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The Unreasoning Mask (Overlook Sf&f Classics) Paperback – February 26, 2007

by Philip Jose Farmer (Author)

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It is capable of alaraf drive: instantaneous travel between two points of space. Three of these special ships were built to explore and make contact with the many sentient races inhabiting the universe. Suddenly, one of the ships mysteriously disappears. And then it is discovered that an unidentifiable creature is marauding through the universe, totally annihilating intelligent life on planet after planet. Ramstan, a thoughtful and moral man, becomes a fascinated yet reluctant pawn in the hands of the strange forces which arise to fight the deadly destroyer. Ultimately, he is the one man who, in a fearful race against time, can stop the destruction. But what price must he pay for becoming the savior of intelligent-kind? The Unreasoning Mask is Farmer at his best: fast-paced, complex, slightly mystical, high-action adventure.

Print length

256 pages
Language

English
Publisher

The Overlook Press
Publication date

February 26, 2007
Dimensions

5.41 x 0.7 x 8.02 inches
ISBN-10

1585677159
ISBN-13

978-1585677153
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Philip José Farmer, a science fiction author for thirty years, is considered one of the most daring, innovative and far-thinking writers in the genre. He reached his deserved level of success with the Riverworld series, first begun in 1971 with the Hugo award-winning To Your Scattered Bodies Go, and culminating with last year's best-seller, The Magic Labyrinth. Mr. Farmer and his wife live in Peoria, Illinois.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ The Overlook Press; Reprint edition (February 26, 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1585677159
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1585677153
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.41 x 0.7 x 8.02 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,247,933 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #67,952 in Contemporary Literature & Fiction
- #141,918 in Science Fiction (Books)
- #188,322 in Fantasy (Books)

Customer Reviews:
17 ratings

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D'vo

one of Philip Jose Farmer's best

Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2019

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I love everything about this book. this is my third copy. the characters come alive with reel thoughts and feelings about the human condition. set in vivid worldscapes. against the background of the ultimate apocalypse.

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mandi blais

Mind Blowing

Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2020

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One of Farmer's best in my opinion. I have read a fair amount of his work, the Riverworld series, and some of his outré stuff such as "A Feast Unknown" and "Blown." I am a long time reader of sf (since the 1960s) and this is one of the most imaginative books I have read.

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A reader

One of the 100 best science fiction novels

Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2007

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I've read all of Philip José Farmer's books, and of his stand alone sf novels, this is one of his best. Apparently I'm not alone in thinking this. Interzone editor David Pringle included The Unreasoning Mask in his book, Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels, and sf author Ian Watson called it "a masterpiece, Farmer's finest."

This novel might be viewed as a thinking person's version of Star Trek's "The Doomsday Machine" or "The Immunity Syndrome"; but it's really much more than that, with its metaphysical themes and implications, as well as its well-conceived world building of alien cultures and psychological examination of human motivations.

Captain Ramstan commands a rare alaraf drive starship which allows it to jump instantaneously to distant regions of space. Just as Ramstan sets off an interstellar incident by stealing the god-idol of an alien world (called the glyfa), he is alerted that one of the alaraf ships has disappeared, a victim of a world-killer called a "bolg." What is the mysterious connection between the glyfa and the bolg, and why does Ramstan begin to have waking visions of a mystical being from his long extinguished Muslim faith? Ramstan, chased by the aliens who worship the stolen god, races across the pluriverse to find the answers.

The Unreasoning Mask is a gripping, captivatingly disturbing book. Even at his most fantastic, Farmer manages to entrance with a compelling degree of realism, in particular as regards his portrayal of human nature, which in his fiction seems to carry at least as much bad as it does good. Don't miss this darkly riveting sf adventure.

13 people found this helpful

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I was flabbergasted when I finished this book in almost one sitting.

Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2019

Unreasoning Mask - Philip Jose Farmer (novel - review 0806 - April 3, 2019)

Unreasoning Mask, first published in 1981 by Philip Jose Farmer (1918-2009) is a incredible reading experience but not a book I would recommend.

One Ramstan is the captain of the starship al-Burraq - a vessel capable of achieving faster-that-light travel with it's alfalfa drive. Ramstan, a Muslim raised self-proclaimed non-believer, is unholy obsessed with religion - aliens religions. During a visit to the alien Tolt starship Popacapyu Ramstan steals their supreme religious artifact - a egg like object. Ramstan hides the "egg" in his quarters. He peers at it under a microscope and engages in a mysterious dialog. The egg sometimes responds with the voice of his mother or father but is extremely reluctant to answer any direct inquiries. Meanwhile the Tolt are in hot pursuit to recover their artifact least their whole civilizations perished damnation due to the theft of their god. A moon sized planet destroyer instantly appears and demolishes an entire alien civilization except for one near death seal-like being. She gives Ramstan three nondescript objects and a lengthy ode concerning their mystical utilization. This was in gratitude for her rescue and promise of delivery to her home world for religious burial at sea. To say any more would by unwise and spoil the readers own discover experiences.

I was flabbergasted when I finished this book in almost one sitting.

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Juushika

A fascinating idea smothered by irrelevant details and shaky execution. Mildly recommended

Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2011

While exploring in a galaxy-jumping spaceship, Captain Ramstan stumbles upon a planet-wide catastrophe and is dragged into the middle of a metaphysical, multi-sided, ambigious battle to save the universe. At its best, The Unreasoning Mask is an ingenious and epic reconceptualization of the universe--but too often, small and relatively mundane aspects intrude on this grand concept. Those aspects are well-intended and not entirely out of place: Ramstan's point of view narration isn't always convincing, but his characterization is strong--and while he's often unlikeable, his moral journey is always compelling. If it weren't so dramatically outstaged, his world, too, could provide a compelling story; as it is, the human figures, alien planets, and other traditional sci-fi elements build a local stage for the universal apocalypse. The problem is that these aspects run too long, and worldbuilding, politicking, and a few anonymous characters and throwaway relationships begin to crowd out the best of the book--and so that best is left underexplored. Worse still, when the book does finally get down to business its plot grows circuitous. This is supposed to avoid repedition and sustain tension, but the effect is cheap--it belongs in an adventure novel where the emphasis is on action, not a book as meaningful and thoughtful as this one aims be.

These issues do weaken the book, but they don't entirely obfuscate its strengths. The Unreasoning Mask is always readable, even when it strays away from its true point; the moral ambiguity of the protagonist and the other powers at play do much to sustain its intrigue and forward momentum. And even if it comes late and gets crowded out, Farmer's concept of the universe is fascinating. Describing it would spoil the book; suffice it to say that it's an idea I haven't seen before, and while it wobbles a bit in its attempt to achieve metaphysical meaning (sometimes because there are too many larger-than-life concepts competing for limited space, and always because they're insufficiently explored), it remains satisfyingly large: this is grand concept which, at its best, manages to be both convincing and inconceivable. I appreciate the opportunity to encounter it, and enjoyed and recommend The Unreasoning Mask largely on that basis. But while I admire the book that this has the potential to be, and enjoy many parts of what it is, the fact that Farmer fails to push his novel to its limits is disappointing. Aiming for those limits would have been a risk and challenge--but reaching them would have been incredible. Instead, The Unreasoning Mask is only intriguing, irritating, and occasionally ingenious--which is okay, but not much more.

2 people found this helpful

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Rhys Hughes

Another Farmer masterpiece

Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2012

Philip Jose Farmer was a tremendous writer, bursting with ideas; he had so many ideas that it's sometimes difficult to know how to enter his world. This book is a good entry point. It's fully self-contained, moves quickly, rubs lots of different ideas against each other and is very cleverly structured.

4 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Runmentionable

Peculiar, but not in the usual way peculiar things are peculiar

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 8, 2018

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Well, this is a strange one. It's a gloomy metaphysical space-opera adventure with a spectacularly unsympathetic protagonist, a BDO Killing Machine that could eat Deathstars for breakfast, a sentient spaceship with the brain of an infant and cosmological speculation that even latterday Jack Kirby might consider nutty. It also manages to leave loads of questions tantalisingly unanswered whilst having a very neat, tight plot that pretty much excludes any possibility of a sequel (which is unusual for Farmer, whose talent for franchising his novels into series with ever-diminishing returns for the reader was outstanding even in a genre which is often characterised by it).

The mix of outre ideas and glum tone is kind of like a pulpier M. John Harrison, and while the whole thing is too long and never quite comes to full life, it holds your interest all the way. But at the end you may be scratching your noggin and wondering what the hell it is you've just been reading. Not one I could wholeheartedly recommend, but it's certainly different.

2 people found this helpful

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The Unreasoning Mask (Overlook Sf&f Classics) Paperback – February 26, 2007

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