Herskerne

by Niels E. Nielsen

Et stykke ude i fremtiden har menneskene skabt et Utopia, hvor man frit kan bruge tiden som man vil, og hvor materielle mangler er udryddet. I byen San Ysabel samles folk fra hele verden for at studere og filosofere. En af dem er Esau, der er kæreste med Vega. Men Vega har en hemmelighed: Hun er i virkeligheden en klon, et resultat af genetiske eksperimenter på øen Cap Sheba. Hun og hendes søstre og brødre er monstre skabt for at etablere Utopia – men de mennesker der nyder godt af deres indsats, vil ikke længere kendes ved dem. Og så må Esau ud i en kamp, der vil lægge en verden i grus.
En af verdens første romaner om gensplejsningens risici.

Genres: Science Fiction

207 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1970

Reviews

[Booksofdoom · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a good story, but there is just too much poetry and train-of-thought blubbering for it to be a really good book.

I like the whole idea of the sarans, and the Distant ones, and the university city of San Ysabel, though. Someone might write a wonderful remake.

[Lars Dradrach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Skønt at blive erindret om Niels E. Nielsen generelt og denne fantastiske roman i særdeleshed, det er nok 40 år siden jeg har læst den, men store dele af den står stadig knivskarpt.

[H. Dalloway · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t know where to begin. How it is possible that I had never heard of this book before? Never heard of the name Niels E. Nielsen? It’s crazy! I guess this book is a perfect example of why I'm always looking for science fiction literature on the other side of that American/British/Russian bubble. Because there is some marvellous science fiction beyond that bubble, believe you me. Even Danish! :)

How to describe this book? A dark science fiction fairy tale. Yeah, that sounds about right. With the poetic language and hopelessness of Harry Martinssons Aniara, the intellectual foreboding and vision as in Arthur C. Clarkes Childhood’s end and an imagination as in Michael Ende Neverending story.

A tale about the fact that mankind has not really evolved so much since we first learned to walk on two feet. That we are still driven by animalistic lust and fears. And are still prone to use violence instead of logic when we are cornered. That we call ourselves civilized, but continue to make the same mistakes.

At the same time as we create technology that overshadow our limitations and have abilities we can only dream about. What happens when that dream of becoming something more, of giving birth to something new, both man and machine, becomes a reality. When fantastic creatures walk among us, with a will of their own and compassion in their minds, but the capacity of Gods. Will we welcome them? Or fall back to animalistic behaviour? Letting our fear of something new overcome us, our jealousy betray what we really are.

I can understand that the lyrical language of this book can get overwhelming for some people, but I find it refreshing and the intellectual prowess of the writer shines through it. A quite astounding and beautiful book. A gem I tell you!

[René A. Christoffersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skøn, skøn science fiction-roman som jeg fik anbefalet gennem podcasten http://scifisnak.dk/
Bilder mig ellers ind at jeg er rimelig belæst, men jeg anede ikke hvem Niels E. Nielsen var, selvom hans forfatterskab er omfattende.
Jeg vil ikke spoile, men bare sige, men bare sige at romanen er en fornøjelse på stort set alle punkter. Et af temaerne er hvornår man/noget er et menneske, og det bliver belyst fra alle mulige spændende perspektiver. Narrativet overrasker hele tiden, men alt virker fuldstændig indlysende når man giver det en ekstra tanke. Og sprogligt er der passager der nærmest er poetiske.
Det er utrolig så mange idéer NEN har, og flere af dem kunne sagtens have inspireret andre scifi-forfattere. Og så er det svært ikke at læse den nuværende flygtningekrise ind i værket...