Customer Reviews

Trapped

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Trapped is James Alan Gardner's sixth novel. All are set in a future (about 500 years from now) dominated by the League of Peoples. Humans have a number of colonies, but only "sentient" humans (non-murderers) can travel to other stars. Earth itself is ruled by the "Spark Lords", humans who have been given considerable tech by aliens in exchange for keeping tabs on the remaining humans on the planet. The aliens have also seeded Earth with nanotech that can be used by some people in ways that closely mimic traditional magic. The upshot of this setup is that Earth is a nice setting for quasi-fantastical adventures.

The hero of the book is Phil, a science teacher at a college in Feliss (roughly Ontario). When one of his students dies, he and several of his friends find themselves on a magical quest, to track down the murderer of the student and to save another student who has special powers. They also hope to give their lives some meaning.

The story is fun, often funny, often clever, and quite full of action and adventure. On that level it is well worth reading, and I enjoyed it. But it is also burdened by the overly convenient way in which the author seems to arrange for just the right powers to be available at just the right time, and the overly convenient way in which various folks' motivations dovetail with the needs of the story at the right time. That is, it's a pretty fun book, and a nice fast-moving read, but it is not at all convincing. This isn't his best work, but it's not bad. Gardner's novels as a group are well worth seeking out. They are full of decent adventure, cute SFnal ideas, and plenty of humour.

I've read all of the League of People series by James Alan Gardner and I have to admit that this one is certainly the best written, clearest, and most detailed. I was most impressed by the fact that Mr. Gardner finally figured out that to emphasize something, he doesn't have to repeat it three three three times. Instead, the novel is full of excellent descriptions of a post-technology era, where horse-drawn carriages are pulled on 500 year old highways with giant potholes and the main way of communication is mail by land.

However, there are flaws in this novel. I think the primary flaw is the desperate need for tying this novel into the League of People plot. It would really make a better book to create a whole new universe explaining the agency to protect earth to be controlled by SOME extraterrestials, but not necessarily the League of People. Sure, the plot twists were great, however, throughout the whole book I felt they were unnecessary. Also, on a personal note, I would've preferred much more (or even some) space travel, but between the aliens and the magic, I can't complain too much.

I don't want to spoil too much for the reader, but the basic premise for the story is a quest that the characters take in order to save a highly powerful psychic able to perform tasks from telekinesis to mind-reading. They embark on a journey: a fighter, a cleric, a mage, a thief, and a rich guy. Sounds a bit too much like a Dungeons and Dragons campaign? Maybe. But the result is worth reading. The technology Mr. Gardner puts in the novel mixes very well with the late Middle Ages feel of the everyday life of the characters. The aliens, as always, are very well-developed, with their quirks and features barely or not at all understood by humans. There is suspense and mystery and a great cosmic puzzle to be solved. Fans of Mr. Gardner will be delighted, and those new to his writing, since the novel is very detached from the others, will become addicted.

James Gardner's stories postulate a universe in which humans are far, far behind the technological levels of the other alien species of the darn near omnipotent League of Peoples. For the first time in his universe, he takes us to Earth where, for unexplained reasons, humanity mostly has reverted to an early-1800's level of technology. Except that nanotechnology has made sorcery and psionics possible, and there are something called Spark Lords who have technology that is very nearly magic.

And it turns out there are other aliens who are fighting battles on Earth. And one race of these aliens is Truly Evil; homicidal, ..., shape-shifting and disgusting. And let me caution you that Gardner apparently doesn't like cottage cheese, and you probably won't, either, after your read this book.

The plot involves a handful of private school teachers who stumble into this morass when one of their students dies messily at the hand of the bad guy or guys. Naturally, most of them die in the course of the novel; naturally, the survivors save the day.

Gardner has been rightly accused of indulging in silly science, and that tendency is full flower in "Trapped." As an enjoyable yarn, this story, like many of Gardner's books, is okay. But if you bring any critical thinking to the plot or the characters, the whole thing falls apart like a soggy tissue. A galaxy-spanning, transcendent hive mind that enjoys ...? Humans, aware of technology, who are stuck in a horse-and-buggy culture? Shape-shifting cellule organisms?

There are also massive inconsistencies with the earlier books. Readers of Gardner's earlier novels know the League of Peoples has some pretty strong ideas about homicide; if, as Harriet Klausner has suggested in an earlier review, the Spark Lords are from another world, they sure better not ever try to leave Earth. . .

Despite the silly science and the plot holes, this is a pleasant read. But buy the paperback, not the hardback, and keep your expectations - and your incredulity - firmly in check.

Philemon Abu Dhubhai is a teacher at a second tier private school. As we find out from a bar fight they get themselves into at the beginning, he and his close friends (also teachers at the school) are all extraordinary in some way. One friend is telekinetic and can lift someone off the ground without touching them. Another is a sorceress who has a tendency to carry her pet flame around with her. A third thinks that he is a knight. A fourth is a street fighting nun. Philemon himself is fabulously wealthy; at least his family is. Although he has tried to distance himself from them, his relatives make sure his wallet is always full.

Coming home from the bar, Philemon witnesses a ghost in the music room. Fearing foul play, he finds one of his students is, indeed, dead - possibly murdered. Since the sorceress had already shared a prophecy that they must all go on an upcoming quest together, he gathers his friends together to solve the mystery.

This is the first book by this author that I've read, and I found the setting intriguing. The mixture of old technology with fictional abilities such as sorcery and telekinesis grabbed my attention immediately. The author is able to keep sharing new information about the outlandish setting and unusual characters in a comfortable conversational style that spreads the explanations throughout the narrative without engaging in the massive infodumps that mar so many other authors' prose. Events flow logically and inevitably through to a final confrontation that has grown to have galactic consequences. The clear and vivid language evokes the action and surroundings without bogging the story down in detail.

At first, I was surprised that the book hasn't scored any better than the four stars. I think, to a certain extent, it is because it was poorly aimed. The cover looks like a juvenile or young adult book and, indeed, the fun style that the book is written in and the fast pace of events would seem to reinforce that. In contrast, the relatively dark ending (only half of the main characters survive the story) and the existential angsting that the point-of-view character engages in, may deflect the interest of younger readers. I would highly recommend it to older readers.

Trapped (2002) is another SF novel set in the League of People universe. Although an Explorer is a minor character, this novel is unrelated to the Explorer stories.

This story takes place on an Earth that has been embargoed by the League and seeded with nanotech to emulate magic and psionics. Some people are endowed with telepathy, telekinesis, precognosis, envoking fire, and other powers, but most only have a single talent. The most powerful of these talented people are the Spark Lords.

The novel tells of a quest to find the murderer of Rosalind, a student at Feliss Academy. Her killer is a Lucifer, a unit of a hive mind species, who can shapechange and has impersonated Rosalind so as to elope with her lover, Sebastian Shores, who is himself a multi-talented sorcerer.

Philemon Abu Dhubhai and his friends are teachers at FA, a somewhat elite finishing school for those with a touch of sorcerous talent, and all are feeling a bit underachieved. The quest gives them a reason to go out and fulfill themselves. Along the way they are joined by Phil's lover and friend, Gretchen Kinnderboom, who fancies herself as a sorceress.

The FA group aren't the only people interested in the murder; Dreamsinger, a Sorcery-Lord of Spark, is also investigating a strange occurence and joins the group for a while. Elizabeth Tzekich, head of the Ring of Knives criminal gang and mother of the murdered girl, is discovered to be in the vicinity and, upon being notified of the death, is most eager to follow the murderer.

Phil and his friends discover that the Lucifer has already killed another Spark Lord and apparently has a different nature than other Lucifers. As they follow Dreamsinger and the Tzekich party, they discover death, deception and, possibly, deliverance.

This story takes some suspension of disbelief, since it is basically a fantasy with a scientific premise. Like other crossover stories, it has to do some fancy smoke blowing to establish the groundrules, but it succeeds fairly well in bypassing the critical faculties and engaging the sense of wonder.

Like his previous works, the novel displays Gardner's innovation and characterization within a fairly plebian plot. It isn't War and Peace, but it is interesting. I enjoyed it and the other Gardner novels.

-Arthur W. Jordin

"Trapped" will likely ensnare you for a few happy hours. An Arthurian fantasy overlaid with wild speculations about the possibilities of nanotech, and with a cast of characters who are affiliated with what resembles a third-rate British boarding school, James Alan Gardners book takes a look at a future in which old tech no longer works (electricity is a museumpiece; lightbulbs are made by hand), and the Earth is under the supervision of the League of Peoples and their enforcers The Spark Lords.

The party--led by the narrator, Philemon--goes off on a quest to solve a murder mystery (as much out of boredom with their lives as any sense of duty), and runs into a buzz saw.

Sometimes touching, often funny, and with sparkling prose, Mr. Gardner provides a surprise turn in just about every chapter--and youll very likely keep turning the pages eagerly.

A fine effort

Continuing the series of books in the universe of the League of Peoples, "Trapped" centers on a group of friends living on a post-apocalyptic Earth, which is under the control of the temperamental Spark Lords. Phil and his fellow teachers at a third-rate private school find themselves involved in a quest to save one of their students from a powerful entity whose intentions are unknown, but it certainly can't be good, what with all the dead bodies in its wake. All is not what it seems with the Spark Lords, because they have knowledge of this entity but they won't share, but then, Phil and his friends aren't what they seem either. Gardner's vibrant style is here, but it comes out muted. And as the book progresses, the plot feels more and more contrived. I like how elements of sword-and-sorcery fantasy were blended with science fiction, and Gardner's sense of humor is always great, but overall "Trapped" isn't as great as his other books. Still worth reading, but just don't expect much.

Trapped is interesting. It's a League of Peoples book, but appears very different at first blush. The book is set on Earth (our Earth, several hundred years after the sentient members of our species were offered the chance to leave and get a new planet), which has been densely seeded with nanotech, allowing some people to perform "magic". It's a good book with a great premise and fans of the League of Peoples should absolutely read it; however, it's not one of my favorites in the series and I wouldn't suggest it as a starting point for new readers.

I've read the five other "League of Peoples" novels before this, most of which take place away from Earth. This is because Earth in 2457 is a very different place than one who watched Star Trek might imagine. Thanks to war and a mass exodus caused by first contact with aliens, Earth has reverted back to roughly the Renaissance with various feudal states all under the control of the Spark Lords, a royal family who use the League's advanced technology to keep the people of Earth in line.

So because of this, "Trapped" is more a fantasy novel than a science-fiction novel. There is some science-fiction involved as there are aliens, psychics, and teleportation, but there's also magic, swords, and a quest. That quest is thrust upon Phil Dhubhai and his friends when Phil finds a dead girl in the dorms at the school where he teaches "science."

The girl is named Rosalind and she's the daughter of a nefarious crime lord, which is only the beginning of complications for Phil. Rosalind was also set to elope with Sebastian, a gifted psychic.

With Rosalind dead, Phil and his party (a kung-fu nun, a knight, a sorceress, a psychic, a music teacher, and Phil's sometimes lover.) have to travel by sea and land to Niagara Falls to find Sebastian. Finding him is only the tip of the iceberg, as Sebastian is embroiled in an evil plot involving otherworldly forces.

Like the other "League of Peoples" novels this is a fast, fun read not to be taken too seriously. This is aided by Phil's sometimes snarky, other times self-deprecating first-person narration. As in any good quest yarn the various members of the party all get their chances to shine, some making noble sacrifices. For the most part these party members are static, though each is given a little quirk to make them more interesting and fun than a cardboard cutout.

If you haven't read the Festina Ramos books in the series ("Expendable," "Vigilant," "Hunted," "Ascending," and "Radiant") there's no need to worry as this book is not directly connected to those. It's more of a spin-off like Gardner's previous "Commitment Hour" that also took place on Earth, though was far less interesting. It does help if you've read those just for a background on the League of Peoples and Explorers and things like that, but it's not absolutely necessary.

Overall I'd say if you like some fun space opera/fantasy then this is a good read to while away a few hours. The rest of Gardner's books are good for that as well.

That is all.

Wow, this was depressing. Spoiler alert: Prepare for the vast majority of the protagonists in this book to die before it is over. You can only kill off so many of the good guys before it just gets depressing.

Perhaps Gardner thought he was being literary or deep by doing this, but really it is just a sci-fi book that I was hoping would entertain me for a couple of days. Not bring me down and leave me depressed.

Generally speaking, Gardner's "League of Peoples" series are very complex books with fairly clever writing and twists, even though they are set in a fantastic universe where aliens can see the future and kill anyone who would travel from star system to star system with the intent to kill others. Which seems a bit hypocritical, but who am I to judge extremely evolved aliens?

In most of his books he spends some time trying to rationalize the obvious problems that this creates as the characters try to defend themselves from bad guys without killing others, or even wanting to kill others, or even letting others die when they could have helped except when that isn't convenient for the plot.

And kidnapping and enslaving people is ok. Just not killing. Unless you are super-evolved aliens.

Well, it is complicated.

Anyway, back to this book specifically, it was depressing. The characters begin a quest with lots of potential to develop into better versions of themselves, maybe even find themselves and do something heroic. Instead, most of them die. Some of them before the adventure really even begins.

Might that really be the case in a wild adventure like this one? Sure, I suppose so... but who wants to read a book about people not achieving their dreams and getting shot in the head before they even start. People who you have invested a fair amount of time getting to know in the first half of the book - not Star Trek red shirt guys, but the main characters of the story.

This one disappointed me. I much preferred Vigilant in this series.