The Fata Morgana [Hardcover]

Leo Frankowski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1999

Ancient tales of European Man, recorded by pious monks, tell of the Western Isles, from whence King Arthur's father was said to have come. Ancient and medieval maps show them off the Western Coast of France. Irish records refer to floating islands drifting past the Emerald Isle. Modern sailors sometimes sight great, many tiered cities near the ocean's horizon, but they are rarely believed. It is easier for modern man to believe in an optical illusion, the Fata Morgana. And then two modern, hardheaded engineers found the Western Islands....

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Oh, to be an engineer in a Leo Frankowski book--you've gotta be honest and you've gotta work hard, but not only do you get to be as brilliant and rich as an astronaut, you get to pull down more than your share of the ladies. (Hey, after all those long hours studying fluid dynamics and systems analysis, it's only fair.) Back for another light-hearted but rumination-filled romp, the beloved author of the Conrad Stargard adventures turns his attention to a legendary nautical mirage, the Fata Morgana. Frankowski supposes the illusion might actually be the mythic Western Isles, which medieval mapmakers put off the coast of France, set adrift in an earthquake to float the world's oceans for hundreds of years.

Fata Morgana's two engineer-protagonists find themselves, naturally, shipwrecked on this strange island, a curious civilization of some 12,000 people largely cut off from present-day earth. Their tech level believably answers the obvious "what-ifs," with the islanders boasting advanced genetics and textiles (including an indestructible "Super-Hemp") but primitive sciences and stunted social progress otherwise. The two sailors create quite a stir with their SCUBA gear, cans of Spam, and Star Wars videotapes--not to mention the fact that the raw materials on their yacht make them rich in this metal-starved land--and intrigue soon ensues.

A fun book to be sure, with satisfying problem-solving and original ideas, but the main character's endless musings on everything from why the government wants us wearing clothes to why a just God can't exist will either irritate or charm you. (And consider yourself warned: our chief hero actually uses the term "Women's Lib" with a straight face and is quick to point out he's not "a f***ing queer!") --Paul Hughes

From Publishers Weekly

This unabashedly politically incorrect male technophile's wet dream has all the elements designed to make a man good with tools feel like a geniusAand to aggravate anyone who believes that racism, sexism or poverty are real problems without easy solutions. Nguyen Hien Treet, second-generation American and owner of a small Special Machinery business, has strange and unpleasant things happen to his company and ends up on the open sea with his best buddy, Adam Kulczyinski, in a fabulous yacht that unfortunately develops a gaping hole in its hull. As luck would have it, these stalwart technicians are soon rescued by the inhabitants of a floating island. On the isolated island of 2000 souls, a Duke reigns over property and marriages; the population of "real women" ostentatiously shows off its cleavage; a Warlock is in charge of technology and progress; and an Archbishop is rigorous about keeping his people religiously pure, even if it kills them. Treet, with Adam's help, must figure out how to keep the island from sinking, avoid getting murdered by religious fanatics and hammer out out a trade deal that will make both men wealthy and powerful. Since the motto of the book seems to be, as Adam puts it, "You're bleeding from twenty places, but that shouldn't bother a determined engineer," all things tend to work out in favor of the book's technically savvy heroes. Frankowski has a knack for writing amenable prose with enjoyable characters. Those not alienated by his Engineers-Know-Best attitude, and most especially those who share his women-as-eye-candy, religion-is-silly worldview, will find this to be a fun fantasy. (Aug.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Baen; First Edition edition (August 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671578227
• ISBN-13: 978-0671578220
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,248,266 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't take yourself so seriously, March 21, 2001

By 

Orthosophy (Iowa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fata Morgana (Mass Market Paperback)

It alarms me to see all of the people that write comparing Frankowski to Heinlein, or who try to over-analise (yes I meant that) his work.

I find this book, like most of Frankowski's books, to be a pleasent diversion from being forced to think in ruts. It takes the kind of tounge in cheek humor that appears in spurts in the Conrad Stargard series and focuses more on it, as did A Boy and His Tank.

It alarms me to see people reviewing it as if it were the Bible, when really it is a scapegoat, a diversion from having to think. Read a few chapters, then close your eyes and imagine "what if"...thats the key to Frankowski's books. I would have given it 4 and a half stars if I could have, just because the ending is somewhat dissastisfying (allthough nothing like A Boy and His Tank, I wanted to kick something when I finished that).

In a way he is like a somewhat more technologically savy Douglas Adams. The explination of why the isles had never been discovered reminded me of Adams explanation of the race of beings that had never developed space travel, simply because it had never occured to them to look up. The unfounded accusations of bias and stereotype are pretty much nullified when you consider that Frankowski usually justifies almost everything his characters believe, at times to a fault. In my opinion this is probably due to his "method writing" style, and it helps to develop characters.

All in all I would say that this book is an interesting diversion that allows you to ask "what if" without forcing you to think, if you don't want to. Don't try to make it something its not; Its not Heinlein, its not Tolkin, its not Verne (allthough I think Verne and Frankowski would feel a kinship), no matter how much you want to compare it to them, realise that its probably closer to "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" than it is to anything else.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, but disjointed, August 7, 2000

By 

silliman89 "silliman89" (Burke, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fata Morgana (Mass Market Paperback)

I enjoyed this book. It was another fun read from Leo Frankowski, but different from his other books I have read. I was expecting that he had gotten tired of his Conrad books, as authors do, or felt that he had brought that story line to a natural conclusion, but was looking to do the same thing all over again with new characters in a new universe. It turns out I was wrong.

He spends a few chapters in the beginning introducing and developing his characters to a much greater extent than he has before. I really feel like I know the two engineers. Then he puts them in an unusual situation by shipwrecking them on the floating island. So far all in line with what the jacket cover and reviews lead me to expect. His greater depth of character development, I chalk up to a more mature author. He did a similar job in the opening chapters of "a Boy and His Tank".

Then he spends the whole middle of the book describing the Island, both the physical and social history. This is where I was surprised. Conrad, in the series which will always define Leo Frankowski for me, spent his time building things, and fighting. The new characters start off very action oriented, then turn into vehicles who ask questions so that the author can describe the Island. Then they talk to themselves about society in the real world and how it compares to the Island (the only part I didn't care for). They set out to build things, but don't have Conrad's luck, at least not at first. They try to avoid conflict, and in this they have more luck than Conrad, although they aren't completely successful of course. The Island is the main character in the middle of the book, not the people. But the Island is fascinating, and this is not a bad thing.

Then the end, just kind of ends. The author did a good job of keeping me guessing. Right up until the last few pages, I wasn't sure which way he was going to go with it. But when he finished, it was a bit abrupt, and I said "oh" instead of "Ah!". I really got the feeling that the author reached the length the Publisher required, so he stopped writing.

This book is a "what if" book not an action adventure book. What if this Island existed? Wouldn't that be cool. What if you were the ones who found it? Wouldn't THAT be cool! Guess what, it would be cool. Now that I'm done reading, I still think about it, the true measure of a good book. But I'm thinking about the Island, not the people.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Frankowski engineers another elegant Problem Solution, August 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Fata Morgana (Hardcover)

Enjoyment of Leo Frankowski's books must come more easily to readers who are born to solve problems and bred to apply technology. An appreciation for the paradoxes involved in time travel often helps too. Want to know the dangers in over-engineering a ferrocrete yacht? Care to speculate on where and why Spam would be considered a gourmet food? Just want to get away from it all for a while so you can gain a fresh perspective on international trade and alternative political systems? Join Frankowski's daring duo of engineers on their round-the-world cruise. The story is told in the first person by one of the engineers, and his philosophical asides sometimes disrupt the flow of the plot; but I could not deny all five stars to any author who sends me looking for poems by Rudyard Kipling ["The Secret of the Machines"] -- even when he doesn't seem to know that the fiber component of hemp is the plant's vascular system and therefore not restricted to individual cells -- Super Hemp = No Problem. Good book, good problem solving, good way to spend a few summer hours.