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On the Symb - Socket Circuit
Matthew Wade had been a coord, one of the mysterious chosen ones who through powers unknown to the rest of mankind, ruled the known galaxy. But Wade fled from the overwhelming responsibility of his exalted caste and went into hiding ... on the symb-socket circuit.
The symb-socketeers were the migrant workers of the galaxy. Traveling from planet to planet, they worked for play and played for a living. Matthew Wade adopted this freewheeling, ever-changing life hoping to evade the bailiffs of Altimus, the home planet of the coords, knowing that they would never rest until they had tracked down the renegade.
And then Wade took service on the planet of Ashramdrego, and was faced with the most important decision of his life – would he let an entire planet be destroyed rather than reveal his true identity... ?
The symb-socketeers were the migrant workers of the galaxy. Traveling from planet to planet, they worked for play and played for a living. Matthew Wade adopted this freewheeling, ever-changing life hoping to evade the bailiffs of Altimus, the home planet of the coords, knowing that they would never rest until they had tracked down the renegade.
And then Wade took service on the planet of Ashramdrego, and was faced with the most important decision of his life – would he let an entire planet be destroyed rather than reveal his true identity... ?
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1965
33 people want to read
About the author
Kenneth Bulmer
239 books21 followersHenry Kenneth Bulmer
aka:
Alan Burt Akers
Ken Blake
Ernest Corley
Arthur Frazier
Adam Hardy
Philip Kent
Bruno Krauss
Neil Langholm
Karl Maras
Manning Norvil
Charles R. Pike
Andrew Quiller
Richard Silver
Tully Zetford
aka:
Alan Burt Akers
Ken Blake
Ernest Corley
Arthur Frazier
Adam Hardy
Philip Kent
Bruno Krauss
Neil Langholm
Karl Maras
Manning Norvil
Charles R. Pike
Andrew Quiller
Richard Silver
Tully Zetford
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 10, 2023
3½. Very original conceptually.
June 18, 2021
The book is based on (more or less) 2 ideas. The more important one is this: Humans can survive comfortably on alien planets with the help of symbiontic creatures from those planets. For this they have a standardized "interface" called "symb-socket", where the creatures are attached. So some migrant workes go from planet to planet and get equipped with the right symbiont, that protects them against noxious gasses, acid lakes or whatever...
While this idea seems rather striking at first glance, it turns out to be rather daft when you think about it for just one minute.
Why did I give 4 stars then? Kenneth Bulmer can write. I kept turning the pages and the thin little book was finished in no time. And he can portray people and their actions rather well. While the setting was kind of outlandish, the way the protagonists talked and acted seemed quite believable to me. That's something I really like and don't find that often in SF
While this idea seems rather striking at first glance, it turns out to be rather daft when you think about it for just one minute.
Why did I give 4 stars then? Kenneth Bulmer can write. I kept turning the pages and the thin little book was finished in no time. And he can portray people and their actions rather well. While the setting was kind of outlandish, the way the protagonists talked and acted seemed quite believable to me. That's something I really like and don't find that often in SF
December 1, 2024
Oh, this is a strange one. From the first page on, you're bombarded with an overabundance of alien terminology you won't fully grasp the meaning of until maybe fifty pages in. Besides that, there are odd goings-on in the first chapter alone that won't make a lick of sense until the end of the book. It's a very off-putting way to drop the reader into a world. It's a deceptively simple story, but the presentation is clumsy.
Ironically, in a flashback within the narrative, a fictional novelist is quoted as saying: "When I write, I write for adults. I don't have to explain everything. The reader grows in awareness as I want him to grow, so that he knows what he has to know at any given point in the story... If you don't follow what I'm talking about, then look to your own mental equipment; don't blame me as a writer." Don't confuse poor writing for poor reading comprehension. We're not dealing with the English language here; it's all made up. The first chapter is a mess to anyone who hasn't read the whole book. The author is 100% to blame for confronting the reader with all those undefined terms and names right at the onset. It was easily avoidable.
The story centers around a man called Matthew Wade. He's a coord who has absconded from the C.I.D.G. (Coordinating Inter-Disciplinary Gestalt) of Altimus. He seeks refuge within the Symb-Socket Circuit (as it's generally overlooked by the coords). The nature of the coords is never truly explained, but they have extra circuits in their brains and can communicate directly with computers. They're feared throughout the galaxy.
It should be noted that Wade has a living, possibly sentient, sixteen-limbed camouflage cloak named "Lon Chaney" (yes, that's right) attached to his central nervous system. Wade obtained him on "the planet of the Demons," Samia, "for a price and at a cost of surrendering a little of [his] own ego." This was before he became a symb-socketeer. (Lon Chaney is sometimes called a "cape" or even a "coat.")
The "Symb-Socket Circuit" refers to the circuit of planets traveled by an elite class of individuals known as "symb-socketeers." They have been operated on, so they can plug compatible alien animals into their bloodstreams via a socket at the base of their necks to sustain and adapt them to planets with harsh environments. They share a symbiotic relationship with the animals and can communicate quasi-telepathically with them (this is known as "symbing"). These living "life support systems" are called "alices," regardless of their species. "... a man's alice was his life." The work the symb-socketeers do involves collecting/mining/harvesting whatever valuable resources the individual planets might have to offer. They are contracted by various big corporations. The use of "alices" greatly cuts the costs and time it would take to do the work otherwise. "The provision of a small annulus venting into your neck gave you opportunities denied to those dependent on a space suit and clumsy air tanks strapped to their backs." Apparently, they do all of this for fun. "Men on the symb-socket circuit came to a planet and accepted the local alice and did their job enjoying themselves in the galaxy and joying in their work as its functional expression of leisure and then moved on."
Mathew Wade became a symb-socketeer hoping to escape the pursuit of the coords. Seven days ago, he landed on Ashramdrego (the sun is Ashram, and the planet is Drego). On Ashramdrego, the local resource of value is a bush called geron that produces gerontidril (a substance capable of extending one's lifespan). The Kriseman Corporation has made its base here, looking to profit come harvest time (geronditril is one of the most valuable things in the galaxy). However, they have had trouble with the native "alices" (squoodles) abandoning their symbionts to die in the poisonous gases of Drego. They also have to put up with the threat of a large bee-like predator (ruptor) and an occasional temporary madness called the "juvenile sickness."
The story begins with Wade briefly experiencing symptoms of this sickness while chancing upon the director (Silas Sternmire) playing with marbles (where did he get the marbles, anyway?). Wade doesn't understand normal human behavior and allows the director to succumb to the sickness. Sternmire almost yanks off his "alice" before someone else finally takes notice. Wade brings unwanted attention to himself as a result of this incident. Matthew Wade works as a computer man in Personnel. Extremely self-conscious, he constantly thinks of how a normal human is expected to react to any given situation, hoping he doesn't slip up. He is also too easily amused. Wade becomes attracted to one of the local symbiosis specialists, Doctor Marian Anstee. He is haunted by memories of "Brother Stanley," who was killed by the "tipstaffs" of the coords. I never fully understood who he was or what the "tipstaffs" or "bailiffs" were. (I was amused by their "menacingly tight" blue uniforms, however.)
Wade's "alice" is named "Sinbad." The squoodles are furry and varied in color, with one sharp fang, a feeding tube, a "blood probe/umbilical cord," and carmine claws. Beyond that, they aren't described. They rest on the shoulders of their symbionts. People are constantly (and luxuriously) stroking their own (and each other's) "alices." They hiccup and burp frequently. "Squirts" up "giggle muscles" (and giggling in general) are mentioned often in the context of symbing with squoodles. It is implied that they release "giggle gas balloons," "insidious fumes." They seem to reproduce asexually, though they are all called males. The scientists on the planet foolishly began using them as "alices" without even determining their lifecycle. A prior time during which squoodles left their symbionts to die is referred to as "the troubles."
And then there are the orgies. In this universe, human society has embraced the orgy as if it were the most natural thing conceivable. Balls are commonly held; afterwards, an orgy is expected and eagerly joined in by all. "At this juncture in human societal growth copulation in dark corners and hotel bedrooms was for those permanently cognate in quasi-matrimony or intent on other goals." Symb-socketeers have a bizarre interest in getting their "alices" involved in this madness. "You could get up to all kinds of erotic love-ins in the galaxy, without detracting from the essential whole healthiness of an orgy, when you were twinned with an alice." Despite this, the characters still childishly refer to sex as "you-know-what." Clothing is optional while off-duty.
...
There seems to be a universally-worshiped deity called "Astir" (also "Blind Astir"). They have a creed and tenets, but the nature of these is left to the imagination. The oaths "By Kildish!," and "Holy Mother of Astir!" are sometimes spoken. Yellow-robed "Regnants" and "The Regnancy" are mentioned, but not in detail.
An "eepee" (electroplasm) is a semi-sentient, "electronically structured and isotope powered with a scrap of protoplasmic matter to provide a degree of virtuosity to its micro-miniaturized computer brain." "In less need of costly detailed programming than a true robot an electroplasm provided relatively cheap and efficient servant units to humanity."
All the questions concerning the situation on Ashramdrego are eventually answered. However, the story ends abruptly, with somewhat of a cliffhanger.
...
There's a very awkward scene in which Wade helps Marian home because she's overly tired. While she's dazed, he takes the liberty to undress and wash her before tucking her in bed... As he's about to leave, she stops him and says she has an experiment running and she needs to get down to the lab right away... So, she takes a "pick-up pill," and they go to the lab...
It's unlikely they wouldn't take the time to figure out the squoodle's lifecycle, yet somehow they know all about how geron milk can only be harvested just so: "... each bush's separate flowers coming to full ripeness at different times. If a head was cut dry it was useless for gerontitril production and if allowed to ripen beyond that perfect viscidly oozing state would turn into a chemical poison equally useless. Each head had to be cut at exactly the right time and the leeway allowed was that of the time taken to travel from one end of a cultivated row to the other."
...
There's a would-be rapist character named "Captain Kirkus"... Sounds about right.
One excruciatingly annoying character, a medical doctor, is called "Doc Dot-Dot Hedges." Instead of cursing, he censors himself by partially spelling out the words and interjecting them with a "dot-dot." Some of the words, I can't even guess because of this. Anyway, it's unrealistic for anyone to talk in this manner. If you have the time to redact your little spelling bee with dots, you can just hold back the words altogether.
"dee-dot-dot-em"
"ess-dot-dot-tee"
"eff-dot-dot-gee" (?)
"cee-dot-dot-tee" (This is the only one I can understand being censored.)
"ess-dot-dee"
"aye-dot-dot-ee"
"atich-dot-dot-ell"
"eff-dot-dot-dee" (?)
"bee-dot-dot-dee" (?)
"bee-dot-dot-wye" (?)
"Sheer sadism, sheer eff-dot-dot-sadism!"
...
I don't know what Frank Kelly Freas had in mind with that cover, but it's got nothing to do with the story.
(In my copy, there's an obnoxious cigarette advertisement right smack in the middle of the pages with a really smug-looking guy pretending to sip from a coffee mug.)
...
The writing features repetitive vocabulary and oddly structured sentences. And there's sometimes a lack of punctuation where it's needed. A chimpanzee is referred to as a "monkey" in the narrative. There are many typos, usually words with a missing (or extra) letter. But sometimes it's just the wrong letter (or even the entire word), i.e., "rather than" when it should be "rather like."
-
"feel" (feet), "elices" (alices), "sympthy" (sympathy), "wth" (with), "orbovtia" (orbovita), "punctures" (punctured), "adcanced" (advanced), "antigrave" (antigrav), "bet" (belt), "way" (away), "imales" (impales), "though" (thought), etc.
-
Something is called a "scarlit magne fastener." I don't know if this is a typo or what. An orbovita symbs: "Depil ruptors!" It's quite probable that "Devil" is what was intended.
...
5/10
Ironically, in a flashback within the narrative, a fictional novelist is quoted as saying: "When I write, I write for adults. I don't have to explain everything. The reader grows in awareness as I want him to grow, so that he knows what he has to know at any given point in the story... If you don't follow what I'm talking about, then look to your own mental equipment; don't blame me as a writer." Don't confuse poor writing for poor reading comprehension. We're not dealing with the English language here; it's all made up. The first chapter is a mess to anyone who hasn't read the whole book. The author is 100% to blame for confronting the reader with all those undefined terms and names right at the onset. It was easily avoidable.
The story centers around a man called Matthew Wade. He's a coord who has absconded from the C.I.D.G. (Coordinating Inter-Disciplinary Gestalt) of Altimus. He seeks refuge within the Symb-Socket Circuit (as it's generally overlooked by the coords). The nature of the coords is never truly explained, but they have extra circuits in their brains and can communicate directly with computers. They're feared throughout the galaxy.
It should be noted that Wade has a living, possibly sentient, sixteen-limbed camouflage cloak named "Lon Chaney" (yes, that's right) attached to his central nervous system. Wade obtained him on "the planet of the Demons," Samia, "for a price and at a cost of surrendering a little of [his] own ego." This was before he became a symb-socketeer. (Lon Chaney is sometimes called a "cape" or even a "coat.")
The "Symb-Socket Circuit" refers to the circuit of planets traveled by an elite class of individuals known as "symb-socketeers." They have been operated on, so they can plug compatible alien animals into their bloodstreams via a socket at the base of their necks to sustain and adapt them to planets with harsh environments. They share a symbiotic relationship with the animals and can communicate quasi-telepathically with them (this is known as "symbing"). These living "life support systems" are called "alices," regardless of their species. "... a man's alice was his life." The work the symb-socketeers do involves collecting/mining/harvesting whatever valuable resources the individual planets might have to offer. They are contracted by various big corporations. The use of "alices" greatly cuts the costs and time it would take to do the work otherwise. "The provision of a small annulus venting into your neck gave you opportunities denied to those dependent on a space suit and clumsy air tanks strapped to their backs." Apparently, they do all of this for fun. "Men on the symb-socket circuit came to a planet and accepted the local alice and did their job enjoying themselves in the galaxy and joying in their work as its functional expression of leisure and then moved on."
Mathew Wade became a symb-socketeer hoping to escape the pursuit of the coords. Seven days ago, he landed on Ashramdrego (the sun is Ashram, and the planet is Drego). On Ashramdrego, the local resource of value is a bush called geron that produces gerontidril (a substance capable of extending one's lifespan). The Kriseman Corporation has made its base here, looking to profit come harvest time (geronditril is one of the most valuable things in the galaxy). However, they have had trouble with the native "alices" (squoodles) abandoning their symbionts to die in the poisonous gases of Drego. They also have to put up with the threat of a large bee-like predator (ruptor) and an occasional temporary madness called the "juvenile sickness."
The story begins with Wade briefly experiencing symptoms of this sickness while chancing upon the director (Silas Sternmire) playing with marbles (where did he get the marbles, anyway?). Wade doesn't understand normal human behavior and allows the director to succumb to the sickness. Sternmire almost yanks off his "alice" before someone else finally takes notice. Wade brings unwanted attention to himself as a result of this incident. Matthew Wade works as a computer man in Personnel. Extremely self-conscious, he constantly thinks of how a normal human is expected to react to any given situation, hoping he doesn't slip up. He is also too easily amused. Wade becomes attracted to one of the local symbiosis specialists, Doctor Marian Anstee. He is haunted by memories of "Brother Stanley," who was killed by the "tipstaffs" of the coords. I never fully understood who he was or what the "tipstaffs" or "bailiffs" were. (I was amused by their "menacingly tight" blue uniforms, however.)
Wade's "alice" is named "Sinbad." The squoodles are furry and varied in color, with one sharp fang, a feeding tube, a "blood probe/umbilical cord," and carmine claws. Beyond that, they aren't described. They rest on the shoulders of their symbionts. People are constantly (and luxuriously) stroking their own (and each other's) "alices." They hiccup and burp frequently. "Squirts" up "giggle muscles" (and giggling in general) are mentioned often in the context of symbing with squoodles. It is implied that they release "giggle gas balloons," "insidious fumes." They seem to reproduce asexually, though they are all called males. The scientists on the planet foolishly began using them as "alices" without even determining their lifecycle. A prior time during which squoodles left their symbionts to die is referred to as "the troubles."
And then there are the orgies. In this universe, human society has embraced the orgy as if it were the most natural thing conceivable. Balls are commonly held; afterwards, an orgy is expected and eagerly joined in by all. "At this juncture in human societal growth copulation in dark corners and hotel bedrooms was for those permanently cognate in quasi-matrimony or intent on other goals." Symb-socketeers have a bizarre interest in getting their "alices" involved in this madness. "You could get up to all kinds of erotic love-ins in the galaxy, without detracting from the essential whole healthiness of an orgy, when you were twinned with an alice." Despite this, the characters still childishly refer to sex as "you-know-what." Clothing is optional while off-duty.
...
There seems to be a universally-worshiped deity called "Astir" (also "Blind Astir"). They have a creed and tenets, but the nature of these is left to the imagination. The oaths "By Kildish!," and "Holy Mother of Astir!" are sometimes spoken. Yellow-robed "Regnants" and "The Regnancy" are mentioned, but not in detail.
An "eepee" (electroplasm) is a semi-sentient, "electronically structured and isotope powered with a scrap of protoplasmic matter to provide a degree of virtuosity to its micro-miniaturized computer brain." "In less need of costly detailed programming than a true robot an electroplasm provided relatively cheap and efficient servant units to humanity."
All the questions concerning the situation on Ashramdrego are eventually answered. However, the story ends abruptly, with somewhat of a cliffhanger.
...
There's a very awkward scene in which Wade helps Marian home because she's overly tired. While she's dazed, he takes the liberty to undress and wash her before tucking her in bed... As he's about to leave, she stops him and says she has an experiment running and she needs to get down to the lab right away... So, she takes a "pick-up pill," and they go to the lab...
It's unlikely they wouldn't take the time to figure out the squoodle's lifecycle, yet somehow they know all about how geron milk can only be harvested just so: "... each bush's separate flowers coming to full ripeness at different times. If a head was cut dry it was useless for gerontitril production and if allowed to ripen beyond that perfect viscidly oozing state would turn into a chemical poison equally useless. Each head had to be cut at exactly the right time and the leeway allowed was that of the time taken to travel from one end of a cultivated row to the other."
...
There's a would-be rapist character named "Captain Kirkus"... Sounds about right.
One excruciatingly annoying character, a medical doctor, is called "Doc Dot-Dot Hedges." Instead of cursing, he censors himself by partially spelling out the words and interjecting them with a "dot-dot." Some of the words, I can't even guess because of this. Anyway, it's unrealistic for anyone to talk in this manner. If you have the time to redact your little spelling bee with dots, you can just hold back the words altogether.
"dee-dot-dot-em"
"ess-dot-dot-tee"
"eff-dot-dot-gee" (?)
"cee-dot-dot-tee" (This is the only one I can understand being censored.)
"ess-dot-dee"
"aye-dot-dot-ee"
"atich-dot-dot-ell"
"eff-dot-dot-dee" (?)
"bee-dot-dot-dee" (?)
"bee-dot-dot-wye" (?)
"Sheer sadism, sheer eff-dot-dot-sadism!"
...
I don't know what Frank Kelly Freas had in mind with that cover, but it's got nothing to do with the story.
(In my copy, there's an obnoxious cigarette advertisement right smack in the middle of the pages with a really smug-looking guy pretending to sip from a coffee mug.)
...
The writing features repetitive vocabulary and oddly structured sentences. And there's sometimes a lack of punctuation where it's needed. A chimpanzee is referred to as a "monkey" in the narrative. There are many typos, usually words with a missing (or extra) letter. But sometimes it's just the wrong letter (or even the entire word), i.e., "rather than" when it should be "rather like."
-
"feel" (feet), "elices" (alices), "sympthy" (sympathy), "wth" (with), "orbovtia" (orbovita), "punctures" (punctured), "adcanced" (advanced), "antigrave" (antigrav), "bet" (belt), "way" (away), "imales" (impales), "though" (thought), etc.
-
Something is called a "scarlit magne fastener." I don't know if this is a typo or what. An orbovita symbs: "Depil ruptors!" It's quite probable that "Devil" is what was intended.
...
5/10
November 25, 2022
This little book actually has a lot to unpack.
The story itself in engaging, with the reader having to put together facts as they would in crime or mystery novel, but the writing is so littered with metaphors it takes a few pages to get into a mindset where you can enjoy the read. In addition there's a ton of made up words alongside a myriad of references that makes for a situation where the reader is sometimes unsure if they should bother looking something up or assume it's a fictional reference/term.
Published in the early seventies the author made efforts to include diverse skin tones and a body types, while still remaining somewhat sexist in how he described female bodies in a more sexualized manner than male bodies. I'd say Marian's irrationality inparticular seems to supports this apparent sexism, except some of the male characters are equally irrational, so probably not. Dot-dot's dialogue for example often takes the reader out of the story.
At points this pairs with a strange background setting of an orgy (my best guess is the author wanted to write erotica but was being held back from fully committing), which according to the story's lore is the primary form of recreational procreation for human in the current era, to highlight the strangeness or otherness of the main character and his actions.
Overall an interesting read with a good though outlandish concept, but a great deal of flaws as well.
The story itself in engaging, with the reader having to put together facts as they would in crime or mystery novel, but the writing is so littered with metaphors it takes a few pages to get into a mindset where you can enjoy the read. In addition there's a ton of made up words alongside a myriad of references that makes for a situation where the reader is sometimes unsure if they should bother looking something up or assume it's a fictional reference/term.
Published in the early seventies the author made efforts to include diverse skin tones and a body types, while still remaining somewhat sexist in how he described female bodies in a more sexualized manner than male bodies. I'd say Marian's irrationality inparticular seems to supports this apparent sexism, except some of the male characters are equally irrational, so probably not. Dot-dot's dialogue for example often takes the reader out of the story.
At points this pairs with a strange background setting of an orgy (my best guess is the author wanted to write erotica but was being held back from fully committing), which according to the story's lore is the primary form of recreational procreation for human in the current era, to highlight the strangeness or otherness of the main character and his actions.
Overall an interesting read with a good though outlandish concept, but a great deal of flaws as well.
June 28, 2023
Well, it's not brilliant. But it has enough interesting ideas to have kept me reading until the end. Its story-telling is tarnished by underwhelming elements of New Wave SF.
Want to read
February 3, 2013I have a different cover
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