Customer Reviews

Beloved Son

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The first starship returns from a 40-year voyage to find Earth's society completely changed. The commander, a kind of genetic superman (but not telepathic, as the Amazon capsule summary has it), hopes to seize power. It's a society at once saner and more dangerous than our own--one where private autos are banned, but a person can be enslaved instantly through the use of drugs that can be applied to any paper or other surface that comes into contact with the skin. This is a remarkable and original book from a stylish, talented author. I've just finished Samuel Delany's "Triton," and "Beloved Son" is reminiscent of Delany's style, though perhaps not quite so difficult--Turner conveys ideas in shorthand, and makes the reader do a lot of thinking. Why only 4 stars? A little too much shorthand for me, plus a tendency to shift the story's viewpoint around among several characters, none of whom are particularly likable. But this was a pleasant surprise, as I had never heard of the book or author.

George Turner's Beloved Son is another of his books dealing with an outsider coming back and coming into conflict with a society that has changed and evolved while he has been away.

After a decades long mission to the stars, a genetically advanced superman returns to the planet Earth, looking to be the man in charge.