Customer Reviews

The Fall of the Towers (Ace Omni Edition)

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

 

 

If you want an intro to Delany, get "Babel-17". If you have read several of his works and enjoyed them, consider this one. If you don't care about reading Delany per se, but just want a darn good read, give it a try.

This book was my introduction to Delany. I read it first at the tender age of 14 in the Fall of 1974. Not his best work, but ten times better than most of the drivel masquerading as SF on the shelves today. It sparked my interest, and led me to read any and all books by Mr Delany.

This is a guy who generally evokes two kinds of response. One venerable reviewer stated, and I quote, that his books were well beloved by academics ever in search of "grist for the mills of exegesis." Interpretation: I don't think he likes him. Others are excited by his ideas about language, science, human sexuality, and how these are/were interweaving to create original novels that expand the human consciousness.

Me, I just thought he told a darn good story.

Why does all this stick in my mind?

My first college degree was in English Lit. To graduate I had to write a thesis paper on a contemporary writer. At the time, my favorite was Delany. [the title was "Science Fiction: the New Mythology". Hey, 25 years ago this was original stuff, okay?]

So, why read THIS book? Quite simply, it really IS is a darn good read. It has good guys, bad guys, interesting characters who undergo heroic trials, simpletons, Ubermensch, street performers, new looks at how technology changes human lives, insightful observations in to individual behaviors, and, long before "The Matrix" and "Neuromancer" were even dreamt of, a foggy Virtual Reality world in which a war is fought. [!??!]

So, get on board, give it a try, help yourself to some lemonade.

Those who come to a Delany novel with preconceived notions inevitably will be disappointed, turning away in disgust and incomprehension, but those who approach his books with an open mind will invariably rewarded. In this brilliant early novel, composed in three parts, Delany examines a society on the verge of change and revolution through the eyes of a collection of laser-etched characters whose lives intersect in complicated and subtle ways. Delany's intelligence at 21 was fierce, and one of the beauties of this novel is the way it intertwines the intellectual and the everyday, how it is beautifully written and fiercely opinionated.

Though the action nominally concerns two gestalt beings from another universe, and their interactions with the empire of Toromon on Earth, Delany's true concern is human society in general, ours in particular, its cyclical fate and all-renewing possibility. It's not your typical science fiction. It's a thousand times better, science fiction idealized, then actualized.

I stayed up late to get to the end of the third volume, "City of a Thousand Suns," and closed the book with one word: "Amazing." Even more amazing, I truly meant it. Oscar Wilde famously said that anyone who seeks to write a novel in three parts knows nothing of Art and Life. Here, Delany gloriously proves him wrong.

This is very different from Delany's later work (of which Triton is my favorite) being more accessible and lighter on hardcore philosophical theories. At the same time, the writing never falls short of brilliant, the storyline will keep you at the edge of your seat till the end, and the author's ideas about the social dynamics of race and sex in the future world are so far ahead if his time that it is hard to believe that the trilogy was finished in 1964.

But more than anything, it's a great story. Read it, and see for yourself.

Those unfamiliar with Samuel R. Delany's excellent science fiction might be better served by reading his great 1960s work, most notably, "The Einstein Intersection", "Nova", "Dhalgren" and "Triton" than "The Fall of the Towers". Other early novels which I've enjoyed reading include "The Ballad of Beta-2" and "Babel-17". I've stumbled upon by accident this latest reissue of Delaney's early work, which is a fine post-apocalypse/alien contact saga comprised of the three short novels ("Out of the Dead City", "The Towers of Toron", and "City of a Thousand Suns") assembled in this volume. Thematically, 'The Fall of the Towers" is an intriguing adventure saga devoted to the nature of humanity, which Delany would later return to in the more compelling Neveryon fantasy saga.

I agree with a previous reviewer that although "The Fall of the Towers" isn't Delany's best work, it was certainly much better written and far more interesting than much of the mediocre science fiction published back in the early 1960s or frankly, even today. For this reason alone, this early Delany saga deserves ample attention from fans of science fiction literature. I am amazed that at such a relatively young age, Delany was capable of creating a spellbinding literary post-apocalypse fantasy, set sometime in the distant future after a devestating nuclear war on Earth (Most readers may not know that he started writing and publishing science fiction while attending the Bronx High School of Science here in New York City, and decided to pursue a professional writing career without attending college.). Fans familiar with Delany's writing for gay/lesbian audiences may find "The Fall of the Towers" memorable alone for its intriguing cast of characters. For these reasons I can highly recommend reading "The Fall of the Towers", but I strongly urge those unfamiliar with Delany's work to read any of the books I have cited above.

I've only read two Delany novels prior to picking up the Fall of the Towers trilogy: The Einstein Intersection (2/5 for its incoherent quest) and Dhalgren (3/5 for its impressive length and inventiveness). The synopsis for the Fall of the Towers sounded like it may be an interesting story/test/pursuit so I decided to gamble on this for my third, and maybe last, Delany novel. Beyond the first book's near-incoherent ending, the rest of the trilogy is an intricately woven future Earth, the plot full of rich characters and the backdrop exposing an interesting history. It may well be the most un-Delany-like novel yet, which is perhaps why I liked it so much, but is was an articulate, inventive and flexible read altogether.

*****

The Fall of the Towers 1: Out of the Dead City - 3/5 - An unknown planet is host to a radiation barrier. On one side are the humans which have a historical reminder of the terrible war and the other rests a glimmering yet dead city. The feudal kingdom is home to a weakened king and a promising heir to the throne. When the prince is kidnapped by a menagerie of colorful characters, the kind announces war on the unknown enemy beyond the radiation barrier. One man has been gifted a crystallized body structure to be withstand the barrier's radiation but also enables him to become transparent in certain light. It's with his gift and abilities that lead the colorful assembly to forge through the barrier in hopes of disarming the coming war.

Typical of a Delaney novel, from the onset the initial pattern of events is difficult to fathom; characters are disjointed and events are timelessly situated. But once the grooves begin to merge, an excitement unseen in other Delaney novels brings unsurpassed witticism and a powerful plot flow. A ravenous surge of power is witnessed. The falling of the pieces was epically plotted, great stuff. This is wondrous stuff but it soon lost me towards the ending pages when, like typical Delaney, the plot takes on ethereal essence with very little synchronization of the plot just laid out pages prior to the ambiguity.

*****

The Fall of the Towers 2: The Towers of Toron - 4/5 - Where as `Out of the Dead City' accumulated the characters and plot into a semi-coherent flow (utterly disregarding the ending) and bestowed its density into its pages, the `Towers of Toron' usher in a sort of comfort with the way things have been laid out in the previous book. The characters are recognizable even after three months and the plot is familiar, the vibe is easy is see. The plot's cadence isn't bewildering or enigmatic as with most other Delany novels. Towers of Toron is as simple as a Delany novel must get, a derelict trilogy from his earlier days prior to his success with Dhalgren and The Einstein Intersection.

Though I was loathing the start of this book after the semi-disappointing previous novel, I was quickly encompassed in the plot yet still held a reserved doubt as to the rational of the fantasy/sci-fi mix. The ever present Lord of the Flame is on the loose with the its greater-good nemeses close on the heel, unveiling its subterfuge of war and suffering. The convergence of personal story lines is a fine addition, combing the many walks of life which the Fall of the Towers world provides: the military beyond the barrier, the traveling circus, the palace grounds and the forest dwelling. The plot's unfolding is coherent and interesting, only briefly meandering into a surreal realm which Delany is so fond of penning.

*****

The Fall of the Towers 3: City of a Thousand Suns - 4/5 - From the onset of this third book in this trilogy, its obvious that Delany is taking a different literary route than the previous two books. Book one was more artistic, bordering on avant garde in some areas. Book two was more adventurous, expanding the horizons of possibility for the trilogy. And finally, Book three is a mix of humor and philosophy. City of a Thousand Suns is much more fun the previous two books with a surprising cavalcade of half-forgotten characters crossing paths and Delany's imperial insight into the expanding world of old Earth. Combine this with a heavily philosophical last five or ten percent, the contrast is both impressive and captivating.

Having actually liked Book two, I was eager to start Book three and was met by the familiar scene of the alien entities in The City conversing about three humans on Earth impressed upon by the powerful tri-entity, what is needed from the said humans and how the Lord of the Flames may act to disrupt their plans. The Lord of the Flames takes a backseat in this novel, allowing the story to focus heavily upon character interaction (a real highlight) and the quest to gain access to the psychotic computer (the same computer which fabricated the war in Book two). With the city of Toron under fire from remote controlled armaments, a quest is began which will take the reader from the Devil's Pot, over the sea, into the newly established city of which the title takes its name from and into the realm of the computer. Pretty good stuff!

This is one of Delany's first books, written in the mid 1960s, well-before his sexual revolution, and definitely within the scifi genre. I recently reread this work and now wonder how it missed all the awards.

This trilogy-in-a-book could have been better told in a short story of about 25 pages. While some of the prose might indeed be considered poetic, the plot is non-sensible, and the dialogue ranges from vapid to atrocious. The character development is so deficient that it's difficult, if not impossible, for the reader to form any kind of attachment with the main characters. There are some entertaining nuggets in the plot stemming from farcical happenings, as well as some perhaps-unintended absurd writing. In his defense, Mr. Delany was only 19 years old when he wrote the book. How many people attain any kind of professional accomplishment at that age? Nonetheless, save yourself the frustration of this book.

This three volume set comprises an attempt by Delany to broaden his fan base. Exploring the realm of fantasy fiction with his own combination of psyodelica storytelling.

Terribly dated first attempt at speculative fiction by a soon-to-be-great writer... it bears his name but not the quality of Delany's later work. One can only wonder why it is again in print. I can't supply any answers to that but I can say that the absurd writing here borders on absurdism without quite breaking through, even though the extreme hokey-ness of the prose wedded to the writer's modernist aspirations achieves a veritable surrealism that will literally force you again and again to wonder "did I just read that?"