Customer Reviews

The Final Encyclopedia, Volume Two of Two (Childe Cycle)

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Gordon Dickson's The Final Encyclopedia is a fitting conclusion to a top-notch science fiction series.
It tells the story of Hal Mayne, who as an infant was found deserted in a spaceship among the stars. He was raised by tutors representing the three cultural "splinters" from Dickson's future world - the military Dorsai, the fanatically religious Friendlies and the mystic Exotics. In a superficial sense, Mayne draws upon his experience with all three groups to battle an opposing group (the Others) for mankind's future.
That being said...
The book is much deeper on many levels. In it, Dickson pays tribute to each of mankind's splinters and demonstrates the worthiness of each group. The Dorsai, of course, are lionized as honorable and unbeatable warriors. The Friendlies are praised for their stalwart and unshakeable faith and their willingness to endure any ordeal without flinching in service of that faith. The Exotics are valued for seeking mankind's continued development in intellectual and paranormal areas.
In Dickson's world, Mayne journeys to each of the splinter cultures and begins to realize his purpose is to ensure mankind's continued development as a culture. Opposing him are the Others, another group of humans whose heritage is drawn from a combination of the splinter cultures. The others are led by Bleys Ahrens, who sees a future in which the Others serve as a ruling class to the lesser members of mankind.
During his journeys, Mayne runs into members of each splinter culture who represent the best of that culture. For the Dorsai, it's Amanda Morgan; for the Friendlies, it's Rukh Tamani, the charismatic freedom fighter; and for the Exotics, it's Amid. Thanks to his unique upbringing by members of each group, Mayne is accepted by each group and comes to realize mankind must bring its splintered self back together if it is to develop and survive.
People who read this book expecting a strictly military sci-fi work will be disappointed. Yes, there is action in the story...no, it's not another "Dorsai" or "Tactics of Mistake." It's the conclusion Dickson's series pointed to since its inception - where are these pivotal historic soldiers taking us?
In The Final Encyclopedia, mankind has reached the point where it can bring its splintered self back together and consciously guide its own development or it can fall into stagnation and slowly die.
While it's a stand-alone book, I recommend readers first turn the pages of the rest of the Childe Cycle books before taking on The (685 page) Final Encyclopedia.

I do have to say that there's really no reason for this novel to be split into two somewhat pricy volumes . . . the original paperback was published in one large volume so it's not like it's impossible. But whatever. This is by far the largest volume in the Childe Cycle, for good reason, because it seems that mostly everything in the series has been leading up to this volume. When last we left Donal Graeham had basically sorted out all the Cultures and brought some semblance to peace. Now the story takes place quite a while later and things are rapidly falling apart. Another quasi-Culture called the Others, led by Bleys Ahern, are taking over everything and threatening to thrust the entire human race into a period of stagnation from which it will never recover. For some reason Bleys and company are searching for a young man named Hal Mayne, who was raised on Old Earth by people from all three major cultures. When he finds he has to leave Earth suddenly, things start to get interesting. Dickson really takes the time to stretch things out to epic length here and this is probably the most in depth look at the working of his little future history that we have seen yet. By giving the series its first major challenge (and indeed it's a point he's been trying to make throughout the other books, just now he's putting a physical sense to it) he adds a sense of drama and reality to it. All his skills here are at their peak . . . his characterizations are excellent (men and women, for once the latter are better than ciphers), his descriptions of the worlds are detailed and focused, his discussion of philosophy is more or less interesting and the story moves along quickly enough. Some of his most evocative scenes are in here, especially when it echoes earlier scenes, such as the extended sequence when Hal visits the old Graeham house and sees the graves of all the old characters (Donal, Kensie, Ian, etc), all of which have died years and years before the book even started. It really gives the reader a sense of the scope of the series. Finally, the Final Encyclopedia, a minor thread that has been threatening to become a major part of the saga, takes center stage. The book is probably longer than it needs to be, although as I mentioned Dickson does keep things moving and since it follows Hal throughout the plot probably isn't as complex as it could be. Also the ending is a bit on the anti-climatic side, especially when you realize you've read over seven hundred pages to get to this point. But this is a crucial part of the Cycle and makes me curious as to what will happen next. The other books, hit or miss that they were, really were only prelude to this volume and it's nice to see Dickson's writing explode in what we see here, juggling all the characters and places and themes with the ease of a master. Based on what I've read so far I'd place it above Heinlein's Future Histories but it's not as gripping as Asimov's Foundation, which was brilliant and effortless. But this is pretty good too and SF fans should get acquainted with this near classic, which isn't spoken about as much as those other histories. But it ranks up there, easily.

When I read the Final Encyclopedia, I realized that it is very similar in theme with that of the novel Dune. First off, you have a character who does not know that they will be the ulitimate leaders in society. Furthermore, you have a vast array of societies that must be brought together. Throw in a couple of genetic programs and some family secrets, and you have two parallel books.

But, this novel does have its own identity and style. For one thing, it has one of the greatest projects humans have ever built in the Final Encyclopedia. Yes, the book is long, and boring at times. But the overall picture shows the sociological impact that is present in this novel. You may want to read the other books in this series, because then you can see the real Hal Mayne in this novel This appears on the surface as a pure military novel, but drive a little deeper, and you will see this is a war of the minds. A great analogy of a chess match written in a book.

The book had great character development, especially in Hal Mayne. Furthermore, the universe that Dickson creates is unique and interesting. It can be slow and boring at times, but yet at other times it is highly intellectually stimulating. Don't just read the surface value of this novel, dive into the symbolism and meaning behind what is shown. This novel may not appeal to a person due to its size alone, but I must admit that it is a crowning achievement for a unique universe in the science fiction world. Pick it up and read it!

Gordon R. Dickson's Dorsai novels rank among the great novels of Science-Fiction and 'The Final Encyclopedia' is no exception. Indeed, 'Encyclopedia' is on par with other such epics of the genre as Frank Herbert's 'Dune' and Issac Asimov's 'Foundation.' 'Encyclopedia' is the tale of Hal Mayne, a fully-evolved human being who knows what path humanity must take if it is to survive and flourish. But before he can implement his plans, he must bide his time as he makes his way throughout the sixteen colonized worlds. But always on Hal's trail is Bleys Ahrens, another fully evolved human who has his own views on how humanity should progress. At the center of this galatic conflict is the Fianl Encyclopedia, a huge space-station in orbit of Earth, that contains all the knowledge of the human race. Whoever controls the Encyclopedia will control the fate of humanity.

This is part of Dickson's grand magnum opus, which was sadly never finished. Despite the fact that it is part of teh Childe Cycle and the Dorsai series, this is a self contained book. Dickson is one of the authors from the "Golden Age of Sci Fi" and his deliberate style is reflective of that. The Final Encyclopedia is a grand epic of a struggle for how human destiny will unfold. There are a number of books before this one that are loosely connected, ( including the Dorsai books), the books after the Final Encyclopedia are called the Chantry Guild and Other are tightly connected. Reading Dickson is one of the reasons I started reading scif more heavily. This book is deep and quite profound in the description of how societies can evolve and the passion with which they will defend it. Many people claim that Frank Herbert set the stage for philosphy in the Dune series, I beleive that Dickson took it to another level. The characters were strong throughout, even some of those that i could not sympathize with. But i spent as much time thnking about the messages in this book as much as the plot. I read this book in 1998, and i feel its mark 14 years later.

First, a word of warning. The paperback version of this book is in VERY small print. As I understand from an interview I heard with the author, this had something to do with shrinking down the hard cover version. It's going to be very challenging for those who require decent sized print.

That aside, I have long considered The Final Encyclopedia the pinnacle book of Dickson's Dorsai collection. It isn't an easy, quick read, though.

The earlier books were much less intellectually challenging than this one. They tend to be more about the external action, while this one has a strong internal focus. If you are a fan of the military elements of books like The Tactics of Mistake, then Encyclopedia might not be your cup of tea. If, however, you are interested in the sociological developments and evolution Dickson has developed over the previous Dorsia stories (chronologically starting with Necromancer), and enjoy books that make you think, then you'll probably enjoy Encyclopedia a great deal. To my mind, it is comparable to Frank Herbert's Dune series.

I first read Dickson's work, Dorsai !, in 1977 and the periodically picked up the Childe Cycle books which is the series that essentially culminates in "The Final Encyclopedia". Specifically :

The Genetic General (1960)
Necromancer (1962
Warrior (1965)
Soldier, Ask Not (1967)
Tactics of Mistake (1971)
The Spirit of Dorsai (1979)
Lost Dorsai (1980)
The Final Encyclopedia (1984)

I prefer these older sci.fi. books to the current crop of fantasy works that ever Dickson indulged in during his later years (Dragon Knight Series). I suppose there's precious little difference between dragons and spaceships however I haven't read any factual accounts of anyone riding a dragon in the 20th or 21st centuries. Note that these books aren't particularly deep and make for a good restful read when you have the time.

First I would like to say my deepest respects to the late Gordon R Dickson who passed away in 2001. He was a great author who created the whole splinter cultures of the spectaular universe that he had created. After reading Young Bleys, I had to know who this Hal Mayne was. To my surprise I see why Hal Mayne was a vital piece to the whole Dorsai, Exoctic and Friendly universe. His nemesis Bleys was a powerful (Other) individual and Hal Mayne was his equal. I think others may feel that read this book may be slow and detailed on some parts that could of been omitted but I feel alot of detailed aspects of Hal Mayne, I think, were interesting and crucial if you wanted to understand his character. The story starts out with Hal Mayne witnessing the deaths of his mentors and running away from the killers. While reading you'll see him growing from a boy to a man that he was destined to be. Gordon R Dickson is a great story teller with great ideas. I feel alot authors out there have great ideas but doesn't know how to tell a story or know how to tell a story but doesn't have great ideas. Sadly Gordon R dickson will be missed in my eyes. This book will always be a treasure to me!

I read The Final Encyclopedia several years ago while in College. I somehow acquired a version that included both volumes and was over 700 pages in length. It started off really well. There was a detailed futuristic society with competing forces vying to control the ultimate fate of the human race. One such faction had through selective breeding and genetic manipulation created a young man whom they felt would be their messiah. There were various politically motivated events that changed the course of the young man's life. Then there were several hundred pages of useless drivel that had nothing to do with the point of the story. Finally the book concluded with essentially no resolution to the ongoing problems of the world it depicted. Naturally, further sequels were spawned. Yes, this story has some good ideas, but there is no real point to any of it. Do not waste your time on this epic of no consequence. It is yet another book for which the writer was paid by the word, not for its substance.

Other than DUNE, this is the best science-fiction (IMO) book ever written. This will capture any sci-fi lover into Dickson's Childe cycle epic. A must read.