Customer Reviews

In the Country of the Blind

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4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

One of the usually less successful types of science fiction story (in my opinion) is the "secret history" story, in which the plot turns on events that most of us don't know about -- things we aren't *supposed* to know about, secret things that allow some individual or group to (usually) rule the world. Generally, the key events or relationships that give the secret group its power are a little too pat, a little too coincidental, and the stories usually are not believable. Asimov's Foundation trilogy was an exception, up to a point, and so was Wilson & Shea's Illuminati triology. And now, so is this novel.

The early 19th century was a time of amateur gentleman scholars who thought that if you could only gather enough information, enough data, about people and society at large, you could work out policies that would improve everyone's lot in life. According to Flynn, a small group of those do-gooders in New England (1) managed to develop a mathematical approach to social engineering, (2) got Babbage's engine to work, and (3) began to do something about the state of the world. And they've been at it ever since. Only, they're really not very good at it.

Flynn has a real knack for the language and he seems to know his history. The "fulcra" he selects, the points where a small change might tip the course of events in quite a different direction, are quite reasonable, and he'll tell you exactly why. The characters are believable and three-dimensional and often sympathetic, even the bad guys. And coincidence is kept to a minimum. There's lots of juicy quotes in this one, too. This book was recommended to me by a friend several years ago, but I've only just gotten around to reading it -- and now I have to go see what else Flynn has written!

Michael Flynn's "In the Country of the Blind" is set primarily in the present (ca. 1990, so some of its computer 'net lingo is remarkably dated after only ten years), with intriguing and illuminating flashbacks to the 1800's. The flashbacks are about a small group of idealists deciding to utilize the theories of Charles Babbage, build Babbage Analytical Engines and use mathematical models to chart the likely course of future events, and -- ultimately -- to modify the undesirable outcome they foresaw: a United Germany armed with unimaginably powerful bombs in 1939. To forestall this eventuality, the "Charles Babbage Society" began taking an active part in history by engineering key historic events, such as the permanent "deletion" of Abraham Lincoln from their equations. . . . Flash forward to the 20th Century when the novel's heroine innocently stumbles upon century-old records of the group -- and evidence that they are still active -- very, very, VERY active she learns as she suddenly finds herself hunted by assassins and everyone she knows begins disappearing or dying as the heirs of the Society strive to preserve the Secret that for more than a century they have engineered wars and assasinations and negative social trends for what seems to be their own advantage. This is a very intellectually stimulating book (as well as a fair thriller) and a good steampunk adventure, but the ending is acutely disappointing. Without spoiling the ending, suffice it to say that it is abrupt and MANY sub-plots (literally!) are left unresolved. "In the Country of the Blind" cries out for republication (the Ayn Rand-like philosophical discussions about history, politics, and the control of society are FAR more relevant today than they were even ten years ago) and the book really needs a sequel to tie up its loose ends and bring the discussions of the major characters to bear upon themes which proved to be sadly prophetic.

Yeah, yeah, it was a good read, but I had several problems with this book. Not with the science, but with the fiction. There were too many characters in the book. It did read like a serial, every chapter a substory that was ultimately linked by a common character. I had to keep marginal notes to remember who was who and how they fit in. I also had a real problem with our hero. Ms. Beaumont was just too heroic. Was there anything she did not know, or could not do? As a mature Black woman I am attracted to books with characters like me, but jeez, this woman could do everything and do it well. If this is a story about a regular citizen caught up in a situation of life and death, she is just too calm and collected. I also had problems with our male hero. Mr. Malone seemed to be more concerned, more questioning, more nervous about what was going on and he was the experienced professional. The characters were too sketchy, too good or too bad. Too sterotypical, like Mr. Collingwood from the fop to the cool leader, to be credible. I think the most interesting part went to Mr. French, the thread that tied all the motives together. Ah, if only we had followed his story from beginning to end. Speaking of the ending, the book just seemed to stop. Oh well, I guess I was tired of reading it by then anyway.

I purchased Michael Flynn's "In the Country of the Blind" on the say so of a few positive reviews right here on Amazon. I'm not sure why it even came up on my Amazon radar screen; the book suggestions here often seem as randomly generated as a roll of the dice. Perhaps it was because I profess to enjoy Tim Powers, whose oeuvre consists of similar history-bending themes. Maybe it was because I happened to stumble across a Harry Turtledove book or two. Who knows?

For that matter, who cares? When a book is this good, maybe I should just thank divine providence for sending it my way. Or, um, maybe the Babbage Society.

When Sarah Beaumont accidentally stumbles across some old machinery and a list of obscure historical dead ends, she thinks little of it. But when people around her begin dying or disappearing, she comes to the conclusion that her finds have greater importance. She learns through her researches that she has inadvertently set a secret society bent on predicting and controlling the future in motion to silence her.

From this interesting premise springs an intriguing book that works on a number of levels, each weaving in and out of the others into a tight tapestry. While some fans of this book promote it as an example of "secret history" (books that take an existing bit of history and make up a fictional reason for its occurrence), "In the Country of the Blind" barely deals with this subject. Instead, the bulk is more like a spy novel a la John LeCarre, with a framework of historical meddling by the Babbage Society. It is a bizarre love story. It is a novel of awakening. And, importantly, it is a novel of ideas. If you could change the future, would you? What if it required the death of an innocent in order to save thousands? What if it required the death of thousands to prevent the deaths of millions? What if you just wanted to make a few bucks in the stock market?

Flynn handles these disparate parts well, giving each its due and creating a satisfying novel. He is remarkably evenhanded in his examination of the ethics of engineering the future, allowing every conceivable argument of which I could think (and a few that didn't even occur to me) a fair shot at representation. His writing style is not necessarily the most skilful, producing many odd clunkers or awkward sentences, but the overall effect is nice, smooth. It's an easy read and a good one.

I rarely comment on the reviews of others, but I feel someone should point out to one of my esteemed contemporaries that the woman on the cover of the reissue is, in fact, a black woman, albeit a light-skinned one, so it may as well be me who does so. Ahem. The woman on the cover of the reissue is, in fact, a black woman, albeit a light-skinned one. So there.

I started this novel without a clue and ended it caring about most of the characters. They had become familiar and friendly and I hated to see it end.

Michael Flynn is one of the people (along with Lois McMaster Bujold and Spider Robinson) that I consider the sucessor to Robert A. Heinlein (and yes, it takes at least three people to fill Heinlein's shoes). I was very glad to see that his first novel, In the Country of the Blind, was going to be back in print (will his short story collection, Werehouse, be following I hope I hope I hope).

This novel never got the respect it deserved when first published. It fell "between the cracks" of science fiction and a mainstream thriller. The Babbage Society believes they can mathmatically model the future. If they are correct, the book is Science Fiction. If they are delusional, but still willing to kill to protect their worthless secret, it's a contemporary mainstream thiller. Either way makes no difference to the plot, well-developed characters hold and express both opinions, and the book rides a quantum function without resolving itself into one or the other.

So why didn't it become a crossover hit, popular with fans of both generas? I don't know. Possibly too speculative for the mainstream, not speculative enough for hard SF fans?

Both groups have cheated themselves out of a fantastic read. If you like near-future (now near-past) science fiction OR contemporary techno-thrillers, buy this book, read this book, pass this book along to fans.

Personal note, other reviewers have remarked, unfavorably, on the dust jacket pictures of some of Mr. Flynn's other books. This one continues the unfortunate trend. The central character is a Black woman. On the cover of the paperback we had the metaphorical one-eyed man, now we have a White woman in a cyber-helmet breaking chains. Would it be so wrong to put a Black woman on the cover? Would it be so dificult to have a dust jacket that wasn't mud fence ugly? DEFINITELY do not judge this book by its cover.

An intriguing idea: a conspiratorial science known as "cliology" where the future is predicted by complicated mathematical formulas (on a 19th century device, no less!). Now which way will cliologists go? For instance, will they use their skills merely to prepare for the future, or profit from it, or to try to change it. Or, as here, will competing groups of cliologists have different agendas. Add to the mix an attractive "super woman," Sarah Beaumont, with her many exceptional skills and dogged pursuit of the truth, and you pretty much get the gist of "In the Country of the Blind," a fast paced, page turning novel.

The problem is that Michael Flynn tries to do too much with the material he has to work with. So many plots and sub-plots are introduced that I began to feel overwhelmed by the whole thing and often needed to turn back pages in order to follow all the characters. Ultimately as well, I kept being reminded of all those financial analysts, who, no doubt, feel a certain ability to predict the future, and have largely been proven to be no better at it than the rest of us.

I recommend this book to fans of both the science fiction and conspiracy thriller genres who have no trouble suspending disbelief. And, as mentioned by several reviewers, if this subject is of interest to you, try the superior "Foundation" trilogy by the great Isaac Asimov.

This a fast-paced suspense novel about dueling secret societies each attempting to shape the course of society using applied mathematics. As it turns out, all the secret societies contending in the book have developed a field of study they call "cliology" (a true *science* of history that applies historical/actuarial records to ascertain sociological / political / economic trends that enable predictions about future events). Definitely an interesting premise, and one that's been used previously in science fiction (the most famous example of which would probably be Asimov's "Foundation" series). The book is extremely entertaining and a very easy read. I would it describe it mainly as an adventure/suspense novel spiced up with a few fantastic elements (cliology and its associated "secret history;" normal people turned into assassins with post-hypnotic triggers; arguably, working Babbage machines in the mid-1800s).

The characters are engaging, but I'd have liked to have seen them fleshed out a little more thoroughly. They aren't ciphers by any means, but I almost feel like prior to the start of the novel, they were all loners with few personal interests. I wish that a little more detail had been included on cliology in the text. As it stands, cliology (by design, I suppose) remains largely mysterious. I was also expecting that Babbage machines and "steampunk" elements would play a larger role in the book; some readers may be disappointed to learn that they do not, Babbage machines are mainly just window dressing in the first third of the book. Also, though it's mainly set in the near future / modern day, some of the technology is starting to look a bit dated, an artifact of the book having been first published in 1990.

The setting and characters are crying out for a sequel, as there's a great deal left to explore and the book's finale was very open-ended with no real closure or resolution to the impending conflict. That said, I was satisfied with how things were left at the close of the book, but I would like to see more in a sequel (a prequel about the early days of the Babbage Society would be welcome as well).

This is the first Michael Flynn book that I've read, but it certainly won't be my last. He's an excellent writer with a real gift for plot, pacing, and natural-sounding dialogue.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I read a copy of the first edition of the book, which does not contain the final appendix on cliology which I understand is present in the current edition.)

According to his Preface, this book is a repackaging of previous work: a serial and a separate novelette. He should have left well enough alone. The reason it "was somewhat overlooked when it appeared in 1990..." was not "...perhaps because it debuted as a paperback original," but because it isn't as strong of a story as it could have been.

The basic premise -- predicting trends in human events and then acting upon those trends, is fascinating, as is the underlying theme of how historically-significant events can trace back to focal points that would become far more important than they seemed at the time. The latter was the basis of James Burke's hugely successful Connections series. But whereas Burke connected threads in history, Flynn's direction is deliberate social engineering -- predicting a trend, finding the focal point(s) where a doable nudge in a different direction should result in a completely different, predictable result, and then making that nudge. You could drive human progress in any direction you want, either for benevolent reasons or otherwise, but in any case, amass a lot of money and power along the way.

I find a problem with this premise. Flynn's cliology (as he dubs his social engineering process, drawing from Clio, the Greek Muse of history) just doesn't measure up - not in reality, not even to support a novel. Flynn's cliology is fundamentally actuarial; i.e., predictions based on probabilities derived from intense statistical analyses. He takes it several steps further with the various laws, models, and theories he explains in his appendix, "Introduction to Cliology." He blunts critics who might decry humans' free (i.e., independent variables) will as defying such predictability with examples such as life insurance actuarial tables. These predict for the target population as a whole, not any given individual's death, but their inability to predict at the individual level does not lessen their accuracy and usefulness. I understand what he's trying to do, but I just can't get there. The collective actions of whole populations - millions, if not billions of people, depending upon the target group - over time are just too complex to model. Computational fluid dynamics would be child's play by comparison. Moreover, it runs counter to emergence theory.

He does show human frailty in how cliology would sooner or later rob its practitioners of their humanity, especially if they are a secret cabal, which leads to another shortfall. There are many secret cabals in on the action. I lost track after five had been identified (by page 271, with another 200 pages to go). Only a few played a direct role in the story, but all were there nonetheless. Some were ignorant of the others, some were not; others had died out. No telling how many more there might be since their existence could be predicted by cliologists.

This leads to yet another problem: operational security. These secret groups that manipulated the path of human progress could be extensive in size as well as number. The main group in the story was a coast-to-coast organization with dozens, if not scores, of people knowledgeable to some degree or another of its purpose. The Manhattan Project, certainly among the most secret projects in nation's history (if not THE most secret) was comprised early on. One has to wonder at the likelihood that these cabals could remain secret over time (well over a century in the book), especially since disgruntled members seemed to routinely split off.

Then there's the story's rhythm. Sarah Beaumont, the protagonist, is larger than life -- too many skills, too perceptive, too calm and collected no matter the danger -- and overacted. The book is too long-winded. Flynn's character development is overkill. He could have shaved 100 pages without harm to the storyline, starting with his flat, uninspired denouement. Even his "Introduction to Cliology" essay could have been trimmed. It was interesting at first, and appending it to the end of the novel should have been a nice technique, but it was tedious and by the time I got that far, my interest had flagged beyond the point of no return.

I've often wondered at turning points in history when events seem to inexplicably head off in a perpendicular (orthogonal) direction leading to subsequent events that the trend up to that point did not portend. Take Hitler's decision to halt his ground units from smashing through to the Channel and instead left it to Goring's Luftwaffe to reduce the Allied beachhead around Dunkirk. One can read about Hitler's rationale, but in retrospect it doesn't make sense. What really drove him to that decision? Similar situations abound in history. Flynn missed a great opportunity to take the story in the direction of cliology being a battleground between nations, religions, and ideologies (as opposed to the freelance groups that form the heart of his book), wherein his main characters could get caught up in the intrigues and machinations as these groups fight each other for control of the future.

The book is not without interesting nuggets. Again, his use of "historical turning points...[wherein] the events themselves were small -- few people involved -- but they had disproportionate consequences" (30) is fascinating. The way in which he brought Sarah Beaumont into the story was ingenious (38). His comparison of Lenin's Soviet Union with Henry Ford's corporation (29), if not unique, was new at least to me. He has a fascinating discussion (189-193) of what a "fact" is and isn't, even applying Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principal to history (shades of John Lukacs, but used here as an anti-cliology argument). These tidbits were the strength of the novel, but unfortunately were just too few in number.

In the end, this book just didn't deliver. Firestar and Rogue Star had better story lines and are better written. If you're a real fan of Michael Flynn -- the type that just wants to read everything by him that you can get your hands on -- then have at it. Otherwise, you might want to pass this one by.

I am currently re-re-re-reading "In the Country of the Blind" (which was published in the early 90s) and it impresses me yet again.

The subject is the construction of Babbage's difference engine in the mid-1800s, and the existence of "societies" which develop the science of forecasting a full century in advance of what has happened in (our) timeline.

The development of the book is brilliant and as complex as the subject which it addresses. Flynn clearly has an overarching expertise in many of the related specializations, and knows how to convey that information to the reader, blended perfectly with the thrust of the novel.

This is not a linear work of fiction. It's not a comic book.

Try comparing Flynn's "Blind" with Gibson's "Difference Engine" and you will quickly realize why this book is so difficult to find. Flynn makes Gibson (who is an excellent writer) look spavined and directionless.

Of course, the inability to find the book could easily be taken as an extension of the ideas presented. I'll take the less machiavellian view that present day editors and readers are too weak to handle this material at this level of complexity, BUT, that the people who own a copy NEVER will part with it.

On the other hand, it may not be in print for the same general reason that Harlan Ellison's "The Glass Teat" was pulled from bookstores in 1970.

The idea of clioligy was very interesting and certainly this makes the book worhtwhile to some extent, but the characters are unreasonable and silly in places. For instance the poor woman overcome by lust when she had the game won.(No I don't remember their names...started witha G though...) The clioligy is just window dressing to a poor spy novel. I was hoping to see characters working over a long term trying to influence history and really exploring the possibilities. I'd probably try something else if I was looking for a good sci fi read. However,I will keep my copy for the clioligy appendix. Interesting idea.