Welcome, Chaos

by Kate Wilhelm

What would happen to the precarious balance of power if scientists could extend life for centuries? If one power bloc had biological protection against radiation & the other did not? Whose thumb would press the button first?
When Lyle Taney took leave from her teaching job to live high in the mountains, researching the ways of eagles, she was just planning to write her next book. Lasater was an unscrupulous, skilled operative who thought he could maneuver her as he pleased. He believed women were incapable of making ethical or moral decisions. He was wrong. When the obscure government agent from an anonymous department tried to force Lyle to spy on her mysterious neighbors, she resisted. But the first step had been taken, involving her in a life-&-death struggle.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fantasy, Mystery

297 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Kate Wilhelm’s first short story, “The Pint-Sized Genie” was published in Fantastic Stories in 1956. Her first novel, MORE BITTER THAN DEATH, a mystery, was published in 1963. Over the span of her career, her writing has crossed over the genres of science fiction, speculative fiction, fantasy and magical realism, psychological suspense, mimetic, comic, and family sagas, a multimedia stage production, and radio plays. She returned to writing mysteries in 1990 with the acclaimed Charlie Meiklejohn and Constance Leidl Mysteries and the Barbara Holloway series of legal thrillers.

Wilhelm’s works have been adapted for television and movies in numerous countries; her novels and stories have been translated to more than a dozen languages. She has contributed to Quark, Orbit,  Magazine of Fantasy and ScienceFiction, Locus, Amazing Stories, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine,  Fantastic, Omni, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Redbook, and Cosmopolitan.

Kate Wilhelm is the widow of acclaimed science fiction author and editor, Damon Knight (1922-2002), with whom she founded the Clarion Writers’ Workshop and the Milford Writers’ Conference, described in her 2005 non-fiction work, STORYTELLER. They lectured together at universities across three continents; Kate has continued to offer interviews, talks, and monthly workshops.

Kate Wilhelm has received two Hugo awards, three Nebulas, as well as Jupiter, Locus, Spotted Owl, Prix Apollo, Kristen Lohman awards, among others. She was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2009, Kate was the recipient of one of the first Solstice Awards presented by the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) in recognition of her contributions to the field of science fiction. 

Kate’s highly popular Barbara Holloway mysteries, set in Eugene, Oregon, opened with Death Qualified in 1990. Mirror, Mirror, released in 2017, is the series’ 14th novel.

Reviews

[David Raz · Rating 2 out of 5]

The beginning of the book was promising, with some suspense and a thought provoking idea, but at about half of the book it fizzles completely. All the suspense is lost, and the book stretches like tasteless bubblegum into the disappointing ending. Before that, it stops at a scene which completely undermines the entire structure of the main character, which in itself convinced me to rate this book two stars out of five.

[Diane · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story develops an interesting premise - that a cure is discovered which immunizes individuals from the effects of aging and from the effects of radiation. However too much of the book is spent on the internal thoughts and reactions of the main character, and although there was suspense I was dissatisfied with the ending. I have enjoyed Wilhelm's other books, but not so much this one.

[Deborah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little more than a 3, but not a 4.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Welcome Chaos is a thought provoking novel that prompts the reader to examine the way in which the world as we know it could become something else entirely in the blink of an eye. And there are no easy answers to the questions it proposes.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[H. R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

(re-reading novels after a decade+ first read, ones you really enjoyed, are like returning to an old friend, and also to a time/place in the past...always a pleasure and one of the many reasons I physically keep the books I read).

Wilhelm's mid-80s novel is difficult to 'review' without spoilers. I'll say this: the first half and last quarter of the novel are well-defined in plot, but the 3rd quartile falters. Technically, i.e. the 'SF' part of the novel, is light on the science, and would not hold up today against the higher standards current writers have placed on discipline and accuracy-in-detail with the science. However, Wilhelm writes characters in situations that most readers would empathize with. The ending is tightly-written and exciting. It's also 'of an age' and elegantly raises the themes of the Cold War.

I appreciate the writer's art in developing the plot and characterization, and would recommend it, and most of Wilhelm's works, based on that.

[Karyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of Kate Wilhelm's earlier sci-fi (the current-day medical/science version of sci-fi, not Star Trek sci-fi) novels, before she got into mystery/sci-fi blends. It was an intriguing plot concept 20 years ago - a serum that can stop the aging process, which cold war factions are fighting over - now used to death in both novels and movies.

KW's novels involve a lot of natural landscape description and psychological exploration. She's an incredibly descriptive and thoughtful writer, leading to rather long novels and an inordinate amount of time for the plot line to start moving forward. So she's a good author to skim the first several chapters until you get to the meat of the matter, and her meat is worth the necessary skimming (unless you like reading a lot of narrative).

Not as good as "Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang" as this novel dates itself while "Where Late" successfully hid the fact it was written in 1979, but still definitely worth a read for sci-fi lovers.

[Teesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I understand how many readers regard this as their favorite Kate Wilhelm novel. Lyle Taney is not young and beautiful. She is talented and more than capable. She is asked to leave her teaching job, move to the Oregon coast and, oh, yeah, spy on her neighbors. Determined to follow her own path, she's lead on an adventure she's not prepared for. A satisfying read.

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

As ever, Wilhelm has produced a better-than, more-serious-than usual near-future science fiction novel.

[Brenda Clough · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of Wilhelm's great SF novels. It is great to see a master at work; this is very nearly a perfect science fiction novel.

[fromcouchtomoon · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be reviewed for @SFRuminations big Wilhelm blog bash in April. A living vintage author deserving of such attention.

[Jason Bleckly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This isn’t SF while at the same time unequivocally being SF. It depends where you draw the line. It’s a What If thought experiment set in the contemporary world couched as a technothriller.

Set in the MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) cold war days of the 1980s, when the book was written, WHAT IF someone found an immortality serum? How would that play out in a world with it’s fingers on the button? What are the implications and ramifications? This is the book.

As with all of Kate’s other work I’ve read where this book excels is in the characters. She has a gift for creating real believable people. And the setting. While reading the book I thought it was overboard Red Peril paranoia, but then I thought back to the 1980s and she has totally nailed the vibe. We were actually that nuts back then.

There is little science about the immortality serum itself, as that’s not the main thrust of the book, but it’s not completely devoid of science either. What is included is credible. The book also has a lot of relevance today given our recent experiences with Covid.

The book is told primary by protagonist Lyle Taney who is a non-scientist drawn into the conspiracy around the immortality serum by the main antagonist Hugh Lasater. Lyle is an ex-academic historian who became somewhat famous for a book about hawks. Hugh Lasater is an obsessive spook working multiple angles simultaneously, but basically looking out for himself first and foremost. This is why the book can be classed as a technothriller. The story is about a chase to find and control the immortality serum, but through the chase it explores the social implications of both its use or its suppression at the height of the cold war.

The title is a code phrase which gets used in the book, but more than that as well. It’s . Go read the book to find out. 😉

I also felt a strong thematic link to a number of her other books, particularly her award winning Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang, and The Clewiston Test. But also to a lesser extant to Let the Fire Fall, and The Clone. Kate clearly has a love of global apocalyptic change viewed through close individual perspectives.

[Yanique Gillana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story started off really well. The perspective of our MC was a good choice to really contrast with the story for an outsider view on events based on science fiction. The slight thriller aspect also added some dimension to the story and made it a bit more exciting. The other great thing Wilhelm did was set up a very intriguing premise. As a scientist myself, the idea of making a discovery that is so great that you fear it getting out into the world is intriguing and that ethical dilemma and how the situation is handled by scientists in different parts of the world was great.

However.... this story dragged so much. I am not one of the readers who believes that fast pace = good pace, so that's not it. It's something about the story telling style used here, but for a story this interesting, I feel like it was presented in a very inconsistent way. The beginning hooked me but then I got increasingly more bored as the characters sat around just talking about things. Then it ended in a pretty basic way that left me unsatisfied.

[Rhode PVD · Rating 5 out of 5]

My copy is so old and yellowed that the cover tumbled off as I reread it this time. This was an absolute favorite book of my early 20s.

I loved the ethical considerations around giving immortality to the world, particularly given that it would kill half the people who tried for it. I also liked the consideration of political consequences. And who doesn’t love a competent woman author in her mid-30s who writes a nonfiction bestseller and then goes to live in a cottage on her own in the coastal wilderness to study eagles for her next book?

I also loved the fact that although there’s a romance side story, it’s not the main plot. The competent adult woman being competent during adventures is the main plot. She doesn’t turn to anyone to save her, even when close to death twice. She is on her own journey.

Plus polyamory.

And we know the bad guy is bad because he’s a sexist. 🤗

I just wish there was a follow up. This is one book where you really want to sit down with the author after reading it and have a scotch and talk deep into the night.

[James]

What would happen to the precarious balance of power if scientists could extend life for centuries? If one power bloc had biological protection against radiation and the other did not? Whose thumb would press the button first? When Lyle Taney took leave from her teaching job to live high in the mountains, researching the ways of eagles, she was just planning to write her next book. Lasater was an unscrupulous, skilled operative who thought he could maneuver her as he pleased. He believed women were incapable of making ethical or moral decisions--and he was wrong. When the obscure government agent from an anonymous department tried to force Lyle to spy on her mysterious neighbors, she resisted. But the first step had been taken, involving her in a life-and-death struggle.

[Trish · Rating 2 out of 5]

First, let me say, sci-fi is not my favorite genre, and I didn't realize that that was where this novel was going, until I'd gotten far enough in that I didn't want to abandon it. Secondly, worst ever choice to read in the midst of global pandemic. My bad. Aside from that, I can't say that I really liked the characters, which hugely influences whether I like a work or not. Oh well...

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

How fast would the world change if a major world power could upset the balance in the world? This adventure story is partly speculative fiction, partly spy novel. History prof Lyle Taney just wants to research and write her book, but gets drawn into a larger drama.

[Thomas Snow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly for its time a good read, written deep in the cold war, its as much a tale of science fiction as spy novel, but it touches on something else, on the price of breakthough, and the fantasy that you could be picked to be part of something larfer than yourself. Ending is a bit rushed.

[Kris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review TBC

[Rouan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am re-reading this for the umpteenth time. I like it as much this time as I have my previous readings and have been pulled into the story just as fully this time.

[Sharon]

Interesting as a preservation of 1980s thinking, but otherwise bland.

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 4 out of 5]

This turned out to be surprisingly thoughtful and original. The pacing isn't so great and it does drag often in the middle, but it's much better than anything else I've read by Kate Wilhelm.

[Lisa Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good beginning, great middle, decent climax, weak ending.

[Stephanie G. Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the concept.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lyle Taney, a 30-something historian, has her life changed forever when she's drawn into events by an ex-CIA spy, who has learned of a conspiracy among scientists to keep a fantastic discovery out of the hands of governments and corporations. Part science-fiction, part espionage thriller, and part paean to the liberal arts, this is a marvelous tale! It was written at the start of the Reagan years, and takes place just a couple years later. Having grown up during the Cold War, and witnessed its end with no small measure of relief, I was concerned at first that the "But what about the Russians?" aspects of the story would not be engaging, but that wasn't a problem - the characters' personal involvement in what's happening always stays front and center, with world politics a backdrop and a motivation, nothing more. And the characters' thoughts and choices are always moral ones, based largely on beliefs and emotions, rather than cold scientific calculations.

As for what the scientists have discovered, the quote on the cover of my edition comes out and tells you, but I won't. The science is kept pretty vague, though; rather than make up a bunch of implausible nonsense, the author just tells us that so-and-so figured out a crucial bit of the puzzle, and that someone else put the pieces together, and so on. That vagueness works here, leaving us with the same puzzlement and wonder that the main character experiences.

I read one of Wlhelm's other books a long time ago, and vaguely remember liking it. This has given me a reason to hunt down a bunch more.

[Ambyr · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a story here, really there is. There's the serum and the relationships and the development... but that's not the backbone of this book. This book is deep.
Yes, there's Lyle and Carmen and Sol, there's the rest of the group later on... but the real depth of this book is in the emotions, the reasoning, how it resonates with you. THAT is what I really liked about this book. It was like the author had a though, an abstract idea, but no way to really tell you this idea, so she created a story to facilitate it's encapsulation from her basic idea to your understanding it using the tale as the vessel.

The ending was a little too neat and pretty, the bow was a little too perfect on it... but really, the idea had been delivered, nothing else had to be said.

This is one of those books I would read again, not for the story, but for the many quotes and thoughts to milk from it.

[M— · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I was sixteen and travelling cross country, I stopped into a rummage shop and came away with this book. It's been one of the most random finds I've ever read.

It's really a very interesting book with a plot that is more philosophical than scifi. I found the characterization to be particuarly vivid, and certain passages have stuck with me for years.

I don't quite agree with the way it ended. Things are wrapped up too tidily but are simultaneously too ill planned. Even as a teen, I remember closing the book with an air of, "That was a pretty rash action. It's lucky that everything worked out."

Still, I'd recommend this book to other readers for the groundwork and wordsmithing of the plot alone.

[Tony Atkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Welcome, Chaos" tracks the accidental development of an indefinite life-prolonging treatment during the Second World War, and its threatened exposure to the public in the midst of the cold war. The immortals Wilhelm depicts are also resistant to disease and radiation, and so become a kind of nuclear deterrent that could prompt each side to start a war before the other can protect their people.

I recently wrote a piece comparing "Welcome, Chaos" to two other books that deal with immortality.

[Angelica Gaerlan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like Wilhelm, I do. This story was like if she took her cool, intriguing theme on the questionable ethics behind scientific advancements in society (I left that phrasing as generally as I could to capture the various developments her novels touch - cloning, space travel, big pharma mass drug testing, etc.) and slapped over it some generic Twilight Series bullshit, the Watchmen movie and Law and Order. I get that those things happened way after this book, so I'll add that it stayed true to loud tones of the 1950's sexist damsel-in-distress. Two stars because it's written in true Wilhelm fashion, which, regardless of the poor plot, I still enjoy.

[Doreen Dalesandro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre: sci-fi
I listened to this book.

Welcome, Chaos explores the social and political ramifications of broad-spectrum immunity and anti-aging induced by a man-made serum. The story hit home, perhaps because I grew up when the world was poised on the edge of nuclear destruction.

Johanna Ward does a great job narrating.