The Godwhale

Начало книги

This book can be read quite independently of that to which it’s a sequel. (But do read it! Half Past Human (1971) is also a Masterwork, and deservedly so.) In whatever order they’re read, the two books flesh out a world that challenges as much as it engages the reader: a world in which the multiplication and alteration of human flesh set the stage.

The challenge comes from two sources. One is the recognition that the repugnant future world we’re shown is a logical projection of certain trends in ours. The other is that our repugnance is given every opportunity to make itself felt. What carries us through—what makes us grimace, gulp, and read on—is the author’s skill at making us indentify with characters most of us would shudder to meet and rather die than be.

Thomas J. Bassler (1932–2011) was a medical doctor, who in the late 1960s and early 1970s wrote science fiction as T. J. Bass. He used his professional knowledge and vocabulary to remarkable effect in his novels, where physiological terms are used to describe hot feelings and sharp shocks in chill prose.

Читать дальше →