March to Other Worlds Day 16 The Godmakers by Frank Herbert

March to Other Worlds Day 16 The Godmakers by Frank Herbert

Frank Herbert is one of the most influential science fiction writers of all time. My favorite one of his books is The Godmakers. I read the novel the first time while I was in high school and I’ve read it many times since in print and in audio format. On the surface it is a simple adventure story—and a good one at that. Lewis Orne is a well-meaning, extremely bright young man who works for the Rediscovery and Reeducation Service trying to help planets reconnect with galactic civilization after the devastating Rim Wars of five hundred years earlier. He discovers that all is not right on the planet Hamal and he helps to prevent a military debacle there, getting himself drafted into the more cynical Investigative Adjustment Service in the process. And then he goes and does it again, preventing an alien race from being wiped out of existence until he makes a teeny tiny error and nearly gets himself killed.

 

When he’s finally let out of the hospital with regenerated organs and a knee that fits better than the original one did, he is ready for the big time. Galactic elections are about to be held and his bosses have discovered evidence that their enemies during the Rim Wars (500 years ago) are still around and maneuvering to take over the government. Orne, who ran away from home when he was eighteen years old, has a “family” connection to the wife of a man who may well win the election and might also be the leader of this 500 year old cabal, so he’s dropped into the fire yet again to see if he can save galactic civilization.

 

As you can see from the above description, this is a novel that is willing to tackle some very complex topics surrounding politics and society and Herbert doesn’t shy away from these problems. Yet, this is not the climax of the book, so far everything has been set up for Herbert to explore issues of power, and ethics, and mob psychology, and on a fundamental level, right and wrong. Remember, this book was titled the Godmakers, and everything that has been happening has been, on one level, manipulated to discover if Lewis Orne is the god the makers were striving to create. This leads to an exciting conclusion where Herbert gets to explore religion and psychology as Orne tries to survive the forces that brought him into being. It’s a truly wonderful book which always makes me think.

 

https://www.amazon.com/The-Godmakers-...

 

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