Customer Reviews

The Wild (Requiem for Homo Sapiens No. 2)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Zindell takes them up another notch here, both increasing the "philosophy" department and the "science-fiction" department at the same time. Here, Danlo (our hero) ventures into the Vild with a bunch of other Pilots in an attempt to find a cure to the disease that might just ravage his people . . . and maybe in the process find out just what his father became, if he's even still alive. And to say that this just scratches the surface of the stuff that's going here isn't any hyperbole at all. Before the quest is over (if it really ends) Danlo will find himself talking to gods, visiting strange worlds, playing a game of wits with an assassin and basically trying to avoid getting killed by basically not trying to avoid getting killed (it makes more sense in the book). It's a change of pace from the last book on the surface only, there's more science-fictional elements but since Danlo is visiting different cultures with different technologies it's perhaps inevitable and Zindell throws out enough ideas to give a horde of other writers enough meat to work with for years. At the same time, the philosophy has become more cutting, I think Zindell is hiding some of his own comments on various subjects, religion in particular, or even just having too much belief in any one thing. Danlo remains as fun as ever, though it is becoming a bit of a running joke that he tends to answer everyone's questions with questions of his own, but hey, it's part of the fun. Most of the characters are well rounded, more than just mouthpieces for various arguments (most of them at least) . . . if there's anyone I could compare this too, it'd have to be Isaac Asimov, since at the core his novels always were two people debating some highbrow concept for a bunch of pages . . . while at the same time there was very little action. Same here. If you want rampaging shoot 'em ups with bodies piled everywhere and wild careening space fights and people saying things like "So, Zolar, we meet again", this isn't the place to look. However if you want a brooding, thoughtful SF epic that might just stimulate the brain cells a bit and make you care about the wacky people infesting this book, well here you go. It's right here.

While "Neverness" beats this novel for originality, this one is better in every other way. The author is now more polished there is more of what I liked about the Neverness universe presented in this book. Mostly, we see Danlo's search for the God Ede, which leads him to system after system in what is certainly a quest for the holy grail.

I feel that if you liked the other Neverness books, or any other books by Zindell, you will also like this book.

I don't think that there are any other authors who capture the feel of these novels, only Frank Herbert is close in his Dune series. I feel that Zindell is actually better though. I'm sure that many would disagree, but you don't see an author like Zindell very often, and I feel he should be given his due.

I've read Zindell's previous 2 books - Neverness and The Broken God - and I didn't think it would be possible, but he improved even on those two. This book, The Wild, is probably a little more science-fictionesque than the other two, since Danlo visits some worlds where the technology is more advanced (and more a part of the plot) than on Danlo's home planet of Neverness, where the other two books take place. But since I'm a hard sci-fi fan, that to me was good. The previous reader maybe has a point with there being a lot of philosophy, but I didn't find that overbearing - it just seems to be a part of Danlo's persona, to think about that kind of thing a lot. But of all things about this book (and the other two), Zindell does a great job of making Danlo to be a likeable and even admirable character, with just enough flaws to make him seem human. Can't wait to read the last one in the series.

"Neverness" was a good read; "The Broken God" started well, but got terribly bogged down towards the end; "The Wild" is absolutely wonderful.

Zindell workswithin an SF framework to bring us books which considers the nature of conciousness, the development of religions, and the meaning of life. If you like mathematics, theology, philosophy, and SF then you MUST read Zindell. He writes well, though he never uses one word where ten will suffice! Some SF addicts will hate the philosophy; some literary types will hate the SF; but, for people in the middle (like me), this is the pinnacle (so far :-) of Zindell's writing. Bring on the next book!

Zindell carries on from where he left off with The Broken God with his usual and ummatched blend of great plot, interesting characters (my favourite being the Warrior-Poet), stunning imagination and more beautiful prose all intermingled with mathematics and philosophy. Simply awesome.

The Wild takes Dalno further into the wild space (which is an anology for the mind), passing through dangerous places and ideas a stronger and more determined character. He risks his life to gain life, travels the depths of his psyche and accepts himself. But will he become a god, the thing he denies, the antithesis of his quest, or will he emerge a true Human. A truly insightfull and brilliant book, I find it hard for David Zindell to top these last efforts

This volume pales in comparison to the masterpiece that was "Neverness". It would probably get a 9-10 if it was anybody else's first effort. Peripheral characters in the first volumes were fully developed people with detailed, interesting personalities. Here, they serve as mechanical plot devices with no existence other than their interaction with our protagonist. Enjoyable, but leaves me hankering to re-read "Neverness", again.

"The Wild", now the third book in the Danlo/Mallory series, is the best so far! While "The Broken God" had more philosophy in it and "Neverness" followed a more classic Sci-Fi pattern, "The Wild" is the perfect mix between the two. It held me spell bound to the very last page while following on the philosophical debates from "The Broken God", while bringing on brand new ideas and full of twists!! It has so much story line stuffed into its 500 or so pages, and David Zindell's writing it very deep and involving.

GREAT! BUY IT RIGHT NOW!!!!!

P.S. It's a pity that this scal only goes up to 10.. I would give this book a 11/10

The story serves mostly as a vehicle for the author's pseudo-philosophies, and thus comes across more like the first meandering notes of a philosophy student rather than as a polished, mainstream sci-fi novel. That sort of intellectual navel-gazing may be fascinating to the young, but an experienced reader will quickly grow bored with the dialogue, which often verges on pedantry.

Things are made worse by the fact that the protagonist is cast in a "noble savage" mold -- presumably as a twist on the typical juvenile development technique of storytelling. That "Bumpkin Goes to the Big City" concept, aggravated by a tendency toward jarring and unsophisticated jumps into exposition of questionable necessity, begins to grate after just a few chapters. Even that would be tolerable, however, if the story was tempered with interesting and well-developed secondary characters, but every other being in "The Wild" seems to exist solely to further the quest of the main protagonist. Consequently, the book has a "railroaded" feel to it that is quite predictable and uninteresting.

Many readers seem to believe that the author has refined his style and matured considerably since this story was written, so I'll give his later work a try before dumping him on the roadside. A friend who recommended this book compared the "Neverness" series to "Dune"; I can only reply that Frank Herbert would be amused by the comparison.

I thought the prequel The Broken God was excellent. This one is just as good. The pages keep turning and new concepts and imaginative prose keep flowing. In The Wild, we follow Danlo off Neverness and into space as he sets off on his Order's mission to: Learn why an ancient religious cult is destroying entire star systems by supernova and then convince them to stop. A tall order. Danlo doesn't quite accomplish it, hence the sequel War in Heaven.

There's more philosophy in this one than in The Broken God. About as much action, which isn't saying much since with Zindell the action tends to come in short and intense bursts separated by long periods of peace and quiet. Lots of space travel and several very different alien worlds visited.

I believe that as with The Broken God, this book is out print and selling for exhorbitant prices on the second-hand market. See if you can get lucky on eBay or something, it's really worth the read.

I can't wait to read the sequel so I can learn how the gods do battle!