Customer Reviews

The Ultimax Man (Baen, Sci-Fi)

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

 

 

This book is not in the class of Laumer's Retief books. The 1st half is relatively straight-forward but the rest is a hodgepodge of activity--attempting, I believe, to combine SF with mystery. The ending has a twist, but wasn't very satisfying IMHO. Still, there's some innovative thinking and a good quote: "What one doesn't understand seems arbitrary and meaningless."

Simple enough premise about an everyman, abducted by a human-appearing agent and trained to utilize his mind to its fullest. The alien-turned-handler finds the tables turned on him as he realizes he has created an intellect and power superior to his own mind and technology. I first read this book when I was 15 and for years found it not even listed in Laumer's biblio. I would recommend locating this book for any Laumer fan due to its rarity, and definitely loan it to any avid sci-fi middle schooler.

The other reviewers have provided good synopses of this book. I had the curse of reading the first half in Analog, where it went by the title "The Wonderful Secret." The serial version ended with Dammy stealing the space vehicle to head out to the stars. Years later, when I finally read the entire book, I was disappointed that the second half really did not go anywhere, and I also found the stream-of-consciousness narration difficult to follow. Overall, an interesting book, with a humanistic premise that we're all capable of being the best in the Galaxy (or at least "Class 2, Special") and capable of kicking anyone's tail feathers who messes with us.

In The Ultimax Man, an alien abducts a common criminal for an experiment - to imbue him with all of the knowledge and skills of human history...to make him a true superman; the Ultimax Man. But, once our hero reaches the pinnacle of all of this knowledge and all of these skills, what next? He breaks the bonds of his creator and sets himself free in search of where to go from here.

This is an interesting story that is better at getting to the third act than finding a satisfying ending to our character's story. As another reviewer put it, once he is free it is all down hill from there. In the end I was pretty disappointed with what promised to be, but failed to deliver.

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A Guide to my Book Rating System:

1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper.

2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.

3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.

4 stars = Good book, but not life altering.

5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.

This book is an easy read and slightly entertaining. Summary: A man is kidnaped by an alien and trained mentaly and phsycially to become superhuman. Some of his talents include matter transmission, matter conversion, levation and telepathy. These are just a few of his talents and once gained he must use them to solve a mystery for all mankind.