Customer Reviews

Future Indefinite: Round Three of the Great Game

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I read this book a while ago and it still sticks in my mind. I thought the story was really great but I just couldn't imagine an ending that I thought would be sastisfying. But somehow Dave Duncan managed to suprise me and the ending was really good and it worked with the rest of the story. I also happened to like the very last line and what it implied. It's a very good book and it's really original. I would recommend it.

I have absolutely loved all three of The Great Game books. As soon as I began reading the first one I fell in love. The depth of the story, the characters and their perils, and the ORIGINALITY of the whole story was beautiful. I LOVE the idea of Nextdoor and the Portals. For anyone who has the slightlest inkling of enjoyment of fantasy NEEDS to read these books.

The books are marvelous but Mr. Duncan. In Future Indefinite, at the end, the very end, how could you?

Future Indefinite has all the classic epic fantasy elements: a sharply detailed world of magic and gods, the struggle between good and evil, an ancient prophecy, a fish-out-of-water protagonist, a small band of adventurers, romance, love, and plenty of action. The book succeeds due to Duncan's use of these familiar elements in unfamiliar ways. Our protagonist is a young British gentleman, barely out of school; his love interest none other than his slightly horse-faced older cousin. The good vs. evil struggle is better classed as a lesser evil vs. a greater. And the prophecy? It's suitably cryptic...but also logical and quite possibly self-fulfilling.

Duncan's system of magic is not only ingenious, but integral to the book's plot. Anyone in their own world is mundane; transported to a new world (even if that world is Earth), they become 'Strangers', and gain 'Charisma', the ability to influence natives. The more people you influence, the more power you gain and the more you can influence them-- a perpetuating cycle. The competition for native followers leads to Machiavellian machinations between the Strangers in a world, some of whose powers rise to godlike levels.

One cannot read this book without drawing plot parallels to a slightly more famous book-- the Bible. Specifically Judas Iscariot's betrayal of Jesus Christ. However, the diffferences are just as significant, and any Christian who considers this book as "mocking" their faith is someone looking for a reason to be insulted.

Future Indefinite is the finale of Duncan's most serious-- and very likely his best-- series to date. Don't miss it.

I just read the whole trilogy. This portion of it takes place almost entirely in Nextdoor, the alternate universe where humans from our world can achieve godhood if the natives believe in them. By the time we get to the events in this book, all the main characters are in place and it's just a matter of marching them to their destinies. Because of that, there isn't as much soul searching and internal challenge and drama as there was in the first two books, except for the characters of Julian and Dosh, one of whom is the sole discordant note among the followers, and the other who has a destiny that's not understood until the end. Both of their stories were very good.

Another aspect of the story that I found interesting was the way the plot develops into a copy of Christ's life, with some things switched about. Examining the differences and the parallels that Duncan chose was intriguing.

Spoilers below...

Regarding the ending which some have complained about, I didn't think it was vague in the least. It was obvious to me what happened (Judas became the Redeemer and vice versa). The true hero and Liberator wasn't the one who survived, but his friend whom he betrayed. I think it will take a re-read for all the implications to sink in. But it does mean the Happy Ending wasn't so happy as it appeared to be.

It was, however, satisfying.

Ok, major disappointment here. I LOVE the other series that Dave has written, but this one fell on it's face. The 'thrilling' climax at the end of the book takes up about 1/2 page, and it's as told by someone who saw it, not the actual event.... COME ON Dave, you can do better than thi!

Duncan has taken a very promising world and premise and bogged it down in a repetitive, cliched, and way, way, too somber a plot. He also shows an annoying habit of introducing too many characters, giving tons of background information about them, allowing readers a peek into their personalities, and then disposing of them (or ignoring them for the rest of the series). Take my advice, read the first two books (or even just the first) and skip this one. Any ending you dream up is bound to be better than this one.

Duncan posits a satisfying fantasy world in the first two volumes of this series, evoking quite well a past part of ours long gone as well. While there seems to be a volume missing as 'Dward transforms himself in this final go into everything he said he never would be in the prior books, the tale moves apace, perhaps too fast a pace. For Duncan means to make a point, and while pretentiously over-burdened in a oh so cynical quasi-religiostic rehash of the progress of Christ to His end, that point is hellish and as obscene as any an author could foist on his hooked audience.

True, we should be prepared, for throughout the tale, Duncan discards characters and spear throwers left and right to grisly pointless sacrificial deaths. Yet I was still unbelieving, as I opened, in my mind's eye, the alternatives available to Duncan in his final march to horror to twist this from deliberately cruel gore into the redemption he so tongue in cheek parodies. That he actually choose capricious malice over redemption came as a stunner...I shall never seek out this author again...

This is the final book in the 'Great Game' trilogy. Because everything is coming together in this book, the impression is that the storyline is predictabable. Except it isn't. The ending is completely unexpected

This book started out very well. It was well written and packed with action, very well paced. HOWEVER, two elements ultimately marred my enjoyment of this work.

1. The character developement. I may be the only person with this thought, but somehow, it seems as if somewhere between book two and book three we are missing a great deal of storyline. SOMETHING happened to provoke a major chage in his main character, but we get no transition period. He is one person in book two and a COMPLETELY different individual in book three, one to whom we as readers have little access. Yes it makes the story very unpredictable, but it also makes it very hard to care about the main character. Also his annoying tendency to bring in new characters, give us background, flesh them out and then discard or ignore them makes little sense.

2. The ENDING! OH my God what happened? The climax is MAYBE one page! I was so upset by this! It was unpredictable, I'll give you that but it was also bereft of all hope and ended the book on a severe down note. Once the major event occurred, it was impossible for me to be buoyed by any bones he threw to those who wanted a more hopeful palatable ending.

I really did throw this book away after I read it, that's how much it upset me. It ruined an otherwise enjoyable series for me.

I've read every book Duncan has written. I think he may have bewitched his books! His character development is very thorough without being tedious. The way in which he relates parallel universes to ours is flawless and encourages me to research true history more in depth- He also writes as Kevin Hood,Demon Sword: The Years of Longdirk : 1519 (Year of Longdirk) check it out! He relates his stories to "reality" inventively and provokes many pursuits of hypothetical historical and religious scenarios for me! I'm a devout Christian, yet take no offense concerning this title's plot. He's a sly one, is Mr Duncan (ofcourse, he is a Celt!). It makes me laugh to picture Christ as a Stranger! Discover Mr Duncan and you'll never put him down, except perhaps to drive...