Eric Brown’s original Helix (2007) was merely an introduction in
what the Helix has in store in terms of alien culture and alien architecture.
Recall first reading Larry Niven’s Ringworld (1970) and remember gaping
at awe in the possibilities of exploring its swathe of cultures and plumbing
the depths of its remarkable architecture? That is exactly the same
anticipation I felt with Helix, possibilities for sequel was bountiful
and which path Brown would choose had me titillated. When the sequel was
finally announced, the dully titled novel diminished my hopes for a successful
continuance.
Rear cover synopsis:
“The Helix: a vast spiral of ten thousand worlds turning around its
sun. Aeons ago, the enigmatic Builders constructed the Helix as a refuge for
alien races on the verge of extinction.
Two hundred years ago, humankind came to the Helix aboard a great
colony ship, and the builders conferred on them the mantle of peacekeepers. For
that long, peace had reigned on the Helix. But when shuttle pilot Jeff Ellis
crash-lands on the world of Phandra, he interrupts a barbarous invasion from
the neighbouring Sporelli, who are now racing to catch and exterminate Ellis
before he can return to New Earth and inform the peacekeepers.”
------------
Jeff Ellis is a man down on his luck. His marriage is failing and the
death of their son didn’t rekindle the love he and his wife once shared. On a
routine diplomatic mission, Jeff is shot down over the Helix planet named
Phandra, which kills his two crewmembers and leaves his disabled on an alien
planet with carnivorous plants and poisonous fruit. The meter-tall empathetic
natives rescue Jeff and nurse him back to health. The clairvoyant Diviners
predict that he’ll travel far and accomplish great things along with the native
Healer Calla. Though Calla is two years from her destine death, she is
predicted to share a tight bond with Jeff, in sickness and in health.
On one side of Phandra live the moderately technological D’rayni with
their rich natural resources and the other adjacent side live totalitarian,
resource-poor Sporelli. I order to obtain natural resources for their planned
yet illegal expansion, the Sporelli aliens tread across Phandra unhindered by
the puny passive empaths, “people with neither the wherewithal nor the
inclination to commit violence” (124-125). The aliens’ destruction is sickening
and their quest for power is sure to upset the Builders’ notion of causing no
harm to other races. To enforce this peace, the Builders assigned the humans to
be its peacekeeper while the Builders maintain a virtual existence aside from
their prior corporeal reality: “Together they had set up the Peacekeepers and
established the complex ground-rules and protocols governing the politically
delicate matter of maintaining harmony between so many alien races” (165).
On the Helix, with “ten thousand worlds… and six thousand of them
inhabited” (9) and “two hundred million kilometers long” (353), peace had
reigned and the humans never had to militarily intervene. However, the Sporelli
were “planning something, something which threatened the safety of the Helix
and all the peaceable people upon it” (403). With the aggression, the Sporelli
have surrendered their peacetime rights and become the focus of opposition from
the Human Peacekeepers and the Mahkan Engineers, but both government are
spineless to officially act in any capacity yet “will turn a blind eye to any
individuals acting unilaterally” (286).
This unilateral attempt at defeating the aggressive Sporelli is
spearheaded by the Mahkan alien named Kranda who initially set off to rescue
Jeff from his downed craft because he had once saved her life. Together again
and witnessing the rampant disregard for life, the two don a varnika
exo-skeleton, which is Builder carbon technology that interfaces with the
wearer’s nervous system, enhances perceptions, and renders the occupant
invisible. With laser weaponry, the duo set off to rescue Healer Calla from the
evil clutches of the Sporelli and get to the bottom of their greater intentions.
During an escape from the Sporelli, Engineer Kranda decides the best
route of retreat is through the planet’s maintenance tunnels which deliver the
two to the core of the Helix, a two hundred kilometer wide tunnel which bores
through each planet and sea allowing the Engineers to traverse the Helix for
repairs. This same system can also be used by nefarious tyrants bent on
domination so Kranda and Jeff sneak onto the Sporelli planet to sift out the
intentions of the planet’s authoritative ruler.
------------
When the original colonists departed Earth and crash-landed on the
Helix, they had been absent from Earth for one thousand years. Two hundred
years after their arrival, they have established New Earth with “the ship’s
vast cache of deep-frozen animal embryos” (11) yet the population of humans
still wonder what has become of their home planet: “…what happened on old
Earth? Did the rest of humanity die out? Do they still exist – and if so, then
in what conditions?” (12). While the Helix is fascinating in its own right, the
reminiscing of old Earth provides additional avenues of intriguing
possibilities. The original colonization was attempted by earthman’s own feat,
but if Earth were to near extinction, would the Builders save humanity? Five
hundred light-years is no small hurdle for such technological achievers.
In regards to the plot, some of my expectations were met, but its
delivery was reminiscent of a pulpy 1980’s science fiction novel: laser guns
and invulnerable heroes. It also reminds me of why I dislike Star Trek so much:
ubiquitously bipedal aliens fluent in English. This ease of language conveyance
is a derelict jalopy from its predecessor, Helix: all these bipedal
aliens are amazing adept at the nuances of the English language! Engineer Kranda
may not know the word “haystack” but she’s certainly knows what “haiku” is.
Even when the exo-skeletons are doing the translating, the alien vocabulary is
suddenly expansive, eloquent, and thorough. I hate this ease-of-translation
aspect in many other SF novels, too.
Helix Wars presents some intriguing technology, care of the
Engineers and the Builders. The motives of the Builders, for their Helix
construction and their seemingly benevolent attitude, isn’t explored so much in
the plot (in the conclusion, it’s a different story). This isn’t a hard science
fiction novel so don’t expect lengthy explanations or diagrams of the Helix’s
construction. Brown offers up a few tidbits of technology which the reader has
to take at face value (i.e. The Gaia Machines) and bits that keep revealing
more applications (i.e. the varnika exo-skeleton).
Some of Eric Brown’s other novels have a deep humanistic nature,
something which Helix lacked. Perhaps Brown has returned to his
humanistic roots with the characterization of Jeff and the separation with his
wife. This relationship and his attitude toward it greatly characterize Jeff
and his rapport with the meek Healer Calla and the aggressive Engineer Kranda;
where Calla suggests he show more emotion, Kranda proposes he show no remorse. Being
the awkward human Jeff is, he is torn between the two lines of advice in his
personal life with his wife and in the matters at hand with thousands of lives
at stake. Jeff may be well drawn out, but the anthropomorphic alien cast dims
the overall shine of the cast.
The title of the novel is a little strange if you can remember the
noble efforts the original colonists wanted to infuse in their future society: “…we
aren’t doomed to repeat our mistakes. I think we’ve learned from them, so that
we can move on, build a successful society that doesn’t consume resources” (Helix
[2007], p.21) and “We might be human, but that doesn’t mean we’ll take our
flaws to the stars—or if we do, then we’ll have systems in place to ensure that
they don’t destroy us, or our new world” (Helix [2007], p.21). With this
in mind, the Builders granted humans the job of peacekeeping, but while peace
reigns on the Helix, the insurgency of the Sporelli is cause for the human to
take to arms to defend the peace… thereby reverting to war when they were
promised to promote peace. The human bureaucracy’s inaction resulted in the
murder of thousands on Phandra and D’rayni… that’s not peacekeeping.
------------
Aside from Jeff’s decent characterization and some wow moments
concerning the Helix, there’s not much else within Helix Wars. I read
280 pages in one day, so obviously it’s a pretty quick and easy read. I suppose
there will be a further continuation of the Helix series, and if this
continuation has anything to do with the conclusion, then sign me up! It pays
to read this quickly so that you’ll absorb the nuances (the numbers!) to
understand the possible implications of the conclusion because it’s not spelt
out for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment