Fractal Mode

Mode #2

by Piers Anthony

Saved from death at the hands of the Emperor Ddwng, would-be lovers Colene and Darius and their companions—Provos, a woman who remembers only the future, and Seqiro, a telepathic horse—stumble into yet another dangerous reality where despots rule with a cruel and heavy hand. Held captive, the friends must combine their unusual talents in a daring escape that leads them on adventure after adventure with intriguing characters—some threatening, some friendly. Among them: Angus, the adorable flying giant; Nona, the lovely and magical “ninth of the ninth”; Slick, the gangster with a death sentence; and the Megaplayers, mysterious musicians of old whose giant instruments still dot the landscape.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Young Adult, Speculative Fiction, Magic

302 pages, Hardcover

First published January 9, 1992

About the author

Though he spent the first four years of his life in England, Piers never returned to live in his country of birth after moving to Spain and immigrated to America at age six. After graduating with a B.A. from Goddard College, he married one of his fellow students and and spent fifteen years in an assortment of professions before he began writing fiction full-time.

Piers is a self-proclaimed environmentalist and lives on a tree farm in Florida with his wife. They have two grown daughters.

Reviews

[Kaylynn Johnsen · Rating 2 out of 5]

As ever the science is exciting, even though it is math based. But, the girl and her earth life just leave me sad.

[Rodeweeks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazingly well written and interesting. It kept me on the point of my chair like a good movie would have and a few times I thought the heroes are not going to make it. I did not understand much of the mathematics or mathematical philosophy, but I enjoyed the book so much that this did not matter. Can't wait for the next Mode

[John (Hey Y'all Listen Up) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anthony at his finest. Interesting and well paced story.

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read the first one waaaaay back and then got out of the Piers Anthony 'thing'. Picked this up used when I saw it, read three chapters and flung it away, might use it as bird cage liner, if I had a bird. Anthony writes sex, bad sex, boring sex meant to represent first teenage attempts at passion but with no depth. His words are sawdust. I've read a few others by him and I'm disappointed in my teenage self for loving them so much.Anthony is a pervert,a really boring one. There I said it. ugh.

[Willuknight Stewart · Rating 2 out of 5]

I first read this series 16 or so years ago, and at the time I enjoyed Piers Anthony greatly, and this series greatly. Coming back around, the series doesnt hold up.

After rating the previous book a 4, with some pretty serious caveats, I'm going to rate this one a 2. The worst part was that it spent so long in this fractal reality that just ended up being super boring. There's only so novel big and small people can get, and it seems like a really shitty way to explore such a rediclious concept.

Also the entire book plot revolving around a society where either woman dominate or. Men dominate? Wow, It doesn't surprise me at all that Piers Anthony could dream that up, he has such a toxic view of feminism he would see it as a binary outcome.

My favorite part of this book was when Colene left to go back to earth, but even that doesn't make much sense. How is it that the last books entire plot revolves around Colene going from Earth to Darius's world and not making it there, but in this book, she goes to Darius's world and back to earth and back to the Fractal world, as nothing more than a side quest? Stupid. Some great insights by Colene as she solves Slicks problems, probably the iy real decent chapter of this story.

The only other good part was the battle of wills with the rabble challenges, but even that feels like a stereotypical game of wits that we've seen a million times from Piers Anthony.

Overall, a nothing book, and I'm really over how obsessed with jealousy Colene is, and how obsessed with women's bodies Darius is. Absolutely pathetic.

The only reason this isn't a 1 star is because of the mentioned parts which were at least an interesting read. Up until that point, this book was a chore to read.

[Christina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall, readable, but very gross. A man in his 30s in a relationship with a teenager. Excessive and super repetitive (beat you over the head with it) talk of suicide and self-harm. Absolutely no sense of subtlety, which at a certain point comes off as either bad writing, or just sort of insulting.
Previously, I have found Piers Anthony to be a least moderately enjoyable, but this series has me reluctant to pick up more of his books.
The best part of the book overall is the main character's imaginary horse's name (Maresy Doats) - it is so ridiculous that it's genuinely pretty funny. Otherwise, I would consider this book a waste of time.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rereading as an adult - way too much sexuality on an underage child. Plus we have sex abuse on a young girl. it seems the focus of this series is on forced sex for women (and in the case of the Rabble, then men as well). I am struggling to get through this series to see what finally happens between Colene and Darius - I am hoping that she regains some self-esteem and realizes that she deserves a lot more than what he is offering her.

[Kate H · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this series many years ago when it was originally published. While there were most definitely aspects I felt did not stand up to the test of time in general I did enjoy re-reading this series. The characters have very clear points they are trying to portray and I like the scienc"ish" bits in it.

[SraPanadera · Rating 1 out of 5]

Zero stars. Worse than the first one. Self-indulgent (0n the part of the author), confused drivel.

[Destiny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this author, so much imagination.

[Cyrix Instead · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[J Grimsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good fantasy which is well worth reading

[Jeff Daniell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Annoying

[Johnny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Expanding on the story of Colene, the suicidal teen from Earth, who falls in love with Darius, the Cyng of Hlahtar from another reality, and accompanies Seqiro, the telepathic horse from yet another reality, along with Provos, the woman from a reality where people only “remember” the future as opposed to the past, Fractal Mode is a work of “imaginative fiction” that is far more worthy of note than the attention it has garnered thus far. At first, I had thought that I was ignorant of the series but that other Piers Anthony fans would be in the know. Then, I had a copy of Fractal Mode sitting beside my computer bag in my faculty office and a colleague muttered, “I thought I’d read everything by him, but I never heard of this one.” See, I’m not the only one!
But why is this story worthy of note? I believe it is important because it offers strong female protagonists who don’t initially seem like they would be strong. The first novel introduced Colene, an early teen who struggled with emotional neglect from her parents and a dark secret of rape that caused her for feel dirty and suicidal. Fractal Mode introduces us to a beautiful, intelligent, artistic, and curious woman named Nona, who symbolizes the struggle between animus and anima in the most Jungian sense, as well as another young girl with every reason to give up because of suffering physical, emotional, and sexual abuse from her stepfather.

In a very unsubtle way, Anthony seems to be using this series to rage against the stereotypical male-dominant conquest versus female nurture paradigm. To be sure, the female protagonists have nurturing capacity, but they also have the ability to act boldly, take risks, and reassess their attitudes. This isn’t your typical fantasy novel set-up. Perhaps, that’s why my male colleague and I hadn’t heard of the series before. Then, again, maybe it’s because the covers for this series look like paintings left over from a “My Little Pony” advertising campaign.
Frankly, even though I comment about the childish, feminine nature of the cover art, there is nothing childish about the books. There are adult discussions and situations. These are not YA novels. These are well-hewn sculptures of social possibilities, some of which are downright insidious if they were implemented. This series is not designed as a female Harry Potter.

Fractal Mode explores the idea of the multiverse as a series of sets within a Mandelbrot Set. Anthony admits he was inspired by James Glueck’s wonderful non-fiction work, Chaos, and I was delighted because I found that book (as the newer The Information) to be incredibly insightful and useful. Indeed, much of the story seems to be a new assertion of the truism that things are necessarily what they seem. To illustrate that theme, consider Colene’s testimony about her encounter with one of Van Ghogh’s Arles prints. “I mean, I’m no painter, but I could do as well as that. I saw the guy had just spread bands of color sideways across the canvas, and then dabbed splotches of color on to represent flowers. He didn’t even try to shape them; they were just blobs. …I figured he spent maybe ten minutes on the whole thing.” (p. 217) And then, she confesses that, after looking at the painting a lot, her perception changed. “I caught a glimpse of it from afar, those splotches really did look like flowers: my imagination filled them in the way I thought they should be and it was better than meticulous detail would have been. …Maybe a critic would see only the quickly clumsy brush strokes and the places where bare canvas showed through, but a real person can see the garden and just about smell the flowers.” (p. 218) That little anecdote could just about reflect the theme of the entire book.

Fractal Mode is full of imaginative life-forms, strange cultures, and intriguing possibilities, but Anthony doesn’t sacrifice his characters or his story on the altar of world-building. Fractal Mode is a compelling enough story that I’m actively seeking the third novel, Chaos Mode. I just can’t believe this one slipped past my awareness until now.

[Jemma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read 'Fractal Mode', the second of the 'Mode' series by Anthony, because I really enjoyed the first. However, this second book was far less stimulating, plot-wise, and was very repetitive. The author spent a great deal of time recounting every specific important thing about every character that we learned in the first book. Understandable, as some books do this to remind you of the previous book in case it has been a while since you read it. Unfortunately, Anthony then went on to repeat these repetitions throughout the second book! Either Anthony has a bad memory/editor, or thinks his readers are stupid.

I have purchased the third and fourth books of the 'Mode' series, so in order to honour that purchase I will eventually read them. You can imagine I am not rushing to open them as my next read.

The story itself is, if not overly stimulating, still interesting in its concept. Nona, a new anchor-person in a new Mode, has a great magical destiny which involves all our main characters when they get stuck in Nona's reality. We see subterranean humanoids who desperately want to join those living on the surface. Colene is forced to face the fact that she ran away from home, and gains two Earth friends in the process.

I felt that Piers Anthony, whilst immersing himself in the science of Fractals, overlooked the importance of the plot and character development somewhat. How unfortunate, after a promising start to the series.

[Jessa Costelo]

Piers Anthony has always been by favorite writer ever since. The way he presented his science fiction writings, really gives me the compass-like mind. Pointing to where he is heading the story, mostly in different angles and dimensions all the time. The book is good in mixing the 'fairytale-like' love story and mind stirring fictional scientific facts. Nona, the ninth of the ninth child... Colene, the suicidal 14-year old girl... Both in love with Darius, their magical prince charming. Sequiro is a totally different kind of horse, who can do telepathy and mind reading. Provos, the woman who can only remember the future. All of the five characters are the main anchor points in crossing realities. Each of them resembles a unique truth in reality behind every cloak of fantasy.
The characters have their own stands on their anchor points. Each fulfilling a role, so essential to their plan. If you're looking for a book that will make you believe the possibility of E.T or the existence of another world, I dare you read this and get anxious about what will happen next as the need for sleep arises. Perfectly a good book for youngsters who believe in fairytale-like endings, but who wanted to live in the bitterness of reality. Helplessly enjoyable and page flipper indeed! :D

[Brendan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book significantly better than the first one in the series. The characters and their relationships are more developed, and more time is spent on some of the interesting mathematical and theoretical elements.





So my biggest complaint with the first book was that Colene was kind of one-dimensional, and really not very likeable to boot. That actually changes in this book, particularly when she's helping Esta and Slick. You get to see that she's still suicidal, but also self-aware and starting to mature past it, to the point where she can help other people, and demonstrate some more protagonistic qualities. You really get the feeling that there's more to Slick than just a killer with a soft spot too. Provos really gets some more development here as well.

It's not perfect, as the story still wanders a bit in places. The Kara and Earle story was longer than it needed to be, and kind of boring as well. Stave is kind of a throwaway character, and though a resolution is implied, the story ends with him still trapped as a love-slave for the rabble, as far as I can tell.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book continues the Mode series that started quite promising with Virtual Mode. This story was ok-ish, but not as convincing as the first book, for several reasons: first of all the fractal universe, based on Mandelbrot sets, clearly captured the imagination of the author, and a lot of time is spent navigating it, going from smaller scale to larger scale worlds, and influencing the 'animus' and 'anima', male and female spirits that power magic in this universe. For me this was all a bit too far-fetched e.g. the upended laws of physics (and why are planets based on fractals, but their inhabitants still humans instead of bugs?). Secondly Seqiro the telepathic horse is simply overpowered in the setting, and the rulers in this setting didn't even come close to being a credible threat, even more so when others in the group added their superpowers. And then it's always hard for the successor book in a new series to be as fresh as the first one. Anyway, it was still an entertaining read, in particular the parts where the group resumed traveling the virtual mode / metaverse (the trip back to earth and its dark aspects in particular). Up to the next one!

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a reader who greatly prefers Anthony's sci-fi over his fantasy work, I found this a disappointment. Typically his novels will mix elements of both, but some lean more in one direction than the other, and this one leans almost entirely toward fantasy. (This despite its intriguing title, which was what inspired me to pick up my copy -- cheap and on a whim -- at a used book store.) Not my cup of tea, although those who prefer Anthony's fantasy novels may, understandably, feel differently. On the plus side, the type of boorishness which mars some of his other works is absent here, prompting me to award one extra star for good behavior.

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this one and looking forward to the next.

Five special people are the anchor points to a path across parallel universes. There is Darius, of the sympathetic magic…Nona, the ninth child of a ninth child…Seqiro, the telepathic horse…Provos, who remembers only the future…and Colene, the girl from Earth who learned that all dreams are possible.

Held captive in Nona's home universe, Colene and her friends must help fulfill a dangerous prophecy—that one day women will take the power of magic away from the cruel men who control it. But first, Nona must cross the barrier to another universe…to that strange and unpredictable place called Earth.

[Raquel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fractal world was wonderfully interesting and I enjoy the adventure the virtual mode offers. But... The misogyny is just so much. The way male and female desires and relationships are portrayed is just so 1950's.

I'm rereading this series and plan to send the books on to a new home after having done so. I originally read them when I was very young and didn't know any better. I'm now very sad that I read these before I was old enough to know better.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fairly good but dated story. While on the Virtual Mode the characters end up in a universe based on fractals. I enjoy fantasy, but I found myself saying, come on, that is NOT the way that would happen. If you can get passed the dated computer stuff and the unrealistic characters, it's an okay story.

[Robyn]

Read in 1992 when it was new.

Nothing in particular to add to my review of Virtual Mode, the first book in the series. No star reviews for these because I read them so long ago, and my opinion is so divided that it would be nearly impossible anyway.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of the first real science fiction books that I ever read. One of the main characters is a girl who has a pretty screwed up sense of self (she's a cutter) who travels through parallel dimensions and meets friends along the way.

[Michael Riversong · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took a while to visualize the nature of this alternate reality, where everything is arrayed in fractal patterns along connecting filaments. it's quite a concept, which along with a telepathic horse and lots of magic can certainly serve to expand one's mind.

[Aven · Rating 2 out of 5]

An intriguing premise, but too complex for me to really visualise (the fractal universe) and so it felt like too much of the time was spent explaining it. This is also the middle of a trilogy, and I haven't read the first or last books; that might help. But not one of my favourite's of his.

[Shan Winslow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty decent follow-up to the first book in the series. Some parts were a bit hard to understand and went far over my head, but overall I still enjoyed the story and want to see where the journey takes these characters.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would never have picked fantasy on my own, and I haven't read any fantasy since my aunt gave me Fractal Mode and Virtual Mode, but I liked the stories. I especially liked the main girl in the book, she was a kind of fantasy too. ;)

[Pandanator · Rating 4 out of 5]

piers anthony is a great storyteller. very strange, somewhat off his rocker... but a great storyteller.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

good one