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1.0 out of 5 stars
How was this published?, Feb 17 2004
Perhaps I bought a beta version of this novel (After all, the cover fell off before I started reading, and the teaser page breaks off mid-sentence). That would explain the preponderance of rookie mistakes in a veteran writer's novel.This book is phenomenally bad. It is weak writing like this which gives science fiction a bad image. The worst is Philip Jose Farmer has written many good books and stories. Where did he go wrong? To begin, the story centers on a form of psychology that uses Farmer's World of Tiers series to resolve personality problems in teenagers (This is apparently based on an actual test study). But Farmer's first misstep is in letting his characters slavishly praise his literary genius--over and over. Second, the dialogue is unbelievable. When father and son are arguing, they take time to list as many nasty names as they can come up with (e.g. "you drunken bum, hopeless welfare case, parasite, loafer, loser"). This doesn't display anger. It displays bizarre and casual forethought. Third, while the pocket universes are a fascinating concept the description is awkwardly done. Too many things in Anathema, the first of several worlds explored by Orc, smell and taste "like rotten potatoes," and having Orc rhapsodise (aka explain to the reader) that the kamanbur are a genetically engineered mix of dog, monkey, spider, and termite should be unnecessary. Then there is the overall confusing sensation of whether or not _Red Orc's Rage_ is in fact supposed to be the long-awaited WOT book that every character seems to wonder about while seething irony. It is very disconcerting to read about Farmer writing about a character thinking about Farmer himself. As with much of this book, it could be clever, but it hasn't quite gotten there.
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