Lords of the Middle Dark/Book One of the Rings of the Master [Hardcover]

Jack L. Chalker (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Severn House Pub Ltd (November 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0727817345
• ISBN-13: 978-0727817341
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,063,666 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lords of the Middle Dark - a bright spark, December 3, 1999

By 

Peter T K Lee "pacpac" (Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lords of the Middle Dark/Book One of the Rings of the Master (Hardcover)

Good story telling with emphasis on character development rather than indepth tech talk - the usual Chalker style I dare say.

The human race is caged by its own creation of which was created to protect the humans from destroying itself. Vaguely along the lines of Arthur C Clarke's 2001:A Space Odysee where the computer running the space ship is also programmed to carry out the mission - no matter the cost. HAL in this saga is Master System - a mega computer developed by five key scientists to prevent humans from self-destruction. The book has an underlying message of how humans are increasingly becoming dependent on technology. Master System has taken over the world - its "prime objective" - save the human race. It has control over everything and anything, more like a God of whom all humans must obey.

An unlikely hero (isn't it always that way?) who grows to be likeable one, takes on the task of stopping Master System. This is achieved by using a process in which the five original scientists programmed in - just in case. Five rings must be obtained which contains the key to stop Master System - but one bears the question "why didn't Master System destroy the rings?" Answer: because it has to allow humans to achieve it. It can try and stop them but it cannot destroy any chance of them obtaining the rings.

Jack L Chalker concentrates on the plot and character development rather than elaborate establishment of science and technology. This makes for easier acceptance of the technologies "invented" in the story. "The Lords of the Middle Dark" is the first book of a series of four. And, is compelling reading as the reader yearns for the next book in the series.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unique and Disturbing, July 27, 2000

By 

C.E. Crowder - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lords of the Middle Dark/Book One of the Rings of the Master (Hardcover)

Mr. Chalker presents an Earth more horrifying than 1984 or Brave New World. In this future you can be made to behave however the Master System (an all-powerful computer) chooses, in the name of preserving humanity. The individual's worth has been destroyed for the sake of society. I found the characters' instinctive need to regain control of this world a motive worth cheering for, though the author didn't extrapolate much on the philosophical implications of his theme.

Characters are dealt with even more harshly than in Stephen R. Donaldson's Gap series if you can believe it; psychologically brutalized to the point where some can no longer be considered the same people at the end of the story that they were at the beginning. Occasionally the book comes close to making the characters uninterestingly powerless, but by the end their free will has persevered. I'm glad I did as well.

Chalker lacks Donaldson's deftness and writing into and out of corners, but the storyline holds together. This isn't the best book I've ever read for characters or plot twists, but the setting and situation have some interesting implications. That alone earns it five stars, and I hope the author tries to explore them further in the sequels. I'll definitely pick them up (if I find them anywhere, that is) to find out.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Imaginative, a little too much in typical Chalker style, May 24, 2001

By 

frumiousb "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Lords of the Middle Dark/Book One of the Rings of the Master (Hardcover)

At a certain point, I'd read a lot of Jack L. Chalker, but hadn't gotten around to reading The Rings of the Master series.

On the one hand, the book isn't disappointing-- the plot is inventive enough and the concept and characters engaging. Mankind lives in what is essentially a terrarium of their own invention. Centuries ago, people set computers up to rule the world and prevent mankind from killing itself. However, the computers now rule too well-- leaving people no free will or ability to innovate. Five rings were left by the creators of the original system and those rings have the ability to shut the computers off. The heros of the story must find the rings in the face of the computers' opposition.

I think people who haven't read a lot of Chalker won't be bugged by the repetition from earlier books, but even given a lot of elapsed time, I was still struck by how many old familiar Chalker elements there are-- gender switching, mind control, rape, blindness, physical experimentation. It felt a little too predictable in this way-- some kind of fetish (writer or reading public?) being expressed in the body of work.