Omega Point Trilogy

Omega Point Trilogy #1-3

by George Zebrowski

6599 A.D. The war between the Earth Federation and the Herculean Empire had been over for more than three centuries. The planet in the Hercules Globular Cluster was a cinder; the few descendants of the surviving Herculeans lived on Myraa's World, half a galaxy away, in what seemed to be a religious commune. But on an unnamed planet, deep within the Hercules Cluster, two survivors, father and son, gather their resources and plan a reign of terror against Federation worlds. But the woman Myraa has a different vision--one which excludes empires and warring armies. Subtly, she strives to shape events toward a different end. Rising to one of the most unusual climaxes in recent fantastic literature, this novel of chase and vengeance depicts a colorful, poetic future which is struggling to overcome its past. Filled with striking twists and vivid ideas, this is space opera at its most modern.

Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fiction

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

George Zebrowski was an American science fiction writer and editor who wrote and edited a number of books, and was a former editor of The Bulletin of the Science Fiction Writers of America. He lived with author Pamela Sargent, with whom he co-wrote a number of novels, including Star Trek novels.
Zebrowski won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award in 1999 for his novel Brute Orbits. Three of his short stories, "Heathen God," "The Eichmann Variations," and "Wound the Wind," were nominated for the Nebula Award, and "The Idea Trap" was nominated for the Theodore Sturgeon Award.

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zebrowski, George. The Omega Point Trilogy. Omega Point Trilogy Nos. 1-3. Ace, 1983.
Let me say at the outset that the best way to read the Omega Point series is in this one-volume edition. None of the three novellas that make up the trilogy really make good sense by themselves. One reason is the curious way in which the trilogy was developed—the second volume written first, then the first, then the third over more than a decade. The story as it develops is part revenge narrative, part family saga, and mostly mysticism on a cosmic deep-future scale. It is the kind of novel that Roger Zelazny could tell so well at about the same time. Unfortunately, Zebrowski does not have the stylistic panache to carry it off. It is a work that puts ideas ahead of story, so your reaction to the story will largely depend on how open you are to the ideas. Its title gives you the key to its main source, the works of French Jesuit Catholic priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a paleontologist who coined the term omega point and who wanted to reconcile evolution and twentieth-century cosmology with his brand Christian teleology. His notion that the universe is headed toward a big crunch that would pull us and everyone else into the mind of God was radical enough that the church exiled him to China and did not publish his work until after his death in the mid-1950s. Oddly enough, Pope Benedict XVI was a fan. Like Teilhard, Zebrowski intended his work to be based on hard science, but two things have sabotaged his effort. First, he wrote a few years before the theory got some support from a like-minded physicist, Frank J. Tipler, and then recent measurements have upset the premise that the universe is heading toward a big crunch. Zebrowski wrote better later in his career, and you can see science and theology played with in science fiction a lot more successfully than this book does. So, unless you are interested in Teilhard, you might want to give this book a pass.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars very hesitantly rounded up to 2.

This read like a novelization of Dune as directed by David Lynch, but without any of the self-awareness or interesting flairs.

[James]

6599 A.D. The war between the Earth Federation and the Herculean Empire had been over for more than three centuries. The planet in the Hercules Globular Cluster was a cinder; the few descendents of the surviving Herculeans lived on Myraa's World, half a galaxy away, in what seemed to be a religious commune. But on an unnamed planet, deep within the Hercules Cluster, two survivors, father and son, gather their resources and plan reign of terror against Federation worlds. But the woman Myraa has a differen

[Paultmurdock · Rating 1 out of 5]

Why did I read this 41 year old book that I never heard of? Oh because it was a 41 year old book I’d never heard of. This “book” (3 novellas smashed together) would have been decent if the author took a third from each and wrote one novella. I wouldn’t recommend this book to anybody, and if you want a book that explores similar themes, check out “the gods themselves” by Asimov.

[Mohawk Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

The deep seated thirst for revenge is thick throughout this trilogy. I wanted to distance myself from Gorgias. But as any child that had some aspect of their childhood denied to them...that feeling persists and cries out "I was not given what I should have had."

[Sol]

Third novel only exists in this omnibus seemingly

[Purple Osprey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring, poorly written, reads like a work of a student.
All the time, it starts telling a story and then in the very next sentence jumps to something happening in different time or place, to different characters or, even better, right into unrelated dialogue between yet another characters (and in the first book there are two guys by the same name). It's a mess, it's difficult to follow.
It hasn't got a hint of humor nor is it dark enough. Neither it is deep and intellectual, just blunt.
Those obscure quotes before chapters look comic, not smart.
And there's no character to root for.

[Sarah Sayre · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Herculeans are still humans," Kirby said, "and human beings have always had a wretched curiosity about their own kind, as well as a tendency to treat old conflicts as if they had happened yesterday. They'll come looking for us one day, unless we find them first."

I don't know why more people haven't read this book. It was a fairly quick read and I found it to be very entertaining. Some of the metaphysical aspects of the story were a bit wordy at times, but overall I liked it.

[Barry Seidman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only Place to find Book Three: Mirror of Minds