Vaneglory

by George Turner

told how the world was given atomic power and chose the atom bomb, was given the key to genetic miracles and chose biological warfare.The world was lucky the first time; enough of it remained for salvaging in a few decades. It was simply unfortunate that in those difficult years a new menace arose—the offer of dreams-come-true in this world, here and now. There was a price of course. What World Council could not realize—and did not properly query—was the immensity of the price, but the offer was one nobody in his right mind could refuse. Or could he?Psychiatrist James Lindley recognized the danger of dealing with the Devil but fanatical Police Controller Parker saw it as the Gift of God; Angus, whose name and face changed as often as his coat, saw it as a fine game to be played, while Commissioner Ferendija saw it as an exercise in pragmatism—and Security Tech Sanders lost everything he believed in as the welter of guilt and disillusionment swallowed him whole.Under the pressure of decision the cracks showed in the highest echelons of the proud Ethical Culture. Is there a benefit so great that, if the price were the end of homo sapiens , we would pay it?George Turner's Beloved Son was the first volume in what is now recognized as on of the outstanding science fiction achievements of the past decade. Vaneglory> is its successor; and, though completely self-contained, it develops with gripping imaginative brilliance the characters and situations already established in Beloved Son—From the dust jack flap, 1st edition

Genres: Science Fiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1983

About the author

George Turner was born and educated in Melbourne. He served in the Australian Imperial Forces during the Second World War.

Prior to writing science fiction, he had a well established reputation as mainstream literary fiction writer, his most productive period being from 1959 to 1967, during which he published five novels. Over a decade after his previous publication of a full length work of fiction, he published his first science fiction novel, 'Beloved Son' (1978).

George Turner was named as a Guest of Honor for Aussiecon Three, the 1999 World Science Fiction Convention held in Melbourne, but died before the event.

Reviews

[Simon Mcleish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally published on my blog here in January 2002.

Set mainly a few years later than Beloved Son, Vaneglory is about another discovery from the past which threatens the new world order that has developed in the recovery from apocalypse. The exception to the recovery is the British Isles, which were destroyed by being covered in radioactive dust, and where the first part of the novel is set on the eve of this catastrophe. A small group escapes on the last possible flight to Australia, including several members of the "Company" - a society built up through the ages of immortals (who appear as natural human mutations). On their arrival, a shooting occurs, and those who do not escape are stored in cold sleep at the biological research laboratory at Gangoil. (This is because the director of the institute is killed so that no one knows the reason for the deaths.)

Vaneglory would be more interesting as a novel if the ground it covers were not so much the same as that of Beloved Son. Both are about the fragility of the seemingly utopian new world order in the face of temptations of new knowledge, in the one case telepathy and in the other immortality. (Immortality suggests the title, from Dunbar's Lament for the Makeris, a poem whose most famous line is Timor mortis conturbat me - the fear of death disturbs me.) Both are about the psychological reality behind the facade and how ordinary decent people can be driven into committing atrocities. It is too similar to be as good as its predecessor, but would certainly be worth reading as a novel if on its own.

[bluetyson]

isbn,original

[Nancy]

reread January 2008