The Wellstone [Mass Market Paperback]

This is not to say that the plot is bad or that the action is not authentic. As the father of two teenage boys, the author nails it on the head with his descriptions of group rivalry, efforts to be liked, the innner thoughts of teenagers, their moods and quick jealousies and inability to control their mouth or their actions. But it needed to be more than this. The one outstanding device was the use of Conrad, the reflective lad who never tried to fool himself although he did manage to fool others. The opening and the closing featuring the matured young man (who for some reason changed his name) are like bookends, enclosing a wild tale of rides to the heavens, group pranks and enough angst to build a wellstone cathedral.

Perhaps this was only a preliminary tale for the next in the series. Hopefully the boys will have matured and their actions will be more attuned to adult conduct. This is a good - though not great - read.

In this novel, a few decades have passed since the marriage; King Bruno and Queen Tamatra have a son, Prince Bascal. A born leader, he is most often found leading his companions into trouble. His parents have sent him to Camp Friendly on a miniature planet in the Kuiper Belt and he takes over the camp, terrifying the director and counselors, and then breaks out to return to Earth.

The prince has come back to Earth to start a revolution (which is a surprise to his fourteen male companions). They gather upstairs in a cafe outside Denver and start partying. The prince gains the confidence of a local girl, Xiomara Li Weng, and aspires to attain access through her to a network of young people in the Denver area. He is planning to trash the Queendom or, at least, the wellstone in it.

As the group is becoming organized, the Constabulary appears and place the escaped youngsters under arrest. At least, the cops think that they have all the escapees, but they fail to notice that one of the arrested boys is really a girl, Xmary, and so Feck is still at large. The revolution continues.

This story is told from the point-of-view of Conrad Mursk, one of the prince's companions. Conrad (as Radmer) is also the protaganist of the framing story, wherein he travels to a miniature planet to retrieve Bruno de Towaji to correct a problem with the "squeezed" Luna. The framing story occurs much later than the central tale, so far in the future that Bruno's thoughts have worn deep paths through his brain. For some reason, the facsimile machines and the collapsiter web no longer function, so Radmer has to fly through space in a brass ball, using chemical explosives to propel the craft and manual navigation to guide it; he almost misses the king's planetoid, whereupon he would have been lost in space forever.

This story is about the generation gap and immorbidity in the Queendom of Sol. The prince is a royal personage who may never reign, for his parents will potentially live forever. Moreover, his parents have been elected to the positions of Queen and King, so he might not be selected as King even if they abdicate.

Like many seventeen year olds, Bascal is trying to find his place in society and in life itself, but he sees no future in it for himself and his friends. Of course, his parents don't fully understand his complaints and the arguments have gone on so long that everybody is frustrated. The prince is ready to just start breaking things.

This novel is not quite dystopian, but it does illustrate the other side of material paradise. The basic premise is much like Heinlein's Beyond This Horizon, that material plenty and long life are not enough. Once mankind's physical needs are met and even luxuries are available to all people, what will each individual do to fill their lives? Most people have a need to achieve, but only a few individuals have the ability to create new things. What do the less talented people do to make their lives meaningful? If they cannot create, do they destroy things? This theme has been used before, but it worth repeating.

The framing story is interesting, yet confusing. Maybe it will lead to the next installment in this series.

Recommended for McCarthy fans and anyone else who enjoys hard science fiction about technologically advanced societies inhabited by realistic characters.

While THE COLLAPSIUM had a "Tom Swift" type quality, this one is a boy's adventure story retold for adults. While satirically light hearted, it does have a disturbing underlying theme reminding me of THE LORD OF THE FLIES.

This adventure is quite independent of THE COLLAPSIUM and just as enjoyable whether or not you've read the earlier book.

The conflict between the main two characters fuels the book. Like THE COLLAPSIUM, the themes of immortality and of cloning duplicate selves are thoroughly examined, especially in light of the psychological effect on human nature. This time, it's the effect on young people being raised with expectations of immortality that's spotlighted.

Highly recommended to all science-fiction fans, and to those periphally interested in the genre.