The Whims of Creation

by Simon Hawke

A multigenerational space ark supports a controlled ecosystem and 100,000 human colonists while traveling to a distant star system, until rampant suicides and the unexplained emergence of mythological beings sets everything spinning

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy

323 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1995

About the author

Also published as J.D. Masters.

He was born Nicholas Valentin Yermakov, but began writing as Simon Hawke in 1984 and later changed his legal name to Hawke. He has also written near future adventure novels under the penname "J. D. Masters" and mystery novels.

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the best fantasy book I read in high school. Of course I'd need to re-read it now, as it's been ~15 years since the last time I read it (which was the sixth time, I think) and there have been many new books since then. But Simon Hawke's "Wizard of Fourth Street" (also Fantasy/Sci Fi) is *THE* book that got me interested in reading in 7th grade. Yes, I had hit the Roald Dahl really hard in 4th through 6th grades, but then I found Wo4St in Ms Bowie's reading class... and I was never the same.

Whims of Creation is one of the only stand-alone novels by Hawke that I've read, and it does indeed stand alone. As my adolescent memory recalls it, I remember a particularly saucy boy/girl interaction... and very little else. I'll stop short of recommending others read it, since I have no idea if it was actually any good... but it was one of the few books that engaged my adolescent imagination, and therefore was partly responsible for my entire education.

[Helen Fleischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

passivity vs the virtues of reality

[Just Josh]

Holly ****! I LOVED this book and couldn't remember the title! Another masterpiece from a giant.

[Tim Pyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I keep coming back to this book for some reason and have read it several times over the years.

It’s an interesting look into the life of people on a generation ship and it’s a lot of fun mixed in with the social aspects.

I consider it one of my guilty pleasures (along with Strada by Terry Prachette)

[Marlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 1995, some of the ideas in this story are hauntingly familiar. Is our society falling into disrepair? Have we eliminated elements to life that keep us who we are? Curious questions of the hear and now and the effects on our distant future.

[Rev. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concepts in this book - between the AI, the ship itself, and the extrapolations of automation - are well ahead of their time. As we become more 1) reliant on machines 2) capable of developing sophisticated AI 3) lazy - intellectually and physically, I think that our society might have to face some issues like the ones addressed here. We may not. Those things might happen slowly enough that we adapt well to them, or we might just blow ourselves up. Even if our species never falls into a place where ::SPOILER ALERT:: we need an overactive AI forcing us to compete in a quest simulation, it was a fun concept to play with. The ending was pretty cheesy (why I gave it a "liked it" rating) and sort of took the stakes away from whatever stakes the characters were playing against - almost akin to an "it was all a dream" ending, but the book was still a fun read.

[Sean Randall · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a reason I can't quite pin down, I found myself totally, utterly absorbed into this book. The meld of concepts - generational spaceship with strange, mystical apparitions worthy of a fantasy novel - was a pull. Most of Hawke's stuff I quite take to, but this just hit a spot for me and I found it a pleasant little gem.

[Sena Public · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well--interesting concept. I think it shows a decent grasp of human nature and how it would respond to cultural conditioning to suppress its natural instincts and functions. Or, at least, theories thereof. The writing, however, is somewhat immature, distracting from the story.