The Asylum World

by John Jakes

Gears ground and the mechanical voice started describing Newyork. ".such noted tourist attractions as the Mailer Obelisk, the Streisand Catafalque, the ever-popular Wax Museum of the Performing Arts.charming ethnic dining spots, prices begining at 70 credits" But the visitors from Mars couldn't get to Newyrk after all - it was closed except to official personnel. Just then a trainload of lunatics passed the barrier. Official personnel ?

Genres: Science Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

John William Jakes, the author of more than a dozen novels, is regarded as one of today’s most distinguished writers of historical fiction. His work includes the highly acclaimed Kent Family Chronicles series and the North and South Trilogy. Jakes’s commitment to historical accuracy and evocative storytelling earned him the title of “the godfather of historical novelists” from the Los Angeles Times and led to a streak of sixteen consecutive New York Times bestsellers. Jakes has received several awards for his work and is a member of the Authors Guild and the PEN American Center. He and his wife, Rachel, live on the west coast of Florida.

Also writes under pseudonyms Jay Scotland, Alan Payne, Rachel Ann Payne, Robert Hart Davis, Darius John Granger, John Lee Gray. Has ghost written as William Ard.

Reviews

[A~ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to struggle to finish this book
Aliens are coming and the colony on mars needs defenses.
They go to earth and find that all the data they have been receiving is lies.
Stuff happens, people fight, the martians go home,
AND NOTHING IS RESOLVED WITH THE ALIENS
Yeah I hated it.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was not well written, and I find myself wondering if it was published only because of the success of the author in other genres. John Jakes may be an excellent author in the field of historical fiction, I wouldn't know as I've never heard of him before this book and I don't read much historical fiction, but as a science fiction writer, he doesn't seem to know what he's doing.

The book starts off with a hook that is quickly discarded and virtually forgotten about, mentioned again only in passing until the very end of the book. The rest is a series of disjointed and poorly thought out adventures where supposedly important characters appear and disappear in rapid succession. Even when these disparate adventures are tied together at the end of the book, they don't really make any sense, raising more question than can be answered. I got the feeling that there was supposed to be some kind of important message or revelation about our society in there, but it didn't make any sense, and by then I was only continuing to read this book out of a sense of completionism.

If you're considering reading this book, don't. Save yourself the trouble and annoyance.

[Graznot · Rating 2 out of 5]

It had the usual problems of something written in the past set in the future, but. That's not why I gave up on it. I gave up on it because it kept making the same point over and over for 60p and hadn't made me give a damn about the characters yet. It bored me so I didn't stick it out to find out what exactly was wrong on Earth or what the aliens would end up doing.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok. A little interesting but honestly I didn't know what was happening half the time.

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly good, amusing, original -- above all entertaining.

[Ryan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pretty bad. Much of the plot was left murky so we wouldn't really know what was going on, but despite having the same amount of information the protagonists were almost always a few steps behind the reader. So inevitably they do dumb stuff so they can get trickled the information that seemed obvious to us.

Then of course the reason for it being murky in the first place was contrived behind there being a world wide "race war" despite there being races on both sides.

Almost certainly would have been a DNF but it was 171 pages and by the time I made the decision I was far enough along I decided to finish.

[Torben · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ein sehr früher John Jakes in schlechter Übersetzung und kaum Lektorat. Viele Geheimnisse auf der Erde, eine Dystopie mit vielen Fragezeichen. Das ist eigentlich ganz spannend, auch wenn das Buch kurz ist, musste ich mich aber manchmal etwas durchzwingen. Auch spielen Ansichten der 1960er-Jahre immer wieder mit rein, auch wenn John Jakes ein Guter war. Eine Schreibübung, auch wenn der Autor 1969 schon mehr als 10 Jahre im Geschäft war.