Customer Reviews

The Cult of Loving Kindness

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

 

 

It is a pity that this work, like the previous two installments of the Starbridge Chronicles (Soldiers of Paradise and Sugar Rain), is now out of print, because it is certainly one of the most interesting fantasy experiments to be published in the past several years. Set in the distant future, in a time where environmental degradation has caused seasons to last for years, a phenomenon which has caused the fabric of society to disintigrate, the story synchronizes elements of mysticism, magic and prophecy. At the same time, the trilogy offers startling psychological insight into such areas as mass hysteria, human sexuality, addiction, and religious longings. Park in the Starbridge Chronicles has created a vivid, horrific world that, for all of its Boschian strangeness, convincingly portrays the landscape of the unbridled unconscious. I highly recommend these works to anyone, but in particular to readers of Gene Wolfe, Jack Vance, Frank Herbert, and Fritz Leiber.

The first two books in the series are distinctly excellent and compelling science fiction. Not sure what happened here - this book is frustratingly aimless. Mr. Park's writing remains very good, but not good enough to make this nearly plotless book readable.

Lest readers be confused by some of the reviews, this series is *not* set on Earth, nor are the characters human.

It is set on a world that in many ways is Earthlike, but in others is not, and that difference has much to do with the nature of the societies that have evolved there. The characters are of a race that is in many ways remarkably human, both physically and mentally, but not *quite* so (for instance, they have prehensile tails, and--apparently--certain mental powers much akin to magic).

The chief setting difference is that all the worlds in this solar system have extremely eccentric orbits, such that an "Earth" year is roughly 80,000 days long (about 219 Earth years). Moreover, there is, besides the nine orbital planets, another that is captured as a temporary moon by each of them in turn over time. That planet has become the keystone in their religion as "Paradise", considered the true home of humans, all the others, including "Earth", being seen as Hells of one degree or another. In consequence, their society is based on the acceptance of suffering and of sharply divided castes ruled over by a divinely ordained and omnipotent aristocracy.

The series is well written and interesting, with a complex and interesting world setting, though it seems rather episodic and somewhat meandering. But it is well worth reading.