FORGE OF THE TITANS (Hardcover)

Navy slang and acronyms lent verisimilitude to the book's first thirty or so pages, and Derek's disappointment in missing his graduation drew my sympathy. The top secret project involving psionic powers has been done many times, but I was willing to follow Derek on his reluctant journey to develop his telepathic talent. I liked the setting, his friends, and even some of the characters who were lifted right out of the SF bible of stock players, such as the humorless but brilliant female scientist.

Derek is ordered to track down a terrorist and determine what he plans to do with a supply of deadly nerve gas. Okay. Fine. That sounds like a practical military application for telepathy. Derek reads his terrorist's mind prevents the release of the nerve gas, but then all sorts of plot devices begin hitting the fan. Goddesses, Titans, and assorted aliens from outer space show up who have nothing to do with the original terrorist plot. Derek and his friends take a space plane into orbit and are kidnapped by the aliens, who turn out to be humans who have developed a superior technology based on magic.

"Forge of the Titans" then descends into techno-babble. Normally, I like a book with snappy dialogue, even when I'm being fed all sorts of pseudo-science (or maybe I should say futuristic science---Heinlein did this so very well without stalling his plot or lessening my attraction to his characters). But I really lost interest when the author began to crank out reams of sentences like: "Soon, the remaining antimatter missles were being launched at 'sprint' ranges, making interdiction difficult even for point-defense lasers." The book turned into a sort of "Psionic Hercules versus the Titans in Outer Space."

Finally, my favorite character is killed off in what seems like a feeble bid for reader sympathy, but he dies so stupidly it simply ended up annoying me.

I don't think I'll bother with the inevitable sequel.

The aliens who first passed through to Earth ruled the natives by might and terror as the Titans. Later, entities from the Void came in the semblance of the Olympian gods and, although still fickle and hard to please, they were more sympathetic towards mankind. Millennia ago, these gods battled the Titans and, with the help of human mages, defeated them and banished their lifeforces back into the Void. The battle caused the island home of the mages to sink into the sea, so the gods searched the galaxy for another home for them. Having discovered a planet almost identical to Earth on the far side of the galactic core, the gods named it Khron and relocated the mages there.

In this novel, the US military is screening all their personnel for psionic talents. Derek Secrest has been brought up from the Naval Aviation Officer Candidate School for the last round of tests and is anxious to return for his final week prior to graduation. He notices a woman with striking features and very long hair among the testees. The tests, however, involve drugs that cause strange dreams and a sense of unreality, so he wonders if she is a figment of his imagination.

After the testing is completed, Derek is told that he will not be returning to NAOCS, but is given two weeks leave, which he spends at his grandfather's home. Glenn Secrest is a former Navy Commander and pilot, so he understands Derek's disappointment at not graduating with his class. This common understanding cheers Derek somewhat, but he still takes long walks to think over his situation.

On one of these rambles, he sees the mysterious woman again, this time through a hole in mid-air. She is being chased by strangers and barely escapes through the portal, closing it behind her. She is so exhausted that Derek takes her back to the house and puts her to bed. When she awakes the next day, he learns that she is called Sophia and she tells him that he should not refuse that which is going to be offered to him.

Immediately thereafter, Derek has visitors who offer him an assignment with JICPO, but do not spell out the details. Since Glenn has served in the predecessor of JICPO during the Vietnam era, he forces full disclosure from the recruiters, including the name of the unit: the Joint Interservice Command for Psionic Operations. Glenn also informs Derek that he can refuse the transfer, but Derek is certain that he must take the assignment.

During the initial testing, Derek had met a Navy pilot, Lieutenant SG Paul Rinnard, and the two immediately became comrades. After Derek reports to JICPO, he finds that Paul is also there. Later they both meet Air Force First Lieutenant Lauren Westerfeld during the briefings and the three of them start hanging out together. The threesome seem to have the most powerful psionic talents in the command.

In this story, the three of them learn that the Titans have returned and are gradually conquering the descendants of the mages on Khron with the help of human imperialists. While on a JICPO mission, they are magically moved from their spaceplane into a Khron shuttle and disappear from the earth and all its environs. Then the threesome travel to Khron to assist in the battle against the Titans.

This story is a science fantasy, having fantasy elements within a scientific framework. Since the creatures from the Void have advanced powers, they appear to be gods or Titans to primitive humans and are very impressive even to technological sophisticates of contemporary times. However, the JICPO threesome are more skeptical than ancient mankind and so find vulnerabilities in the powers of these creatures.

Highly recommended for White fans and for anyone who enjoys tales of humans trying to defeat beings with advanced powers and millennia of experience.

However, the terrorist leaders are not normal humans, but instead are remnants of Ancient Greece with superior technology and magic fueled by genocidal human sacrifices. Their partners are even more malevolent as the Titans want pandemic human destruction. Derek and other telepathics join with the Gods of Olympus to stop the Titans and their friends. However, their new allies are also quite wary of human psi abilities that may prove more powerful than the magic of the Gods.

FORGE OF THE TITANS is an exciting binding of mythology, horror, fantasy, and science fiction into an entertaining tale. The story line makes believers of the audience that the Greek Gods and their enemies, and magic and psionic skills exist as Steve White provides powerful support to each element within the framework of the action. Derek is a delightful "Greek" hero with a powerful support cast (friend and foe) so that the wide gamut of genre fans will fully appreciate a wonderful novel.

Harriet Klausner