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Empire of Two Worlds
In the huge termite-hills of cities that dotted the dead world of Killibol it seemed that nothing could ever change. Each city was enclosed and self-sustaining, in a stasis fixed by the one reality of power: the protein tanks in which organic nutrients could be processed to provide food.
But gang-leader Becmath was a man with a vision: to build an empire for himself without breaking this stasis. His lieutenant Klein recognised Becmath's genius and stayed faithful to him even when they were forced to travel Killibol's arid surface in a desperate search for the lost gateway to Earth. He stayed faithful through murder, treachery and countless adventures. Only when Becmath's schemes reached incredible fulfilment was he able to realise that he had been serving an egomaniac and a monster . . .
But gang-leader Becmath was a man with a vision: to build an empire for himself without breaking this stasis. His lieutenant Klein recognised Becmath's genius and stayed faithful to him even when they were forced to travel Killibol's arid surface in a desperate search for the lost gateway to Earth. He stayed faithful through murder, treachery and countless adventures. Only when Becmath's schemes reached incredible fulfilment was he able to realise that he had been serving an egomaniac and a monster . . .
- GenresScience FictionFiction
144 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1972
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68 people want to read
About the author
Barrington J. Bayley
72 books41 followersBarrington J. Bayley published work principally under his own name but also using the pseudonyms ofAlan Aumbry, Michael Barrington (with Michael Moorcock), John Diamond and P.F. Woods.
Bayley was born in Birmingham and educated in Newport, Shropshire. He worked in a number of jobs before joining the Royal Air Force in 1955; his first published story, "Combat's End", had seen print the year before in UK-only publication Vargo Statten Magazine.
During the 1960s, Bayley's short stories featured regularly in New Worlds magazine and later in its successor, the paperback anthologies of the same name. He became friends with New Worlds editor Michael Moorcock, who largely instigated science fiction's New Wave movement. Bayley himself was part of the movement.
Bayley's first book, Star Virus, was followed by more than a dozen other novels; his downbeat, gloomy approach to novel writing has been cited as influential on the works of M. John Harrison, Brian Stableford and Bruce Sterling.
Bayley was born in Birmingham and educated in Newport, Shropshire. He worked in a number of jobs before joining the Royal Air Force in 1955; his first published story, "Combat's End", had seen print the year before in UK-only publication Vargo Statten Magazine.
During the 1960s, Bayley's short stories featured regularly in New Worlds magazine and later in its successor, the paperback anthologies of the same name. He became friends with New Worlds editor Michael Moorcock, who largely instigated science fiction's New Wave movement. Bayley himself was part of the movement.
Bayley's first book, Star Virus, was followed by more than a dozen other novels; his downbeat, gloomy approach to novel writing has been cited as influential on the works of M. John Harrison, Brian Stableford and Bruce Sterling.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 8, 2024
Check out my full, spoiler free, video review HERE. This is a grim, dark, novel with characters with little to no morals. Humans have been inhabiting a lifeless planet and are forced to live in towers, eating their own waste and trash, a very grim setting. A group of thugs from this lifeless planet seek a portal to mythical Earth, a planet with natural life and from which they know they came from. When they get to Earth, they find a far future planet that will seem alien to us. There are 2 mutated branches of humanity, one living on earth and one on the moon. Our thugs become inter-twinned with the conflict going on, all the while trying to hide their true motives. Overall, this was a decent read, very dark and nihilistic so make sure you’re in the right frame of mind.
July 15, 2014
Early on in "Empire of Two Worlds," the reader gets the idea that author Barrington J Bayley is using the novel to explore the theme of the arcology, an ecological idea that was really hot when he wrote the book in the early 70s but which has since cooled down as environmentalists have constructed other mare's nests. Indeed, he does an excellent job in the first quarter of the book, not only providing a vivid and realistic look at life in one of these huge self-contained "termite cities," but examining what changes would be wrought in human psychology, sociology, and physiognomy by living in such an isolated and claustrophobic environment. However, in that first quarter the reader receives strong hints that all is not as it seems to be, that some larger theme is in the offing.
For one thing, the setting is not Earth but a planet called Killibol, also known in the most ancient of documents as "The Dark World." Another, these people are not exactly the type you'd expect to be chosen as colonists on the last frontier. The narrator, Klein, often refers to himself as a mobster or a gangster, and several of the more learned characters make reference to their city, Klittmann, as containing a high percentage of German and American gangsters as original colonists, and they speculate that the other cities of Killibol (nobody knows exactly how many there are because there is little communication between them) also contain high percentages of reprobates and criminals. The national labels are just words to them, as is "Earth" itself, holding less reality to the colonists than Atlantis would for us. And their notions of Earth are all wrong...something the average reader will be privy to, but of which the book's characters are ignorant. There's also a strange mix of technologies: chemistry is solely focused on synthetic food production while all other sciences are covered in alchemy; they have advanced wheeled vehicles in the cities but no aircraft to venture outside; they have compact nuclear reactors but rely on 18th Century tissue-paper projection for television; they have superb mechanical skills but concentrate mostly on creating machine guns of various types.
Klein throws in with a new gangster named Bec, a mastermind of organization, ruthless and ambitious. Together they wage a cunning war against the gangs of the Basement, the city's lowest level, and eventually Bec becomes the Boss of Bosses and set his sights on the upper levels, a move which rallies the disparate political forces of the city against him, which results in his expulsion into the wasteland. Along with his cadre of lieutenants he has an Alchemist who may know a way to return to faraway and legendary Earth, and that is exactly what they do, propelling the reader into the greater theme of the book, one which was ubiquitous from the beginning though hidden behind the more obvious Arcology aspect -- Evolution.
It was obvious from the first page that a great deal of time had passed since the first colonists were shoved through the portal between Earth and Killibol. Lacking anything definite, the natural assumption for the reader is to assume the passage of centuries. When the ousted gangsters reach Earth, however, we get the impression that many thousands of years have passed, and very quickly we wonder if it has not been millions of years. A terraformed Moon looms large in the sky, home to a race of evolved human whose cruelty and viciousness make the gangsters look like Saturday-night yobs. As for Earth, it has become a paradise, inhabited by gentle and artistic people with green skin (or do they--Klein's eyesight evolved on The Dark World so he's a little unreliable with colors) and a strong addiction to an alien drug called Blue Space.
Bec and company have arrived on Earth during a brutal invasion from the Moon, so the Evolutionary theme of the book is almost, but never quite entirely, overwhelmed by militarism and political machinations as Bec gets in solid with the Earth's new masters, who appreciate his flair for organization, but are arrogant enough to believe they can control Bec, which they can't. As Klein go here and there on business for Bec and his allies, his observations give the perceptive reader an insight into the history hidden behind the action -- millions of years earlier, Earth was cleansed of brutality, crime and violence by sending everyone with those propensities to the Moon, Mars, Venus, or farther flung worlds like Killibol using teleportation technology, then destroying the gateways behind him, or at least the machinery if not the rip in space itself. The intended result is an Earth bathed in peace and harmony; the unintended result is an Earth totally unprepared when two of their prodigal children come calling.
If Bayley were as good with characterization as he was with plotting, action writing, and handling complex themes, this book would be a masterpiece of science fiction. But he's not, and it isn't. But it is a well-written and engrossing story, and if the narrator is not quite the sympathetic character a reader needs for such a book, he makes up for it in his observational skills and his ability to be more or less honest about himself. The worst thing I can say about this book is that it ends about two chapters too early, for I would have liked to have seen a few more loose ends about the invasions and their aftermaths wrapped up. Even so, the reader who enjoys action-oriented science fiction which is more than just a shoot-em-up will enjoy this book.
For one thing, the setting is not Earth but a planet called Killibol, also known in the most ancient of documents as "The Dark World." Another, these people are not exactly the type you'd expect to be chosen as colonists on the last frontier. The narrator, Klein, often refers to himself as a mobster or a gangster, and several of the more learned characters make reference to their city, Klittmann, as containing a high percentage of German and American gangsters as original colonists, and they speculate that the other cities of Killibol (nobody knows exactly how many there are because there is little communication between them) also contain high percentages of reprobates and criminals. The national labels are just words to them, as is "Earth" itself, holding less reality to the colonists than Atlantis would for us. And their notions of Earth are all wrong...something the average reader will be privy to, but of which the book's characters are ignorant. There's also a strange mix of technologies: chemistry is solely focused on synthetic food production while all other sciences are covered in alchemy; they have advanced wheeled vehicles in the cities but no aircraft to venture outside; they have compact nuclear reactors but rely on 18th Century tissue-paper projection for television; they have superb mechanical skills but concentrate mostly on creating machine guns of various types.
Klein throws in with a new gangster named Bec, a mastermind of organization, ruthless and ambitious. Together they wage a cunning war against the gangs of the Basement, the city's lowest level, and eventually Bec becomes the Boss of Bosses and set his sights on the upper levels, a move which rallies the disparate political forces of the city against him, which results in his expulsion into the wasteland. Along with his cadre of lieutenants he has an Alchemist who may know a way to return to faraway and legendary Earth, and that is exactly what they do, propelling the reader into the greater theme of the book, one which was ubiquitous from the beginning though hidden behind the more obvious Arcology aspect -- Evolution.
It was obvious from the first page that a great deal of time had passed since the first colonists were shoved through the portal between Earth and Killibol. Lacking anything definite, the natural assumption for the reader is to assume the passage of centuries. When the ousted gangsters reach Earth, however, we get the impression that many thousands of years have passed, and very quickly we wonder if it has not been millions of years. A terraformed Moon looms large in the sky, home to a race of evolved human whose cruelty and viciousness make the gangsters look like Saturday-night yobs. As for Earth, it has become a paradise, inhabited by gentle and artistic people with green skin (or do they--Klein's eyesight evolved on The Dark World so he's a little unreliable with colors) and a strong addiction to an alien drug called Blue Space.
Bec and company have arrived on Earth during a brutal invasion from the Moon, so the Evolutionary theme of the book is almost, but never quite entirely, overwhelmed by militarism and political machinations as Bec gets in solid with the Earth's new masters, who appreciate his flair for organization, but are arrogant enough to believe they can control Bec, which they can't. As Klein go here and there on business for Bec and his allies, his observations give the perceptive reader an insight into the history hidden behind the action -- millions of years earlier, Earth was cleansed of brutality, crime and violence by sending everyone with those propensities to the Moon, Mars, Venus, or farther flung worlds like Killibol using teleportation technology, then destroying the gateways behind him, or at least the machinery if not the rip in space itself. The intended result is an Earth bathed in peace and harmony; the unintended result is an Earth totally unprepared when two of their prodigal children come calling.
If Bayley were as good with characterization as he was with plotting, action writing, and handling complex themes, this book would be a masterpiece of science fiction. But he's not, and it isn't. But it is a well-written and engrossing story, and if the narrator is not quite the sympathetic character a reader needs for such a book, he makes up for it in his observational skills and his ability to be more or less honest about himself. The worst thing I can say about this book is that it ends about two chapters too early, for I would have liked to have seen a few more loose ends about the invasions and their aftermaths wrapped up. Even so, the reader who enjoys action-oriented science fiction which is more than just a shoot-em-up will enjoy this book.
February 28, 2008
Ok, back in the day when I wdn't read SF b/c I thought it was too cheesy, anything by Barrington J. Bayley wdn't've passed cover inspection. Maybe Ron Goulart helped lower my standards. My friend John Sheehan got me started on Goulart's comedic SF w/ dysfunctional robots, etc, & Bayley's similar to Goulart. Anyway, having just finished the worst Bayley yet today (I'll get to that later), maybe I shd get back to being more STRICT. I mean, c'mon! I'm not going to live forever & how much time have I wasted reading this guy's bks?!!
April 25, 2009
A nice thuggish little bit of old school sf.
July 2, 2023
Bayley was one of the instigators of the so-called New Wave in British SF in the 1960s - though it has to be said this book bears little of its hallmarks, being perhaps more typical of work that might have been published in the 1950s or early 1960s.
Killibol is a sterile world whose tower cities are ruled by those in charge of the protein tanks, which produce food processed from recycled sewage and rubbish. As portrayed by our narrator, Klein, life tends to the brutish. He lives in the city of Klittman, part of a gang headed by a man named Becmath who starts a rebellion in order to take over himself. However, it is not long before the authorities reassert themselves and the gang has to flee using a kind of armoured vehicle called a sloop. Along the way they pick up a woman from one of the nomad tribes who roam the barren land between the tower cities (though somehow with protein tanks of their own.) This woman, Gelbore, is only in the story to show how unfeeling Klein and his companions are - or perhaps reflects sexism or even misogyny on Bayley’s part, attitudes not uncommon in 1979 after all. Klein in effect rapes her (she is supposed to be grateful that he ensured she wasn’t disposed of immediately) and, a chapter or so later on, to avoid conflict between his henchmen, Becman summarily shoots her.
Killibol was settled from Earth millennia ago and the fleeing gang is seeking an all but forgotten portal between the worlds. They find it and make the transition. The rest of the novel describes how they fare on this far future Earth where the sunlight is far too strong for their eyes, the inhabitants are unable to stand against their firepower, the Moon is now called Merame and peopled by creatures even more ruthless and bloodthirsty than themselves, intent on conquering Earth, though with whom Becman manages to come to terms.
These protagonists are not admirable. Becman is a megalomaniac eager to rule over both Earth and Killibol, the rest of the gang are not any better and Klein again has sex with a woman without gaining consent – she was unconscious at the time – though he later acts selflessly in her interests. Unfortunately, his attack of conscience comes far too late to redeem his earlier conduct and the overall thrust of the book.
This isn't one of Bayley's best. It is all far too crude to withstand any but a historical eye.
Killibol is a sterile world whose tower cities are ruled by those in charge of the protein tanks, which produce food processed from recycled sewage and rubbish. As portrayed by our narrator, Klein, life tends to the brutish. He lives in the city of Klittman, part of a gang headed by a man named Becmath who starts a rebellion in order to take over himself. However, it is not long before the authorities reassert themselves and the gang has to flee using a kind of armoured vehicle called a sloop. Along the way they pick up a woman from one of the nomad tribes who roam the barren land between the tower cities (though somehow with protein tanks of their own.) This woman, Gelbore, is only in the story to show how unfeeling Klein and his companions are - or perhaps reflects sexism or even misogyny on Bayley’s part, attitudes not uncommon in 1979 after all. Klein in effect rapes her (she is supposed to be grateful that he ensured she wasn’t disposed of immediately) and, a chapter or so later on, to avoid conflict between his henchmen, Becman summarily shoots her.
Killibol was settled from Earth millennia ago and the fleeing gang is seeking an all but forgotten portal between the worlds. They find it and make the transition. The rest of the novel describes how they fare on this far future Earth where the sunlight is far too strong for their eyes, the inhabitants are unable to stand against their firepower, the Moon is now called Merame and peopled by creatures even more ruthless and bloodthirsty than themselves, intent on conquering Earth, though with whom Becman manages to come to terms.
These protagonists are not admirable. Becman is a megalomaniac eager to rule over both Earth and Killibol, the rest of the gang are not any better and Klein again has sex with a woman without gaining consent – she was unconscious at the time – though he later acts selflessly in her interests. Unfortunately, his attack of conscience comes far too late to redeem his earlier conduct and the overall thrust of the book.
This isn't one of Bayley's best. It is all far too crude to withstand any but a historical eye.
March 1, 2020
Full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...
Killibol is a bleak, dark, gray rock planet in another galaxy populated with isolated termite-mound-like cities of its human colonists. Because of the inability to grow food in Killibol’s soil, society is structured around protein producing tanks. As a result of the rigid system of food production (i.e. power), life on Killibol is insular and unchanging. Stagnation.
Earth, on the other hand is populated by the people [...]
Killibol is a bleak, dark, gray rock planet in another galaxy populated with isolated termite-mound-like cities of its human colonists. Because of the inability to grow food in Killibol’s soil, society is structured around protein producing tanks. As a result of the rigid system of food production (i.e. power), life on Killibol is insular and unchanging. Stagnation.
Earth, on the other hand is populated by the people [...]
February 3, 2023
Disappointing. Starts with a fascinating premise and world building then ditches it about a quarter of a way in to explore a much less exciting adventure in a much less interesting world. The characterisation is bad and this book suffers heavily from the eight deadly words: I don't care what happens to these people. I'd probably have given up were it not such a mercifully short book.
December 8, 2025
After reading Garments and then Empire in a row Bayley is my new favorite author or favorite old author that I hadn’t know about. Can’t wait to read more of this work.
October 8, 2009
Bayley certainly isn't afraid to throw his ideas onto the page.
He starts with an interesting enough premise: a dead world dotted with arcology-like colony cities, the wilds in between traveled by nomads and raiders. Then he later combines this with another interesting idea: the re-imagining of traditional 'alchemy' as a form of super-science but retaining much of the trappings, including the search for the ultimate material, the Tincture.
Then it all goes horribly out of control. The protagonist--can't quite call him a 'hero'--and his group travel to a much less interesting planet and have some rather lackluster adventures there, and after the alchemy angle makes its single plot point it is thrust into the background. There's some hints of character development, but it comes mechanically and the characters don't generate enough empathy to make it matter. Then the book doesn't end as much as crash.
He starts with an interesting enough premise: a dead world dotted with arcology-like colony cities, the wilds in between traveled by nomads and raiders. Then he later combines this with another interesting idea: the re-imagining of traditional 'alchemy' as a form of super-science but retaining much of the trappings, including the search for the ultimate material, the Tincture.
Then it all goes horribly out of control. The protagonist--can't quite call him a 'hero'--and his group travel to a much less interesting planet and have some rather lackluster adventures there, and after the alchemy angle makes its single plot point it is thrust into the background. There's some hints of character development, but it comes mechanically and the characters don't generate enough empathy to make it matter. Then the book doesn't end as much as crash.
September 9, 2015
Senza infamia e senza lode. La storia non è male ma la narrazione è mediocre. L'idea è quella di trasportare l'atmosfera dei criminali degli anni '20 in un'avventura tra mondi lontani, ma il risultato lascia il tempo che trova.
Merita invece una nota di merito il racconto in appendice, ovvero "Il terrestre perduto" di R.F. Young. Piacevole, scorrevole, ben scritto e tuttosommato originale.
Merita invece una nota di merito il racconto in appendice, ovvero "Il terrestre perduto" di R.F. Young. Piacevole, scorrevole, ben scritto e tuttosommato originale.
July 2, 2009
Stunningly bizarrely terrible. Hurts lots. Especailly when they cross from the dusk world to the earth, but earth bears no resemblance to earth. This book makes no sense whatsoever.
March 31, 2008
*shudder*
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews