The Third Force: A Novel of Gadget

by Marc Laidlaw

The Third Force is a compelling, superb work of science fiction by a writer of extraordinary gifts who takes us on a journey through a dark and disturbing vision of reality.

For those already familiar with the CD-ROM, as well as for those just getting introduced to the world of Gadget, this entirely new and original work will add new characters and a new story line to the Gadget universe.

Genres: Science Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1996

Reviews

[Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Third Force has been on my To-Read Shelf for years. When first I saw this book at my local Bookworm (used book store), I felt a certain energy...I read the first page or two and proceeded to purchase this unassuming book of science fiction.

Years later, and 150 pages in, I am drawn into a world where The Socialistic Republic and the Totalitarian Empire are waging a constant War--for your mind!

[more to come...]

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Half-life, innit

[Samantha Potvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

My biggest criticism of this book is that it's too short for the number of important characters and moving parts going on, which is in itself a compliment because I enjoyed what was there enough to want to read more. I've been told by someone who had a bit of correspondence with Laidlaw that he was under a time limit to write this book, and that makes a lot of sense to me because of how rushed parts of it feel, especially the last act, which ends almost as soon as it starts.

Some characters and plot points will seem important at first but will get dropped (for example, a character named Bernard is given a lot of focus in the first act but then disappears for 2/3rds of the story until the epilogue; plus, the titular Third Force don't have as much of a presence as you would think), and there's several different POVs that are constantly being juggled to the point where it gets jarring, not to mention how big the cast itself is, meaning some main characters inevitably fall by the wayside.

My speculation is that despite being able to tell his own standalone story separate to the rest of the GADGET series, Laidlaw still probably had to at least acknowledge most of the characters and concepts from the game and art book. The lack of personalities and development for the game characters isn't an issue because the story there was fine-tuned to be as cold and alienating as possible, but for a story where you're supposed to be invested in these people, the rushed storytelling makes that kind of difficult.

Still, Laidlaw put in a valiant effort, and the best part of the book by far is the interplay between Elena Hausmann, Theodore Slowslop, and Paulo Orlovsky. For the latter, Laidlaw puts a unique spin on the Big Brother-esque dictator character and turns what was a generic evil leader in the game and art book into a much creepier threat, without making that plot point gratuitously gross, and the mind games Elena has to play with him and Slowslop were the anchor keeping my interest up. This does have the unfortunate side effect of making Louis Hausmann, the original protagonist from the game, feel sort of unnecessary, he's just kinda there and doesn't have much to do until the end. I would have preferred having Elena and Louis be co-protagonists and to have Louis's motivations explored more.

Despite its flaws, I appreciate The Third Force for expanding on some characters like Slowslop and Orlovsky along with fleshing out the setting more. For any big Half-Life fans out there, I would highly recommend reading this book to see where certain characters and plot elements like the G-Man, Alyx Vance, and Xen got their inspiration.

[Hex75 · Rating 3 out of 5]

non è il migliore tra i romanzi di laidlaw che ho letto: un omaggio incasinato a philip dick, alla sua dialettica tra ciò che è reale e ciò che è immaginato (in questo lo si potrebbe quasi leggere come un remake di "ubik"), senza però la sua poetica geniale. insomma, a volte si gira a vuoto, alcuni personaggi sembrano promettere più di quanto mantengano (su tutti l'ambiguo slowslop, che a forza di fare il misterioso non si capisce più cosa è...) e in generale mi sembra ci sia poco controllo sulla trama.
ah, l'ho pure trovato faticoso da seguire.
insomma, un libro da dimenticare se si era fan de "una famiglia nucleare" e "kalifornia", due suoi romanzi decisamente migliori...

[Sally]

science fiction. local SFO writer. Have just picked up. Was in my stack to
read!

[John Kowalczyk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh... don't waste your time.