Gather, Darkness!, Fritz Leiber. Open Road Integrated Media (ISBN: 9781497616622) 2014 (first published in 1943).
Summary: Techno-priests of the Great God control a post-nuclear world, opposed by the Witchcraft, with Brother Jarles torn between.
The most fascinating thing about this book is that Fritz Leiber imagines a post-nuclear world in 1943, two years before the dawn of the nuclear age. It’s not a pretty picture. You have one world government ruled by a structure of techno-priests known as the Hierarchy, ostensibly servants of the Great God. The center of their power is Megatheopolis with a huge temple and a foreboding image of the Great God. They dominate by sensational feats of power, all driven by technological wizardry, overlords of a feudal society where their word determines a person’s work and fate. The chilling thing is none believe in a Great God, only their great technology that woos by spectacle.
A young man, Amon Jarles, rising from peasant origins becomes a Brother. As he rises, he sees behind the power behind the spectacle and how it is used to subjugate the people while the Hierarchy flourishes, and the hypocrisy of the “Great God” faith. One day, he reaches a breaking point, and during a public assembly, speaks out.
Immediately, he is persona non grata. All he wants is to live an honest life without these false beliefs. But that cannot be permitted. In his flight, he discovers a rebel group of dissenters known as the Witchcraft. They shelter him, and nearly succeed in converting him before he is arrested and brainwashed by the Hierarchy. He becomes a focus of efforts by both groups in an escalating conflict that pits the Hierarchy and the Witchcraft in a contest for global domination. While nominally the Witchcraft worship Sathanas, the reality is that they are simply a rival techno-religion using alternative technologies. Asmodeus, the mysterious leader, may be the only one of any who really believes.
The chilling premise behind the book is a religious caste without belief who manipulates the fear of the Great God through techno-miracles, advanced surveillance, and brute force. It is a chilling exploration of how cynics use religion to manipulate people for the sake of power and profit. Leiber’s prescience of our own techno-politico-religion is striking. Common to both, it seems, is that, in the embrace of technology and political influence, both deny belief in the existence and power of God. However, Jarles represents those who would transcend the destructive binaries. Is there a viable alternative to the Witchcraft and the Hierarchy? And will Amon Jarles find it? Will we?
Annihilation (Southern Reach Trilogy, 1), Jeff Vandermeer. Farrar. Straus and Giroux Originals (ISBN: 9780374104092) 2014.
Summary: A team of four women investigate a mysterious uninhabited coastal area from which some previous expeditions ended badly.
The team of four women had to hike into Area X to their base camp, crossing a mysterious border. They are led by a psychologist. The other three are a biologist, an anthropologist, and a surveyor. They remain anonymous to one another. They’ve been told there had been eleven previous expeditions, some of which ended badly. The second ended in a mass suicide, the third in members killing each other. The previous expedition concluded when members returned drained of personality and memory, all dying from cancer.
Each of the members keeps her own journal. The story is told from the journal of the biologist. Although directed to a lighthouse, they are drawn to a structure not documented located near the base camp. Three call it a tunnel because of its underground character. But the biologist insists in calling it a Tower. As they descend into the structure, they note strange writing consisting of a script written in fungus. The first words read: “Where lies the strangling fruit that came from the hand of the sinner I shall bring forth the seeds of the dead….” When the biologist gets close to study the organism, it sprays her with spores.
The visit marks a point at which their expedition begins to unravel. The biologist begins to notice changes. Notably, she is no longer susceptible to post-hypnotic suggestions from the psychologist, although she plays along. The anthropologist disappears. The surveyor and the biologist find her dead while the psychologist stands guard aboveground. They believe the entity, dubbed “The Crawler,” which is writing on the walls mauled her. Then the psychologist, who they come to discover had been with the anthropologist, is missing
The biologist, who continues to change, becoming luminous, goes to search for the psychologist at the lighthouse. Most significantly, she finds among a pile of journals, that of her husband. Later she finds the dying psychologist. Surviving subsequent attacks from a swamp beast and the surveyor, who she kills, she must figure out what to do next.
What is apparent is that much of the truth about Area X has been concealed, including what really happened to her husband. We learn Area X is expanding. The book, the first of a trilogy, ends without concluding. It left me with a lot of questions. What do the authorities know about Area X? What is the significance of the Tower, its scrawled message, and the Crawler? Why is the lighthouse so important? Why the pile of journals? How many expeditions have there actually been? Why did so many go bad? And what will the biologist do and what will she find?
I guess we must read on in the trilogy. While I am curious to understand what is going on, I’m not sure I like either this world or those who people it. The mystery intrigues me, but I’m not sure I care that much. Actually, I’ll take that back. I do care about the biologist. I want to know if she survives and if she finds the answers she seeks about her husband. As for the rest, I could take it or leave it.
The Murderbot Diaries Vol. 1 (Diaries Number 1 and 2), Martha Wells. Tordotcom (ISBN: 9781250389824) 2025 (contains works published in 2017 and 2018)
Summary: The first two novellas in the Murderbot series, All Systems Red and Artificial Condition.
Thanks to my son, I’ve discovered the world of Murderbot. For those not acquainted with this series, it is set in some distant future where space travel between star systems is routine. They’ve figured out how to travel through wormholes reliably. In addition to humans and augmented humans, various “bots” are used including sentient bots. Among these are CombatUnits, ComfortUnits, and SecUnits, providing military, sex, and security. Murderbot is a SecUnit with a difference. After a “malfunction” where he allegedly murdered 57 people it is refurbished by Corporation Rim. However, Murderbot figured out how to hack its Governor Module, by which it is controlled by its owners. It is autonomous, but has concealed this.
This edition combines the first two “Diaries,” “All Systems Red” and “Artificial Condition,” released in conjunction with the Apple TV+ streaming adaptation. I will summarize each of the Diaries separately with some concluding comments.
All Systems Red
Murderbot is under contract for a survey by a group of Preservation scientists, an independent planetary settlement effort, operating outside Corporate Rim, the corporate interest controlling much space travel and settlement. The team is surveying a planet for settlement. Murderbot provides security for a satellite team, working in conjunction with the larger DeltFall station. Sounds like a routine gig until a creature under a crater attacks a scientist, who Murderbot rescues, revealing some of its impressive armaments, as well as its ability to sustain severe damage and survive.
This is only the start. A series of glitches, malfunctions, and data gaps raise questions about possible sabotage. But who is doing it? Then they discover they cannot raise DeltFall on their coms. Most of the team goes to investigate. However, DeltFall has been wiped out, and two of the surviving SecUnits turn on them, along with two others of unknown origin, nearly succeed in inserting a Combat module on Murderbot before the team destroys them. Murderbot is seriously damaged, but while being regenerated, the scientists discover its hacked governor and past history. Yet they decide to trust it, given how well it has protected them.
They conclude they are not alone and that an enemy has sabotaged their systems. They prepare for an attack. Before fleeing the station, they learn that GrayCris, a rival corporation that wants the planet, is offering to negotiate their survival. But they assess this a trap. I’ll leave you to discover how they escape if you’ve not read the series (you already know Murderbot lives on!).
Artificial Condition
Grateful for its protection, Dr. Mensah, the lead Preservation scientist buys Murderbot’s contract and grants it freedom, consistent with Preservation values. But Murderbot promptly leaves and takes a series of transports to get back to the planet where he allegedly killed all those people.
Murderbot meets its match on the last, robot piloted transport. ART figures out who Murderbot is, putting Murderbot on defense until ART proves it is an ally. ART even helps Murderbot modify itself, disguising it as an augmented human. ART helps find a way to return to the Ganaka mines, where the murders occurred. Three scientists formerly employed with Tlacey Excavations, want to get their research back from Tlacey.
From the get-go, it’s clear Tlacey will have none of it. Their transport is sabotagd, and only ART’s intervention saves them. They manage to meet Tlacey only to escape another assassination attempt through Murderbot’s efforts. On a break, he returns to the Ganaka mines and learns the truth. Murderbot and the other SecUnits did kill, but as the result of a sabotage by a rival company. Murderbot didn’t just turn into a killer.
But will Murderbot succeed in getting his clients’ research and get them out alive? and what will Murderbot do with what it learned at Ganaka?
Concluding Comments
What most fascinates me in these novels is the exploration of sentient robots. Equally, the subordination of “bots” to a corporation, making them slaves repeats this old human sin of humans subjugating others. The fact that Murderbot hacks its governor to attain autonomy emphasizes its sentience, and essential drive to exercise its will in freedom. Likewise, the fact that these are Murderbot’s diaries, its interior “thoughts,” underscores this very human quality of being able to talk to oneself, a self-consciousness. While not exactly having feelings, it has a sense of loyalty to agreements, that becomes something more when others treat it with trust and dignity. There is also this drive for knowing the truth about oneself.
However, what does one do in one’s free or down time? For Murderbot, it is streaming massive amounts of videos. I’d be visiting the libraries of the world, reading as much of great works as possible with my augmented capacities. Some might argue these are equivalent. But I would propose that reading activates imagination, in which we create the video, as it were, ourselves. I wonder if Murderbot is capable of that?
Star Trek and Faith, Volume 1, Mark S. Hansard, foreword by Michael W. Austin. Wipf & Stock (ISBN: 9798385235193) 2025.
Summary: How various iterations of Star Trek explored religious and philosophical ideas vis-à-vis a Christian worldview.
I am something of a Star Trek Fan. Not a diehard like another member of my family. I was in my early teens when The Original Series was first on the air. It was the most unusual thing on television, and it dared to explore interesting ideas like the encounters of civilizations and interracial relationships, including the famous kiss. The series reflected the humanism of Gene Roddenberry, yet religion was never off the table. Sometimes it was viewed as benighted beliefs humans would grow out of. And sometimes…
We spent Saturdays in our early years as a family watching the Next Generation. It was pizza night and we gathered around our little black and white TV to watch the latest episodes. Once again, the ideas behind the episodes were often thought provoking. Ideas ranging from the sentience of AI to mandated euthanasia. After this series and the early movies, we grew more sporadic in our following of subsequent series, which, according to that family member mentioned earlier, continues to this day. It’s a franchise that has been going for six decades.
Mark S. Hansard is a collegiate minister with an MA in Philosophy and a huge Trek fan. I can’t help but believe that some of the discussions in this book arose from viewings with some of the students and faculty with whom he works. He draws on episodes in The Original Series, The Next Generation, Discovery, and several of the films to explore the humanistic worldview of the series and its references to religion and Christian themes. And as a Christian, he interacts with those themes. Most helpfully, he identifies some of the logical fallacies and caricatures of faith perpetuated by the series. At the same time he explores with candor the challenges the series poses for Christians.
He begins with introducing us to Gene Roddenberry and the high tech, humanist perspective of Roddenberry. Yet he notes how Roddenberry, perhaps to please his audiences, put Christian themes into Trek. After the first section, Hansard uses a different episode in each chapter to explore a number of tough questions. For example, using “The Brightest Star” episode from Discovery, he explores questions like “Is Christianity manipulative?”. “Is God a cosmic policeman?”, and “is it wrong to doubt your faith?” Then subsequent chapters explore questions like Christianity and superstition, the character of God, free will, and pacifism.
I especially enjoyed some of the later chapters, particularly the two in Section IV. Specifically, Hansard explores messianic themes in “The Empath,” who must decide whether she will sacrifice herself to heal others. Likewise, we consider the death and resurrection of Spock in the second and third movies and the plausibility of belief in Jesus’ resurrection.
Each chapter after the introductory ones follows a format. Firstly, Hansard offers a brief plot summary, followed by a worldview analysis of the episode. He will then explore philosophical issues. For example, considering the Discovery episode, “The New Eden” he discusses the rationality of omnism, the interaction of faith and reason, then considers another part of the episode, the violation of the Prime Directive. Then some chapters include more Christian material ranging from Augustine’s theory of just war (“Bread and Circuses”). to a discussion of ideas of heaven in the Star Trek Generations movie and the biblical idea of heaven.
This is a great book for the Christian who loves the Star Trek universe and wants to think Christianly about the questions various series and movies raise. I can see it as highly useful for Christians with friends who don’t share their beliefs but love Star Trek. Hansard models an approach that can be taken with other episodes. However I wondered how someone who does not share Hansard’s beliefs would receive the book. While Hansard is explicit about what he is trying to do, some might be surprised by how much Christian discussion Hansard introduces. I’d suggest a read of the table of contents to decide if this is the book one wants to read.
The great strength of this book is Hansard’s philosophical background. He mirrors that apostle of reason and logic, Mr. Spock, using these at times to challenge fallacies Roddenberry’s outlook, including such things as how easily his characters violate the Prime Directive. He helps us think critically about Star Trek. Equally, he sets forth a reasonable faith able to meet the advances in science and technology. I look forward to Volume 2!
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
Orbital, Samantha Harvey. Grove Press (ISBN: 9780802163622) 2024.
Summary: A day aboard the International Space Station as six people recount their work, weightlessness, and the wonder of earth below.
Between the end of October and now, Orbital won the Booker and Hawthornden Prizes and was shortlisted for several others. In addition, it was designated a “Best Book of the Year” by Oprah Daily, Financial Times, and The Guardian. As I read the book, I wondered whether it was deserving of so much recognition.
For those not familiar with the book, it is a fictional account of a day aboard the International Space Station through the eyes of six people. During this time they orbit earth sixteen times. The chapters trace ascending and descending orbits. There is no plot. Rather, we glimpse what they are thinking and feeling, what life in zero gravity is like, their work and interactions through the day, and what they see of the planet that is home for the rest of us.
I noted what so many reviewers have commented upon–the sheer beauty of what it is like to see our home from 250 miles up, circling it at over 17,000 miles per hour. They witness multiple sunrises, and transitions to night, the city lights of their homes, and the variety of colors of earth’s varied land- and seascape. They see landmasses without borders. From space, they cannot see another human besides those on the crew. But they witness the effects of human activity–fires in the Amazon, algal blooms fed by fertilizers, and much more.
They follow a forming typhoon developing into a category five superstorm. One of the crew had stayed with a family on the Philippine coast toward which it is heading. There is concern for their safety, amplified by the vision of the sheer immensity of the typhoon.
One example of her descriptions is her account of the aurora borealis:
“The airglow is dusty greenish yellow. Beneath it in the gap between atmosphere and earth is a fuzz of neon which starts to stir. It ripples, spills, it’s smoke that pours across the face of the planet; the ice is green, the underside of the spacecraft an alien pall. The light gains edges and limbs, folds and opens. Strains against the inside of the atmosphere, writhes and flexes. Sends up plumes. Fluoresces and brightens. Detonates then in towers of light. Erupts clean through the atmosphere and puts up towers two hundred miles high. At the top of the towers is a swathe of magenta that obscures the stars…”
By contrast, the descriptions of daily life, apart from a space walk, are startlingly ordinary. Working out to maintain muscle tone, preparing food, cleaning, emptying trash, running experiments, communicating with those back on earth. Essentially, it is an experience of transcendence amid the ordinary. Another paradox is the utter dependence these six have on each other, and yet the bounded privacy they observe. In particular, the narration takes us into the private thoughts and dreams of the crew.
They live with the precarity of their own situation. A hairline crack is slowly growing in the Russian module. A thin metal skin protects them from annihilation. But they also recognize another form of precarity–that of life on earth with its thin envelope of atmosphere as well as the unfolding changes being wrought by human activity, visible even from their vantage point.
So is this plotless work of fiction worth all the attention? I’ll be honest and say I’ve read better fiction and this won’t be my “best of the year.” The novel is uneven–some parts soaring with rapturous description, and some just ho-hum–just a list of all the places they are seeing. Actually, the account of life on board the station is interesting–all the ways they adapt to weightlessness, including learning to sleep. I also found the characters of interest–each had interesting back stories and interior lives and reactions to their experiences. All were transformed by seeing the earth from space.
You may find this amazing. I found it interesting but not amazing. I hope the success won’t hurt Harvey. There are flashes of brilliance here, and an imaginative conception in the book as a whole. But I think and hope her best books may be yet to be written.
Summary: Ijon Tichy’s voyages across the galaxy, satirical short pieces of science fiction by Polish writer Stanislaw Lem.
This is science fiction satire that makes that strains every idea of what is plausible in space travel. Ijon Tichy hops into his rocket and takes off on voyages across the galaxy like we might hop into a car for a spontaneous road trip. And predictably, he sometimes runs out of fuel, bringing further mishaps. The Star Diaries is a collection of short pieces Polish science fiction writer began writing in the 1950’s and added to for this 1971 publication. These are accounts of twelve of at least twenty-eight voyages by our intrepid space traveler.
In each voyage, Tichy gets in and out of difficulties, often in the most improbable ways. For example, in the first story, his rocket develops rudder problems that he needs a spare hand to fix. No problem! Just head into a space vortex and create a double of oneself. Of course, there are unforeseen problems and soon he has a ship full of doubles. Eventually he gets the rudder fixed and the doubles sent back to their own proper time. But not without a certain amount of hilarity.
In other voyages he represents earth’s petition to join a galactic United Nations, a study in bureaucratic tomfoolery. On another planet, he disguises himself as a robot to end a robot tyranny. Squamp-hunting is the focus of another voyage. Lem explores time travel and its problems by a 2166 version of himself visiting the future to persuade him to take his own place and sort out the space-time continuum. Tichy and his time alter ego end up stuck in a time loop. His trip to Dichotica represents a version of an encounter with transhumanists, with much philosophical folderol. His next voyage explores the pitfalls of extra-terrestrial proselytizing. And on a space constrained planet, people are often reduced to their atoms, and then recomposed from stored patterns (I wonder if this is where Star Trek got the idea for transporters!).
What’s really going on here? Is Lem just pulling our leg and having fun? Or is he playing a more clever game of getting his writing past Communist Party censors in Cold War Poland? Many think the latter, which I’m inclined to think credible. He portrays robotic tyrannies and states devoted to evolving their own super-species, and pokes fun at scientific and bureaucratic tensions. Meanwhile, part of the fun is the wordplay in which he creates whole paragraphs of made up words of semi-serious import. He also seems to delight in keeping the reader off balance, alternating between ridiculous satire and philosophical explorations, often in the same story! I also like to think that Lem saw himself in the venturous, resourceful, and intrepid Ijon Tichy.
Reading him, it is fun to imagine a meeting between him and Douglas Adams. Perhaps in another timeline….
