What do you think?
Rate this book
From the Legend of Biel
The story of a Probe team from earth on a voyage through spacetime in search of intelligent life.
They find a hauntingly beautiful planet, MC6, capable of supporting human life. But the planet does not surrender its secrets. Fighting time, the team desperately explores clusters of strange geometric structures scattered around MC6, slowly discovering traces of an advanced civilization.
Then the head of the Probe teams finds a key, turns it and is sucked screaming into a black hole where he encounters an intelligence radically different from any other encountered before or since.
They find a hauntingly beautiful planet, MC6, capable of supporting human life. But the planet does not surrender its secrets. Fighting time, the team desperately explores clusters of strange geometric structures scattered around MC6, slowly discovering traces of an advanced civilization.
Then the head of the Probe teams finds a key, turns it and is sucked screaming into a black hole where he encounters an intelligence radically different from any other encountered before or since.
333 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1975
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 2, 2016
I found the book very readable. It included stories that held my interest and led me to historical, philosophical and political speculation that was stimulating and that is perfectly relevant to our human situation today. It is a book that supports a drifting-and-dreaming mode of reading.
Like any science fiction story written in the 1970s, it gets some of the tone and texture of the future wrong. The assumption of an authoritarian, bureaucratic, scientific (but somehow humane) power structure that all the main characters must continuously wrestle with feels very true-to-life, in spite of the occasional wrong guesses (for example, the cold-war-reliance on nuclear weapons or the assumption that computers would communicate in all-caps teletype).
The plot that begins the book is set in an interstellar spaceship that has come from an Earth civilization very much like our own, including one character with fond pastoral memories of Connecticut. It turns out that the most important plots of the book have nothing to do with Earth, but everything to do with what life as a planet-based human being in an advanced galaxy-spanning civilization might be like. One plot has to do with the nature and rights of indigenous people in the face of technological society. Another asks questions about the nature of time, space, and the human brain in the context of the "hero's journey" of a young woman who has been raised in an experimental way under the care of a non-directive mentor on a planet with highly predictable seasons.
The writing in this book isn't like anything else I've seen before. The few reviews I have seen say it's overdone and that the plot is not well thought out. I disagree. The style reminds me in a strange way of Herman Melville. It is, however, quite hard to see in advance how the four or more stories/realities that converge at the end of the book relate to each other, giving the plot a strong element of suspense. There is a lot of introspection. The language is inventive, tailored to the characters in whose mouths it is placed, and it is often poetic, creative and extremely surprising. Both the language and the plots are subtly feminist at times. The ending is open-ended, and I think this is by design.
I understand that the author has written one other book, decades after this one, and that it is hard to find. I really need to find that book and see how her talent and spirit evolved.
Like any science fiction story written in the 1970s, it gets some of the tone and texture of the future wrong. The assumption of an authoritarian, bureaucratic, scientific (but somehow humane) power structure that all the main characters must continuously wrestle with feels very true-to-life, in spite of the occasional wrong guesses (for example, the cold-war-reliance on nuclear weapons or the assumption that computers would communicate in all-caps teletype).
The plot that begins the book is set in an interstellar spaceship that has come from an Earth civilization very much like our own, including one character with fond pastoral memories of Connecticut. It turns out that the most important plots of the book have nothing to do with Earth, but everything to do with what life as a planet-based human being in an advanced galaxy-spanning civilization might be like. One plot has to do with the nature and rights of indigenous people in the face of technological society. Another asks questions about the nature of time, space, and the human brain in the context of the "hero's journey" of a young woman who has been raised in an experimental way under the care of a non-directive mentor on a planet with highly predictable seasons.
The writing in this book isn't like anything else I've seen before. The few reviews I have seen say it's overdone and that the plot is not well thought out. I disagree. The style reminds me in a strange way of Herman Melville. It is, however, quite hard to see in advance how the four or more stories/realities that converge at the end of the book relate to each other, giving the plot a strong element of suspense. There is a lot of introspection. The language is inventive, tailored to the characters in whose mouths it is placed, and it is often poetic, creative and extremely surprising. Both the language and the plots are subtly feminist at times. The ending is open-ended, and I think this is by design.
I understand that the author has written one other book, decades after this one, and that it is hard to find. I really need to find that book and see how her talent and spirit evolved.
February 28, 2022
I am dying of pancreatic cancer and this is one of the few books I am re-reading before I die. I read it once in the 1970's and it is even more profound reading it again now. It should be better known to fans of feminist science fiction and anyone who likes strong female characters in science fiction or the topic of attachment and child development. In the realm of the book, the most powerful force is computer "Information" so it also has interesting relevance to today's technologies. The book shows the struggle between "objective" information and natural human development.
June 22, 2020
Found in a science fiction bargain bin, I hoped to find a bit of insight into lesser known science fiction writings of the later half of the 20th century.
The foundations of an above-average science fiction book are present; a very loosely tied plot with moderately interesting relationships between characters and factions with themes that can be compared to reality. But even with that, the pacing and diction anchor the book down.
Reading this book gave me an appreciation for science fiction writings done well and helped me to better understand just how important vivid imagery and comprehensive literary devices are in the genre.
The foundations of an above-average science fiction book are present; a very loosely tied plot with moderately interesting relationships between characters and factions with themes that can be compared to reality. But even with that, the pacing and diction anchor the book down.
Reading this book gave me an appreciation for science fiction writings done well and helped me to better understand just how important vivid imagery and comprehensive literary devices are in the genre.
April 29, 2021
[I read old fantasy and sci-fi novels written by women authors in search of forgotten gems. See more at forfemfan.com]
A personal story is necessary to set up this review. Please excuse the intrusion.
Once upon a time, I was at a party for an organization I'm affiliated with that took place at a huge warehouse filled with functional pinball machines. My husband and a friend were with me, and we were chatting near the entrance, my friend lackadaisically playing pinball, when a woman walked in. At the sight of this newcomer, I grabbed my friend by the sleeve.
"C'mon!" I hissed, desperate urgency in my voice. "We gotta get outta here."
My husband had already skirted up the row of machines, and we reached him and disappeared into a darkened corner of the building and watched.
"Who was that?" My friend asked, her voice full of concern. "What's wrong?"
"She's just so boring, Lauren. So boring. She’s a monologue about what she ate for lunch and how a company shipped her the wrong product and about a specific stretch of road in West Virginia that she drove once when she had to pee. I've only spent time with her at one party, but I can't. I just can't. She’s so boring."
My tolerance for relayed banalities is low.
Initially, that wasn't a problem in From the Legend of Biel. A ship on a long, interstellar travel is just about to reach its destination. Its inhabitants, a handful of exemplary scientists and astronauts with nothing to lose, have just come out of deep freeze. There are four stops on their journey before they go back into stasis and head home, but Howard Scott, captain of the vessel, only cares about the first: MC6. The land is idyllic, but it's not earth's potential to colonize the planet that intrigues him; it's the geometrically shaped structures dotting the island. Stark white and apparently faultless in construction, no one knows what they are or why they're there. There are no signs of animal life, sentient or otherwise, on the planet.
He's a man obsessed, but his mission only gives him a few days to uncover what he may. Then it's goodbye forever.
I was into this. It's a strong, simple theme with a clear puzzle, but the writing was ... I don't think I've ever used this term before, but "cerebral." Take this sentence describing Scott coming out of his state of deep stasis:
Sure, it doesn't need to be that complicated to be effective, but I loved how well it seemed to convey coming up from a deep, long, unnatural sleep; the gradual addition of consciousness.
This writing elevated a simple plot and paired well with Scott's obsession, ticking all the boxes I need in a novel.
Scott pursues his obsession doggedly, trying to wring out as many secrets as possible in his limited time on MC6. And he does learn things, but not fast enough. Will he be forced to choose between his profession/crew and his fascination with this planet?
And then the story shifts. We see a different time, when these structures were being used. The culture is markedly different, and there's some sort of experiment going on, and ... you get the idea. This was engaging at first.
Then things took a step back.
We watch Mikkan, the protagonist of this section, wait. We watch her attend mandatory and unexciting social events. We watch her wait some more. Then, a shift! Something is happening! But no, back to watching her wait. And wait. This false start happens several times. And then when something legitimately changes, she's still waiting, just in a different way. I don't know how I powered through this, but I did. I guess I wanted to see how this flashback intersects with Scott's plot.
And then, on page 174 of 333, I couldn't go on. I felt like I was at that party, looking around wildly for someplace to hide from the relentless boredom. Not because nothing was happening—I'd gotten very used to that—but because people started talking. A lot. But they have nothing to say.
Example:
It goes on like this for pages.
I just don't friggin’ care. Both characters talk as if they're trying to impress each other with their esoteric knowledge and ability to faff about and dissect everything. Their voices are almost identical, even though their age/upbringing/backgrounds are quite different. As they have no set goal, at least as far as I can tell, all of this chatter appears to be for its own sake. There's no connecting it to a plot or comparing it to the actions of others. Maybe later it'll come into focus, but for now we know only the two of them.
And they're just so boring, Lauren.
I tried to keep going, I did. But every time I sat down to pick up From The Legend of Biel, it felt like a little air was let out of me. I had to try to convince myself that it was bound to pick up soon to open the cover. And I wasn't able to read more than a paragraph at a time without getting distracted or just sitting there, holding the book and not reading, because the boredom was beginning to cause pain.
There is one question, and not even an explicit question, that I'm very curious about the answer to. I even skimmed the last dozen pages or so to see if I could connect anything. I couldn't. And with that, I'm pretty certain that I made the right decision here.
From The Legend of Biel is obviously some people's cup of tea. I'm assuming those sorts of people love philosophical musings of an esoteric nature and watching/pontificating on the ordinary, though. If that's not you, I'd pass hard.
A personal story is necessary to set up this review. Please excuse the intrusion.
Once upon a time, I was at a party for an organization I'm affiliated with that took place at a huge warehouse filled with functional pinball machines. My husband and a friend were with me, and we were chatting near the entrance, my friend lackadaisically playing pinball, when a woman walked in. At the sight of this newcomer, I grabbed my friend by the sleeve.
"C'mon!" I hissed, desperate urgency in my voice. "We gotta get outta here."
My husband had already skirted up the row of machines, and we reached him and disappeared into a darkened corner of the building and watched.
"Who was that?" My friend asked, her voice full of concern. "What's wrong?"
"She's just so boring, Lauren. So boring. She’s a monologue about what she ate for lunch and how a company shipped her the wrong product and about a specific stretch of road in West Virginia that she drove once when she had to pee. I've only spent time with her at one party, but I can't. I just can't. She’s so boring."
My tolerance for relayed banalities is low.
Initially, that wasn't a problem in From the Legend of Biel. A ship on a long, interstellar travel is just about to reach its destination. Its inhabitants, a handful of exemplary scientists and astronauts with nothing to lose, have just come out of deep freeze. There are four stops on their journey before they go back into stasis and head home, but Howard Scott, captain of the vessel, only cares about the first: MC6. The land is idyllic, but it's not earth's potential to colonize the planet that intrigues him; it's the geometrically shaped structures dotting the island. Stark white and apparently faultless in construction, no one knows what they are or why they're there. There are no signs of animal life, sentient or otherwise, on the planet.
He's a man obsessed, but his mission only gives him a few days to uncover what he may. Then it's goodbye forever.
I was into this. It's a strong, simple theme with a clear puzzle, but the writing was ... I don't think I've ever used this term before, but "cerebral." Take this sentence describing Scott coming out of his state of deep stasis:
"From deep in the hidden center the dreamer dreams of the dreamer dreaming the dream. Then the dreamer dreams of dreaming. Then he dreams. Then he opens his eyes, and is awake."
Sure, it doesn't need to be that complicated to be effective, but I loved how well it seemed to convey coming up from a deep, long, unnatural sleep; the gradual addition of consciousness.
This writing elevated a simple plot and paired well with Scott's obsession, ticking all the boxes I need in a novel.
Scott pursues his obsession doggedly, trying to wring out as many secrets as possible in his limited time on MC6. And he does learn things, but not fast enough. Will he be forced to choose between his profession/crew and his fascination with this planet?
And then the story shifts. We see a different time, when these structures were being used. The culture is markedly different, and there's some sort of experiment going on, and ... you get the idea. This was engaging at first.
Then things took a step back.
We watch Mikkan, the protagonist of this section, wait. We watch her attend mandatory and unexciting social events. We watch her wait some more. Then, a shift! Something is happening! But no, back to watching her wait. And wait. This false start happens several times. And then when something legitimately changes, she's still waiting, just in a different way. I don't know how I powered through this, but I did. I guess I wanted to see how this flashback intersects with Scott's plot.
And then, on page 174 of 333, I couldn't go on. I felt like I was at that party, looking around wildly for someplace to hide from the relentless boredom. Not because nothing was happening—I'd gotten very used to that—but because people started talking. A lot. But they have nothing to say.
Example:
"Mikkran, what is that on your arm?"
"A tattoo. A symbol. What does it say to you?"
"Let's see. There is only one line, so it has no beginning or end. It is a twisted circle. It contains two equal spaces. It encloses some spaces and excludes others. I would say that all which is contained in the two connected circles is what you know. The upper circle would contain dynamic knowledge, and the lower circle would contain static information—facts which are exclusive of circumstances. The actual line enclosing those two spaces is the barrier between you and the unknown. Beyond the line is the unknown and it is featureless, infinite."
"Mmmmmmmmmm. It is the Thoacdien symbol for infinity."
"Aaaa. It is a good symbol—clear and simple. But there is no dividing line between you and infinity."
"Umhum . . ."
"Why do you have it on your arm?"
"Do you want a long or a short answer?"
"A complete one."
"This figure became the Federation emblem after Xitr-Bielen greeted the First Great Thoacdien Revolution, thirty generations ago. [...]"
It goes on like this for pages.
I just don't friggin’ care. Both characters talk as if they're trying to impress each other with their esoteric knowledge and ability to faff about and dissect everything. Their voices are almost identical, even though their age/upbringing/backgrounds are quite different. As they have no set goal, at least as far as I can tell, all of this chatter appears to be for its own sake. There's no connecting it to a plot or comparing it to the actions of others. Maybe later it'll come into focus, but for now we know only the two of them.
And they're just so boring, Lauren.
I tried to keep going, I did. But every time I sat down to pick up From The Legend of Biel, it felt like a little air was let out of me. I had to try to convince myself that it was bound to pick up soon to open the cover. And I wasn't able to read more than a paragraph at a time without getting distracted or just sitting there, holding the book and not reading, because the boredom was beginning to cause pain.
There is one question, and not even an explicit question, that I'm very curious about the answer to. I even skimmed the last dozen pages or so to see if I could connect anything. I couldn't. And with that, I'm pretty certain that I made the right decision here.
From The Legend of Biel is obviously some people's cup of tea. I'm assuming those sorts of people love philosophical musings of an esoteric nature and watching/pontificating on the ordinary, though. If that's not you, I'd pass hard.
April 2, 2024
I feel so much everyday. I think of the day I got this book and the circumstances of it and the dream I had and then the dream did not occur as I thought but now I am in it. I am in the fight and that is a beauty so immense no words can describe it. I got this book because I liked the cover. It made me feel some wordless emotion I have felt many times before. I started reading it and it was good. Then over winter break I stopped just because I was busy. Then I pick it up again in January so the book is very much split into those two spots for me. Darkness to now light. Very much like biel in the book. I liked the characters and the setting is the best part. You really feel like you’re in moebius art. I want to be friends with a lot of these people. I think about how someone back in 1972 can have the same thoughts I do now about systems and time. I think it was meant to be. I think about where I was, on top of that hill, finishing the book and hearing the line “forever and no time at all”. Lies wordlessly within me. There is some quote in this book like “there were no metaphors to describe it, it just was”. Words cannot describe the way I feel. This book is too good for words. The only thing keeping it from 5 stars is the ending is kinda stupid. But so are all 70s sci fi pulp novels so who cares.
April 24, 2015
A quote in the forward from the author reads " I hope to write for that person who loves books and reading...because some kind of real life takes place between that reader's eye and the page of the book. I am interested in making the distance between that reader's eye and the surface of the page disappear."
This is exactly how I determine a book's readability.
"From the Legend of Biel" does that for me. 'Nuff said.
This is exactly how I determine a book's readability.
"From the Legend of Biel" does that for me. 'Nuff said.
December 21, 2020
Completely original, impressive, intelligent science fiction, the author's first and seemingly only novel. What happened to her? This was published as the first Ace Science Fiction Special, a decent achievement for a non-established writer. Maybe she died. At any rate, this one surpassed my expectations greatly. A plot synopsis will only make it sound dull.
June 10, 2012
Overly descriptive, yet not very informative. Action is very slow. Did not get interesting until half way in. End was not very satisfying.
August 28, 2024
3/5
I usually try to do some background research on the author of books that I read, but for the life of me I couldn't find anything about Mary Staton. This was her first, and perhaps only, book to be published, and as a consequence it written with an uneven hand, but with a brain that was full of ideas. It reads like a young PDK getting his footing, if he was more interested in human beings than the drugs he was on. I wish I could find more about her life, because that kind of context could really help in my analysis.
A group of four humans are sent on an exploratory mission far from Earth, one of their stops being a planet with seas of grass and odd geometrical buildings. This planet is the secret obsession of the captain of the crew, something that grows in power as they delve into the depths of the mysterious center orb-like building. The narrative then switches to where it spends most of it's time, to the growth and progress of a humanoid child being watched over by a mentor. This child is an experiment, being given much more of a informational serum than normal, and experiences many developmental complication to go along with it. She belongs to a galaxy spanning group of species that focus on individuality and information, valuing the expansion of the mind above all else. The linkage of these two major narratives is at the core of the plot, something that is hinted at many times but is not revealed until the last few pages.
From the Legend of Biel is concerned with the structures that surround us as humans, and how they limit us from reaching our true potential. It's Staton's opinion that if our species is to advance to the next level of development each individual must be unburdened from the weight of structure and governance of any kind, something that the human explorers are struggle against consistently. The novel also examines the interpersonal relationship between people, specifically between a mentor and their pupil, and the ways in which we can explore healthy and mutually beneficial platonic relationships. These relationships were perhaps the highlight of the novel, and were textured beyond anything else. I actually cared about the child and her mentor emotionally, something that's uncommon amongst SF books from this period. Something else noteworthy is that Staton is very experimental with the layout of the text itself. I wasn't the biggest fan of these choices but I commend the effort to try something new. I found them to be more of hindrance to reading than anything else.
Like many science fiction stories, the ending in From the Legend of Biel is sawed-off and truncated, like Staton didn't give herself enough time to tie all the loose ends together. Instead, we have an ending that engages in one of the strongest tropes of the genre: that the entire story was dream, even if it has meaning. The multiple narrative threads were interesting to watch develop, but it would've been hard for anyone to bring them to a satisfying conclusion, especially a novice writer. There are moments of prose where Staton shows her capability as a writer, with passages of lyrical inner monologue, or evocative lines that describe emotions. There's also unfortunately a lot of over-complication and lenghty descriptions of events that serve no purpose, and these are more common than the latter. I wish that this story that Staton came up with was written by a more experienced writer, because there's something really neat here under the rough edges. At the same time I wish she had written more. This is one of those cases where you wonder what could've been had she continued to hone her craft.
I usually try to do some background research on the author of books that I read, but for the life of me I couldn't find anything about Mary Staton. This was her first, and perhaps only, book to be published, and as a consequence it written with an uneven hand, but with a brain that was full of ideas. It reads like a young PDK getting his footing, if he was more interested in human beings than the drugs he was on. I wish I could find more about her life, because that kind of context could really help in my analysis.
A group of four humans are sent on an exploratory mission far from Earth, one of their stops being a planet with seas of grass and odd geometrical buildings. This planet is the secret obsession of the captain of the crew, something that grows in power as they delve into the depths of the mysterious center orb-like building. The narrative then switches to where it spends most of it's time, to the growth and progress of a humanoid child being watched over by a mentor. This child is an experiment, being given much more of a informational serum than normal, and experiences many developmental complication to go along with it. She belongs to a galaxy spanning group of species that focus on individuality and information, valuing the expansion of the mind above all else. The linkage of these two major narratives is at the core of the plot, something that is hinted at many times but is not revealed until the last few pages.
From the Legend of Biel is concerned with the structures that surround us as humans, and how they limit us from reaching our true potential. It's Staton's opinion that if our species is to advance to the next level of development each individual must be unburdened from the weight of structure and governance of any kind, something that the human explorers are struggle against consistently. The novel also examines the interpersonal relationship between people, specifically between a mentor and their pupil, and the ways in which we can explore healthy and mutually beneficial platonic relationships. These relationships were perhaps the highlight of the novel, and were textured beyond anything else. I actually cared about the child and her mentor emotionally, something that's uncommon amongst SF books from this period. Something else noteworthy is that Staton is very experimental with the layout of the text itself. I wasn't the biggest fan of these choices but I commend the effort to try something new. I found them to be more of hindrance to reading than anything else.
Like many science fiction stories, the ending in From the Legend of Biel is sawed-off and truncated, like Staton didn't give herself enough time to tie all the loose ends together. Instead, we have an ending that engages in one of the strongest tropes of the genre: that the entire story was dream, even if it has meaning. The multiple narrative threads were interesting to watch develop, but it would've been hard for anyone to bring them to a satisfying conclusion, especially a novice writer. There are moments of prose where Staton shows her capability as a writer, with passages of lyrical inner monologue, or evocative lines that describe emotions. There's also unfortunately a lot of over-complication and lenghty descriptions of events that serve no purpose, and these are more common than the latter. I wish that this story that Staton came up with was written by a more experienced writer, because there's something really neat here under the rough edges. At the same time I wish she had written more. This is one of those cases where you wonder what could've been had she continued to hone her craft.
May 1, 2020
I read this book in the weeks leading up to the collapse of the Berlin Wall and at the same time discovering Jethro Tull's Aqualung album. In a lot of ways, the plot of the book mirror's the release of people of East Germany into freedom. I consider myself very well read, although not so much in the last 10 years, but I think this is probably the best book I've read in the genre of speculative fiction. I can barely remember the plot except it is the story of an astronaut explorer being reborn into an alien civilisation.
It is simply astounding.
It is simply astounding.
July 6, 2026
3.25 stars. The description and opening made me feel like this would be like Rendezvous with Rama, but it really didn't end up that way, and certainly wasn't as good. The characters introduced in the beginning aren't present for most of the story, and it makes me wonder why they were given any personalities when they were introduced. The middle portion is a good story, which is why this isn't below three stars, but it almost feels like the middle story was written, and then the beginning and end were added to make it longer.
June 16, 2026
It’s fine. The idea I guess was alright and some of the way the author plays with formatting is fun but I’m left unmoved and can’t say I would recommend.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews