I'm going to start a series on liberty in art. In this first installment, I'll be reviewing John Twleve Hawks's
The Fourth Realm Trilogy. I had considered doing one post for all three, but decided I'll give you all three at once.
This Sci-Fi trilogy is set in the present-day. It jumps from Los Angelos, London, New York, Ethiopia, Japan, France, Israel, Egypt and Germany. (The author is
very well-traveled.) In this series, a secret society known as "The Tabula" or "The Brethren" have secretly taken over much of society. Only a certain kind of person, known as a "Traveler" poses any threat to their power. Travelers have the ability to pass from this realm into other realms and bring back inspiring messages that will cause the masses to rise up and overthrow tyranny. Great Libertarian themes abound! I believe the author is a Zen-Buddhist. This helps understanding the trilogy, especially the third book, which I believe was much better than some critics claimed.
Book One: The Traveler
This was my favorite of the trilogy, possibly tied with the 3rd installment.
Themes about good and evil (not, necessarily good
verses evil--there is a difference) abound here. The novel begins in London where the reader meets Maya, a Harlequin (not to be confused with
those harlequins) who is unknowingly being stalked by Nathan Boone, head of the Tabula's security team. We find out the history of the Harlequins, who are trained from birth to protect and defend travelers from any harm, especially the Tabula. Maya learns of two Travelers in Los Angelos, and after some very unfortunate incidents (which I won't give away) with Boone, she heads out to protect them.
Soon we meet the Corrigan brothers: The younger, more free-spirited Gabriel and the older, uptight Micheal. Unbeknownst to the two, their missing father, Matthew Corrigan, was once a Traveler, and the reason for their family's constant moves during their childhood was because Matthew was constantly on the run from the Tabula.
Soon, both brothers are attacked by Nathan Boone and Tabula Mercenaries. Gabriel escapes, but Micheal is captured. Gabriel meets up with Maya while Micheal meets with the evil General Kennard Nash, the current head of the Tabula. Nash agrees to help Michael learn about his powers if Michael will speak to beings in the other realms (planet earth--our reality--is located in
The Fourth Realm) and acquire more super-technology that will aid the Tabula in ruling the world. Meanwhile, Maya informs Gabriel about who and what he is. He will need the help of a "Pathfinder" to discover "the inner light" that he can project into the other realms. Along the way, Gabriel and Maya are aided by a woman named "Vicotry Over Sin Fraser" (mercifully nick-named "Vicky" in the series). Vicky is from Arkansas, a devout Christitan and follower of the Prophet Issac T. Jones (who we learn was really a Traveler, and whose visions were really his travels to other worlds).
Soon the trio finds a martial arts master named Hollis, who agrees to help out when he is also attacked by Tabula. An overconfident man, Hollis doesn't fully realize the danger, but as he grows closer to Gabriel and develops feelings for Vicky, he becomes ever-more dedicated to the cause.
Gabriel becomes torn about his life--as does Maya.
The group learns that the Tabula are builing a
Panopticon that will watch all of society and bring everyone onto the grid of "the Vast Machine"--a series of programs that will monitor every aspect of our lives. Every country, every state, every city will be "on the grid," with someone watching them at all times. Society will be orderly, and all dreaded "anarchy" will cease. This book is very timely today given
that our President regularly sits down and chats about a "kill list" with our names on it. Given the
current state of our
ever declining era of
fascism democracy we know
we're constantly being watched.
Many themes are woven into this book. One is change. Gabriel must mature from the wreckless, younger brother into a Traveler who will inspire others. (He does this, but more as the series itself progresses.) Maya, who begins to develop feelings for Gabriel also chagnes from the heartless, cold killer her father wanted her to be. (Like Gabriel, this happens more as the series progresses and not, necessarily, in this specific book).
I don't know if the author intended it, but the theme of fatherhood is huge throughout this series (possibly a nod to
Buddha's being a bad father) . Garbriel, Micheal and Maya have father figures who attempt to shape them in certain ways prior to the story actually taking off, and all three characters have to deal with the choice of who they are
suppose to be and who they
want to be.
It's impossible to write a book that deals with
every possible libertarian theme. So many of the more important thigns we Libertarians care about (e.g. Foreign Policy, Monetary Policy, Economic Policy, etc.) are sadly not brought up at all. But the focus on civil liberties may be a boon to the series. After all,
even liberals care about those! We need as many people from accross the the spectrum to wake up, so the focus on this very important issue is key.
But this novel, in particular, is excellent if all you're looking for is a Sci-Fi yarn. It's very fast-paced, the characters are believable and given the parallels with the current state of our civil liberties, it is very believable and all-too-timely.
Book Two The Dark River
This is, by far, the worse book in the series.
The fast pace, which made the first novel so wonderful, is far too hyped. The book breezes by without getting a clear picture of what's happening. Characters that seemed so esstential to the first book seem to show up and then get killed before I could understand what the hell was going on. That, and the author seems to fancy himself doing a good job explaining the relationship developments between the characters when what we get are terrible lines like: "There was nothing between them--there was everything."
Likewise, the villains don't seem to progress much. There isn't quite as much traveling and all the goodies Michael promised to get the Tabula from the other realms seems to have been forgotten by, well, everybody and a kind of inner-politics gets played.
While the first book portrayed heroic characters struggling against a dark background of paranoid, Orwellian controll this book is dark, grim and borderline dull. Gabriel travels to the Second and First Realms, whose inhabitants are "Hungary Ghosts" and the damned. While the author was (I don't know inspired by Movies like
Dark City?) engrossed in his work, he has created a few worlds with characters so depressing, so grim and so hate-filled you almost get bored waiting for the next unbelievably unsettling thing to happen. The villains continue to win victory after victory, beginning in the very beginning when a community of the resistence is mowed down by Tabula. You get the idea that society is pretty much screwed. (Which, given the
current state of things seems probable.)
The title isn't explained until almost the end, one of our six or so main characters gets killed off, as does one of the main villains. While this isn't always a bad thing, the author doesn't really end the main character's death all too well. Though the villain's end is an interesting twist.
The end of the novel is as strange and depressing as the middle chunk. I wasn't left desperately wanting to read the next installment like I was at the end of
The Traveler. Instead, I was disappointed and worried the conclusion to the Trilogy would be a flop. Thankfully, I was quite wrong.
Book Three The Golden City
While many critics lambasted this book, I found it to be very well-done. I can understand why some fans hated the ending (no spoilers, I promise!) but I think if you understand the authors religious views--which seem at least
influenced by
Zen Buddhism-- then the ending makes perfect since.
This book actually gave some closure to the obscure and strange ending of the second and
does a superb job rescuing the series from the butchery that was
The Dark River.
(Note: I'm explaining less and less of the plots of the second and third books so as not to give away too much for those who haven't read them.)
We see Gabriel fighting back against the Vast Machine and gaining friends (some of which are found in the second book) while growing physically weak.
After a few adventures, he finds his way to the Sixth Realm--The Golden City. Here, he comes to some powerful conclusions about himself. Meanwhile, Micheal, his brother travels to the Fifth Realm of Halfgods and finds the technology he needs to bring back to the Tabula.
This sets the stage for the final confrontation between brothers. Michael has long-ago decided to join the Tabula and work to help the Vast Machine build the Panopticon. Gabriel is the only one who can stop him. The ending is quite unexpected, but not in a bad way. (Maya, has a big surprise for her in this book too...and, no, it's not a marriage.)
I was surprised so many readers failed to see the religious themes that glow through this book. The Buddhist influence isn't
too obvious, but if you know what to look for.
(My favorite line: "A saint is just an exceptional person and a few hundred years.")
The relationships between two of the characters is very well done, without any sort of debaucherous sex scenes and, therefore, more romantic and believable. I will, however, gripe about the author's poor use of dialouge. Gabriel comes to meet a very important figure from his past, and they...don't even seem surprised to meet each other, which doesn't seem to make sense. I thought this was the only weird aspect of the novel. Also, the strange use of child-kidnapping and possible molestation was a weird way to go, even if the villains are the ones doing it. Although... I guess I see why the author did it...
All the fast pace an wonder of
The Traveler are back, and so are the action sequences, the fight scenes and finally the good guys seem to have a chance of winning.
The conclusion was anything but what I expected, however I was satisfyed. I highly encourage everyone--regardless of your political views--to look into this excellent trilogy. Even if you just want a good yarn that isn't as crazy as it may sound at first. But anyone who cares about privacy, the surveillance/security state or civil liberties will love this series.
