The Broken God

Andrew Hunt has come through with his first review for Slashdot, of David Zindell's The Broken God. Set in the distant future, the book chronicles vast, divinely created supercomputers, a humanity spread throughout the stars, and the notion of humanity achieving divine nature. Excellent science fiction. The Broken God author David Zindell pages 695 publisher Bantam Books rating 9.5/10 reviewer Andrew Hunt ISBN 0553564501 summary Story of divinity in the distance future. The Scenario

This masterful work of science fiction by David Zindell takes place several thousand years after the destruction and abandonment of Earth. Humanity now covers thousands of worlds and shares the galaxy with many races of aliens. Gods roam the universe and several inhabit huge nebulae in the Milky Way, endlessly turning dead matter into the vast supercomputers that make up their brains. Among these are Nicolas Daru Ede, who imprinted his consciousness into a computer and became humanity's first god; and Mallory Ringess, who discovered an entirely different path toward godhood embedded in human genetic memory.

Danlo wi Soli Ringess, the son of Mallory Ringess, is born on the planet Icefall, heart of civilization and home of the Order, the group of intellectuals dedicated to discovering all that is knowable about reality. However, he is born deep in the Icefall's frozen wilderness into a group of primitives who know nothing more of civilization than a rumor of an Unreal City far to the east. When he is thirteen years old, an engineered virus kills all the members of his tribe. It is his fate to journey far across Icefall's frozen waste to the Unreal City, that is properly called Neverness, to join the ranks of the most glorified profession of the Order, the Pilots, and to learn of the infinite possibilities for humans.

What's Bad?

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What's Good?

Zindell displays incredible skill and imagination in constructing this universe. Neverness is populated by many species of aliens and groups of humans, each with its own philosophy and view of reality. More importantly, Neverness is the home of the Order of Mystical Mathematicians and Other Keepers of the Ineffable Flame. There are many professions in the Order, from Pilots to Librarians, and each dedicates itself to understanding reality more deeply in a different way.

While Neverness is civilization's most important city and the setting of the novel, Zindell does not neglect to describe the rest of the galaxy. Many philosophies, religions, and wars helped shape civilization, and the author presents this background information without disrupting the flow of the story.

This universe is apprehended through the experiences of Danlo Ringess. Because of his tragic childhood, heroic journey through the wilderness, and enduring love of life, the reader sympathizes with him. Because of his combination of primitive beliefs and desire to experience the world in different ways, he continually interests the reader. Because of his genius and wildness, the reader sees him as a hero.

What does an author need other than a beautifully crafted universe and a compelling character? Zindell has not forgotten to include a plot in his novel. It involves the birth of a religion, romance, assassins, warring philosophies, flight through the stars, virtual realities, and much more.

Conclusion

Many Slashdot readers will like the computer ideas presented in this book, including his idea of "cybernetic philosophies" which view the universe as a computer program run to discover the answer to some question. There's also stuff about telepathic interfaces and virtual realities.

Much of this book can be thought of as the author discussing the difference between perception of reality and reality itself, and many other themes pervade the novel. The possibility of discussing such topics in the flow of an intriguing plot is why I enjoy science fiction so much, and why I view this book as one of the best recent examples of the genre. It's also why I think you should procede directly to mxbf.com (or your local used book store) and buy a copy of this book immediately. It's been out of print for a while now, so the big retail stores probably won't have it.

If you like this book, you should definitely read Neverness, by the same author, which might be considered the prequel to The Broken God. It's at least as good, though harder to get your hands on.

If such things offend you, you might want to know that there are occasional fairly graphic sex scenes.

Purchase this book at fatbrain.