Customer Reviews

2050 Gods of Little Earth

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I discovered Frank Herbert's Dune novels as a teen and they made such an impression on me that I read and reread them. Although Gods of Little Earth reminded me of the Dune series, the story is vastly different and highly original. This book is the first installment of a planned trilogy.

I think the book reads better if the surprises are left in, so I won't add a lot of detail on the plot and characters. I will say that J. Zornado has created a whole and believable dystopian world, and as the predicted singularity approaches, I can only hope and pray that our world will not go down the same path.

I was deeply moved by this work. I do want to warn readers that it gets very painful at points, but it's near impossible to put the book down. J. Zornado keeps you guessing and doesn't make anything obvious.

The story of J. Zornado's 2050: Gods of Little Earth is an old one-- about jealousy, vengeance, desire for power and control-- but it's told in a new way. The story takes place in two worlds--one similar to our world in our near future and the other a desolate post-apocalyptic distant future. Zornado masterfully shifts the narrative from past to present, offering a rich and realistic rendering of various characters, along with their histories and back-stories, in the novel.

Right from the first page of 2050 you get the feeling that something has gone terribly wrong. The setting is barren and inhospitable. There's an overabundance of sun and heat, and a serious lack of water. The main character, Vilb, sets out on a journey to find answers about himself, his world, and his place in the world. We feel Vilb's shock and horror when he learns about his ancestors and how things came to be the way they are in his world. Our world in 2007--with global warming, global dimming, social injustice, political pandering, advancement for advancement's sake, and `bigger is better' attitude--seems eerily similar to the world of Vilb's ancestors. I think that's why it was so hard to stop reading. The possibility of this new world seems so realistic that it makes me wonder if years from now we'll reflect on Zornado's prophetic vision the way we discuss Orwell's.

I was surprised by the way this book drew me in. 2050 made me laugh, cry, scream, and think. I look forward to reading more by J. Zornado.

There certainly is a quiet intensity to J. Zornado's 2050. As you begin reading you are transported to a world similar to one found in Herbert's Dune. It's a place where every day is lived on a knife's edge; every day one has to do whatever is necessary to survive. Yet, to Vilb, the main protagonist, the harsh setting, scarcity of food and water, and the effort it takes to simply exist all seem quite routine; routine but desperate. Vilb's life is thrown into turmoil when he meets a strange young girl, and begins a journey of self-discovery that also reveals truths about the world he lives in and how things came to be. Vilb learns about his ancestors, and the technological advances, and the social, political, and environmental upheaval that lead to the downfall of their civilization. While Vilb learns about ancient history we see what could very well be in our near future.

Zornado has packed a lot of information into 2050. While reading you are transported to two different worlds, and each world is expertly crafted. You feel you could, indeed, travel to these destinations. Every detail has been tended to. Unlike a lot of sci-fi or speculative fiction, 2050 is character driven. Vilb is someone you've met, or maybe he's like you. He has issues and urges, and he carries baggage with him from his past. There are ideas on religion, history, the environment, and technology that are woven throughout the story that stuck with me after I completed 2050. It definitely made me look at technology, and technological and medical "advances" somewhat differently. Also, there's a bit of dark humor in the story that I appreciated, as well. It is a good read, and a great story.

When I picked up 2050 Gods of little earth I didn't know what to except, the characters drew me in immediately and I could not put the book down .The dreams did make me think how many past lives do we have in our subconscious screaming to be heard? Are they working in harmony or at war with each other? I can't wait to read volume two.

J. Zornado's 2050: Gods of Little Earth is a dark, yet comic story about a world gone terrible wrong. The land is barren, water is scarce. The people have adapted by banding together into intolerant societies that banish and kill outsiders. The main character, Vilb, sets out on a quest to understand his peoples' history but learns more than he ever wanted to know. It is a well-crafted story that keeps the pages turning and the reader guessing.

I am a science fiction fan when the story poses an interesting question with charismatic characters. 2050 poses many questions; about the nature of reality, about blind obedience, about what is consciousness and about global climate change. Yet they are packaged into characters and settings that we easily identify; struggles with parenting, ambition to succeed or the belief that scientific advance is good. I found the story both compelling and haunting in its possibilities. I am eagerly awaiting the second book of the trilogy and sincerely hope that the future described in it is not quite so bleak.

In 2050, Joe Zornado utilizes the most familiar elements of the fantasy/quest narrative (i.e. a magic item, an evil from beyond seeking corporeal form, a long walk, a chosen one, etc.) to weave a complex story of identity and civilization. I closed this book and felt as if my sub-atomic array was thoroughly disrupted. Perhaps influenced from beyond. I was trying to understand how I came to feel as freaked out as I did - without giving the ending away, while it is powerful, it does not end on an all-out horror moment. Nevertheless, I had to go for a walk and think about it, and as I did, I came to the following conclusions:

- the gods of little earth, while sketched out perfectly for their place and time in the novell, and as literary creations, are familiar because they are the gods of our own earth, too. The world of 2050, and beyond, is our world. It's disturbing because it is so familiar. The excuses used, the reasons given, the petty personality politics among them - all with deadly and epic repercussions - this is our daily cultural intercourse. We are plunging headlong into the world of 2050 and - to borrow a metaphor from Daniel Quinn's Ishmael - since we don't know any better, we are mistakening our break into civilizational free-fall as a quickening of our velocity brought on by our own cleverness.

- the violence and trauma at the heart of the sci-fi premise of the book (or one of them, I should say) is the undiagnosed violence and trauma at the heart of our culture and civilization. In private conversation with the author (full disclosue: Joe Z and I are friends) he once said, in response to criticism he received for focusing on the adult domination of the child as a major underpinning of our cultural worldview (i.e. our will, proven over and over anon, to genocide and suicide) (paraphrased) "we are a genocidal culture - I just think we should pay some attention to how this culture of genocide is transmitted as idea and paradigm to our children." A reasonable suggestion! Here, then, in 2050, is a metaphorical presentation of how we transmit this idea to the next generation.

- Here, too, is a metaphorical presentation of the construction of identity, of the working out of unexamined premises from the micro writ large (and violently) across the macro. As I walked around and tried to shake the cackle of Quadros Prang and the far-reaching and sinister imposition of Levinthal from my imagination, I realized they'd always been there. They are barnacles to the pier of Ego/ Identity I have constructed around my own pain and trauma - hence, the "disruption of field" feeling I had when closing this book.

At one point towards the beginning, Vilb and Oneira are resting on their journey and bemoaning their fate. Vilb asks her what this life is, and she responds, "Weeping dust... and voices in my head." A more poeticly disturbing diagnosis of Life on Planet Earth - regardless of context - you'd be hard-pressed to find.

Not that Gods... is all gloom and doom. A warning, certainly, a fully-realized re-enactment of the last days we seem hell-bent on creating, sure. But an element of dark humor circulates amidst the peoples of Little Earth, or at least among their cruel overseers, the "little gods." These moments come in surprising places and sometimes work best on a meta-level. One of many examples (minor spoiler to follow): one of the little gods, Azu, has a cerebral implant which allows him to access what can be described as "the mega-internet" - when trying to initially bring Simon "online" he is described as wrestling with something invisible, "out just beyond the end of his nose." Directly in front of his face, in other words.

Again, regardless of context, what could we possibly be wrestling with that is so obvious - right in front of our noses, even - that may be leading us down a path to the world of 2050?

It's difficult to imagine a more successful way for the author to convey these uncomfortable ideas to the reader while more-than-holding his/ her interest with a cinematic and colorful adventure narrative. I greatly look forward to a film or illustrated version of this story. But the crispness of the writing and flow of description and fabulous settings described enable the scenes to flash across your mind as if seeing them in IMAX.

That the human race is knocking on the door of practically every nano/quantum "sci-fi" explored herein (check out any current issue of Scientific American) is no small cause for wonder, speculation, and trepidation.

My highest possible recommendation.

The descriptive craft of Tolkien, the energy and activity of Dune, the science even Clarke and Asimov would buy....all of these and more in J. Zornado's Volume I. An easy read but I couldn't put it down! I can't wait until Volume II is out.