The Druid King [Import] [Paperback]

Norman Spinrad (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown; 1st Printing edition (2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316861588
• ISBN-13: 978-0316861588
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Norman Spinrad Bio


Reviews of HE WALKED AMONG US

Norman Spinrad's He Walked Among Us - Horror Drive-In

Norman Spinrad's He Walked Among Us






I'm always getting up here and urging you to buy this book, or to go see that movie. Buy a DVD or try a new author. I do it because I'm passionate about this stuff. And I swear to you that, regardless of whether you end up agreeing with me, I am always 100% honest about them.


Coming out on March 30th is what I consider to be the book of the year. It's He Walked Among Us, by Norman Spinrad. I bet it's already shipping now from Amazon.

Maybe you've read some Spinrad. Some pieces here and there. Or maybe you've been trying to make the time to read Bug Jack Barron for decades now. Or maybe you've read some of his books. My own personal favorites are Bug Jack Barron, The Iron Dream, Pictures at 11, Little Heroes, The Mind Game. My previous favorite was probably Norman's mainstream novel of Hollywood, Passing Through the Flame. My favorite now is He Walked Among Us.

Spinrad had trouble getting this book published and it boggles my mind. Here is not only one of the finest science fiction writers that ever published, but one of the most important writers of the modern age. I'm not kidding.

He Walked Among Us was previously published in a typically overpriced and poorly manufactured POD edition in 2004. Norman Spinrad having to put his work out in what is barely a notch above self publishing. It's criminal.

Why did he have such a difficult time getting He Walked Among Us published? For one thing, Spinrad has never been afraid to bite the hand that feeds him. He has been an acerbic critic of organized science fiction fandom for a long time. He paints the community in a harsh light in He Walked Among Us. I have the experience to tell you that his unflattering depictions of SF conventioneers is pretty damned accurate.

Also, Spinrad's career has been hard to classify in any one particular genre. He's known as a science fiction writer and many of his book fall solidly in that realm. Russian Spring, Songs From the Stars, The Void Captain's Tale, Greenhouse Summer, for examples. He has also written books that made him a popular figure in the counterculture, like The Children of Hamelin and Passing Through the Flame. There are stories that seem pulled direct from current events, such as The Mind Game and Pictures at 11. Spinrad has even done historical fiction: Mexica and The Druid King.

So what, exactly, is He Walked Among Us? Well, that's a hard one. In a way it's science fiction. It's also an acidly satiric satire of show business. The novel is screamingly funny at times. There are New Age aspects to He Walked Among Us. It's philosophical. It might deal with Quantum Physics, but I'm not exactly sure. And it also has some hardcore scenes that might make Edward Lee wince.

Jimmy Balaban is an aging, seedy, third rate show biz agent. He meets a dubious comedian named Ralf who claims to be from the future. He's here to save us from ourselves. It's an odd act, but Jimmy is a pro and the nose knows. Maybe there is a little bit of money to be made from this strange act. He takes Ralf on as a client and hires a male science fiction writer and a female New Age guru to turn Ralf into the cash cow that he always wanted. Astonishingly, it works. The question remains: Who, or what, is Ralf?

Spinrad has called He Walked Among Us his magnum opus and I definitely agree. I've been a fan of his work for a long time and I've been continually blown away by his writing. He Walked Among Us, however, is a revelation.

Naturally, a lot of people aren't going to get it. This isn't an easy, simple book. Oh, it's easy enough to read, but it's even easier to dismiss it as gimmicky fluff. Worse, readers could feel that Spinrad has a condescending attitude toward his audience. That he's laughing at them or feeling smugly superior. I don't feel that way, but a complex novel like He Walked Among Us can be interpreted in endless ways. That's part of the beauty of it.

Spinrad has always had an amazing imagination, which is augmented by his own radical sensibilities. I've always felt an element of danger in his work.

Norman Spinrad recently announced on Facebook that he has been diagnosed with stomach cancer. He had previously been told that it was inoperable, but there is greater hope now. It's still terrible news. This writer is a treasure and it's horrible to think that we may be losing him soon. Perhaps he'll pull out of it. I've always perceived Norman Spinrad as a fighter and I believe that he'll fight this battle with the courage that he is known for possessing. Hopefully he'll emerge with his health and years of productive life ahead of him. Forget the vicious lie that everything that doesn't kill us makes us stronger. Cancer is the worst thing in the world and it'll take its toll on him.

Thankfully we have a large body of work from Norman Spinrad to keep us astonished, entertained, and best of all, to keep us thinking. And he's never done a better work than He Walked Among Us. This writer has been neglected for far too long. He Walked Among Us deserves to be a success. And Norman Spinrad deserves more respect than he has gotten lately. A lot more respect.

Please consider buying a copy of He Walks Among Us.

---Mark Sieber

Spinrad, Norman. He Walked Among Us. Tor. Apr. 2010. c.544p. ISBN 978-0-7653-2584-6. $27.99. SF

When talent agent Jimmy Balaban discovers an ad lib comic named Ralf who claims to be from the future, he recognizes a potential moneymaker. Together with a once-famous sf writer and a New Age guru, the trio transform Ralf into a messiah-like figure who brings a message about a desolate future and the need to transform the world in order to avert disaster. When Ralf refuses to break character, his handlers wonder whether he is their creation or whether his message from the future is in fact real. VERDICT First published in France, this latest novel by one of sf's most distinguished authors (Bug Jack Barron, The Iron Dream) presents a cautionary tale that is at once sardonically witty and intellectually thought-provoking. A big book in more than pagination, this meaty saga of a contemporary prophet is essential for sf fans.

Library Journal







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Norman Spinrad is the author of some 20 or so novels, five or six dozen short stories, a classic Star Trek epsisode, a couple of flop movies, an album's worth of songs, political columns, film criticism, literary criticicsm, mini-cookbooks, autobiography, and a bunch of assorted other stuff.
The latest to be written is a new and literarily revolutionary novel called WELCOME TO YOUR DREAMTIME, in which you, the reader are the viewpoint character, and sections of which have been published in a weird assortment of magazines as free-standing short stories.
The latest to be published in the US,by Tor, is HE WALKED AMONG US, a novel so far ahead of itself that it had to wait until it had become something of the fave rave of a radical viral internet distribution experiment and a cause celebre in France as IL EST PARMI NOUS before any traditional American publisher would bring it out in paper.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Splendid Detour by Spinrad into Historical Fiction, April 3, 2004

By 

John Kwok (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Druid King (Hardcover)

Norman Spinrad makes a fine debut in historical fiction, with occasional lapses into fantasy, in this riveting tale about the legendary Celtic chieftain Vercingetorix, the leader of Gallic resistance against Roman legions commanded by Gaius Julius Caesar. Spinrad does an excellent job in describing Druid religious rites, and the profound influence they play on the thoughts and actions of Vercingetorix. He also provides us with mesmerizing descriptions of Gallic leaders and of Caesar and his generals. I thought I could see and smell the Gallic towns and their people, as well as the bloody battlegrounds of the Gauls and their Roman invaders. Without question, Spinrad's sympathies lie with Vercingetorix and his relationship with the woman warrior Rhia and Marah, his potential queen of a unified Gallic state. Although this isn't Spinrad's best work of fiction, it is still among his finest novels, rich in the vivid detail and lyrical prose that he is noted for in his science fiction.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A interesting read, a bit korney, October 13, 2005

By 

Casey Murph - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Druid King (Hardcover)

It is good to see the story of Caesar's wars with the continental celts with some attention payed to the celtic side of the story. Did find it at times somewhat juvenile. For example; when a character rides a horse in this story they constanlty make it rear up. This annoys any real horseman or student of iron age cavalry. This story is supposed to be about iron age celtic warriors on sturdy gaulish ponies, not a girl's fairy tale of knights on white stallions. And Vercingetorix is given as a name recieved from birth rather than a title he had been bestowed with(Ver means high,Cinget means warrior, Rix means king.Ver-cinget-rix high warrior king) he would have been given a simple name as a child and called Vercingetorix only after he took command of the Gaulish army. And Vercingetorix is portrayed very young even at the climax. I find the notion of a boyish Vercingetorix unable to grow a respectable celtic mustache leading an army implausible. I would recommend it to young readers interested in the story of gaul, but not to the more sophisticated enthusiast.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Spinrad tries historical fiction, March 2, 2006

By 

mrliteral - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Druid King (Hardcover)

While not exactly famous, Norman Spinrad is well-known in the world of science fiction as a reliable veteran who has been producing stories for several decades. With The Druid King, he departs from that genre to tell a historical tale of Gaul during the last days of the Roman Republic.

The protagonist in The Druid King is Vercingetorix, a young man who is destined to become the King of Gaul. At the beginning of the story, however, he is merely the teenaged son of a Gallic chieftain. His father has visions of uniting the tribes to oppose Rome, but Vercingetorix's uncle ends that with murder. Vercingetorix is forced to flee and takes refuge with the Druids.

Meanwhile, Julius Caesar has his own ambitions, and the conquest of Gaul is a mere stepping stone for him. A master manipulator, he is able to defeat his foes as much with wiles as with force. Briefly, he makes Vercingetorix his protégé, but soon enough they are foes, leading opposing sides. Unfortunately for Caesar, Vercingetorix has picked up enough from his former mentor to become a difficult adversary.

This is a story of Rome vs. Gaul, but not just in terms of peoples but also ways of life. Much is made of the different approaches to battle: the Gauls believe in honor in battle, the Romans are merely concerned with victory. This difference in philosophy will prove to be a major problem for Vercingetorix as he realizes the Roman approach is necessary to overcome his foes, but his followers are less willing to break with tradition.

Spinrad is a good writer, but the edginess that makes him excellent in his science fiction is missing here. As a result, this is merely another good historical novel. Also, Spinrad's story suffers in comparison to Colleen McCullough's outstanding Roman history series (which also describes the Caesar vs. Vercingetorix battles). I can only give this book four stars as a result: this is not Spinrad's best work (he should probably stick with science fiction), but it is a good, entertaining read.