WARRIORS OF THE STORM [***+]
Jack Chalker
"Warriors of the Storm" is the third volume (of four) in the "Rings of the
Masters" serial. The first book, "Lords of the Middle Dark", introduces a
future Earth where every segment of the population has reverted to a
pre-technological state under the loving guidance of the Master System, a
computer charged, long ago, with protecting humanity from itself, no
matter what the means.
But the programmers left themselves an out - five rings which, when
brought together in a certain place, would give their wielders control of
the Master System. The Master System does not wish these rings to be used,
but it is forced by its core routines to protect the rings, and to see
that they remain always in the hands of prominent humans, although nothing
says they should be told of their function.
The first book follows "Walks With the Night Hawks", known familiarly as
"Hawks", as he learns about the rings, and his mission to find the one
known to be on Earth. The owner of that one sends him into space to find
the others. The second book, "Pirates of the Thunder", concerns their
escape from the Master System to the colony worlds the computer set up to
handle the bulk of humanity that couldn't be reduced to savagery (far too
many of them!). At the end of "Pirates", the protagonists have survived a
battle with the Master System, and are casing a planet to get their first
ring...
"Warriors" opens almost immediately after, and starts introducing some
more of the standard Chalker plot devices - such as shape-changing and
parodies of Earth cultures.
But unlike his more recent efforts, most notably the "Soul Rider" series,
he manages to transcend these gimmicks and fit some real plot into the
book. The characters tend to be a bit stiff, even characters than in
earlier books were real individuals. Possibly because there are so MANY
minor characters left over from the second book. Chalker begins focusing
on a few main ones again, but not until we're hopelessly confused. This
passes, though.
The real hero of this book is Vulture, an artificially created being that
can "swallow" another being and exactly duplicate it, memories included.
This character is a walking "deus ex machina"... the group wouldn't have a
prayer of succeeding without it.
The characters realize this, and wonder why things are going so well for
them, and this leads into an intriguing subplot.
The book is well-written, and a good page turner. If Chalker hadn't
explored many of these same plot devices in previous books, it'd have
gotten even higher marks. If you haven't read the first two books, they're
necessary for this one. I give this one a qualified recommendation - if
you haven't liked previous Chalker books, you won't like this series. And
if you have - the trappings that surround the plot devices are what make
this book good.
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FYI - Standard Chalker Plot Devices
===================================
WC = Web of the Chozen DD = And the Devil Will Drag You Under
JS = A Jungle of Stars WW = Well World
FL = Four Lords of the Diamond DG = Dancing Gods
RM = Rings of the Master SR = Soul Rider
DN = Downtiming the Night Side IM = The Identity Matrix
MC = The Messiah Choice GD = G.O.D. Inc.
WS = War of Shadows
o Shape-changing (WC, DD, JS, WW, FL, DG, RM, SR, DN, IM)
o Sex changing (WC, WW, FL, DG, RM, SR, DN, IM, MC)
o Body Swapping (DD, JS, WW, FL, DG, RM, SR, IM)
o Drugs causing behavior modification, usu. sexual (WW, WS, GD, RM, SR)
o Artificial Intelligences (WC, WW, RM, SR, MC)
o Parodies of Earth Cultures (WC, DD, WW, FL, RM, SR, GD)
o Consciousness as part of the body (GD, RM, SR)
o Nymphomania (WC, FL, RM, SR, GD)
o Pregnancy Compulsion (SR, RM, FL, WC)
The following are not present in the "Rings of the Masters" series - yet.
o Intelligent Microorganisms (WW, FL)
o Humans in Alien Suits (WC, JS, WW, FL, IM)
--
Bruce Holloway - Terminal Netnews Addict {seismo,sun}!amdahl!drivax!holloway
ALBATROSS, ATARI*TROS @ Plink ALBATROSS @ Delphi
>>> HI, KARL! <<<
Path: liuida!enea!mcvax!seismo!uunet!husc6!rutgers!ames!amdahl!drivax!holloway
From: holloway@drivax.UUCP (Bruce Holloway)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: When the Changewinds Blow by Chalker
Message-ID: <2300@drivax.UUCP>
Date: 1 Sep 87 22:33:44 GMT
References: <cVB8bMy00UhtcJY0MR@andrew.cmu.edu>
Reply-To: holloway@drivax.UUCP (Bruce Holloway)
Organization: Compact (was DRI)
Lines: 38
In article <cVB8bMy00UhtcJY0MR@andrew.cmu.edu> haste+@andrew.cmu.edu (Dani Zweig) writes:
>If you like typical Chalker, you'll like "When the Changewinds Blow". And
>contrariwise. The world is reminiscent of that of the Dancing Gods (without
>the silly humor) and the characters are more reminiscent of those of the Soul
>Rider books. (Seeing as I've just given away everything but some of the
>plot, I suppose I should have typed "spoilers" in 60-point font.)
I was going to post a review of this book, but decided not to. It's TYPICAL
CHALKER (good description, Dani). There's nothing new in this book, it follows
the standard Chalker Plot Development with the Standard Chalker Fantasy
Elements (as opposed to the Standard Science Fiction Elements).
Overall impression: Some nice details. Hell, a lot of nice details. But it's
the main focus that's out. We saw most of this in the Soul Rider series...
but in this one, Suzl has been split into the two main characters. One of
the pair (and they really are to be considered one person, a point Chalker
hammers home often) is transformed into a sexy geisha girl, the other
flirts briefly with being male, then has a brush with a demon to obvious
ends.
The plot is Standard Quest - characters are set in strange surroundings,
and gradually meet other people who (for a time, at least) travel with them.
Said characters in the Quest Plot almost always know more than the main
characters (Tolkien, Eddings, et.al.), and the Quest is at some point
completed.
But not in this book. No, this is one of a series, and after a minor
climax, the book ends, with the Standard Intra-Series Hook of revealing
a little extra information to the reader. ("Pirates of the Thunder",
"Four Lords of the Diamond", "Soul Rider", et.al.)
All things considered, typical Chalker.
- Bruce
--
*******************************************************************************
* Bruce Holloway - Terminal Netnews Addict{seismo,sun}!amdahl!drivax!holloway *
* ALBATROSS, ATARI*TROS @ Plink ALBATROSS @ Delphi *
*******************************************************************************
HOTEL ANDROMEDA by Jack Chalker
Ace, ISBN 0-441-00010-X, 1994, 248pp, US$4.99.
A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper
Copyright 1994 Evelyn C. Leeper
If this is the kind of book you like, then you will like this book.
Jack Chalker collects (has commissioned, one suspects) twelve stories
of alien goings-on in an intergalactic hotel. There may be a serious story
in here, but the ones I sampled seemed of the variety that plays better as a
Marx Brothers comedy on screen than on the printed page. The most
prestigious author included is Kristine Kathryn Rusch; other well-known
contributors include Esther M. Friesner and Janet Kagan. The goal, so far
as I can tell, is entertainment without concern for content, or even a plot,
but it didn't grab me enough to make me plow through it. It is, of course,
remotely conceivable that picking this up immediately after finishing JANE
EYRE was too much of a shock to my system, but it didn't seem to deliver the
sort of GRAND HOTEL story I was expecting.
Then again, I don't read Terry Pratchett either.
%A Chalker, Jack
%T Hotel Andromeda
%I Ace
%C New York
%D February 1994
%G ISBN 0-441-00010-X
%O US$4.99
%P 248pp, pb
--
Evelyn C. Leeper | +1 908 957 2070 | Evelyn.Leeper@att.com
"The Internet is already an information superhighway, except that ... it is
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