β Scribed by Gordon R. Dickson
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
Since its beginning in 1959 as a serialization in Astounding Science Fiction, Dickson's award-winning Childe Cycle has reflected the changes in contemporary "space opera." While the early works revealed the author's skill in seamlessly melding plot complications and his deft, journalistic prose, this latest entry deals with more levels of society than did the earlier works as it follows the attempt of Bleys Ahrens and his troupe (including his brother Dahno and his right-hand woman, Antonia Lu) to encourage a grand unification of all worlds. The series has always seemed based on the idea that those who are destined to lead do so while the rest of us are the better for leaving that task to them. Here the "Great Teacher," as Ahrens is often called, and his crew visit various planets, form interplanetary alliances and continue the search for Hal Mayne, the primary hero of the Cycle. Machinations and intrigues abound, including kidnapping, drugging and threats, but Dickson's presentation is so balanced that even readers unfamiliar with Mayne's role in the series may sympathize more with him than with Ahrens-or with Henry MacLean, who joins the troupe while maintaining that the Great Teacher is guided by Satan, a subplot that may develop in future volumes. And so the Cycle rotates on, with this particular spin, often overwrought but never less than interesting.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Dickson returns to his monumental Childe Cycle, begun in 1957, with a sequel to Young Bleys (1991). Bleys Ahrens continues to pursue his destiny of providing an alternative to Hal Mayne's approach to uniting the diverse strains of humanity--Exotics (intellectuals), Friendlies (the faithful), and Dorsai (warriors). Assisted by his half-brother Dahno, Bleys must pit his insights and skills against the government of New Earth (which can hire 50,000 mercenaries without counting the change) as well as more personal problems, such as his relationship with his martial arts instructor, a lovely amazon. This is not the ideal place to begin exploring Dickson's vast saga of human evolution, but Dickson is one of the quiet giants of sf, and working in his chosen territory, he has again produced a superbly crafted, rewarding book. Roland Green
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