The Godmakers - Frank Herbert

The Godmakers (1972) is probably one of Herbert's harder to find work. I don't know of any recent publications in English. I got my hands on a Dutch language copy December 2001 and I've been looking for a reasonably priced English copy since. A couple of weeks back I managed to get my hands on a 1973 paperback edition. It's in reasonably good shape, not bad considering it is older than I am. When I first read The Godmakers in 2001 I was quite impressed with some of the ideas Herbert used in his work. It was the first book other than the Dune series I'd read by him. After this reread, having a few more book by Herbert under my belt, I'm afraid it is not one of the better ones.

A great war has left the galaxy reeling. Contact with many words was lost in this era of violence and humanity is still trying to pick up the pieces. Determined to prevent another outburst of war, each rediscovered world is thoroughly checked for signs of warlike activities. Re-education is imposed on those deemed salvageable, in some cases, al planet buster is the only known cure. Field agent Lewis Orne is sent out to newly rediscovered planets to judge is superficially peaceful societies are what they appear to be. Orne is soon noted for his unusual observations and deep insights. As he is sent more challenging assignments, is soon becomes clear that he is on a path that may take him beyond humanity, to godhood itself.

The Godmakers is a fixup novel, consists of four short stories: You Take the High Road (Astounding, May 1958), Missing Link (Astounding, February 1959), Operation Haystack (Astounding, May 1959) and The Priests of Psi (Fantastic Science Fiction Stories, February 1960). Of two of these stories to copyright has apparently expired. Missing Link and Operation Haystack are available on ManyBooks. They've also been recently published as a paperback by Phoenix Picks. One or more of these stories also appear in the various collections of Frank Herbert's short fiction that have been published over the years. Again, these are not easy to come by, all of these collections are decades out of print.

The novel clearly shows that the book indeed consists of four separate pieces. Personally, I think some more effort to bridge them smoothly would have done this novel a world of good. Perhaps this was a bit of a rush job, In 1972, Herbert's ambitious mainstream novel Soul Catcher appeared as well and the first instalments of Hellstrom's Hive, serialized in Galaxy in 1972 and 1973 and published as a novel in 1973, were also in the works. The stories offer brief snapshots of Orne's development but sometimes the jumps can be jarring, particularly between the Operation Haystack and Priests of Psi sections of the novel. I thought the last section of the book, which relies much more on religious themes had a decidedly different tone than the other sections.

The part of the novel I most enjoyed was the first section. In You Take the High Road Herbert examines how there are clues of military activity in the most basic elements of our lives. Orne sees hints in the way roads are constructed, the way production is organized and what kind of games and sports we play, to name a few things. Much more subtle signs than political power structures, fortifications or standing armies. Another interesting thought is the hoe and handle argument. I'm not entirely sure who thought of this but I've seen it before in various guises. Basically it states that by creating interdependency, with one side specializing in, and only able to, produce the hoe, and the other the handle, war is much less likely to occur. Now keep in mind that these stories were written in the late 1950s, a time when WWII was a fresh memory and the great political experiment that resulted in the European Union took off, which is partially bases on the same idea. In a way, Lewis Orne is the personification of the cry "Never again!"

Later on in the novel, Herbert leans more on the idea that it is not god who made man but man who makes gods. Orne, on his way to become a man-made god, is put though a number of spiritual tests in order to show him his true power. The text becomes increasingly philosophical here, with passages that will no doubt offend the more dogmatic believers in a number of religions. Another idea that is shows up in more of his works, is the creation of religions for specific purposes. It's a theme that shows up in Dune for instance, but also in the Destination: Void series. The concept is an interesting one but I think the way he uses it in his other novels works better.

The Godmakers is not a great novel, I consider it as something of a study for Herbert's later works. The concepts that show up in Dune are the most obvious but I also think Orne is something of a proto-Jorj X. McKie, the main character in the novels Whipping Star and The Dosadi Experiment. A lot of the short fiction Herbert produced where his sandbox. He played around with ideas that would later develop into his strongest novels. Trying to patch four of these stories together and calling it a novel has not worked particularly well in this case. Still, in Herbert's oeuvre as a whole, these short stories were a significant step in his development as a writer. From that angle, they are still more than worth reading.

Book Details
Title: The Godmakers
Author: Frank Herbert
Publisher: Berkley Medallion Books
Pages: 221
Year: 1973
Language: English
Format: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: 0-425-02344-3
First published: 1972

Destination: Void - Frank Herbert

Like The Heaven Makers, Destination: Void is one of Frank Herbert's titles no longer in print. I had to find a second hand copy of the book. Apparently the rather battered copy I managed to unearth once belonged to Alexander Henry high school in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. Makes one wonder how it ended up here in Almere, the Netherlands. Like my copy the book itself also has quite a history. The story was first published in Galaxy under the title Do I Sleep or Wake in 1965 before the first version of the book appeared in 1966. It was revised and partially rewritten for the 1978 publication, released before Frank Herbert and Bill Ransom embarked on the Destination: Void trilogy set in the same universe. My copy is of the 1978 revised version.

Destination: Void is set in a future where humanity has been experimenting with artificial intelligence. To achieve a truly conscious artificial intelligence without risking earth a crew of (expendable) cloned humans are sent safely on a journey to one of the nearby starts under the care spaceship completely controlled by a computer overseen by a disembodied human brain. Although the reader is given reason to doubt the truth of this, the ship our main characters travel on is the sixth of the series. All previous ships have mysteriously disappeared and at the opening of the book it looks like the sixth ship is doomed as well. The human brain controlling the ship, as well as the two backups have failed and several crew members have died as a result of various accidents on the drifting vessel.

Three crew members remain to manually control the ship. They soon realize this is not going to be enough and wake one replacement from hibernation. Together they attempt the impossible to survive the current crisis. To create an conscious artificial intelligence in the ships computer to take over control from them on the long journey. Each of the four is acutely aware of the role they have been conditioned to play in this process as well as the flaws and pressures built into the ship's systems and environment to help the process along. On them rests the responsibility to see three thousand souls in hibernation to their destination safely.

Herbert decided to rewrite part of the novel because of the great strides being made in the field of artificial intelligence in the years between the first and second version of the book. Technology certainly hasn't stopped developing since the second version was published. The computer and its components as described in the book seem to stem from an age when a computer with the processing capabilities of one of today's more modest laptops where the size of a building. The building and programming of the ship's computer is a much more physical process than what we're used to. Making the right connections is considered crucial. The programming itself is discussed in less detail, Herbert focusses on the way information is accessed, stored and retrieved and the parallels between the computer and biological reality. It feels outdated but it's also fascinating in a way.

Unfortunately the way Herbert presents all this information is not he most accessible. There's an awful lot of references to just about anything Herbert seems to have read on the subject in the book. I consider myself to be reasonably well educated but a lot of it went right over my head. This coupled by the almost superhuman intellects of the main characters and the constant jumping between point of view, often even within a conversation, make some parts of the book very demanding on the reader. In some sections it is nearly impossible to separate the science from the technobabble. I suspect many readers will think this book impenetrable. In fact, a quick Google search turns up little in the way of positive reviews.

There are sections where I really enjoyed the book though. One of the problems the crew encounters when they try to create an artificial intelligence is the fact that nobody really knows what consciousness is. Again, I suspect that much of the philosophy Herbert uses on this topic is a bit outdated but it certainly does make you think. The way the four main characters move around what to science is still pretty much a black box is very interesting to observe. Combined with the knowledge that much of what happens to the crew is manipulated by the people who sent them out there makes for a very intense atmosphere on the ship. In several books by Herbert extreme psychological pressures on an individual unlocks a hidden potential in the characters to rise above themselves and achieve something previously considered impossible. One of the characters in Destination: Void does exactly that and a lot of the pressure applied results in anger and frustration. Although it appears otherwise on the surface he is driven to his creative outbursts by a combination careful prodding of the others and the environment created by the people running the experiment. I thought this part of the novel very well done indeed.

Is it worth digging up a copy of this book? I'd say for the Frank Herbert completists certainly. If you are more familiar with Herbert's work it can be an enjoyable book. Destination: Void is one of his most dense and technical books though and it will certainly not appeal to everyone. I think the sheer technical detail in some parts of the novel are a bit overdone and distract from the story. By today's standards it is a pretty short book but most of it consists of the crew members working through various technical problems and that is certainly not enough to keep everybody entertained. I enjoyed parts of it but on the whole it is not an outstanding book. As much as I like Herbert's writing, this one is probably destined to obscurity. It is a terrific excuse to reread The Jesus Incident sometime soon though. I finally managed to get my hands on all three books of the following trilogy I think I'll do just that next time I run out of more recent stuff to review.

Book Details
Title: Destination: Void
Author: Frank Herbert
Publisher: Berkley Medallion Books
Pages: 276
Year: 1978
Language: English
Format: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: 0-425-04366-5
First published: 1966, 1978