Customer Reviews

The God Engines

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Scalzi tries something new with this long novella. He calls it dark fantasy, but it's really more science-fantasy -- the action is largely aboard an FTL starship, and the setting is an interstellar religious empire. The title is literally true -- I'm treading lightly here to avoid spoilers. The Empire is ruled by the Bishopry Militant, a rather unsavory theocracy, and the religious supernatural is at the forefront of the tale.

The God Engines is a story along the lines of Harlan Ellison's "The Deathbird " (in Deathbird Stories),
although it's less directly tied to Christianity than Ellison's classic. Scalzi does some very effective society and religion-building here. His writing is as good as ever, the tale moves along briskly, sex, violence and spaceship-battles are featured. The story becomes darker with each revelatory twist, and ends up very dark and bloody indeed. Recommended, with a caveat for the easily-squicked. I'd be surprised if Scalzi doesn't revisit this intriguing new universe.

Happy reading--
Peter D. Tillman
Review first published at SF Site, 2009

Captain Tephe's ship, The Righteous, is part of a fleet traveling through space doing the will of their Lord God. Faith is everything, and the God with the most followers will be supreme. Other gods are The Defiled; they are servants only, chained and compelled to fold space so that the ships might travel from place to place. Captain Tephe's ship is sent on a hazardous mission crucial to the well-being of his god; the question is, will his faith be strong enough to succeed?

This long novella (136 pages), is a departure from Scalzi's other books, it's science fiction (space ships), but more science-fantasy (unknown powers of the gods driving the Faster-Than-Light engines). The society, built on faith, not science nor magic, is interesting, and the plot explores the strength as well as the pitfalls of relying on faith alone, through Tephe's experiences. There is certainly enough here to keep turning the pages. It's nothing too amazing or profound, but a quick and intriguing read.

John Scalzi is a fantastic author and as I read this I was also enjoying his work 'Your Hate Mail will be Graded'. In 'The God Engines' he has crafted characters with complex personalities and done it with a sparsity of language that would have made Steinbeck proud. The story is imaginative and, as like all the best science fiction, thought provoking on multiple levels. It is a novella and in one sense a quick easy read, but be aware that the story is significantly bitter-sweet. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

There is not, to my knowledge, a whole lot of theological science fiction. Madeleine L'Engle's books may qualify, but to be honest, it's been years since I read them so I don't know. The Golden Compass books, too, but they struck me more as fantasy, seeing as how there were no spaceships. My only successful foray into National Novel Writing Month produced some theological sci-fi, but it was questionable at best and is still fermenting on my hard drive somewhere.

In any case, that is what John Scalzi has given us, and if you're a regular reader of his blog and his other books then you may find this one to be a little... off. You see, like many accomplished writers, Scalzi has a Voice, a way of writing that is immediately identifiable as his own, and which a lot of his fans have gotten used to. There's no single thing I can point to that really illustrates what this is, but trust me - it's there. A certain whip-quick sarcasm, a way of looking at old questions from a new angle and the ability to cut through the requisite fuzzy thinking that seems so endemic to the human race.

In this book, he tries on a new voice, something that sounds kind of like his, but at the same time like he's trying on something new. It's as if Jonathan Coulton started doing Manowar cover songs. It's not bad, it's just something that takes a little getting used to.

Captain Ean Tephe is the commander of a great starship, the Righteous, one of the many ships in the fleet controlled by the Bishopry Militant. He and the other captains in the fleet are charged with carrying out missions for the Bishopry in the name of their God, a being of immense power who uses the faith of millions to rule them. Their Lord is a powerful and active god, one who brooks no dissent from His followers and who will suffer no challengers to His dominion. Long ago, the Lord battled countless other, smaller gods, and won, chaining them to his will and turning them into the engines of the great starships that carry His people out into the universe.

The god that powers the Righteous, however, is not cooperating. Some ships' gods are quiet and obedient, others chatty, some cowed into good behavior by fear. The god on this ship is defiant, despite the prayers of priests and acolytes, and the horrible whip that the captain wields to compel obedience. This god soon reveals itself to be part of a greater plan, one which enfolds both Tephe and his crew and reveals a truth about their God that is enough to drive men mad. It is a test of faith for the men aboard the Righteous, and if they should fail, their lives will end in short order.

It's a very cool concept, really, one which I haven't seen done before. Scalzi has powered a civilization by faith, quite literally, in a God that not only exists, but it quite active in the lives of His worshipers. His high priests exert complete control over a population that rightfully fears for their souls, and manage to channel the God's power into various science-like applications. Through the use of amulets called Talents, the God facilitates communication over great distances, compels obedience, and opens gateways. He has a civilian population whose faith nourishes Him, and a military arm that travels the galaxy spreading His word and destroying His enemies. And it all makes sense.

As cool as the idea is, though, the book itself felt like a rough sketch rather than a fleshed-out novel. It's quite short, as novels go, and we are introduced to a lot of concepts and characters in a fairly brief amount of time. The Bishopry Militant, for example, sounds like a great place to see intrigue and double-dealing, lies upon lies that somehow manage to get things done, and we do see a bit of that when Captain Tephe gets a secret mission to a new world. Scalzi showed us in The Last Colony that he can handle this kind of multi-layered politicking, and I think it would be even better in a place like this. Add to that the Rookery, a kind of church-sanctioned brothel/therapy center aboard the ships, where the women who work there have nearly as much power and influence as the Bishopry itself. What would happen if these two institutions came into conflict, and what weapons would they wield?

The chained gods, too, are a wonderful chance to explore a lot of ethical questions. They are undoubtedly sentient beings of great power, enslaved by a God that is stronger than they. Is this kind of slavery justified? Would it be possible for a ship to work with its god-engine, rather than compelling it with whips and prayers. What do these gods know, and how reliable are they? The god powering the Righteous seems to know a lot about how this universe works, including some terrifying tales about the God that Tephe follows, but how much of what it says can be trusted?

And what are the powers and limitations of a faith-powered science? Much in the way that engineers and scientists in our world manipulate a few basic laws of nature to achieve amazing things, what could be done in a world where prayers have power and where a high priest's whim can decide the outcome of an entire mission? How do you creatively solve problems in a reality like this one, where they deal in belief and faith, rather than wavelengths and mass?

So yeah, there was a lot that I wanted from this book once I figured out what Scalzi was doing with it. After a great opening line (and a third line that just left me confused), the learning curve was a little steep. Once you figure it out, though, the possibilities seem endless. Unfortunately, the book itself ends rather sooner than it should.

It's not my favorite book by Scalzi, not by a long run, but since he's said he's going to lay off the Old Man's War universe for a while, I should be thankful that he is willing to experiment and try new things. As many music lovers know, it's sometimes very hard to accept that an artist you love wants to try to do things that are new and different, rather than keep doing the things that made you love them in the first place. I remember when U2 put out Achtung Baby and my friends who fell in love with The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum were almost personally offended. Zooropa, of course, was not to be mentioned aloud in their presence.

That kind of experimentation and risk-taking, however, is ultimately what helps an artist grow. You may not like what comes of such experimentation, but that's tough - it's not about you.

I don't know if Scalzi will return to this universe or not, but I hope he does. If he does, I hope he lingers longer than he did in The God Engines, and brings forth another wonderful and complex universe.

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"Faith is not for what comes after this life. Faith is for this life alone."
- A God, The God Engines
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A fantasy novella from 2009, subsequently appeared on the shortlist for both the Hugo and Novella. Fairly widely praised in genre commentary--even a lot of people who don't like Scalzi found this one his most effective work, while previous Scalzi fans were even more supportive. For my part, this was the first of his stories that I found both unambitious and unenjoyable, and am thoroughly puzzled by the good press.

The piece has a strong and distinctive atmosphere, with the story continually positing a dark mood of cosmic dysfunction, horror linked to mechanical efficiency and a general pattern of brooding. However the story doesn't do much with this atmosphere, seemingly content to establish a setup of tortured gods driving starships as an end in itself. The setting is ultimately incoherent and unbelievable, with a number of prominent elements that make sylistic sense but also lead to a thoroughly arbitrary and unbelievable invented universe. The plot feels unclearly sketched, more about moving characters across the board and providing exposition than doing anything engaging. The characters are two-dimensional. The larger story is dull, and even at a hundred and thirty pages feels padded and very slow.

It's not clear to me why Scalzi thought his premise--which has been done ad nauseum by productions like Games Workshop and Stargate--was so unique it could be presented with no real grace or appreciable adorning and people would eat it up. Highly disappointing.

Ean Tephe, captain of the Righteous, is a man of great faith. In fact, it's the faith of Tephe and his crew that keeps Righteous running -- it gives power to their god, enabling him to enslave the captured god which powers the spaceship. Somehow, the "defiled" god, like all the conquered gods that run the spaceships in Tephe's land, are able to swallow light-years of space to transport their crews wherever they need to go. When Captain Tephe and his crew are sent on a missionary journey to proselytize a new planet and their god engine starts to act up, Tephe's suddenly in danger of losing his religion.

The God Engines, which I listened to on audio (Brilliance Audio) narrated by Christopher Lane, has a tantalizing premise and some appealing characters. I liked Captain Ean Tephe, his capable first mate, and Shalle, the woman who "nurtures the faith" of the officers. The vicious and angry god who is chained to Righteous was truly frightening (Lane's creepy voice amplified this). The plot, which is slow at the beginning, rapidly speeds up at the end (this is only 3 hours on audio) and becomes intense, scary, twisty, and surprising.

Perhaps it was John Scalzi's intention, but I never felt comfortable reading The God Engines. My first problem is that it's closer to horror than science-fantasy. The plot is unpleasant all the way through and it lacks any of Scalzi's well-known humor or lightness. I was tense and unsettled the whole time I was listening. I realize that this is personal problem, of course, and many readers will appreciate this unexpected darkness from John Scalzi.

My second issue is that The God Engines is simply too short for what it tries to do. I enjoy reading novellas, but they tend to work better when the setting is already familiar, either because they're set in our own world or in a world the author has explored before. This world, which is entirely new for Scalzi's readers, was just starting to feel real and I was just settling into it by the time the story was over. Similarly, the idea of blindly worshiping a god whose character you're unsure of is tantalizing (though not original), but the surface of this concept was merely scratched and I wasn't given enough time to deeply consider how this would play out in this world. Likewise, the importance and pitfalls of faith were just beginning to be explored.

The ending of The God Engines felt arbitrary and unsatisfying. Scalzi abandoned his characters, world, ideas, and story, just as he was getting going. It's nice to see John Scalzi trying something new, but I can't help but wonder if maybe he didn't like it either.

In this fabulous new piece, Scalzi shows his versatility and imagination as never before. I adore his other novels, particularly for his comic voice and light touch. This novella couldn't be more different; it's almost as if it were written by a different man. You know you're not in Kansas any more when the first sentence you read is "It was time to whip the god." Misguided faith and a dysfunctional religion combine to create a dark tale that is much more complex than it appears to be at first glance. The questions of what came first, the gods or the humans who worshipped them, and of who needs whom the most, have been treated many times in the past, but never in quite the dark and fantastical way that Scalzi employs here. Unlike other reviewers, I do not think this story should be extended in any way nor should the universe be revisited. Like some of the best classic scifi short stories, this one is a gem that can stand perfectly well on its own.

Captain Ean Tephe commands the Bishopry Militant's ship Righteous. Its task is to patrol the space of the faithful...those who believe in the power and benevolence of the god that rules them. The "gods" in this story are aliens with tremendous powers to manipulate solid matter and even space-time to propel ships through the vast voids of the galaxy. The Righteous -- and each ship belonging to the Bishopry Militant -- have no engine or other technology as we are familiar with it. Instead they are propelled through space by an enslaved god, one whose powers are suppressed because it is bound in iron. Even the "technology" that controls the ship is accessed and manipulated only on the faith the ship's crew have in their god.

When the Righteous is called back to its home berth -- Bishop's Call -- and Captain Tephe is given direct instructions by the Bishopry Militant's command to proceed to a planet of great value to their god, Captain Tephe is eager to serve his god but privately concerned about the mission. The Captain suspects there is more going on than the Miltitant's command is divulging. But, being a faithful servant of his god, Captain Tephe undertakes the mission with due vigor. What he discovers on this mission about his god and the other, enslaved gods, may wind up changing everything he believes in.

About a third of the way through this novella, as Scalzi was beginning to peel back the curtain on the world he created where "gods" rule generally blind and subservient populations for their -- and not their people's -- benefit, I thought that surely one of Scalzi's inspirations for this tale must have been the Goa'uld in the Stargate series. But this is where the similarities between Stargate and The God Engines ends. The God Engines is primarily an exercise and exploration of one man's -- Captain Tephe's -- faith in his god. Tephe follows the familiar path from blind subserviency to -- as the story progresses -- having the blinders pulled away and seeing his world the way it truly is.

The biggest problem I had with The God Engines was that I wish Scalzi had told this tale in a full-length novel. There was a lot more to this story that he didn't flesh-out that I wish that he had. Nonetheless, I enjoyed Captain Tephe's journey of self-discovery. Scalzi did a good job of drawing this Captain in the world in which he lives...his thinking and actions made sense relative to his setting and the actions of others around him.

Having read the Old Man's War books and now The God Engines, Scalzi continues to impress. I look forward to picking up more of his works in the future.

I like John Scalzi's writing -- straightforward and to the point. This is a dark allegorical story about conviction and beliefs put in the wrong place. I like the message, but there will be people that won't.

"The God Engines" is wonderful and well written. If you love dramatic irony, you'll love this book. If you love hard-hitting science fiction, you'll love this book. Don't read this book if you want something light and fluffy and funny.

I haven't read a solid, edgy story this well written in a very long time. It's great. "The God Engines" compares well against some of Harry Harrison's more intense stories, A.E. Van Vogt's "Black Destoryer", as well as more recent publications such as Martin, Dozois, & Abraham's "Hunter's Run." I feel cheated only because the story ended too soon, and because I don't have a pretty hardback edition of Scalzi's book. Ah, the joys and lamentations of the digital format.

Go buy this book now and read it!