The Ascension Factor - Frank Herbert and Bill Ransom

The Ascension Factor (1988) is the third book Herbert wrote in collaboration with Bill Ransom and the fourth in the setting introduced in his novel Destination: Void (1966). It's a series plagued with problems and tragedy. The first novel, The Jesus Incident (1979), had to be extensively rewritten at the last moment after a copyright issue threatened to block its publication. The second novel, The Lazarus Effect (1983), was written during a time of rapidly declining health of Herbert's second wife Beverly. She died less than a year after its publication. Herbert himself did not live to see the publication of the third novel. He died in February 1986, with much of the actual writing of the novel still to be done. Although Herbert and Ransom had agreed on the plot and character development, much of the novel is his work rather than Herbert's. It is clear however, that thematically at least, Herbert had a large influence on this novel.

Twenty-five years after the events described in The Lazarus Effect, Chaplain-Psychiatrist Raja Flattery, to the Pandorans known as the Director, rules the planet with an iron fist. Ecological and geological upheaval continue to wrack the planet and Flattery sees no other course to save humanity than to flee this planet and its dangerous alien intelligence. To do this he has geared the entire planet's economy towards outfitting and supplying a new Voidship. Famine is rampant and Flattery uses it to control the population. The increasing brutality of his rule has made him enemies however. A mysterious organization called Shadowbox is a menace and the kelp, always on the brink of once again becoming sentient, is an ever present threat. It is only a matter of time before he faces a full scale revolt.

This novel is one large attempt at dynamic equilibrium, a concept Herbert uses in many novels. It is most clearly expressed in the ecology of Pandora which plays a very large role in this n novel. Again the connection between the kelp, the ocean, weather and currents are explored. Flattery is aware of the kelp's importance to the planet. He sees it as a treat, trained as he is to act on signs of non-human intelligence. He doesn't dare to kill it off again though. He will not repeat the mistake Jesus Lewis made in The Jesus Incident and cause another ecological catastrophe. As a result he is forced to try and maintain a balance between regulating the kelp and stunting its growth to a level short of gaining self awareness. The margin for error is minimal but Flattery only has to hang on for so long, his escape vehicle is nearing completion after all.

Population pressure is a second example of a dynamic equilibrium. Pandora could comfortably feed its human population and Flattery knows it. To do so, would mean taking away resources from the huge project of building the Voidship however. The construction would become a multi-generational project and given the planet's instability, he feels he cannot afford to spend that much time on it. So hunger is used to keep the population in line and the workforce eager for the privileges their jobs provide. There is even a reference to Malthus in the book. Quite a lot of old earth's history, religion and science has survived it seems. Although the book doesn't really stress the point, it is the connection between economy and ecology that I really liked about it. The Director sees them as one problem to be managed rather than ignoring the ecological impact of economical activity. It's something a lot of science fiction fails to do unfortunately.

Flattery's approach is coldly brutal and relies on absolute control of the economy and communications. And that last bit is what gets him in trouble eventually. Keeping people ignorant is part of his strategy. He controls the media and transport and doesn't allow anyone else to set up their own networks. Keeping people ignorant of what is going on elsewhere keeps rebellions small and manageable. It is here that Flattery makes his mistake. Isolation cannot be maintained. Everything is connected after all, and the kelp is the connected factor.

The novel contains many themes found throughout Herbert's entire oeuvre. In that sense the novel doesn't stand out. The writing is noticeably different however. It took me a while to pin down the difference but I think it comes down to Ransom explaining too much. Herbert always relied on the reader to make the connections. In fact, some people felt he relied on them too much. Some of his leaps were hard to follow since Herbert liked to juggle multiple, often abstract notions in a single novel. This novel is not nearly as ambiguous as some of Herbert's best ones. It doesn't make the reader work as hard.

For me, that took a lot away from this book. Characterization has never been the strength of this series and to be honest, most of the main characters in this book are either two dimensional, uninteresting or plain don't make sense. Avata's new human form Crista Galli is particularly problematic. For someone who all parties in the conflict consider of key importance, she is remarkably passive in the novel. Or maybe it's the unconvincing and somewhat rambling conclusion of the novel that doesn't do her any favours. Bad guy Flattery is probably the most interesting of the lot since we've seen a totally different version of him in the earlier books.

Given the obstacles life threw in Herbert's direction during the writing of the series, it shouldn't come as a surprise that it is not his a highlight in his oeuvre. They are perfectly readable in a way but The Jesus Incident is unpolished, The Lazarus Effect uninspired and The Ascension Factor unconvincing. In a way, I can still enjoy the ideas Herbert and Ransom put in this novel. They are genuine Herbert in most places and I can see how they fit in the larger body of his work, but the story itself is just weak and not very well executed. It's not the kind of novel one would wish for when closing a successful career in science fiction.

Book Details
Title: The Ascension Factor
Author: Frank Herbert and Bill Ransom
Publisher: Putnam
Pages: 381
Year: 1988
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 0-399-13224-4
First published: 1988

The Lazarus Effect - Frank Herbert and Bill Ransom

This is one of a handful of Frank Herbert's novels I haven't read before. It wasn't particularly easy to come by. I ended up buying a second hand copy. It is a very nice fist print hardcover by Putman but it did cost me. The Lazarus Effect (1983) is the second book in the WorShip trilogy written with Bill Ranson. The series has its origin in Herbert's 1966 novel Destination: Void, of which he published a revised edition in 1978, prior to the release of The Jesus Incident (1979), his first collaboration with Ransom. The Jesus Incident was rough around the edged, mostly because a copyright issue came up that required lots of last-minute rewriting. This was written in a less frantic fashion. Interesting enough, The Jesus Incident turned out better.

The sentient kelp is dead and it's stabilizing influence on Pandora's oceans is sorely missed. All land surface has disappeared under the waves and humanity has devised two ways of surviving in a place that is, if possible, even more hostile to human life. Part of the population, the Islanders, lives in huge, crowded floating cities but the majority, the Mermen, moved beneath the waves. Kelp DNA has been stored in humanity's own gene pool through the experiment of the geneticist Jesus Lewis, cause a whole string of genetic defects in large parts of the population. Now, some seek to harvest the rewards of Lewis' foresight and reintroduce the kelp. Some even believes that this will bring back Ship, who seems the have abandoned his worshippers. Reintroducing will mean the end of a way of life however, and not everybody is pleased about this decision being taken by a small group of people on behalf of the whole of humanity. Tensions run high when the first signs of Avata's return become apparent.

One thing that immediately struck me about the writing was that it is a  much smoother read than The Jesus Incident. The writing is much more polished, more uniform. It also misses the poetic flourishes that Ransom added to the previous book. Give the history of these two volumes, some difference was to be expected but I was surprised by how much the prose had changed. The Jesus Incident is not an easy read, and the prose certainly contributed to that but I think Herbert and Ransom lost something in the polishing as well. It makes me wonder how The Ascension Factor (1988) the final novel in the trilogy has turned out. It has largely been written by Ransom due to Herbert's sudden and untimely death in 1986.

Thematically, tyranny is very much at the forefront of the story. Some pretty draconian rules have been put in place regarding children born with very serious birth defects. Deviate too much from what is considered normal - which, it must be said, is quite a stretch from what we would recognize as a normal variation of the human body - and the child is not allowed to live. One of the main characters is a judge on the panel deciding on such cases on one of the floating cities. He is a very interesting character in a way, feeling completely justified in deciding over life and death based is such a way and on the other hand highly suspicious and dismissive of the Mermen project to bring back the kelp, feeling the Merman are forcing a decision on the Islanders without taking their interests into account. His reaction to the kelp and the cults is has inspired among the Mermen is, if possible even more interesting.

Mermen and Islanders don't always seem to be at odds though. Part of the story is made up of a romance between and Islander boy and a Mermen girl, who set aside all preconceived notions and ignore blatant prejudice after she saves him from drowning. An interesting reverse of the damsel in distress I suppose but I thought the whole thing was a bit cheesy to be honest. As this love story is the backbone of the plot, the novel as a whole doesn't seem quite as intellectually challenging as most of Herbert's other novels. There is plenty hiding under the surface but not nearly as much going on at the forefront as what I've come to expect from Herbert.

In terms of the challenges presented to Pandoran society it definitely is classic Herbert. His motto 'the only constant is change' clearly shows through in this novel. Herbert and Ransom describe a society that had to adapt to radically different environmental conditions and is now on the verge of reversing some of that change. It is these moments of punctuated equilibrium if you will, that fascinates Herbert and this novel is a good example of that. Change is imminent in many areas, a species is being brought back from extinction (the title of a novel is a reference to Lazarus of Bethany, a figure from the gospel of John restored to life by Jesus), environmental changes on a large scale are taking place dooming a way of life and the culture built upon, religions convictions are challenged by the rebirth of the kelp and regaining access to orbital space flight. Change is rapid and profound in this novel.

I must admit I found the premise of the novel and the large scale developments Herbert and Ransom describe fascinating but I didn't care for most of the characters. The judge is mildly interesting, the lovers are not. There are a few other characters I haven't mentioned thus far, including a terrorist, a diplomat and ridiculously stupid historian none of whom were really engaging. Most of them seem to miss the sharpness, awareness and deep insights Herbert's more interesting characters share. Ship's unpredictable presence is also sorely missed in this novel. In short I have to really dig to find things I like in The Lazarus Effect. It is there for sure but buried a somewhat unfocussed plot, featuring bland and largely uninteresting characters. Add to that the unremarkable prose and you end up with a novel that readable but certainly not memorable. I'm hoping for better things from the concluding volume of this trilogy.

Book Details
Title: The Jesus Incident
Author: Frank Herbert and Bill Ransom
Publisher: Putnam
Pages: 381
Year: 1983
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 0-399-12815-8
First published: 1983

Soul Catcher - Frank Herbert

Soul Catcher is one of Herbert's books that has been out of print for quite a while. I've been keeping an eye out for this book for over a year and probably ended up paying too much to get my hands on it. I can't say I regret spending that money though, this copy is in very good condition considering it is older than I am. In Brian Herbert's biography Dreamer of Dune, this book is mentioned a lot. It is one of the more interesting works in Herbert's oeuvre, being the only mainstream novel he ever published. This was not his only attempt to break in to he mainstream market but none of the others were successful. Although there are no obvious science fiction elements in this novel, the ecological and mythological themes in the book especially, ties it to a lot of Herbert's other works. It is not easy to come by but if you do find a copy don't hesitate because it is labelled mainstream. If anything this book shows how meaningless the distinction is.

After his sister is raped by a gang of drunken lumberjacks and commits suicide to cover her shame, native American Charles Hobuhet plans to take revenge on the white man's society he's been living in. Once a promising student of anthropology and nearly a white man, he returns to his roots and takes the name of Katsuk. He kidnaps David Marshall, the thirteen-year-old son of the newly appointed Undersecretary of State. David is he perfect innocent. Katsuk means to sacrifice him in a ancient ritual to take revenge for all the innocents of his people that died at the hands of the whites. Together they travel into a remote part of the Pacific Northwest, living of the land while evading the search parties sent out after them. As Katsuk prepares for the ritual, a bond between the boy and the man develops. Will this be enough to make Katsuk decide to forgo the ritual?

One of the things that struck me about this particular copy is the text on the back flap. The biography bit starts: "This is Frank Herbert's first major novel. He has written numerous science fiction books, of which Dune...". Apparently someone at Putnam didn't want to mix their mainstream and science fiction. At that point Dune has already sold more copies than most mainstream novelist would dream of but somehow Soul Catcher is his first major novel and Dune a science fiction book (and a minor work at that). How it can be good business to piss of such a large part off your potential readers and insult your author in one careless line is beyond me. They must have seen things differently forty years ago.

Potential readers definitely include the people who enjoyed Herbert's science fiction. Both thematically and stylistically there are clear links with his other books. The book does not have chapters but sections are separated by quotes from letters, news stories and the writings of Charles Hobuhet, a technique he uses in a number of his other novels as well. The story also features the in conversations switches of point of view, although with fewer characters around, it is not so prominent is in, for example, the later Dune novels. Herbert clearly didn't think it was necessary to change his approach to writing to produce a more literary result. Makes me wonder what the critics of the time thought about this book. The mighty Google search engine hasn't been able to answer that question for me.

There is one striking difference with though. Without science fiction plot elements and with most of the novel set in the wilderness, this story is much more character driven than his other works. Katsuk is mostly busy with his ritual, the message he wants to send to the world, his connection with the spirit world. His actions may have far reaching consequences for David and himself, the ritual will not have any major effects on the universe. He intends to send a message but if anybody will listen is doubtful. David on the other hand is mostly thinking of escape. To an extend Katsuk makes him see the world through different eyes (perhaps a touch of Stockholm syndrome there) but he is an remains the innocent Katsuk kidnapped. In fact, his innocence is a critical point in the novel. The way Herbert expresses why David is innocent, how Katsuk views the concept is one of the most interesting parts of Soul Catcher.

The story is mostly set on the Olympic Peninsula in the state of Washington. A region Herbert was intimately familiar with. In a way this novel is very personal. Although he never mentions the name of the people Katsuk belongs to, I suspect he is Quileute, the people who once lived in the entire area. Herbert did extensive research for this book and delved deeply into the mythology and language of these people. It introduces the reader to a lot of concepts and a world view that, to western eyes at least, is completely foreign. The way Charles, a man quite capable of seeing the world through western eyes suddenly switches to the world view of his people is hard to follow for a lot of people. The sheriff tasked with finding puts it like this:

Sheriff Mike Pallat:
Look, the Indian lost his kid sister a couple months ago. He adored that kid. He was her family, understand? After their parents died he raised her almost by himself. She was raped by a gang of drunken bastards and went out and killed herself. She was a good kid. I'm not surprised Charles went off his nut. This is what comes of sending and Indian to college. He studies how we've been giving his people the shitty end of the stick. Something happens... he returns to savage.

Although the sheriff seems to have a superficial knowledge of the Quileute in the area, there is so much prejudice in this statement and it is so horribly simplified reading it made me wince. Which is probably the response Herbert tried to trigger. Compare this to the highly developed mythological framework Herbert introduces and the intimate knowledge of his environment the world savage is just laughable. There's another word that is bound to set Katsuk off. Indian. He feels he should not be named for a five hundred year old mistake. If I remember correctly this book was written in a time when people were trying to retire word Indian. Although nobody seemed to agree how we should refer to Indians in the future. Maybe it is not such a bright idea to try to catch so diverse a group of people in one word.

The real controversy about Soul Catcher is probably the ending. In Dreamer of Dune (which mentions the end of the novel explicitly so if you don't want it spoiled, read the novel first) Brian Herbert mentions Frank got a lot of responses either confirming the ending as something Katsuk would do or that he got it all wrong. Even the Native American community seems to disagree on it. From a literary point of view I'd say it works very well. It's one of those endings that will stick with you, although I already knew how the story would end it still hit me as emotionally very powerful. Soul Catcher is a very sophisticated piece of writing. It shows Herbert's fabulous capacity to research the topic of his novel but also to write a very intense, character driven story. Herbert shows us a side of his talent the reader doesn't get to see that often. I always considered The Dosadi Experiment to be his best novel but I may have to reconsider. Somebody do us all a favour and bring this back into print!

Book Details
Title: Soul Catcher
Author: Frank Herbert
Publisher: Putnam
Pages: 250
Year: 1972
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: unknown
First published: 1972