering works of the field.
I see two reasons why this might be. First, I did not find this an “easy” read and some of the plot elements and concepts are thrust upon the reader only to be explained further in the book (see my reference to Ancient History below as an example). This may be a turn off for some.
A second reason may be that it is written by Piers Anthony. I think most people who have read Anthony's work will agree that the man can come up with some brilliant ideas. I think most people would also agree that most of his books take a great idea and surround it with a significant amount of “MEH.” Even worse than the MEH component is the "SKEEVE" factor which afflict far too many of his stories. Not to worry here folks. There is very little in the way of "skeeve" in this book and it is free from MEH. It is, however, chalk full of Anthony at the top of his brilliant, mind-blowing best.
I consider this book the poster child for “BIG IDEA” science fiction. However, because so much of the magic of the story is in “out there SF concepts” and the slow unfolding of the central mystery as the various cosmic pieces are gradually layered in one on top of the other, I am not going to give a traditional plot summary. Instead, I have done a breakdown of what I consider the “components” of the story and will leave you to discover the details for yourself.
MIND-BLOWING SF CONCEPTS:First, the Macroscope which is one of the truly great SF concepts ever. For those who have read Robert Charles Wilson’s Blind Lake, I think you will see the inspiration for the technology Wilson used in that book. Add to the Macroscope nuggets like: (a) omnipresent information storage; (b) traveling through the creation of singularities and (c) galactic evolutionary criteria and you will have barely scratched the surface of the myriad of “WTF” concepts in this epic novel.
ASTROLOGY: It’s real, it’s predictive, it’s science, it’s a fact….Accept it and let’s move on shall we. Seriously, watching Anthony weave astrology as a central plot device in the midst of all of the hard science concepts was fascinating and deftly handled.
EVOLUTION OF HUMANITY: Yes, humanity is still a child race and the question is whether or not we have the potential to assume a place in the great galactic community. Place your bets people.
PIERS ANTHONY SKEEVE FACTOR: Unfortunately, I can’t say it is completely absent from the work, but I did estimate it at only 3% of the total story which may actually be a bit high. There was one 3 page sequence that I had significant “skeeve” present and a few casual statements throughout the rest of the book. However, for the most part, Piers kept himself under control (I don’t think at this point he had truly developed his inner skeeve).
UBER COOL GALACTIC-SPANNING PLOT: Uh, we are talking our whole galaxy and beyond playing a part in this plot and this is where the truly brilliant, multi-layered narrative really begins to shine.
ANCIENT HISTORY: In Chapter 8, one of the main characters, Ivo, ends up in ancient Damascus. You are going to be WTFing all over the place. I am writing this to let you know….GO WITH IT…all will be explained in the end and you will say (hopefully)…NICE!!!
PSYCHOLOGY: At the heart of the narrative there is a significant amount of psychology involving the main characters and what defines them as people and how their strengths and weaknesses become a necessary aspect of the cosmic drama to which they have been thrust.
For fans of intelligent science fiction, I give this my HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!!!
5.0 Stars. I think we all have those books that we absolutely love that just never seem to get the attention that we are feel deep down in our giblets they deserve. I call these my literary babies. Well this is one of my babies**.
** I have previously reviewed two others Liege-Killer and Heroes Die which I am mentioning again because my babies need all the exposure they can get as I want them to be well-liked and popular with the other books.
While this novel was nominated for a Hugo Award when it was published in 1969, it has not remained in the collective consciousness of the SF world in the intervening years. This is something that constantly frustrates me because this book is a serious, complex, mind-expanding tour de force that seriously deserves to enjoy a wider audience as well as a spot among the towering works of the field.
I see two reasons why this might be. First, I did not find this an “easy” read and some of the plot elements and concepts are thrust upon the reader only to be explained further in the book (see my reference to Ancient History below as an example). This may be a turn off for some.
A second reason may be that it is written by Piers Anthony. I think most people who have read Anthony's work will agree that the man can come up with some brilliant ideas. I think most people would also agree that most of his books take a great idea and surround it with a significant amount of “MEH.” Even worse than the MEH component is the "SKEEVE" factor which afflict far too many of his stories. Not to worry here folks. There is very little in the way of "skeeve" in this book and it is free from MEH. It is, however, chalk full of Anthony at the top of his brilliant, mind-blowing best.
I consider this book the poster child for “BIG IDEA” science fiction. However, because so much of the magic of the story is in “out there SF concepts” and the slow unfolding of the central mystery as the various cosmic pieces are gradually layered in one on top of the other, I am not going to give a traditional plot summary. Instead, I have done a breakdown of what I consider the “components” of the story and will leave you to discover the details for yourself.
MIND-BLOWING SF CONCEPTS:First, the Macroscope which is one of the truly great SF concepts ever. For those who have read Robert Charles Wilson’s Blind Lake, I think you will see the inspiration for the technology Wilson used in that book. Add to the Macroscope nuggets like: (a) omnipresent information storage; (b) traveling through the creation of singularities and (c) galactic evolutionary criteria and you will have barely scratched the surface of the myriad of “WTF” concepts in this epic novel.
ASTROLOGY: It’s real, it’s predictive, it’s science, it’s a fact….Accept it and let’s move on shall we. Seriously, watching Anthony weave astrology as a central plot device in the midst of all of the hard science concepts was fascinating and deftly handled.
EVOLUTION OF HUMANITY: Yes, humanity is still a child race and the question is whether or not we have the potential to assume a place in the great galactic community. Place your bets people.
PIERS ANTHONY SKEEVE FACTOR: Unfortunately, I can’t say it is completely absent from the work, but I did estimate it at only 3% of the total story which may actually be a bit high. There was one 3 page sequence that I had significant “skeeve” present and a few casual statements throughout the rest of the book. However, for the most part, Piers kept himself under control (I don’t think at this point he had truly developed his inner skeeve).
UBER COOL GALACTIC-SPANNING PLOT: Uh, we are talking our whole galaxy and beyond playing a part in this plot and this is where the truly brilliant, multi-layered narrative really begins to shine.
ANCIENT HISTORY: In Chapter 8, one of the main characters, Ivo, ends up in ancient Damascus. You are going to be WTFing all over the place. I am writing this to let you know….GO WITH IT…all will be explained in the end and you will say (hopefully)…NICE!!!
PSYCHOLOGY: At the heart of the narrative there is a significant amount of psychology involving the main characters and what defines them as people and how their strengths and weaknesses become a necessary aspect of the cosmic drama to which they have been thrust.
For fans of intelligent science fiction, I give this my HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!!!
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May 05, 2011 12:56pm
I am sad to say that our library cooperative does not own a single copy. I will try to rectify this.
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Stephen, quick question: what do you mean by the "skeeve factor?" (The only "skeeve" I'm familiar with in speculative fiction is Skeeve, the protagonist of Robert Aspirin's Myth series --but I'm assuming that he's no relation to "Skeeve Factor." :-) )
Werner wrote: "Stephen, quick question: what do you mean by the "skeeve factor?"Werner, in this context skeeve is a slang term for pervert (though that term is much too strong here...more like lecher). In some of Anthony's books there are sexual references that many find gratutious. To explain, I will go ahead and give you an example from the book since I really don't think I am "spoiling" anything major here. At one point in the story, the main characters are going to undergo a dangerous "event" and one of the female characters wants the other three people in the group (two men and a woman) to touch her all over her naked body so that after the "event" they will be able to tell that she is still really herself. Anythony explains this in the book but you can see how people could see that as an unnecessary scene of people groping a naked woman that really doesn't add anything to the story. Hence, the skeeve or lecherous factor. Now, what I just described is the 3 page scene I referred to in my review. That is the only scene like that in the book so it isn't THAT BAD. It certainly doesn't detract from the quality of the rest of the story. Hope that helps.
Huh. I read Anthony as a lass, and yeah, he's pretty skeevy. So much so, I'd put him in the Heinlein/Robinson/Card skeeve time-out chair, and decided not to read any more of his stuff, unless it came seriously recommended. Thanks for the review.
Ceridwen wrote: "Huh. I read Anthony as a lass, and yeah, he's pretty skeevy. So much so, I'd put him in the Heinlein/Robinson/Card skeeve time-out chair, and decided not to read any more of his stuff, unless it ca..."I know other people (including me for the most part) feel the same way about him. That is why I decided to specifically address it in my review. In this case, for me at least, the big, original ideas and concepts significantly outweighed the "dirty old man" bit and I actually kinda got a chuckle out of "spotting the skeeve" reference as I was reading.
Some, nay most of his Xanth books are pretty yikes. I've read other of his books which were low skeeve, but it just got too dangerous to read his books without knowing beforehand. I think I even have a copy of this, so sweet!
Steve, thanks for the clarification! That's good to be aware of, since I haven't read any of his work except for some of the Xanth novels (I actually listed him as a favorite author on the strength of that series, since my wife and I both like those) and the short story he contributed to Again, Dangerous Visions, titled, I think, "In the Barn." That one definitely has a significant amount of disgusting sexual content, although I understood the literary reason for it there.Ceridwen, as contemporary fiction goes, my wife and I both think of the Xanth books as pretty clean (though of course we've only read some of the earlier ones.) It's true that he indulges in some sex-related humor and double-entendres at times there, but we didn't find any of it too awful; and basically, he seems to encourage responsible and respectful sexual behavior, with a high view of love and fidelity and a tendency to discourage casual, out-of-wedlock sex. Of course, that's just one (well, two) persons' take on it!
Oh, sure. Bear in mind I read nearly all of them at 12, so it's an affectionate skeev. And yes, they are very clean. But there's definitely a leer in all the underpants talk - although, he uses the word panties, right? Shudder. And I still haven't forgiven him for the zombie romance one, ugh. The early ones are totally readable, at least according to my bad memory. It's been coughcough years.
This review illustrate what I like about Goodreads and its regulars. I read this book the year it cam out. I remember loving it but I have forgotten all about it. Now I am looking forward to rediscovering it again!
Marvin wrote: "This review illustrate what I like about Goodreads and its regulars. I read this book the year it cam out. I remember loving it but I have forgotten all about it. Now I am looking forward to redisc..."Thanks, Marvin. That is good to hear. I hope you like it as much the second time around.
Yeah, I liked Anthony when I was younger, but he gets skeevier and skeevier, and I will not forgive him for Firefly or The Shade of the Tree. He's the sort of writer who will tell us loudly that Rape is a Very Bad Thing and that's why he fills his books with so many graphic, eroticized rape scenes, so we can see how bad it is... Yeah.
wonderful, wonderful review.i think this is a great novel, probably anthony's best. he IS embarrassing. but he has a lot of golden nuggets amongst all the dross: Cluster series (except for the skeevy parts), Tarot series (except for the skeevy parts), Battle Circle series (except for the skeevy parts), and Mute (except for the MANY skeevy parts).
Mark and Rickey -Thanks guys, I appreciate it. Rickey, I'm glad I clarified the whole "skeeve" thing in the comment section. You were not alone in being in the dark on that word.
mark wrote: "...he IS embarrassing. but he has a lot of golden nuggets amongst all the dross: Cluster series (except for the skeevy parts), Tarot series (except for the skeevy parts), Battle Circle series (except for the skeevy parts), and Mute (except for the MANY skeevy parts)."Mark, I completely agree. As I said in my review of On a Pale Horse, which I really liked, Anthony is a complete mystery to me. He has some of the most original "wow" ideas I have ever come across, but he so often buries them in too much fluff, Meh or skeeve. I have read the first 3 books in the Incarnations of Immortality and there are some unbelievably cool ideas and concepts in them. I didn't really like the first Xanth book and was kinda ho hum on the first "Bio of a Space Tyrant" book but I can certainly see the talent. I just wish he would write some more work like Macroscope where he keeps his eye on the ball...and off the boobs...sorry couldn't help it. :)
