The Paradox of the Sets

Daedalus Mission #6

by Brian M. Stableford

"The plan of life in the universe and its ultimate destiny is nothing whatsoever to do with us." "The final landing of the Daedalus mission.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

176 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 2, 1979

About the author

Brian Michael Stableford was a British science fiction writer who published more than 70 novels. His earlier books were published under the name Brian M. Stableford, but more recent ones have dropped the middle initial and appeared under the name Brian Stableford. He also used the pseudonym Brian Craig for a couple of very early works, and again for a few more recent works. The pseudonym derives from the first names of himself and of a school friend from the 1960s, Craig A. Mackintosh, with whom he jointly published some very early work.

Reviews

[Sol · Rating 2 out of 5]

The planet Geb appears to have no problem at all, its colonial expansion driven by the native Sets, who at first seemed intelligent, but proved to be merely highly trainable animals. Alexis suspects, however, that no natural evolutionary pressure could have produced a pliable, pacifistic, unintelligent tool-using biped.

A weak end to the series. It felt like 70% of the book was spent in a spelunking expedition to prove Alexis' theory (which itself is 40% action sequence against piranha-bats). The theory itself is not exactly mindblowing. By the 70s the idea of precursors was reasonably well-established. The motif needs something else if it's too function as the centrepiece of a story. There is not really any twist, aside from Linda's rant against Alexis where she implies Nathan has been playing him like a fiddle re: the expedition's real purpose being a power play between factions of the UN.

Even if the last two books were a bit lacklustre, I don't regret my time with the series as a whole. It was very episodic so it isn't retroactively lessened by the ending, and each book was far too short to seriously try my patience, and the first four books at least worked within the limitations of their format, with the fourth almost shining beyond them.

[Derek · Rating 1 out of 5]

The gravest flaw of the book is that the rear cover copy completely spoils the central mystery. Once that is out of the way, reading the book is an exercise in waiting for the characters to slog to the point that you the reader have already reached. This process isn't enjoyable, as it becomes a matter of archaeology, carbon dating, genetic patterns, and other things that don't play well for exciting storytelling.

There are a couple of interesting ideas discussed--competing genetic coding systems, the harrowing thought that humanoid intelligence might be a genetic backwater with no evolutionary future--but the key word is discussed. Much of what goes on in this book takes place in conversation or dissertation and very little in actual action. And I didn't feel like reading 170 pages of people talking at one another.

[Steve Rainwater · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daedalus mission: Part Six

Daedalus is a starship from Earth visiting 6 planets to which colony ships were sent over 100 years ago. Their mission: find out the state of the colonies and help them if possible. Each novel in the series recounts the mission to one of the 6 planets. Each planet presents different problems and mysteries for the crew to solve.

This is the final book in the series and a bit of a let-down. Up until book six, they were getting progressively more interesting and we were getting a little bit of character development in each book for most of the crew members. But this book focuses on just a couple of crew members, leaving the others out of the story almost entirely, so we never really find out how each of their story arcs resolves.

Also unsatisfying is that the entire novel only covers a period of a few days starting with the approach to the planet and the majority of the time is spent in a solitary overland journey from the landing site to the location of a crackpot colonist who lives in the mountains. We don't really get much direct interaction with the colonists.

Finally the title, "The Paradox of the Sets", suggests some interesting mathematical puzzle to be solved but it turns out there's an indigenous humanoid species found on the planet that the colonists call "Sets". The paradox is that these aliens seem intelligent and have learned human language but are interested in nothing but following the colonists around and helping them do things. Despite understanding English and following instructions, they never speak. They are completely unable to defend themselves from local wildlife and will run away but not help each other or put up any fight.

The Daedalus crew initially thinks the colonists have enslaved the Sets but it turns out the colonists just eventually gave in and let the Sets hang around their camps and help them. The crew has to figure out how such a species could evolve. And eventually has to face the only logical alternative explanation for their presence on the planet. An explanation being investigated by a local in the mountains who is searching for an ancient impact crater.

The book is interesting enough but I was bummed that it didn't really tie up the story lines for most of the crew.

[Tony H · Rating 2 out of 5]

In fairness, I didn't know that this was a series until about halfway through the book, when I set the book down with its back cover facing up. That's when I read the back cover, spoiling the ending... cmon.

I felt that there were too many callbacks to previous books, making many seemingly important moments confusing. It works out as many of these moments turn up to be nothing of great importance after all.

A good portion of the book is spent expecting one thing, only to spend 60 pages getting us no further. The final "showdown" was lackluster and a bit undercooked. I would have much preferred a bigger climax and less 40 days and 40 nights in the desert.

I thought the concept of the Sets was fascinating, however. The biggest selling point for me by far. Made me reflect on what constitutes domestication and intelligence. I wish the book would have explored that more rather than have the characters arguing over the possibility of exploring that.

[Leif · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now that I've read the whole series, I can say without reservation that I enjoyed it BUT

-I feel all the stories were cool but rushed
-Characterization was almost non-existent. The exceptions being the empath and the narrator
-The narrator is intelligent but kind of cocky in an unappealing way

I am excited to read Stableford's other, earlier series about the starship "Hooded Swan".

[SciFiOne · Rating 3 out of 5]

1980 grade C+

series book D6

[Jorgon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last one in the Daedalus Mission series, and my favourite one of the lot.