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43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Wild Soup of Sprouts, Genius, and Astrology, March 25, 2002
A long, long time ago when the world was young and Anthony was a fresh new face in the science fiction world, he blessed us with works of power, incredible imagination, great originality, depth and meaning. This is one of those very early works, and by some measures it may be his best, or very nearly so, standing with his Chthon and Orn as a seminal work that introduced ideas that are still fresh and very different from the standard run-of-the-mill stuff of both then and today. The main idea behind this novel is the macroscope itself, an instrument that focuses a new particle and allows the user to effectively look anywhere and anytime at people, places, and events. Clearly this has an implication of being usable as a 'spy' scope, where everyone's most private actions can be discerned. It is this use that gets the scope dubbed as the 'Pooper Scooper' and leads to political machinations for control of its use. But the scientists running the scope have also stumbled across messages encoded within the particle stream, messages sent by alien civilizations for unclear purposes and which when viewed leave the viewer with a burnt out mind. Into this hardware scenario Anthony sends a very enigmatic individual, one Ivo Archer, (note that name choices are important here), an apparently normal person who happens to have some very wild, super-genius level talents in certain very restricted areas, to help determine what these messages are and why they are so destructive. But Ivo is more than he seems to be, and as we follow the story as it progresses from Earth bound considerations to a galactic encyclopedia to interstellar war with some truly different alien life forms all the way to the fate of universe and folding other ideas into the mix, such as astrology as a true science, the reader is treated to an incredible trip through the minds of more than one genius. Anthony's characterization of these geniuses is very well done, and gives great insight into the thought processes and emotional characteristics of these exceptional people. On top of that, he buries a character mystery inside the main story, a question of just who is the legendary Schon, a supposed super-genius with absolutely no conscience, and how such a person is molded by his compatriots and environment. The psychological insights displayed here form a prime sub-text underneath the fantastic action of the story, and elevate this work well beyond a simple adventure novel. In most of his early works, Anthony showed a predilection for playing with mathematical ideas rather than physics concepts, and this work is no exception, introducing the game of sprouts, an apparently simple pencil and paper game that the reader will find is actually a fiendishly complicated foray into the world of 'rubber-band' mapping (topology), neatly folded into and enhancing the main story line. This work was nominated for the 1970 Hugo Award. Unfortunately, it was up against both Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness and Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five that year, two other truly great works in the SF world. But it is more than worth the effort to find and read this incomprehensibly out-of-print book of fantastic ideas, high adventure, and great character, which I have kept on my top 50 list of best all-time science fiction works ever since I first read it.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another gem that should be reprinted, May 3, 2000
Long before Piers Anthony wrote his successful fantasy novels he penned "Macroscope"- one of the most imaginative and original science fiction novels ever written. The characterizations may be a bit weak, and the dialogue a bit wooden at times, but the ideas, and the scope of the novel boirder on the breathtaking. Imagine: A huge instrument is set up in Earth orbit that has the ability to view a recently discovered particle that lets it peer anywhere in space- not only in the present, but in the past as well. What started as a research instrument has been revealed as the ultimate spy satellite. This alone makes it a political hot potato, as different factions fight over control of the scope . Unknown to the governments on earth fighting over the scope, the researchers on board have discovered that other civilizations are broadcasting information viewable by the scope, if you're smart enogh to figure out the code. But there's a catch: Everyone of the brilliant scientists who has thus tried to read the signal has ended up dead or brain damaged. The last man to try sent for a childhood friend before the attempt that left him in a vegetative state. What's odd is the friend he sent for isn't a genius like the others; he's downright dull, by all appearances. Affairs come to a crisis when a powerful and very intelligent Senator demands access to the scope- and is killed by it. Faced with the seizure of the scope by the military, the researchers on board cut it loose and flee into space. That's just the first chapter. What follows is one of the most original and imaginative novels in SciFi. I first read it back in high school, in 1970; it's still fresh today.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A true classic, December 8, 2004
I am rereading this book after a number of years, having first read it some time in the mid 1970's. Again I find that it is one of those books that changes how one thinks about things, and a work that can be appreciated on multiple levels. First, it can change one's view of what's possible within the genre of science fiction. It impressively weaves a tapestry from such diverse threads as music, mathematics, classic American literature, philosophy, psychology, and sheer imagination, just to name a few. To a degree I've seldom seen equaled, the combination of these elements after all these years still create in me a sense of wonder at the grandness and richness of Creation. Anthony's work here is truly a microcosmic reflection of the very universe of which he writes. That leads into something else I've kept noticing on this re-reading. I've been constantly struck by way the story suggests the interrelationship of things ranging from tiny (like the macron particle) to immense (like the universe); and by the synergy possible between people with diverse and seemingly disparate gifts. Ranging from the "ordinary" Beatrix to the "super-genius" Schön, each of the central characters is vital to the story, though each stands out as truly individual. The plot shows each of these characters as vital to the group's success, despite what appear to be huge differences in intellectual or personal development. The "hard" science fiction elements at first glance today might appear a bit dated, given a nomenclature that dates from the late 1960's. But then hard science and technology are not really central themes of this novel. These elements of the story are for me a necessary "window dressing" arrayed around more central themes like personal responsibility, the grandness of the Universe, and interpersonal dynamics. In that respect it's easy to overlook the book's roots in the technology of the 1960's. When I first read _Macroscope_ I was somewhere around late college age. At the time it read for me more like a hard science fiction adventure story. I didn't pay much attention to characterization or to themes that aren't traditional in hard scicne fiction. After all, I wasn't looking for those things at that age. Quite a few years later, probably in the mid-1980's, I read it again. This time I was amazed to find so much else in the book. One element I picked up on that I'd completely glossed over before was the poetry of Sidney Lanier, from the American Civil War era. I borrowed a library book with several of his major works and found myself enraptured. Strange that in high school American Lit. I'd thought his _Song of the Chattahoochee_ was dull or even silly. Anthony's use of Lanier's verse drew me into the novel to a much greater extent than before. I found myself with an emotional bond for and insight into the character Ivo, in whose psychological landscape Lanier is central. Upon this latest re-reading I've been more struck by the way the story evokes what I'll call unities. There is a sense that all the universe is connected, from tiniest subparticle, up through the sentient individual, right to the scale of Creation as a whole. I'm still in a bit of suspense. It's been so long since I read the book that I don't recall the denouement. If I remember once I've finished it, I'll revisit this review to add a few more remarks.
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