Customer Reviews

Phylogenesis: Book One of The Founding of the Commonwealth

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Alan Dean Foster has been knocking his varied future narratives around the Humanx (Human/Thranx) Commonwealth for decades, so it should come as no surprise that the prolific pulp writer would eventually roll up his sleeves and dig out the dark and dirty tale of just how the Commonwealth was formed...

Phylogenesis is predominantly the tale of the slightly mad and very driven Thranx poet Desvendapur, who aspires to create beautiful art that will surpass all around him. His ferocious drive to contact and glean inspiration from the recently discovered humans leads Desvendapur to commit several transgressions, including an accidental murder. What Desvendapur does not know is that his almost ruthless drive to acheive something more than what he is is mirrored by the Human Cheelo Montoya, who likewise commits a crime and accidently kills someone to further his own goals.

With a sure hand, ADF crafts two very different and yet quite similar characters that are destined to meet and, in an even more unlikely yet completely logical twist, become friends of a sort. That this unlikely and illegal meeting and befriending of two iconoclastic criminals of different species should mark an important step in a larger scheme shows that the Human and Thranx have a lot more in common than they like to think.

Several reviews of this book point out its weak story (and sometimes it does read like a travelogue), so potential readers should understand that Phylogenesis is the first part of a trilogy. Plot points and schemes are introduced but not completely resolved for they play integral parts in the remaining two chapters. Taken as a part of a much bigger whole, Phylogenesis is a satisfying opening chapter. Recommended.

Having read nearly all books of ADF, I am very glad about his return to the Homanx area, where ADF really has his most intensive moments. The story is tough, sometimes moving, even thrilling and leaves me curious for the sequels. Des and Cheelo are interesting characters, especially the always enjoying way of getting to know a thranx personality (well done, ADF !). My best moments: seeing Amazonian nature (as I have already seen live) through the eyes of Cheelo (kind of alter ego of Alan, I presume) and even more through the multiple eyes of Desvendapur. I don't want to tell too much, it's just a little bit sad, never to hear again of Cheelo & Des... Keep on, Alan !

I'd been hoping ADF would one day continue the early days of the Commonwealth. Nor Crystal Tears is still my favorite first contact novel and my favorite Humanx universe book besides Tar-Aiym Krang and The End of the Matter. Sadly, Phylogenesis was only so-so. The plot meandered along and somehow I couldn't care as much about either Montoya or Desvendapur as I did about Ryozenzuzex from NCT or the early, young Flinx. Phylogenesis was very obviously intended as "part one" of a series, trilogy, whatever. If so, it was a strange set-up, without wanting to give too much away.

After the wonderful "Nor Crystal Tears", this book is a huge disappointment. You cannot get into the headspace of either character, neither one is agreeable to the reader, and it contradicts a lot of elements in Thranx society that "Crystal Tears" introduced.

And since **WHEN** did the Thranx become vegetarian??? In "Crystal Tears", Ryozenzuzex eats some meat his human captors/friends provide him, and his only comment was it wasn't in a "proper stew or soup". There's a few other scenes in the book where he eats meat as a normal part of thranx culture. Yet in this book, the poet character gets sick at the mere thought of eating meat, and gives the impression that the thranx are natural vegetarians. Come on!! This was just the most glaring error in a batch of them.

_____________________________________________
Desvendapur is a misfit, a third-rate professional poet on the
backwater colony world of Willow-Wane. Hearing a rumor of a
secret alien colony, on impulse he sneaks into it and forges a new
identity, hoping the weird, smelly "humans" will inspire him, and
jump-start his stalled artistic career. Inspiration he gets, plus exotic
travel, but at a very high price....

Cheelo Montoya is a ninloco, a small-time Tico hood on the lam
from a mugging that went sour. He's hiding out in the Peruvian
Reserva Amazonia, waiting for the heat to die down. He falls out of
his stolen boat, which chugs on out-of-sight, on autopilot. Now he's
hiding in a tree, after an unfortunate encounter with a column of
army ants, when this *giant bug* walks by....

Des and Cheelo make a wary acquaintance, and then an uncertain
partnership against the hazards of the jungle: jaguars, anacondas,
poachers.... and unwittingly advance the budding Human-Thranx
alliance. But the wily reptilian AAnn have an idea of how to throw
a spanner in the works. Tune in next time for -- Book Two, Dirge!
(Should be out RSN -- it's been turned in to the publisher.)

This is a very entertaining book -- light, fun, and action-packed, with
clever twists and likeable characters. A lot like the good old stuff we
read and loved when we were fourteen. And, for that matter, like
earlier ADF books I've liked -- I'd gotten out of the habit of reading
Foster, after several so-so books (and the appropriately-titled "The
Damned" trilogy), so I'm very pleased to see him back at the top of
his form. Familiarity with earlier Humanx Commonwealth books is
helpful but certainly not required -- and, unlike many such books, Phylogenesis comes to a satisfying closure. If you happen to be new to
Foster, or were disappointed before, this is a good chance to see him
at his best. Fluff, but *good* fluff.

review copyright 1999 by Peter D. Tillman
First published at Infinity-plus

It's not a book I'd put on a list of great science fiction, but it's nonetheless an entertaining read. It's a story of two characters, one a poet named Desvendapur from an insect like alien race known as the Thranx, and the other a human thief named Cheelo Montoya, who through a series of events become unlikely traveling partners. There's no high drama at play in the story. No planets about to be destroyed or alien swarms about to invade. It brought to mind any number of buddy movies I've seen, only with a science fiction twist. I haven't read any of the other books in the commonwealth series, so I can't comment on how the book compares with the others, but if you're looking for some light entertainment, this book fits the bill.

Phylogenesis tells the story of the founding of the Humanx Commonwealth, which is the setting for quite a few of his other novels (most of which I have read). The story itself is relatively intriguing as we learn how the thranx view the humans and to a much lesser extent, how humans view the thranx. There is also an element of mystery as both the protagonists, one human and one thranx are essentially evading authorities. The problem I have with Phylogenesis is that they are both evading authority because they are both criminals. It almost seems like Foster is trying to assert that one can (and must) do anything they want to achieve their goals, even if that means lying and even killing. If you can get past that fact, the story is just as readable as any of Foster's others.

This book explors the relationship between humans and thranx in Fosters humanx universe. Glimpse at the events and pressures which started(or should I way jumpstarted) the amalgemation of Humans and thranx into a single multi-star system civilization after their first contact(shown in 'Nor crystal tears'). The charecters are not heroic types and you get a good sense of their frustration and desperation.

This is not up to the standards set in "Nor Crystal Tears" or "Into the Out Of". The structure is poor and I cared more about the secondary characters than the 2 "heros". I kept on reading, thinking "It'll get better next chapter", but it didn't.

Humans and Thranx have a great deal in common. Including disgust at each other's physiology. The two intelligent species that experienced first contact in Foster's earlier novel, NOR CRYSTAL TEARS, are working on a carefully planned continuum of establishing relations as PHYLOGENESIS opens. Meanwhile, the reptilian Aan - who have commonalities with both the insectoid Thranx and mammalian Humans - would dearly love to add either, or both, to their own growing empire.

Thranx poet Desvandapur dreams of making himself immortal by finding unique inspiration, the kind that he believes meeting and interacting with Humans might provide. When he learns of a tightly guarded Human enclave on his home world, the Thranx colony of Willow-Wane, he maneuvers himself into that enclave only to be disappointed at the level of contact it actually offers. Then he's thrilled to find himself chosen to join a secret Thranx settlement on Earth itself, and disappointed yet again at not being able to spend time in Human company. So Desvandapur, who has already risked much for his art, sets off on his own into the heart of the Amazon. Where he meets a Human in an unsupervised setting, at last - who's not at all the kind of Human the rest of that species would have chosen to be their ambassador.

This book is the first part of a trilogy, and as such it spends most of its pages setting up plot threads and establishing characters. It's a fun read just the same, because Foster's mastery at creating believable aliens (individuals and their social histories) is on full display here. One can feel Desvendapur's thrilled disgust at touching living Human flesh for the first time, right along with the character.