Customer Reviews

The Paradox Men (Classics of Modern Science Fiction, Vol 7)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of those stories that has several mysterious buried in the plot that all come together at the very end. The premise is exceptional and the look that we get into a future imperial America is fascinating. Unfortunately the plot seems uneven in places. As an example a character who gets tortured at the end of one chapter suddenly reappers free in the middle of the next chapter with little explaination of what happened in between. The book is full of small "problems" like this and that makes it a bit annoying to read. Also the explaination of the structure of the universe is confusing and requires you to read it over several times. That said, the time travel plot is incredible and will leave you thinking about it for days after the book is done. My favorite part of this book, though, is the description of the solar bases and the sociology of what goes on there. Yeah, you heard me right they have bases on the sun in this book. If you want to find out why and how such a thing is possible read the book. Overall it is a good read.

I picked up this book because it had been compared to Alfred Bester's "The Stars, My Destination," one of my favorite sci-fi novels, AND because it is listed as one of the Top 100 sci-fi novels in David Pringle's excellent overview book. Happily, I found the comparison to be a fair one, and the rating to be just. This is one terrific science fiction novel, as fast paced and colorful as the Bester novel, and featuring a similar use of colorful characters and extravagant imagination. It is really quite impressive how Charles Harness manages to incorporate some fantastic surprise or bit of mind-blowing scientific hypothesizing into every single chapter. Einsteinian theories of the universe, Toynbeean history and non-Aristotelian philosophy are all mixed into a swashbuckling and fast-moving pulp story, with a backdrop of a technologically advanced society on the decline. The story jumps from the Earth to the moon to Mercury and finally to a "solarion," a station that hovers over a sunspot to process the energy of the sun itself. It's all wild and improbable and quite irresistible stuff, if you're game. I highly recommend it.

The Paradox Men has become a classic in the SF field, for good reason. It was first published as "Flight Into Yesterday", in the May 1949 Startling Stories. This edition is slightly expanded and revised.

The Paradox Men is still Harness's most famous and most respected novel. The plot is complicated, but consistent, logical, and thematically sound. The characters are two-dimensional but interesting and involving. The action is well-done, and the scientific ideas are sometimes philosophical and thoughtful, and at other times wild, implausible, but still engaging. The basic story is of a Thief, Alar, who has appeared in Imperial America 5 years prior to the action of the story, with no memory of his past or identity. The Thieves work underground against the repressive society, using tech invented by their mysterious, dead, founder, Kennicot Muir. The key piece of Thief tech is armor which protects them against high velocity weapons (like projectile weapons), but not against swords and knives. Thus fencing is again a major skill. (Herbert swiped this notion for Dune, of course.) At the time of the action, various threads are converging: the plans of Imperial America to attack its Eurasian enemy, the Toynbee society's attempts to avoid the continuing historical cycle of civilizations rising and falling (they believe that the coming war will bring Toynbee Civilization 21 to an end: the next one will be Toynbee 22, hence Harness' original title (never used on a published version): Toynbee Twenty-Two), the completion of an experimental FTL starship, the relationship between the evil leaders of Imperial America and Keiris Muir, the enslaved widow of Kennicot Muir, and her attraction to Alar, the predictions of the computer enhanced human called The Meganet Mind (or the Microfilm Mind in the original). What a horrible sentence: but trying to summarize Harness can do that to you. Everything comes to a head with a trip to the surface of the Sun, and then a much stranger trip ...

I recommend it highly. It seems comparable in many ways to its near contemporary Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination: Harness probably had a more original mind than Bester's, and his themes seem a bit more ambitious, but he really couldn't write with him -- and I think it is because of the writing (both prose and pace) that the manic energy of the Bester book is more successfully sustained. Still, The Paradox Men remains a powerful and interesting novel, and such scenes as the final selfless act of Keiris are unmatched in SF.

The Paradox Men(1953) by Charles Harness - 202 pages - rating: 6.5/10

This IS classic time travel / space opera Sci-Fi. There's no question of that. There are some very interesting components to the plot that many people will enjoy. I know I did.

There are also some odd elements that feel overly bizarre. For example, one of the characters has the capability to project deceptive visual images OUT OF HIS EYEBALLS. Weird eh ? Keep in mind this was written in 1953 and back then authors were encouraged to do new and unusual things in writing science fiction.

My major complaint, and its not a big one, is in delivery department. Harness seems to enjoy inserting unusual words quite frequently. It's as if he feels he'll raise the literary quality by doing so. Often the words dont quite fit or are so uncommon that you need to look them up in a dictionary. His sentance structure is not quite ideal either. The combination of these two factors make the reading a little unsmooth, a little awkward. While you're reading the story you do want to know what happens next but you are not drawn into the story in a compelling way.

In his introductory remarks the editor compares Paradox Men to The Stars My Destination(1956 - 8.5/10) by Alfred Bester and The Sirens of Titan(1959 - 8.0/10) by Kurt Vonnegut jr. Let me tell you there is NO COMPARISON to those two novels. Paradox Men is not even on the same level.

For massively enjoyable/funny alternate reality Sci-Fi also try What Mad Universe(1949 - 9.0/10) by Fredric Brown. The Black Cloud(1957 - 9.5/10) by Fred Hoyle is also excellent (one of my favorites) if you enjoy Science Fiction where the main protagonist is a scientist himself.

The Paradox Men was OK but there's lots out there that are better.

Claus Kellermann
2006 January 3
Sci_Fi_Researcher@yahoo.com

Glad I picked this for my summer classic SF reading. This short read builds a mysterious story with interesting characters. The 2nd third of this novel is painfully hard to put down. A very plot driven SF novel about the impact of science on human nature, what a concept. Fascinating, Charles Harness was a great writer. The main female character in this story is smart and breaks the tradition of hopeless cookie cutter clueless girls featured in so many other SF books. The dialog is far from cheesy as well. As a futuristic novel, some things do not hold up to the test of time, I think they were very limited...like tape as data storage or lack of cell phones. A thought-provoking and fun read that I'm hoping becomes a movie.

I read this book when it was first published and have never forgotten the plot. I just recently re-read it and found it just as absorbing as the first time! The vision and scope of the author place this book on a short list of masterworks! An exciting narration covers such concepts as multiple identities, time travel, superhuman evolution and carnival freaks. I would not want to harm the reader's enjoyment in unraveling the mysteries of the plot by revealing more here. Suffice it to say that Charles Harness is an acknowledged master of storytelling skills and unlimited imagination.

The Paradox Men is a very engrossing read. I, of course, love to read what's been written on the covers of books (not just the pictures, though if the pictures are cool enough, they still get me!), and this one proclaimed itself to be a masterpiece. And after reading all the introductions by various important people I've never really heard of (other than Asimov), I had pretty high expectations for this work.

Well, it almost lived up to them. I was engrossed and really had problems putting it down (I really shouldn't stay up that late to read if I have to work the next morning...). Harness's pacing is excellent, almost manic at times, and I really was becoming fascinated with the characters as they grew, evolved and were revealed.

I guess the finale was anti-climactic to me. I had kinda of guessed it already, but wasn't sure if things were going to really play out that way. I think a twist away from that almost inevitable ending would have been a little more brilliant, or may just more intriguing. [spoiler alert!] And the move for the primary character to all of a sudden super-evolve (or whatever you want to call it) seemed a little over the top for me. And using this leap in evolution to then paint an almost poignant ending seemed a little too much in my mind. Almost had an incredible conclusion, but just missed it.

Would I recommend it? Yes, kind of. Mainly to individuals who enjoy sci-fi and also enjoy thinking about the concepts and sociological analysis many sci-fi writers engage in within their stories. I think this is an excellent example of science fiction in it's early years - and an extremely fine example of that.

I would still rather sit down with an Asimov in hand. Now there is an example of an incredible writer!

I have never seen a Charles Harness book retail in the UK. I picked this one up by accident in a 'Jumble Sale' as we say here in England. One of the best single SF novels in my opinion, up there with Asimov's Foundation or Herbert's Dune. Tightly written, imaginative, realistic dialogue, gripping. Elements of a detective story/thriller with the SF side of it a highly competent backdrop. In some ways it's one of those future-society what-ifs and makes a unique contribution as such. Seems he only wrote one other, The Rose, not quite as good I would say. If there are any other titles, let me know! Nigel, England.

Alar is a member of the Society of Thieves in 22nd-century America Imperial, after America has been through the third war. The country has returned to slavery, and is ruled by Haze-Gaunt, the Chancellor. Haze-Gaunt is an avid fencer. Sword fighting has become common again, thanks to his ongoing struggle with the Thieves, who have vowed to use any and all means to rid the country of slavery. The Thieves cannot be harmed by gunfire, due to personal force fields they have created, which act like body armor. Slow moving weapons, such as swords, still can harm them.

Alar has no memory of his own past, beyond the previous 5 years. His first memory is climbing out of a river, near the site of a crashed space ship. When he becomes the focus of a concerted manhunt by the Imperial military, he realizes that his true identity must be of importance. He has strange powers, of which he doesn't understand the nature or origin. As the story unfolds, the pace quickens to a fantastic conclusion, involving time travel and transcendental metamorphosis. Humankind become the prize for the victorious side - Alar and the Thieves or Haze-Gaunt.

The story is imaginative, if lacking in convincing or understandable details. Alar's trip to the sun in a floating, refrigerated space station is an example. His powers are another example of creative ideas, which are unconvincingly told. The writing is efficient, but not outstanding. Characters exist mostly to fill roles, and are not explored beyond that. Shey is an Imperial psychologist, with a sadistic personality. He serves as the darkest, and most feared character of all. His demise is surprising and fitting, and is one of many surprises along the way.

This is a book of strengths and weaknesses, each jockeying for position every handful of pages. The strengths win out in a close contest. If you want a straight-forward story, told in an easily understandable manner, then avoid this. If you like an occasional reading exercise, requiring your full attention and interest, then this is worth your time. There are several rewarding images described in the story. Enjoy the images, but don't use a magnifying glass. The details are less attractive than the whole.

It is not a long book, around a few hundred pages and if I do have any complaint, it might be that it could have been longer, which actually speaks to how much I enjoyed reading it. But, it is a product of its time and one of the reasons I love classic SF so much, the ability to write short, concise novels, filled with action and adventure that very few modern SF novels can match.
Time travel and evolution, power and corruption, mystery and intrigue, science and discovery, love and loss, it is all here in this short novel and it works and by the end when revelations are made, I have to confess I got them wrong, which is always fun for me.
It moves with tremendous energy and in many ways it is very much like Alfred Bester's works and I think it is just as good. I cannot speak about Charles Harness' other novels but I will be reading more of them in another volume of his works called Rings, which does include The Paradox Men and three other novels.
It starts on Earth, goes to the Moon and we actually end up on the surface of the Sun, in what has to be one of the most memorable scenes I have read in a long time.
If you can find a used copy, pick it up and enjoy. I loved it.