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Omega
an apocalyptic rumour from the Eastern Front. something that will alter all the strategic calculations of the Earth's great military blocs. the code name for a weapon that may well bring doomsday with it. But if Omega is indeed the agent that will destroy the world, that world is not our own. For this is a timeline in which World War Two never truly a timeline in which Hitler died in a plane crash, Britain joined Germany in its battle against Communist Russia, and the present is an age of intermittent, but deadly, armed conflict between the USSR, the European Alliance, and the USA. The frontier regions are radioactive wastelands, nuclear winter threatens catastrophe, global confrontation could erupt again any time - and that's before Omega is taken into account...This is the reality experienced by Owen Meredith when an accident forces his consciousness from the England we know into the mind of his cognate self in that other darker, Europe. Switching back and forth between being plain Owen Meredith and troubled Major Owain Maredudd, Owen is faced not only with a Cold War going Hot, but with a deep crisis of identity. Who is he? Whose twisted destiny is he treading? Did the ordinary domestic life he remembers ever even take place? Perhaps the universe of Owain and Omega is merely a symptom of mental illness - but if so, why is it so urgently tangible?
Hardcover
First published February 26, 2008
30 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Evans
131 books14 followersChristopher D. Evans also writes as Christopher Carpenter, Nathan Elliott, Robert Knight and John Lyon.
See authors with similar names.
Christopher D. Evans was born in 1951 in Tredegar and educated at Cardiff University between 1969–1972, and Swansea University 1973–4. He now lives in South London, where he teaches science full-time at a secondary school. His first novel, Capella’s Golden Eyes, was published in 1980. With Robert Holdstock, he co-edited the Other Edens Series of original science fiction and fantasy anthologies which appeared in the late 1980s. Aztec Century (Gollancz, 1993) won the BSFA Award for Best Novel of 1993 and was runner-up for the Wales Book of the Year Award. Christopher also writes as Christopher Carpenter, Nathan Elliott, Robert Knight and John Lyon.
See authors with similar names.
Christopher D. Evans was born in 1951 in Tredegar and educated at Cardiff University between 1969–1972, and Swansea University 1973–4. He now lives in South London, where he teaches science full-time at a secondary school. His first novel, Capella’s Golden Eyes, was published in 1980. With Robert Holdstock, he co-edited the Other Edens Series of original science fiction and fantasy anthologies which appeared in the late 1980s. Aztec Century (Gollancz, 1993) won the BSFA Award for Best Novel of 1993 and was runner-up for the Wales Book of the Year Award. Christopher also writes as Christopher Carpenter, Nathan Elliott, Robert Knight and John Lyon.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 15, 2011
First SF novel that I bought through Gollancz's new SF Gateway. This impossible to find (until now) masterpiece is the perfect example of why SF Gateway came into existence: to make thousands of out-of-print titles by classic genre authors available as eBooks. I can't wait to see what I will discover next when I'll look through the Gateway.
This book begins with Owen Meredith, a producer of television documentaries about wars. He is shopping with his wife and daughters when the store blows up. But when he wakes up in hospital, he finds himself inside the mind of Major Owain Maredudd in a world in which the Second World War never ended and an under military dictatorship Britain is allied with Germany. Owain is in hospital because he also was injured in an explosion on the same street, but when Owain recovers enough to investigate he finds no sign of the explosion.
We explore these two worlds through Owen, who shifts between these parallel realities sometimes in mid-sentence. But his world is strange too, because the woman he finds sitting by his hospital bed is Tanya, a former girlfriend and there is no mention of his wife or the two children. And in Owain's world there is talk of Omega the ultimate weapon that will end all wars.
This is the beginning of a fascinating exploration of identity and sense of self, of humanity and inhumanity of wars, of what makes us and destroy us as human beings.
This book begins with Owen Meredith, a producer of television documentaries about wars. He is shopping with his wife and daughters when the store blows up. But when he wakes up in hospital, he finds himself inside the mind of Major Owain Maredudd in a world in which the Second World War never ended and an under military dictatorship Britain is allied with Germany. Owain is in hospital because he also was injured in an explosion on the same street, but when Owain recovers enough to investigate he finds no sign of the explosion.
We explore these two worlds through Owen, who shifts between these parallel realities sometimes in mid-sentence. But his world is strange too, because the woman he finds sitting by his hospital bed is Tanya, a former girlfriend and there is no mention of his wife or the two children. And in Owain's world there is talk of Omega the ultimate weapon that will end all wars.
This is the beginning of a fascinating exploration of identity and sense of self, of humanity and inhumanity of wars, of what makes us and destroy us as human beings.
April 11, 2009
This a "blow me away" kind of novel both in concept and execution; narrated by current day London inhabitant, Owen Meredith with brother Rees, wife Lyneth, two kids and former girlfriend Tanya, currently married with best friend Geoff, or so he believes.
Owen suffers a traumatic accident, and finds himself slipping in and out the body of Major Owain Maredudd, his alter-ego in a bleak, militarized and devastated London where WW2 has not really ended, though now it's a Cold War three powers standoff between Europe, USA and Russia, whose sphere of influences are separated on land by cordons of nuclear wilderness.
Owen cannot really influence Owain's actions, while his return to "real life" is marred by memory lapses - with the flips happening unpredictably and quite often.
Owain has a very different family - brother Rhys too, but his uncle, Marshal Maredudd is the Alliance British Commander which makes him effectively Britain head of state - and Owain has memory problems too, not to speak of his darker personal life marked by impotence, bouts of rage and close friendship with Marisa the exotic trophy wife of sinister Interior Minister Carl Legister
The switch point of the histories was when Hitler died in a plane crash in the early 40's, The Wermacht liquidated the Nazi leadership, Britain allied with the denazified Germany and lent its power to the Eastern Front in return for Germany freeing all its western conquests and forming the European Alliance, a military European Union-like state, agreeing to a Jewish state in Palestine...
However the USA kept its alliance with the USSR for a time stopping an European victory, and 60 years later marked by bouts of war including limited nuclear strikes led to the current standoff.
And there is Omega, the rumored secret weapon to end all wars.
The prose is just superb, the book is riveting since you really are kept on the edge of the seat with unpredictability and suspense, as well as kept guessing what's real about Owen's past and what will happen in Owain's world - since that's where the tension of the novel lies.
Owen is the narrator, but he is unreliable with respect to his own memories - he recounts his life, alternating between the steady hometown girl Lyneth and the exotic Tanya, all under the shadow of his domineering historian father and autistic, in-out of the hospital brother and leading to his current unhappy marriage with Lyneth and sort of an affair with Tanya.
Owain is seen only through Owen's eyes, but his world and personal history are "reliable" in so far as Owen knows, but the Cold War may be turning hot and Omega may just be real...
The tension is solved in a very satisfactory way and while I saw the first part of the puzzle after a while - though the author keeps throwing "spans" that may lead a reader astray, that part makes sense "naturally" in only one way, and indeed it turns out that way, so no real surprise there - the second part came as a total surprise and the ending is outstanding.
Great, great novel. Being an 08 release it does not have a place on my best of the year lists in 09, but if I will make a best read of 09 irrespective of year of publication, Omega will most likely be #1 since it's just perfect.
Owen suffers a traumatic accident, and finds himself slipping in and out the body of Major Owain Maredudd, his alter-ego in a bleak, militarized and devastated London where WW2 has not really ended, though now it's a Cold War three powers standoff between Europe, USA and Russia, whose sphere of influences are separated on land by cordons of nuclear wilderness.
Owen cannot really influence Owain's actions, while his return to "real life" is marred by memory lapses - with the flips happening unpredictably and quite often.
Owain has a very different family - brother Rhys too, but his uncle, Marshal Maredudd is the Alliance British Commander which makes him effectively Britain head of state - and Owain has memory problems too, not to speak of his darker personal life marked by impotence, bouts of rage and close friendship with Marisa the exotic trophy wife of sinister Interior Minister Carl Legister
The switch point of the histories was when Hitler died in a plane crash in the early 40's, The Wermacht liquidated the Nazi leadership, Britain allied with the denazified Germany and lent its power to the Eastern Front in return for Germany freeing all its western conquests and forming the European Alliance, a military European Union-like state, agreeing to a Jewish state in Palestine...
However the USA kept its alliance with the USSR for a time stopping an European victory, and 60 years later marked by bouts of war including limited nuclear strikes led to the current standoff.
And there is Omega, the rumored secret weapon to end all wars.
The prose is just superb, the book is riveting since you really are kept on the edge of the seat with unpredictability and suspense, as well as kept guessing what's real about Owen's past and what will happen in Owain's world - since that's where the tension of the novel lies.
Owen is the narrator, but he is unreliable with respect to his own memories - he recounts his life, alternating between the steady hometown girl Lyneth and the exotic Tanya, all under the shadow of his domineering historian father and autistic, in-out of the hospital brother and leading to his current unhappy marriage with Lyneth and sort of an affair with Tanya.
Owain is seen only through Owen's eyes, but his world and personal history are "reliable" in so far as Owen knows, but the Cold War may be turning hot and Omega may just be real...
The tension is solved in a very satisfactory way and while I saw the first part of the puzzle after a while - though the author keeps throwing "spans" that may lead a reader astray, that part makes sense "naturally" in only one way, and indeed it turns out that way, so no real surprise there - the second part came as a total surprise and the ending is outstanding.
Great, great novel. Being an 08 release it does not have a place on my best of the year lists in 09, but if I will make a best read of 09 irrespective of year of publication, Omega will most likely be #1 since it's just perfect.
July 23, 2024
I thought that this novel was better written than Aztec Century. It’s not easy to write novels with alternate histories, but the author in this novel brilliantly and realistically interwove the lives of Owen and Owain. Thoroughly engrossing and believable.
July 20, 2016
Evans takes a different approach to alternate universes here, where lecturer Owen Meredith is blown up outside hamleys and wakes up in hospital not only almost paralysed but in mental rapport with his other self from a different timeline. This is Owain Meredydd, injured at exactly the same place and time, but in a very different London (and Europe) indeed. Owain is a major in the army of a European Alliance. In this world, Hitler died very early in the Nazi’s rise and more moderate figures took the lead, stamping out the extremism and uniting Europe in a war against the Soviet Union.
Having been quite passion about Aztec Century I was looking forward to this. Sadly, it is quite a difficult read. The initial problem is the schizophrenic nature of the novel, which bounces between the two lives. Although Owen is aware of Owain’s life and thoughts, and can to a small extent influence them, Owain seems unaware of his other self. Now and again, there is a confusion as to what world we are in. There is also some doubt as to whether Owen’s world is the one we inhabit. This was a suggestion raised in Aztec Century, since the Aztecs had discovered a portal to other realities, although the alternatives were infinite.
Also, there is much exposition and re-telling of backstories. Evans employs the device of the invalid reliving scenes of his life, as well as discovering the past of his alter-ego.
There is also much Jeremy Kyle fodder in the Owen/Owain relationships with lovers and family. Both have the same brother with mental health issues, and both seem to be in love with another man’s wife. There is much turgid exploration of these matters, but the exploration never gets beyond any familiar boundaries.
Around halfway through the novel things pick up a little. I was reminded, quite randomly, of Margaret Rutherford in her film version of ‘Mrs McGinty’s Dead’. Rutherford, playing a Miss Marple Christie would never recognise, goes undercover at a theatre company to unmask a murderer and submits a play. Ron Moody, I think, as the pompous director, states, having thrown away half of the manuscript, ‘Aha! I think I have discovered the glimmerings of a plot!’
From this point, the novel finds its feet and takes off, finding Evans back on form.
In Owain’s world he discovers things are not exactly how he supposed them to be and ultimately finds himself on the horns of a moral dilemma, having already sunk to a level of moral barbarity due to his paranoia and misplaced suspicion.
Omega, it seems, is real; a doomsday weapon capable of excising huge volumes of space on the surface of the earth and depositing it elsewhere. Will Owain have the integrity and stamina to do the right thing?
Having been quite passion about Aztec Century I was looking forward to this. Sadly, it is quite a difficult read. The initial problem is the schizophrenic nature of the novel, which bounces between the two lives. Although Owen is aware of Owain’s life and thoughts, and can to a small extent influence them, Owain seems unaware of his other self. Now and again, there is a confusion as to what world we are in. There is also some doubt as to whether Owen’s world is the one we inhabit. This was a suggestion raised in Aztec Century, since the Aztecs had discovered a portal to other realities, although the alternatives were infinite.
Also, there is much exposition and re-telling of backstories. Evans employs the device of the invalid reliving scenes of his life, as well as discovering the past of his alter-ego.
There is also much Jeremy Kyle fodder in the Owen/Owain relationships with lovers and family. Both have the same brother with mental health issues, and both seem to be in love with another man’s wife. There is much turgid exploration of these matters, but the exploration never gets beyond any familiar boundaries.
Around halfway through the novel things pick up a little. I was reminded, quite randomly, of Margaret Rutherford in her film version of ‘Mrs McGinty’s Dead’. Rutherford, playing a Miss Marple Christie would never recognise, goes undercover at a theatre company to unmask a murderer and submits a play. Ron Moody, I think, as the pompous director, states, having thrown away half of the manuscript, ‘Aha! I think I have discovered the glimmerings of a plot!’
From this point, the novel finds its feet and takes off, finding Evans back on form.
In Owain’s world he discovers things are not exactly how he supposed them to be and ultimately finds himself on the horns of a moral dilemma, having already sunk to a level of moral barbarity due to his paranoia and misplaced suspicion.
Omega, it seems, is real; a doomsday weapon capable of excising huge volumes of space on the surface of the earth and depositing it elsewhere. Will Owain have the integrity and stamina to do the right thing?
September 12, 2014
Apesar da temática da chamada história alternativa ser uma das minhas preferidas e este livro apresentar uma bastante interessante, fiquei bastante desapontado. A realidade que o autor nos apresenta - um mundo onde a Segunda Guerra Mundial rapidamente se estendeu para uma Terceira e terminou numa Guerra Fria entre a URSS, a Aliança Europeia e os EUA - não é suficientemente explorada pelo autor.
Pareceu-me que ele lhe dedicou apenas um esforço mínimo para manter o leitor interessado. Mas na altura em que este fica mesmo a querer saber o que irá acontecer a essa realidade...o livro acaba. E não, não acaba com a promessa de uma sequela (nem que seja por já ser de 2009). Acaba pura e simplesmente - nem a própria personagem principal parece saber bem o que lhe aconteceu, sugerindo uma ou duas teorias e deixando ao critério do leitor decidir.
Há também uma série de pequenos mistérios que o autor parece querer destacar - nomeadamente a identidade de uma personagem, durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial na nossa realidade - mas todos eles acabam por nem sequer ser resolvidos.
Não vou criticar a estrutura em si da obra, com os saltos constantes entre realidades - muitas vezes dentro do próprio parágrafo - pois percebe-se que é essa a ideia por trás de todo o conceito do livro, mas há que admitir que por vezes é bastante complicado saber quem é estamos a acompanhar.
Resumindo, fiquei com pena que o livro não alcance todo o seu potencial.
Pareceu-me que ele lhe dedicou apenas um esforço mínimo para manter o leitor interessado. Mas na altura em que este fica mesmo a querer saber o que irá acontecer a essa realidade...o livro acaba. E não, não acaba com a promessa de uma sequela (nem que seja por já ser de 2009). Acaba pura e simplesmente - nem a própria personagem principal parece saber bem o que lhe aconteceu, sugerindo uma ou duas teorias e deixando ao critério do leitor decidir.
Há também uma série de pequenos mistérios que o autor parece querer destacar - nomeadamente a identidade de uma personagem, durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial na nossa realidade - mas todos eles acabam por nem sequer ser resolvidos.
Não vou criticar a estrutura em si da obra, com os saltos constantes entre realidades - muitas vezes dentro do próprio parágrafo - pois percebe-se que é essa a ideia por trás de todo o conceito do livro, mas há que admitir que por vezes é bastante complicado saber quem é estamos a acompanhar.
Resumindo, fiquei com pena que o livro não alcance todo o seu potencial.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews