Alternating Worlds

by Gary Wolf

Graham Rohde is one of the most respected art and antique dealers of the twenty-fourth century. Son of an eminent scholar, he is one of the period's leading art historians.Rohde spends his time traveling across the Galaxy, buying and selling rare and valuable objects. After an antique is stolen from an isolated and forgotten planet, he is hired to find the missing piece. He soon discovers that the theft is only one incident in an interplanetary dispute that is mushrooming into a clash of civilizations. A bitter struggle is erupting over the redefinition of humanity, and it may determine the destiny of the Galaxy for millennia to come.He watches as mankind vacillates between two antithetical conceptions of society and human On the one hand, reaching for the summit of creativity and intellectual proficiency through ever-greater accomplishments in arts and letters; on the other, the preplanned distribution of physical attributes, intelligence, and ideas among the population-a world in which individual genius is banished from life.As he faces the growing danger, Rohde resolves to decipher the outstanding enigma of his Why are people willing, even eager, to attain an existence without spontaneity, without the free and unfettered evolution of the human spirit?

190 pages, Paperback

First published December 23, 2004

Reviews

[Avanders · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is true sci-fi, taking place in the far future on spaceships and other planets. I think the book's biggest challenge in gaining the readership it deserves is the first ten pages and the cover. The cover seems to indicate (and did indicate to anyone who saw me reading the book) that it is a new age book, not a "space opera" with bad guys and wars. The first ten pages unfortunately centers around the weakest dialogue---that between the main character, Rohde, and his first mate, Jensen.

However, once I started page 11, the page numbers became insignificant as the story developed. An antique art historian and art dealer is an unlikely hero, but he has enough gusto to overcome his trade.

Wolf does a great job creating relatively vivid characters and an intriguing plot. At times I felt that the parallels between the political struggles in the book and in our current world were a bit obvious, but turned the pages all the same to find out how it resolved itself in the future. I thought the concept of a planet that seeks to give full, fair, and equal credit to all of the beliefs of all of the people since (the dawn of?) time was an incredibly creative and fascinating concept, and I was particularly impressed by the paradox of true alternance that arises near the end of the book (not wanting to spoil anything, I refrain from further explanation).

The personal stories of and the dialogue between Rohde and Jensen were just a bit too "normal" (boring). But the story line, the tension within the main story, and even the conversations between people of different planets made those Rohde-Jensen conversations minor blips.

I recommend to sci-fi fans and *strongly* urge to move beyond the cover and the first 10 pages if those are, indeed, obstacles. A great sci-fi read!