What do you think?
Rate this book
Traitor to the Living
Herald Childe changed his name to Gordan Carfax and is teaching in the midwest. Farmer drops a few hints throughout the book as to Gordan's previous identity. Gordan's cousin invents a machine called MEDIUM which lets you talk to the dead. His other cousin claims that he stole the machine from her father. Discovering who really invented the machine is the least of his worries when he discovers what else the machine is capable of.
Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 1973
5 people are currently reading
191 people want to read
About the author
Philip José Farmer
597 books892 followersPhilip José Farmer was an American author, principally known for his science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories. He was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, but spent much of his life in Peoria, Illinois.
Farmer is best known for his Riverworld series and the earlier World of Tiers series. He is noted for his use of sexual and religious themes in his work, his fascination for and reworking of the lore of legendary pulp heroes, and occasional tongue-in-cheek pseudonymous works written as if by fictional characters.
Farmer is best known for his Riverworld series and the earlier World of Tiers series. He is noted for his use of sexual and religious themes in his work, his fascination for and reworking of the lore of legendary pulp heroes, and occasional tongue-in-cheek pseudonymous works written as if by fictional characters.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
March 4, 2020
oh, sci-fi nerds, i am trying to live amongst you.
lord knows i do not want to offend the great unwashed masses of science fiction fans with their squeezing of themselves into bookstore aisles too narrow for their girth to talk loudly and nasally about every single plot point in every single star trek book and their hushing up every time a girl walks by. i am not looking to offend. with their nose-picking and cavalier approach to hygiene and noise pollution. (oh, the guffaws...)i don't mean to make fun of the adolescent simplicity of your sexual fantasies, but - man - i just don't get you.
but i'm keeeeeding! bird brian sent me this book, just like he sent me blood music, because he wants me to suffer! okay, it's not that bad. but i think that overall, science fiction does not please me as much as it pleases other people. i thought he was sending me this because it was SO bad, that i would have a field day with the review.his review was hidden under a spoiler blanket, so i couldn't even read it - i was operating in the dark. but as i was reading the book, i was thinking "oh, this isn't terrible."
HIGH PRAISE INDEED!
but at the end of it all, i thought the opportunity for this kind of literary invention, a machine that can talk to the freaking dead, was wasted on some small-fry stuff. solving a murder and getting to the bottom of that huge problem facing our world: the inconsistencies of etruscan linguistics??
hmmm...
those who fail to remember the past, indeed.
i think the repercussions of his own literary invention scared him off from too close an examination, which is why all the religious elements were kept as background characters and sideplots. and the true historical benefits were - what - too difficult? probably. instead, this becomes a more personal story - the solving of a murrrrderrr, the getting to the bottom of this wacky machine and what it can do (but small-scale, please - we lack a budget), and the intercourse with our cousin along the way! whaaaat - it's the future! we are all metric now. and in the metric system, it is okay to have sex with your cousin.
i have nothing useful to say about this book. it suffers from a lot of the salacious-undercurrents as other sci-fi i have experienced from this era (this one is 1973)
salacious?? did someone say "salacious??"
(gotta win those nerds back...)
but there is just this "ick" feeling for me. all the women are "full-breasted" and clothing is optional, and the clothing that does exist, for women, anyway, does not include undergarments, making movement problematic. that's not sexy to me - that's an eleven-year-old alone under the covers.
i am not giving up on the genre, though - i am told there are other books i might like.
brian likes dick. he says i should try to get into dick. i told him greg forced dick on me one time and i didn't like it. brian said that dick is something someone has to discover for themselves. he says he was introduced to dick when he was thirteen and it was a magical summer. i might be too old for dick.
but i will keep trying. maybe someday i will find the sci-fi that is right for me.
come to my blog!
lord knows i do not want to offend the great unwashed masses of science fiction fans with their squeezing of themselves into bookstore aisles too narrow for their girth to talk loudly and nasally about every single plot point in every single star trek book and their hushing up every time a girl walks by. i am not looking to offend. with their nose-picking and cavalier approach to hygiene and noise pollution. (oh, the guffaws...)i don't mean to make fun of the adolescent simplicity of your sexual fantasies, but - man - i just don't get you.
but i'm keeeeeding! bird brian sent me this book, just like he sent me blood music, because he wants me to suffer! okay, it's not that bad. but i think that overall, science fiction does not please me as much as it pleases other people. i thought he was sending me this because it was SO bad, that i would have a field day with the review.his review was hidden under a spoiler blanket, so i couldn't even read it - i was operating in the dark. but as i was reading the book, i was thinking "oh, this isn't terrible."
HIGH PRAISE INDEED!
but at the end of it all, i thought the opportunity for this kind of literary invention, a machine that can talk to the freaking dead, was wasted on some small-fry stuff. solving a murder and getting to the bottom of that huge problem facing our world: the inconsistencies of etruscan linguistics??
hmmm...
those who fail to remember the past, indeed.
i think the repercussions of his own literary invention scared him off from too close an examination, which is why all the religious elements were kept as background characters and sideplots. and the true historical benefits were - what - too difficult? probably. instead, this becomes a more personal story - the solving of a murrrrderrr, the getting to the bottom of this wacky machine and what it can do (but small-scale, please - we lack a budget), and the intercourse with our cousin along the way! whaaaat - it's the future! we are all metric now. and in the metric system, it is okay to have sex with your cousin.
i have nothing useful to say about this book. it suffers from a lot of the salacious-undercurrents as other sci-fi i have experienced from this era (this one is 1973)
salacious?? did someone say "salacious??"
(gotta win those nerds back...)
but there is just this "ick" feeling for me. all the women are "full-breasted" and clothing is optional, and the clothing that does exist, for women, anyway, does not include undergarments, making movement problematic. that's not sexy to me - that's an eleven-year-old alone under the covers.
i am not giving up on the genre, though - i am told there are other books i might like.
brian likes dick. he says i should try to get into dick. i told him greg forced dick on me one time and i didn't like it. brian said that dick is something someone has to discover for themselves. he says he was introduced to dick when he was thirteen and it was a magical summer. i might be too old for dick.
but i will keep trying. maybe someday i will find the sci-fi that is right for me.
come to my blog!
November 7, 2022
As much as I love Philip J. Farmer, this one was such a mess. A couple of interesting ideas, but not a good novel. “Maker of Universes” remains his greatest one, in my opinion.
October 20, 2018
If you like a lot of missed potential (which I don't want to get into cause it's spoilers) and love cousin incest (which is not a spoiler and happens almost immediately), this is a book for you! Otherwise don't be fooled by the great cover.
November 14, 2025
Farmer tends to be kind of a weird pervy writer for the most part, but he does it in a compelling and interesting way in the handful of books of his that I've sampled (notably his inexhaustibly homoerotic Tarzan spoof series). Apparently this is a soft reboot/loosely connected sequel to an erotica series of his but without the erotic elements? Perhaps the path to publication was fraught with peril on this one, at least that's kind of the impression you get while reading it. It almost hangs together as a story, but despite being about the invention of a machine that can communicate with the souls of the dearly departed, it doesn't seem to have much interest in the broader implications of that invention for society. Maybe the original focus was on the erotic elements that were later excised from the text?
Getting past the obvious criticisms, though, the fact that the book doesn't get bogged down in societal repercussions makes it a fairly light and pleasant read. It's not going to make you really ponder the mysteries of existence, but I had fun with it.
Getting past the obvious criticisms, though, the fact that the book doesn't get bogged down in societal repercussions makes it a fairly light and pleasant read. It's not going to make you really ponder the mysteries of existence, but I had fun with it.
August 17, 2018
Farmer è un genio dodicenne: il mondo femminile nei suoi romanzi è ancora più schematico che in R.E.Howard, e ho sempre immaginato le sue avventure illustrate da Richard Corben. Questa volta però il racconto non mi evoca immagini.
Un futuro (l'83?) In una Los Angeles sovrappopolata e inquinata, dove i politici promettono un ritorno alle condizioni ambientali del '73 (quando la città, insieme a Tokio, era già simbolo mondiale dello smog, ai tempi la prima preoccupazione ambientale), dove si aggirano "tassì a vapore" ma è disponibile una metropolitana ultraveloce.
Divertenti particolari di costume, come i vestiti inevitabilmente succinti e che in un modo o nell'altro finiscono per lasciar sempre scoperti i seni femminili; soprattutto, le "tartarughe" robotiche che portano ovunque i bagagli o anche il cibo negli alberghi, con vassoi e posate che sono a loro volta commestibili..
Il cuore del romanzo è naturalmente nella grandiosa idea centrale: un macchinario che riesce a rintracciare in una dimensione tangente alla nostra quelle che sembrano inequivocabilmente le anime dei defunti.
L'idea si prestava a sviluppi grandiosi, stile Mondo del Fiume; ma PJF non li sfrutta.
Per una parte del romanzo, PJF sembra invece preferire angosce dickiane: sono davvero i trapassati o entità aliene che si fingono tali? L'antagonista Western è uno spregiudicato genio scientifico o un puttaniere che ha assassinato lo zio per rubargli l'invenzione? La bella Patricia è una figlia in cerca di vendetta con l'aiuto del disponibile cugino Carfax o un'agente dello stesso ambiguo cugino Western? Lo zio Rufton, intervistato nell'aldilà, scagiona il nipote (sempre Western: sono tutti cugini, come a Paperopoli) sinceramente? o starà negando di essere stato assassinato, per motivi da capire, forse ricatto?
E quanta satira delle religioni si potrebbe fare con questo spunto?
Purtroppo PJF preferisce non approfondire gli spunti dickiani e ignorare la satira religiosa (abbiamo solo un vescovo infartuato e un Gesù offeso che i suoi insegnamenti siano stati estesi ai Gentili).
Nessun aspetto trasgressivo se non che il protagonista va a letto con la cugina più giovane di 15 anni: ma la preoccupazione del protagonista è che, si sposassero, nel giro di vent'anni lui potrebbe non riuscire più ad essere all'altezza delle aspettative di lei.. mah! Forse PJF, lato trasgressione, era ormai stato superato dai tempi? Al risveglio dopo la prima notte d'amore, il protagonista riesce a far presente alla bella che farebbe bene a rifarsi il trucco.. neanche negli anni '70 era normale tanto maschilismo!
La storia diventa alla fine una complicata trama di spionaggio e controspionaggio, condita da attentati micidiali cui l'indomito protagonista e la bella cugina di contorno sfuggono con pochi danni (almeno lui; di lei nulla viene detto, sembra invulnerabile).
Ma Segretissimo non è mai stato il mio genere.. Chissà, forse Farmer si riservava di fare di questo breve romanzo l'inizio di un ciclo.
In conclusione, una lettura piacevole, dove Farmer riesce ogni tanto a ricordare la sua genialità, per esempio nel sorprendente colpo di scena finale, o nel ripescare incredibili personaggi minori della storia americana come quel James Fisk che ci verrà illustrato alla fine; interessante però soprattutto per i suoi fan.
Un futuro (l'83?) In una Los Angeles sovrappopolata e inquinata, dove i politici promettono un ritorno alle condizioni ambientali del '73 (quando la città, insieme a Tokio, era già simbolo mondiale dello smog, ai tempi la prima preoccupazione ambientale), dove si aggirano "tassì a vapore" ma è disponibile una metropolitana ultraveloce.
Divertenti particolari di costume, come i vestiti inevitabilmente succinti e che in un modo o nell'altro finiscono per lasciar sempre scoperti i seni femminili; soprattutto, le "tartarughe" robotiche che portano ovunque i bagagli o anche il cibo negli alberghi, con vassoi e posate che sono a loro volta commestibili..
Il cuore del romanzo è naturalmente nella grandiosa idea centrale: un macchinario che riesce a rintracciare in una dimensione tangente alla nostra quelle che sembrano inequivocabilmente le anime dei defunti.
L'idea si prestava a sviluppi grandiosi, stile Mondo del Fiume; ma PJF non li sfrutta.
Per una parte del romanzo, PJF sembra invece preferire angosce dickiane: sono davvero i trapassati o entità aliene che si fingono tali? L'antagonista Western è uno spregiudicato genio scientifico o un puttaniere che ha assassinato lo zio per rubargli l'invenzione? La bella Patricia è una figlia in cerca di vendetta con l'aiuto del disponibile cugino Carfax o un'agente dello stesso ambiguo cugino Western? Lo zio Rufton, intervistato nell'aldilà, scagiona il nipote (sempre Western: sono tutti cugini, come a Paperopoli) sinceramente? o starà negando di essere stato assassinato, per motivi da capire, forse ricatto?
E quanta satira delle religioni si potrebbe fare con questo spunto?
Purtroppo PJF preferisce non approfondire gli spunti dickiani e ignorare la satira religiosa (abbiamo solo un vescovo infartuato e un Gesù offeso che i suoi insegnamenti siano stati estesi ai Gentili).
Nessun aspetto trasgressivo se non che il protagonista va a letto con la cugina più giovane di 15 anni: ma la preoccupazione del protagonista è che, si sposassero, nel giro di vent'anni lui potrebbe non riuscire più ad essere all'altezza delle aspettative di lei.. mah! Forse PJF, lato trasgressione, era ormai stato superato dai tempi? Al risveglio dopo la prima notte d'amore, il protagonista riesce a far presente alla bella che farebbe bene a rifarsi il trucco.. neanche negli anni '70 era normale tanto maschilismo!
La storia diventa alla fine una complicata trama di spionaggio e controspionaggio, condita da attentati micidiali cui l'indomito protagonista e la bella cugina di contorno sfuggono con pochi danni (almeno lui; di lei nulla viene detto, sembra invulnerabile).
Ma Segretissimo non è mai stato il mio genere.. Chissà, forse Farmer si riservava di fare di questo breve romanzo l'inizio di un ciclo.
In conclusione, una lettura piacevole, dove Farmer riesce ogni tanto a ricordare la sua genialità, per esempio nel sorprendente colpo di scena finale, o nel ripescare incredibili personaggi minori della storia americana come quel James Fisk che ci verrà illustrato alla fine; interessante però soprattutto per i suoi fan.
January 14, 2018
This story takes an interesting sci-fi/horror conceit and turns the whole thing into a spy drama with mystery elements. So much time was spent with the characters dodging each other and there are many explosions. And so little of the story was spent actually exploring the concept of a machine that allows the living to contact the afterlife in some sort of other dimension. Farmer has written some great stuff, but this one is a miss.
April 22, 2024
Porțile către alte locuri din univers sau către alte dimensiuni, una din temele mele SF preferate, poate și pentru că scurtarea distanțelor în mod artificial reprezintă una din principalele cerințe ale propriului meu confort. Când faci parte din categoria sedentarilor profesioniști este foarte complicat să te descotorosești de speranța de a ajunge de “aici” până “acolo” cât ai clipi din ochi, fără să străbați drumuri interminabile printr-o aglomerație de nedescris.
Teleportorul din serialele Star Trek a fost prima “invenție” de acest tip pe care am descoperit-o și am acceptat cu greu ideea că deocamdată reprezintă o noțiune pur teoretică. Colectivele de cercetători britanici, belgieni, americani sau francezi despre care tot aflu din presă că lucrează zi și noapte în slujba progresului planetar nu par a se grăbi cu punerea în practică a acestui minunat dispozitiv, care ar putea rezolva atât problema poluării Terrei (la ce să ne mai folosească mașinile, trenurile sau avioanele dacă ajungem imediat acolo unde ne dorim) cât și cerința personală menționată anterior.
Apoi a apărut serialul Stargate împreună cu o nouă modalitate de a păcăli distanțele, și de această dată nu mai era vorba despre o călătorie între două puncte relativ apropiate, așa cum se întâmpla în cazul teleportorului. Stargate asigura legătura cu lumi îndepărtate, numai că episoadele erau oarecum repetitive, oamenii întâlnindu-se de cele mai multe doar cu civilizațiile extraterestre care au construit respectiva poartă. Așa că m-am plictisit destul de repede de aparițiile ciclice a tot soiul de umanoizi indispuși precum și de ursuleții translatați din Star Wars, am renunțat să mă uit la serial și am început să citesc “Poarta” lui Philip José Farmer.
Vom afla așadar din această carte despre existența unui dispozitiv special, de dimensiuni medii și care poate fi amplasat inclusiv în propria locuință, (asta însemnând că nici măcar nu trebuie să mai faci efortul de a te deplasa până la dispozitiv). O idee extraordinară, greu de găsit ceva mai util în romanele științifico-fantastice, singura problemă de natură tehnică fiind aceea că această poartă reprezintă un terminal și de sosiri, nu doar de plecări, prin ea apărând destul de des spirite ale celor decedați sau entități energetice extraterestre care doresc să pătrundă în lumea noastră, din motive diverse, pe care le puteți afla citind cartea.
Nu cred că ar fi fost o decizie greșită dacă misterul acestui aparat revoluționar nu ar fi fost dezvăluit până la final, oferind astfel cititorului posibilitatea de a-și pune în valoare imaginația, dar Farmer a fost un scriitor extrem de riguros care dorea să explice absolut totul, până la cel mai mic amănunt…
Nota acordată romanului : 7,6
http://www.bucurestifm.ro/2024/04/22/...
Teleportorul din serialele Star Trek a fost prima “invenție” de acest tip pe care am descoperit-o și am acceptat cu greu ideea că deocamdată reprezintă o noțiune pur teoretică. Colectivele de cercetători britanici, belgieni, americani sau francezi despre care tot aflu din presă că lucrează zi și noapte în slujba progresului planetar nu par a se grăbi cu punerea în practică a acestui minunat dispozitiv, care ar putea rezolva atât problema poluării Terrei (la ce să ne mai folosească mașinile, trenurile sau avioanele dacă ajungem imediat acolo unde ne dorim) cât și cerința personală menționată anterior.
Apoi a apărut serialul Stargate împreună cu o nouă modalitate de a păcăli distanțele, și de această dată nu mai era vorba despre o călătorie între două puncte relativ apropiate, așa cum se întâmpla în cazul teleportorului. Stargate asigura legătura cu lumi îndepărtate, numai că episoadele erau oarecum repetitive, oamenii întâlnindu-se de cele mai multe doar cu civilizațiile extraterestre care au construit respectiva poartă. Așa că m-am plictisit destul de repede de aparițiile ciclice a tot soiul de umanoizi indispuși precum și de ursuleții translatați din Star Wars, am renunțat să mă uit la serial și am început să citesc “Poarta” lui Philip José Farmer.
Vom afla așadar din această carte despre existența unui dispozitiv special, de dimensiuni medii și care poate fi amplasat inclusiv în propria locuință, (asta însemnând că nici măcar nu trebuie să mai faci efortul de a te deplasa până la dispozitiv). O idee extraordinară, greu de găsit ceva mai util în romanele științifico-fantastice, singura problemă de natură tehnică fiind aceea că această poartă reprezintă un terminal și de sosiri, nu doar de plecări, prin ea apărând destul de des spirite ale celor decedați sau entități energetice extraterestre care doresc să pătrundă în lumea noastră, din motive diverse, pe care le puteți afla citind cartea.
Nu cred că ar fi fost o decizie greșită dacă misterul acestui aparat revoluționar nu ar fi fost dezvăluit până la final, oferind astfel cititorului posibilitatea de a-și pune în valoare imaginația, dar Farmer a fost un scriitor extrem de riguros care dorea să explice absolut totul, până la cel mai mic amănunt…
Nota acordată romanului : 7,6
http://www.bucurestifm.ro/2024/04/22/...
March 23, 2024
The origin story of this novel is an odd one. It's the third novel in a series of, up to this one, pornographic sci-fi horror novels, but the first one without pornographic elements, with an entirely different thematic, and with a protagonist that is the same as in the first two parts but named differently. First off, Wikipedia states that it is the fourth novel of the series, with an unpublished third part in which Herald Childe, as he is named in the previous books, gets amnesia. I don't know where this information is coming from, but I can't find any indication of this in the novel itself. Although he states that he had a nervous breakdown after the events of Book 2, Gordon Carfax (our protagonist here) clearly remembers his name as Hal Childe and knows what happened to him, despite questioning the reality of it all.
So for all the changes in topic and style, it's best to see this as a standalone work, and as such, it is fantastic.
Farmer, always a very pulpy author, gives us his best proto-Neal-Stephenson, combining high-concept sci-fi with religious satire and a capitalist morality story, all in a packed action story. Readers who criticize the sci-fi part as not sophisticated enough clearly misunderstand the nature of the novel, which is far more interested in how the discovery of the afterlife would shape society and the economy. Especially the description of the economic impacts resonates strongly today, with our antagonist Western being a stand-in for silicon valley-type moguls.
So for all the changes in topic and style, it's best to see this as a standalone work, and as such, it is fantastic.
Farmer, always a very pulpy author, gives us his best proto-Neal-Stephenson, combining high-concept sci-fi with religious satire and a capitalist morality story, all in a packed action story. Readers who criticize the sci-fi part as not sophisticated enough clearly misunderstand the nature of the novel, which is far more interested in how the discovery of the afterlife would shape society and the economy. Especially the description of the economic impacts resonates strongly today, with our antagonist Western being a stand-in for silicon valley-type moguls.
March 15, 2020
Full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...
"In disappointing fashion, Traitor to the Living (1973) follows a similar pattern to Philip José Farmer’s famous Hugo winning To Your Scattered Bodies Go (1971) — the fascinating premise is bogged down by blank characters and repetitive action. Despite my fervent conviction that To Your Scattered Bodies Go is one of the worst Best Novel Hugo winners (and I’ve read a majority of them) and that the endlessly laborious sequels are a complete waste of ink, paper, and time, I gave [...]"
"In disappointing fashion, Traitor to the Living (1973) follows a similar pattern to Philip José Farmer’s famous Hugo winning To Your Scattered Bodies Go (1971) — the fascinating premise is bogged down by blank characters and repetitive action. Despite my fervent conviction that To Your Scattered Bodies Go is one of the worst Best Novel Hugo winners (and I’ve read a majority of them) and that the endlessly laborious sequels are a complete waste of ink, paper, and time, I gave [...]"
May 22, 2025
I picked this up last summer at the half price books because the title seemed cool.
I have never rolled my eyes so much while reading a book. Every woman is described by her breast size and what she's wearing. The main character is an amoral (at best) idiot who seduces his own cousin who is 15 years younger than him.
The hook of the story is the device, MEDIUM, which can communicate with the dead. It's the only reason I finished this book. And it's barely even explored. Instead, we get a book about which routes and which methods of transportation are taken to hide out in hotels as the antagonist tries to hunt down the main character and his cousin/girlfriend.
I have never rolled my eyes so much while reading a book. Every woman is described by her breast size and what she's wearing. The main character is an amoral (at best) idiot who seduces his own cousin who is 15 years younger than him.
The hook of the story is the device, MEDIUM, which can communicate with the dead. It's the only reason I finished this book. And it's barely even explored. Instead, we get a book about which routes and which methods of transportation are taken to hide out in hotels as the antagonist tries to hunt down the main character and his cousin/girlfriend.
November 12, 2018
Horrible, interesting idea but horrible execution and very unsatisfying ending.
August 20, 2021
The story is fun if very clearly a product of a different era. It was quite enjoyable to read.
February 8, 2024
This was a silly book. But it was thoroughly enjoyable.
May 5, 2024
Far-fetched is the least you can say about this book. And then... it extrapolates from facts from the past (it even refers to Arthur Conan Doyle who became a believer in the afterlife and contact with the dead after the death of his brother). It just feels uncomfortable and eery - and that is of course the genie of Philip José Farmer, bringing a horror story that has been told and unravelled umpteeth times as SciFi, based on "scientifically proven" elements but without changing any of the essence, just adding an extra bit of mystery. Slowly the story evolves from the initial is Medium really making contact with beings in another dimension, are it dead people or aliens, to what is those dead people take over our world?
A scientists/detective teams up with a gullible girl in search of her deceased for and on a quest for justice who (almost) get crushed between fraud, billionaires, big politics and unearthly powers.
What starts out as a scientific/political investigation soon turns out to be one long rush for survival, a life on life or death against the clock. The clock is ticking, deaths galore and they are clearly losing the race and seem to be nearing their own unavoidable death.
It is so creepy that as a reader you never really feel relaxed and after closing the book with a few open questions you wake up at night feeling very uncomfortable.
Where Farmers' work is usually characterized by humor being sprinkled all over it in large doses, the humore side is quite absent here.
Great, memorable, exciting, action, horror.... it has all of that, sure, but it is not really fun!
A scientists/detective teams up with a gullible girl in search of her deceased for and on a quest for justice who (almost) get crushed between fraud, billionaires, big politics and unearthly powers.
What starts out as a scientific/political investigation soon turns out to be one long rush for survival, a life on life or death against the clock. The clock is ticking, deaths galore and they are clearly losing the race and seem to be nearing their own unavoidable death.
It is so creepy that as a reader you never really feel relaxed and after closing the book with a few open questions you wake up at night feeling very uncomfortable.
Where Farmers' work is usually characterized by humor being sprinkled all over it in large doses, the humore side is quite absent here.
Great, memorable, exciting, action, horror.... it has all of that, sure, but it is not really fun!
November 4, 2011
It pains me to give a Farmer book only two stars, but he really dropped the ball on this one.
It's a very noir feeling story dealing with a machine that can talk to the dead and the various people scrambling to control and explain it.
Unfortunately, the noir conspiracy stuff takes over and drags on, so all the interesting ideas about being able to talk to the dead, are these really 'ghosts/souls etc' or something more sinister and sci-fi, and the impact this would have on the world all seems to happen on the sidelines or get rushed through so the hero can sneak around, playing detective and trying to get laid.
Then at the 3/4 mark the story takes a cool/creepy turn and Farmer wastes it, then at the 99% mark the story dives into brutal, tasteless and stupid and then rushes to an unsatisfying ending.
So many good ideas wasted and the cast, which is sympathetic, yet flawed, get little screen time and end up becoming 'types' rather than characters.
It's a very noir feeling story dealing with a machine that can talk to the dead and the various people scrambling to control and explain it.
Unfortunately, the noir conspiracy stuff takes over and drags on, so all the interesting ideas about being able to talk to the dead, are these really 'ghosts/souls etc' or something more sinister and sci-fi, and the impact this would have on the world all seems to happen on the sidelines or get rushed through so the hero can sneak around, playing detective and trying to get laid.
Then at the 3/4 mark the story takes a cool/creepy turn and Farmer wastes it, then at the 99% mark the story dives into brutal, tasteless and stupid and then rushes to an unsatisfying ending.
So many good ideas wasted and the cast, which is sympathetic, yet flawed, get little screen time and end up becoming 'types' rather than characters.
December 30, 2010
This is actually the third book feature Harold Childe,"Image of the Beast" and "Blown" being the first two, but isn't done with the same focus on erotica. It's a pretty interesting read and if you read the first two, the story makes a lot of sense. Farmer's writing is always filled with subtle nuances that are easily overlooked. Case in point, his characterization. So often, writer's break rules when developing characters by forcing the character to do something they normally wouldn't. Farmer lets his characters grow and happen organically.
The premise to this is pretty straight-forward, unless you've read the first two. Then you realize early on what you've signed up for.
The premise to this is pretty straight-forward, unless you've read the first two. Then you realize early on what you've signed up for.
January 10, 2013
Not the best Farmer I've read. A number of intriguing ideas come up but never get satisfactorily explored. Setting it in near-future America means the action is mostly generated from private-eye procedural style devices, with a few large-cast action-battle scenes thrown in but not fleshed out. A few supporting characters come out of nowhere and you wish they hadn't, particularly Hiekka the man-hunting "Valkyrie" CIA agent. The two leads are depressingly gender-regressive even by Farmer standards, perhaps a consequence of the non-fantastic setting.
March 5, 2011
There are many outrageous claims being made nowadays of contact with the dead by means of audio/video recording equipment, claims which have led to the production of a few mediocre movies about the subject. This novel by Farmer works from the premise that such contact may be possible.
November 4, 2017
This is an intriguing book: great theme, detailed characters, fast storyline. The only problem is the final: it ends on the cliffhanger of all cliffhangers, begging for a sequel... Which the author never wrote. :-(
November 16, 2014
1977 grade C-
January 15, 2025
The concept has potential and there are some cool, interesting moments, but mostly this book is a big 'ole mess with an excess of boring action sequences and forgettable characters.
Read
May 1, 2017Edition: First Thus
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews