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Void's Australian SF&F #8
The Ring of Truth
"... somewhere in the vast reaches of space, there may well be other universes with completely different natural laws [than in our own cosmos]."
DAW Books, 1984. Mass market paperback, 1st printing. Science fiction novel where gravity is a repulsive, rather than attractive force. Prince Kernin is on a hero's journey through this strange universe.
David Lake was not a prolific author of fiction, but his work was poetic and creative. He also wrote literary criticism.
DAW Books, 1984. Mass market paperback, 1st printing. Science fiction novel where gravity is a repulsive, rather than attractive force. Prince Kernin is on a hero's journey through this strange universe.
David Lake was not a prolific author of fiction, but his work was poetic and creative. He also wrote literary criticism.
- GenresFantasy
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 5, 1984
19 people want to read
About the author
David J. Lake
20 books7 followersDavid Lake was educated in both India and England, then taught English in various countries, including Vietnam and Thailand; since 1967 he has been at the University of Queensland, Brisbane. He began creative writing as a poet about 1970.
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November 13, 2011David J Lake is one of those authors with amazing skills at worldbuilding, but little followthrough. The characters in this book might easily have been translated into a more conventional world with a great deal of physical disorientation, but little social confusion (somewhat like Burrough's Tarzan at The Earth's Core). It's rather odd how so many writers seem to fixate on Bronze Age societies (just at the beginning of the Iron Age, usually), or rather on how THEY think Bronze Age societies worked.
The most interesting thing about the book to me (once I get past the marvelling at the physical differences) is the unreliable narrator. But one of the reasons the narrator is unreliable is that he is recollecting a past self, and supplying corrections to earlier prejudices (usually as asides of the "I learned later that..." sort).
One thing I've noted: too many writers seem unable to imagine HUMAN societies in which scholars are honored members of society, and in which people don't react to every dispute by resorting to edged weapons and garrotes. I would like to say that this book is different. But that would be untrue. The 'hero', Prince Kernin, is tutored by a centaur, and in many ways is influenced by the centaur. But he never considers going to live among the centaurs, and learning THEIR ways of governance, scholarship, and conflict resolution.
I'd forgotten how this ended, though I had a vague idea. So I hadn't remembered that there was a technical note at the end. The basics of the physical laws aren't really elaborated at any point--it's discussed along the way, as the prince is educated, but there's little elaboration of other theories. It might have helped to include a copy of the paper Kernin would have had sent to the Centaurish academy--or of the reports sent by the Flirhan to their colleagues.
But of course, the ending leaves a lot of room for a sequel--but if there was one, I don't think I've ever seen it.
The most interesting thing about the book to me (once I get past the marvelling at the physical differences) is the unreliable narrator. But one of the reasons the narrator is unreliable is that he is recollecting a past self, and supplying corrections to earlier prejudices (usually as asides of the "I learned later that..." sort).
One thing I've noted: too many writers seem unable to imagine HUMAN societies in which scholars are honored members of society, and in which people don't react to every dispute by resorting to edged weapons and garrotes. I would like to say that this book is different. But that would be untrue. The 'hero', Prince Kernin, is tutored by a centaur, and in many ways is influenced by the centaur. But he never considers going to live among the centaurs, and learning THEIR ways of governance, scholarship, and conflict resolution.
I'd forgotten how this ended, though I had a vague idea. So I hadn't remembered that there was a technical note at the end. The basics of the physical laws aren't really elaborated at any point--it's discussed along the way, as the prince is educated, but there's little elaboration of other theories. It might have helped to include a copy of the paper Kernin would have had sent to the Centaurish academy--or of the reports sent by the Flirhan to their colleagues.
But of course, the ending leaves a lot of room for a sequel--but if there was one, I don't think I've ever seen it.
February 22, 2009
An example of the rare and obscure sub-genre, "Looks like fantasy but is actually SF set in a universe with different (but consistent) physics". Sadly also an example of the sexism of its time.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews