The R-Master

by Gordon R. Dickson

A repressively benevolent bureaucracy, intent on limiting and harnessing the effects of an IQ-boosting drug known as R-47, is thwarted by an underground led by an R-Master, latest of the drug-produced supergeniuses. Our hero's apolitical to start with but his chemically expanded perspective reveals the flaws in his superficial utopia. Energetically suspenseful, though the intriguing premise of an intelligence-enhancing drug might have been more fully developed.--Kirkus

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

186 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Gordon Rupert Dickson was an American science fiction author. He was born in Canada, then moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota as a teenager. He is probably most famous for his Childe Cycle and the Dragon Knight series. He won three Hugo awards and one Nebula award.

Reviews

[Karl · Rating 2 out of 5]

DAW Collectors #137

Cover Artist: Jack Gaughan.

Name: Dickson, Gordon Rupert, Birthplace: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, (01 November 1923- 31 January 2001)

The "R-Master" takes place on earth in the not too distant future and the characters never travel beyond the atmosphere.

[Emil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Judging by the cover this looks like some sort of weird scifi with people in floating chairs and space ships. The text on the cover says that it's about "playing Russian roulette for the mind and the winner taking the world"... it's not quite like either. Not really at all to be honest. And I think it's fantastic because of that.

The book is about Etter Ho, Etter has a brother, Wallace. Wallace took a drug called R-47, which has the chance of either making you a super-genius (an R-Master) or make you loose most of your brain capacity. Wallace lost the gamble, so Etter decides to take the drug, in case he wins and becomes intelligent enough to figure out a cure. And then the story starts for real.

It's a science-fiction novel in the sense it takes place in a fictional future, but the majority of the book is a political intrigue and I loved it. I can definitely recommend this to just about anyone.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting Dickson novel. A product of its time.

Nothing special, but worth reading if you're a Dickson fan. Interesting shades of his future books on the development of human culture in the face of technology.

[Jeff Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always enjoy Dickson, and this is no exception. Solid story with some good insights.

[John Loyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Etter Ho was content to live his life on the government allotment until his brother took the R-47 treatment that went bad. R-47 in rare cases turns you into a genius, just as rarely turns you into vegetable. Wally saw what had happened and committed suicide. He was immediately frozen. Etter takes the treatment hoping to get a grant to allow him to get Wally revived. He gets the one in millions effect of becoming an R-Master. Now that he's taking an interest in the world he finds that it has stagnated and is going to do something about it, so that when he does revive Wally it'll be to a good world.

The general populace thinks that being an R-Master is the best thing possible. Et finds out that he may have a greater mental capacity, although it feels no different, but it comes at a cost of physical aches. The Earth Council assigns a personal doctor to make them more comfortable, but in reality to keep them in a happy delirium. It's Et's aversion to drugs, even aspirin, that makes him different enough to change the status quo. The downside in the story, i.e. the status quo, seems rather benign. No wars, machinery to produce everything so there's a basic stipend for everyone who can't find a job or just choose to enjoy life. The con is that everyone needs to follow the regulations. This has the result that progress has been stopped. There have been no advances, including any push to the stars.

Nice read, I really enjoyed Et, who we followed throughout the story. The rest was OK. 4.0 stars.

[Robert Jr. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story was an easy read and I'm not angry that I read it, it was okay. The premise of a mind-enhancing drug that increases the problem-solving potential of a human brain with the potential side-effect of rendering a few of the dosed either geniuses or rapidly disintegrating seniles is what hooked me. The story having a plot that was emphatically anti-establishment also pleased me although that was happening out of vengeance.

The story did have a few shocks, well two. The discovery of legally gray death games and the existence of pitting sharks and dolphins against each other in death matches of which the dolphins always get the worst in an undersea tenement were somewhat rattling. They almost didn't really seem to fit the banal story even though the former played into the plot.

I wouldn't really recommend this book to anyone but I did find a passage that I think is very relevant to the current zeitgeist on page 127. It's probably the only part of the tale worth taking with you.

...A system - a bureaucracy - is nonphysical. Weapons won't work against it. Riots won't work against it. Even laws won't work. It's a thought, a way of thinking. Even a bloodbath - if you killed off all the bureaucrats, they'd start to appear again the next generation as some people slid back into the old pattern. The only thing that smashes one pattern is a new pattern.

[Moira · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Russian roulette for the mind - with the winner taking the world." Wouldn't you know it, the closer mankind comes to a utopian society, the bigger and scarier Big Brother gets. R47 is a mistake drug that for most does absolutely nothing, but for a very few make a man a mastermind, or take away his mind entirely. Etter Ho takes the drug in an attempt to save his brother's life (which was ruined by taking R47 in the first place). Instead of saving Wally, Et discovers the flawed basis of this modern society and works to bring down the machine. All this in the 21st century...I love seeing how writers of the past imagined the world would be today.

[Cuauhtemoc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gordon R. Dickson does deliver on this novel. The story goes around a future utopian society in which a drug is developed to allow individuals to be more perceptive to solutions / creative to solve problems, not necessarily more intelligent. However, some people could have adverse reactions to the drug and end in vegetative state, or have no reaction at all. "The R-Master" reminded me of billionaire entrepreneurs that we idolize in present time, like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, or Steve Jobs... they are/were not really geniuses. Maybe, they have/had similar capacities to an "R-Master"; or perhaps, just overconfidence and more acceptance to risk. Do you really need to be super intelligent to turn a bankrupt company around? What about to solve global famine? Maybe all you need is unlimited resources, a big ego, and the super power of denying people to say no to your requests. Read the book and then form your own opinion. Current problems look very similar to those in the utopian future presented by Gordon R. Dickson. If anything, he miscalculated global population by a few 4 Billions people (4 thousand million, for those not in the USA). Judge by yourselves and enjoy this book! :)

[Kevin Phyland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Etter Ho has been literally cruising through life on his Guaranteed Basic Income on his yacht when he hears that his older brother Wally has opted to take a dangerous mind enhancement drug RIV, which will have one of three effects - nothing, severe mental decline, or (one in a hundred million) super enhancement to the level of an R-Master. Wally loses the dice roll and is put into cryogenic storage. Etter is angered to the point of taking the drug himself in order to pay for his brother’s re-animation, and scores as the newest R-Master. Now able to see connections which mere humans cannot, he finds a subtle conspiracy to keep the R-Masters engaged in work which ultimately leads nowhere in order to maintain the status quo and the power of the administration. This leads Ett to a plan involving an apparently feeble group of dissidents known as the Men Of Good Will (MOGOW) and a lone wolf and possible crazy R-Master. Gordon R. Dickson has penned an interesting tale of administration gone wild and a secret drug that may free the minds of the entire Earth.

[Kayla DeLarme · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will keep you guessing what is happening or going to happen. In one scene (to paraphrase) an older R master Malone tells the main character Et that you dont feel any smarter as an R master but will realize it when someone comes to him with a problem and he finds the answer thinking it completely obvious.
This book constantly had me guessing what could Et be planning, who is involved, and what the heck is going on in a way that kept me as a reader entertained and engaged. If you looking for a good dystopian novel to get lost in give The R Master a read.

[David Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book after the first 50 pages or so, but the story foundered and somehow got dull for another 50+ pages. It was my first Dickson and, despite that stumble, I look forward to more of his books.

[Scott Shjefte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writing style seems a bit stoggy. Straight forward story about a stagnant utopia in our future. Such a future violates the basic law of the UNIVERSE "The One constant in the UNIVERSE is Change".

[Marsha Valance · Rating 3 out of 5]

A man whose intelligence was enhanced by a new drug is driven to lead a political revolt after he comprehends the corruption underpinning his civilization. A Science Fiction Book Club selection.

[Mary Colson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed.

[Jacob Watters · Rating 5 out of 5]

A marvelous science fiction thriller.

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 2 out of 5]

The best thing about this book is the totally awkward and inexplicable photograph of the author on the back cover. Contemplating a dildo. Otherwise it's less than mediocre.

[Sunshine✰✰✰ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I surprise myself, I really enjoyed this book. It's about a man who wants to be his own person and not be controlled by the society norm. He lived his life under the radar, but when he can't get through the red tape to revive his brother he decides he going to go work up the governmental ladder till he's to prominent to ignore. He gets what he wants but when the revival leaves his brother a shell, he discovers the flaws in the governmental system and wants to bring it all down.

I'm sure there is a lot of economics and phycology embeded in this book but I enjoyed it on face value :)

[Scott Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The whole world is given whole body medicines to make them better. But sometimes theres a side effect. You may become a bumbling idiot or super intellect. Etter, becomes super smart and tries to fix society’s problems. This is one of my favorites from Gordon D.

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

A moderately intriguing science fiction novel by Gordon Rupert Dickson about mind-altering drugs first published in November of 1973.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great science fiction book. I guess it appeals to my anti estabishment mentality.

[SciFiOne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grade A.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anti-bureaucracy revolution. Great plot.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good anti-establishment novel. The chemistry is a little hokey, but the social and political aspects of the book are well thought out.

[Adrian Hunter]

not amazing.