Customer Reviews

Way Of The Pilgrim

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Better known for his "Dorsai" books, Dickson wrote this single-volume story of a first contact between humans and aliens in the late 1980s. It's an excellent, thought-provoking book. Earth has been conquered by a humnoid people known as the Aalaag, whose technology is so superior to that of 20th century humans that no human can even begin to understand how it works. Even more, the Aalaags refer to humans as "cattle" and think of them as little better than we usually think of our domesticated animals. The Aalaag language is utterly incomprehensible to most humans, so only a tiny number of linguistic specialists can speak a rude approximation of it. The story is an account of how one human, the best at speaking and understanding Aalaag, devises a way to (maybe) get the Aalaag to free humanity and leave Earth. The book has weaknesses -- most of the human characters are undeveloped, although the main character is finely drawn. And this is not a "rock-em, sock-em" action book by any means -- long dialogues dominate the narrative. But the heart of the book is carried on Dickson's skill at conveying the surface-similarities of Aalaag and humans, then in using the dialogue and action to convey just how different the two species are in reality. The climax of the book gives one a lot to think about. For those who get tired of the "Star-Trek" approach to first contact -- where clever humans figure out the key to alien behavior within a few hours -- this book is a wonderful counterpoint. It suggests just how hard it could be to understand another species. If that sounds like your cup of tea, it's well worth the effort to look for a used copy of this book.

This is one of the best science fiction stories ever written. Several years before the tale begins, an alien race called the Aalaag arrived on the Earth and easily take control. Their technology was so far advanced over humans that all military resistance was futile, the most advanced human technology could not even reach the level of scratching their paint. The Aalaag are also a species with a strict code of honor, and their goal is to harness the resources of Earth to build the Aalaag strength so that they can eventually reclaim their worlds. Many centuries before, an even stronger species had taken over the Aalaag home systems, forcing them to flee out across space, looking for new places to live.
While the presence of the Aalaag has brought an end to war between humans and created a very ordered society, the Aalaag mentality is such that the humans are considered to be the equivalent of cattle. The main character, a linguist named Shane Evert, is one of the few humans capable of speaking and understanding the Aalaag language. He is a translator for the Aalaag governor of Earth, in some ways one of the highest ranking humans on Earth.
As the story begins, he witnesses an Earthman being killed by the Aalaag for an act they consider rebellion. An Aalaag youth unintentionally injured the man's wife so he attacked the Aalaag with his bare hands. According to Aalaag law, the man must immediately be put to death by being impaled on spikes and all humans in the area forced to watch until the man is clearly dead. Evert is repulsed and draws an image of a cloaked man with a staff under the dead man. With this act, he takes the first step in becoming the pilgrim, the worldwide symbol of human resistance to the occupation.
However, he knows that any overt resistance against the Aalaag is futile, so he must find a way to fight back without overtly challenging the Aalaag. As his plan develops, he creates a worldwide network of resistors, which grows to include the covert security services of the major nations. They all cooperate to prepare for the day when humans finally challenge the power of the Aalaag.
Shane uses his knowledge of the Aalaag to convince the governor that they will achieve no real value if they continue their hold over Earth. He is genuinely surprised when the Aalaag governor agrees and they abandon Earth without destroying any structures or killing any humans.
What makes this story so powerful is the interaction between the alien race and the humans. Even though the Aalaag governor and Shane talk at length about their differences and their similarities, and do find some common ground, in the end the governor still considers the humans to be ungovernable cattle. Dickson is superb in creating an ending that gives you pause. Instead of a joyous triumph at the human "victory" over such a powerful foe, it is very bittersweet. Human national rivalries resurface even before the Aalaag are gone and you think deeply when Evert is told that the reason the Aalaag are leaving is because they consider the human species to be unworthy. Despite their actions of enslaving the human race, the Aalaag are very honorable beings, and they have many admirable qualities.

Previously I read "Wolf in Iron" by Gordon Dickson, and it is one of the best post-holocaust novels I have ever read. A truly wonderful book, and brilliantly written. I was expecting the same qualities in this book.

But here is something altoghether different. Perhaps it is because Dickson is trying to tell the story from the viewpoint of the protagonist, Shane Everett. Little Shane Beast is a translator working for the nine foot tall alien occupiers of earth. Cold dispassionate and unemotional beings, Shane must behave like them to survive. And not only does he survive, but he excells. Is this why the whole story is told in such a cold, logical and dispassionate prose?

The plot is simple and bare, as clean as the cities in the Aalaag occupied world. There are no plot turns, no multiple plots, no side character, no maturing of the hero. Nothing. The tale is simple to the point of starkness. Something that I found to be unsatisfying in the extreme.

The premise of language as a route to understanding has been done far better in "Fine Prey" by Scott Westerfield. There are many more interesting and uplifting novels about alien invasion of earth.

What this book does deliver on is the horror of earth being occupied by a race who are so far above us that we cannot reach an understanding of their technology. A race that does demote us to the status of beasts. As top dog on our planet we have a dreadful superiority complex. We imagine that eventually we would get the better of any alien species we encounter. But what if we couldn't. Dickson's Aalaag are so superior to us that a single fully armored warrior would not be in danger should the whole planet rise against him. Humans become as powerless as a hive of bees to him. As long as we produce output we achive the status of being useful. Otherwise we are little more than pests. Perhaps it is this very vision that makes this book so unsettling?

Way of the Pilgrim is a good example of the value of hard sci-fi. The core of a good hard sci-fi story is built around some insight into how the world really works. Sometimes the plot is an afterthought to this, and sometimes not. This insight need not actually be from physics or engineering, although that is standard. The core insight in Way of the Pilgrim is all about language, and how hard it is to conceive things for which your language does not even have a word.

Way of the Pilgrim turns the typical sci-fi story on its head, both for its setting, the utter conquest and subjugation of humanity by a foe, the Aalaag, that is ridiculously superior, and for its relative uninterest in the technology of the conquerors, which is so advanced as to be indistinguishable from magic. Resistance really is futile. There will be no grand revolution of the oppressed masses. Merely eternal servitude.

While there is action and intrigue here, the real meat of the book centers on extensive dialogue and psychological deductions. Ultimately everything turns on a moral question. The problem the book posits: what is the value of a human being? The conquerors refer to us as cattle, because they are superior to us in every way: bigger, stronger, faster, smarter, healthier, longer-lived, more rational, more moral. The Aalaag are simply better than us, and they know it.

The climax of the book leaves the tension between Aalaag and human unresolved. There is simply too little common ground to come to any kind of satisfactory resolution. The ending is quite startling in its refusal to settle the issue at hand. Perhaps even more interesting than the bleak setting and inconclusive conclusion is what remains unsaid throughout the book.

The Aalaag stand as a rebuke towards any instrumental view of human nature that seeks to define us as worthy of moral respect because of what we do rather than who we are. The Aalaag's view of humanity is disturbing because it is correct. The Aalaag really are superior to us. If what makes us worthy of respect is our behavior, or our consciousness, or our ability to make free choices, we have no hope of standing as equals. Yet, for all that, the Aalaag are ultimately just as broken as we are. It is just less obvious from a modern point of view why this is so, because a clean, orderly, crime-free, egalitarian society is what we all really want, right?

The hero myth didn't begin with the Moses story of the Israelites' slavery and liberation from Egypt, and it won't end with Way of the Pilgrim. Humans have been telling this story since the beginning of time, and let's face it, we love the tale. If you want to read a riveting story about enslaved humans and a flawed hero who finds that his true mission in life is to free his people, bad guys who get their come-uppance from one they have "adopted" and trained, all woven into a science-fiction tale complete with 9ft tall aliens, this is your book. Be patient -- you will have to weave your way through a lot of words, but I think it will be worth your while.

this was a outstanding book ,i was so into it,i really cared about the characters and i never was sure how it was going to end.this is one of my favorite books ever.Im going to keep this one a long time

This is one of the best science fiction novels written since the 1950s. The premise is brutally simple, and utterly plausible. The time is the near future. Earth has been conquered by an alien race that immediately relegates human beings to the status of owned "cattle." At first all hope is lost. Humans have no rights, no aspirations, and the superiority of the alien "Aalaag" invaders is overwhelming.

Eventually a human underground takes root. But it happens in a way that will surprise the reader because it completely avoids the ordinary banality of the usual "underground resistance" type of novel. The ending will startle and surprise.

Dickson's prose is excellent, at times he is poetic and moving. This novel probably features some of Dickson's best writing.

I suppose the thing I liked best about this novel is that it imparts to the reader a sense of both plausibility and wonder to which all good SF aspires, but that only the best attains. This book reads like something that could happen. There is nothing about this story that involves the need for any suspension of the reader's critical facilities. The aliens in this novel seem real. They don't do anything to humans that humans don't do to other, apparently inferior (by human standards) species. It makes you think.

This novel is a "must read" for anyone who enjoys good science fiction, or would like to.

The premise of the story is that alien invaders called the Aalaag have taken over Earth and use humans as their "beasts". From the first chapter, I was enthralled with the stoic Aalaag--the reader cannot help but both admire them for their dedication to honor, duty, and peace, yet hate them for enslaving humans. While one, being human, naturally would support the freedom-seeking humans, there is still a part of us that has to admit that humanity is flawed...

The pace of the novel is perfect, until you get to about the middle. It gets a bit long, but this is mostly because we get even deeper into the mind of Shane. I personally loved the high-mindedness of his musings, and did not find it difficult to follow his train of thought. But for some, it might be a little work to follow. The pace of the novel ties in with the character growth of Shane--as the action slows down and we get to hear more of Shane's thoughts, we learn more about him, the way he thinks, and see as his way of thinking shifts and evolves. Dickson did a wonderful job with this, and I think it is one of the big successes of the novel. It is all about different perspectives and different ways of thinking. In short, the character growth of Shane, I think, mirrors the growth of the readers' own minds. This is not really an action sci-fi story...it is more high-minded and focused on individual/group/species psychology than anything else.

There are many points of this novel that are profound. The last page left me rethinking everything I had thought of the book up until that point, as well as about humanity itself.

In a few words: Read this book and the thoughts will stick with you. It makes you think. It makes you rethink. Enjoy a shift in perspective. The prose is impeccable, eloquent, yet accessible. Just be prepared for a little high-mindedness.

What happens when we, as a species, are overwhelmed by a race whose technology is so advanced you had little hope of fighting back effectively? Many authors have tackled this ( Battle field earth by L. Ron Hubbard, Independence Day, etc.). In most cases it is the Cowboy approach that wins the day. Dickson presents another path in the Way of the Pilgrim. It is slower and more painful for many, espcially since the invaders view humans with indifference and cannot understand why we dont comply. Ironically the invanders have their own demons to flee from elsewhere.
Nonetheless passive resistance takes hold in the initial form of symbols being scratched on walls, which eventually lead to mass rallies where people understand that they may have to die to prove thier point. Is it naive, not really, it just depends upon the motivations that the invaders have fro coming to our planet.
This is a powerful book where Dickson challenges your assumptions. Worth savoring.

This alien occupation story makes an interesting read, but lacks the depth of character development found in many of Dickson's other books. It begins well, but seems to fade as it goes on, until the somewhat unsatisfying ending seems welcome. All in all, worth reading, but not in the same league as Dickson's better works.