Battleship Reason

It is true that we all accept (even if only subconsciously) that life eventually has to come to a close. The death of a family member or a friend is something that changes us forever – their presence cannot be replaced, nor can we somehow forget the memories that now seem so bitter. The passing of a public icon on the other hand is something that usually leaves people feeling slightly sorry for the person and his family – but that is usually the extent of our emotion. Michael Jackson unfortunately, or fortunately, fits in neither category. He will certainly not leave a profound impact on our lives as a friend would, but at the same time, a world without Michael Jackson doesn’t seem the same. I suppose the simplest way I can put it is that he was loved. Although Britney Spears is quite famous, it is unlikely that her passing will be mourned by millions of people worldwide. She captivates our hearts, yet she does so only ever so briefly while we are listening to her music – or frowning over her latest exploits in personal life. MJ is… well, I’m at a loss of words to be honest. I’m not MJ’s fan, let us be frank, but I do enjoy his music, and of course, I am more than aware of all of the little scandals he has managed to involve himself in. Yet, despite that, MJ was and still is a living legend.

He was a brave individual, and I think our society did not give him enough credit for that bravery. He was one of the first black entertainers to break away from the usual perception of black entertainers – big brass bands and ‘Lordy lord!’ singing. His appearance on the pop scene, and the consequences, were similar to those of say Elvis Presley and The Beatles. He brought something new to our world, and we loved him for it. It wasn’t even the songs themselves – it was MJ as a person – the way he danced, the way he moved. He managed to take almost anything and somehow turn it magical. Some of his songs and videos were like watching Godfather choreographed with lots of flashy outfits. It sounds corny – but if anyone could pull it off, it was MJ. There are very few MJ songs that do not tickle your soul and send your feet tapping and flying off in directions. You know that you can never be cool as MJ, you can’t do the Moonwalk, but you want to be able to do it. We were at the same time jealous of how cool he was, and just admiring him with open, child-like eyes. Yes, child-like. Hm.

I’m not a bandwagon kind of person, so I don’t jump on the side of MJ’s fans, nor do I jump on the side of America’s concerned parents. In fact, I got my own little story about why MJ is the way he is. The reason for that, my dear friends, is that in the end, our security-driven society is full of bastards and bigots. I am prepared to accept that MJ’s desire to spend time with children is a reaction to a childhood he never had time to experience. What if – and bear with me on this one – the man was just deeply troubled and truly needed someone to talk to. But of course, since he is part of the showbiz, that was not allowed. Put on a fake smile MJ, cameras are watching! What if, in order to fight his own psyche, he retreated into a type of adult childhood – where he likes to be around children because they are innocent and not troubled with money, exploitation, sex, advancement, image, etc. What if he himself was a child at heart. In that case, the answer is quite simple. Children don’t think about sex. Which means that the society, of which we are all a part of, examined the man, decided he must be a dirty pervert – and consequently tried to take away what little sanity he has managed to find.

I think the society never did MJ justice. He entertained us, and he made us forget about the bad things in our lives. We could not even find it in our hearts to reciprocate the same. Even if he did have an unhealthy obsession, none of us thought we should help him along the road to recovery. No, instead we pounded on every piece of gossip we found about him. We illuminated and illustrated how different and how weird he was. We just cast him out further away from us, when we should have been thanking him for everything he has done for us.

MJ, I do hope that there is some form of heaven out there, and I hope that you’re Moonwalking your way between angels, laughing like a child.

Greg Bear is one of those authors who will usually cause you to pause and think about the life around you. He tends to explore the future, as well as the present of this world. Even though the vast majority of his books takes place in an imagined world, there are still vast lessons to be learned from them – and not just in the “what if” scenario section. He was one of the first authors of science fiction to try and tackle the Fermi Paradox – and not necessarily by discounting Drake’s Equation. His works are, more often than not, grounded in theoretical research rather than in the imagination of the writer. In particular I point readers to Quantico and Darwin’s Radio – they are all thoroughly researched in order to make them as believable and realistic as possible. In some ways it could be said that Bear hides theoretical papers in easily digestible books.

Therefore, when I say that City at the End of Time is a typical Bear book, you will know fully well what I mean. The story is set in… well you know, that’s a bit difficult to answer. You see, there is no where, but there is a when. Confusing? Don’t worry, from here on now its all harder. Ginny and Jack are two ordinary people, or rather, let us put it differently – we are human and we can relate to them. They are however, not exactly… ordinary. You see, they are both fate shifters – people who have the power to slide between different versions of themselves. Complicated? All right, let’s break it down a bit. Imagine you went into a store and looked at a chocolate. You ponder whether to buy it – and decide not to. Now, copy that experience, paste it into a fresh existence, but this time buy the chocolate. That means there are now two versions of you – one which bought the chocolate, one which didnt. Now imagine there being a separate instance of you for every single decision you made in your life. These instances are called world strands. Now imagine there being a world strand for every single person for every single choice they ever made. Boggles the mind, doesnt it? Or, if anything, you can understand now what infinity means. Well, Ginny and Jack can travel between different versions of themselves, and what enables them to do this are gnarly-looking stones called sum runner.

In the meantime,  on Earth, in the far, far future (think more than just a few million years), Jebrassy and Tiadba are living in what little remains of the city of Kalpa. The reality generators that surround the city are failing, and when they do, the mighty Chaos that has swallowed the entire universe will destroy the last semblance of reality. Yet, Jebrassy and Tiadba both have visions, and visitors in their minds – they see different places, different times. Their visitors look strange to them, but there is a connection there that might just prove to be the key to saving Kalpa from the Chaos.

For Ginny and Jack the noose is also tightening, and they are running out of time (heh). They are hunted like beasts by men with coins and bees. The world strands they have access to are shrinking – something is either eating them or destroying them. Soon, there will be only one strand left. And they, too, have visions of other people.

I’ve tried hard not to spoil any of the story for you – which is somewhat laughable considering I really could NOT explain the whole story to you, even if I sat down, had a week, and possibly access to several tomes of theoretical physics. That does not mean however that the story is confusing or that it does not have an explanation in the end – it does. It’s just that the impact of the story on your mind is sufficient to make you think about more than just the story, and that you will make new connections and startling discoveries on each subsequent re-reading of the book.

The book is paced well, although at time the skipping between the two sets of protagonists leaves you a little bit confused – something I am sure Bear intended. Again, in the end, it does all slot together quite nicely. The characters themselves are perhaps the weakest part of this book. Don’t take me wrong – they are detailed and personable and I love them all – but they seem almost out of place in a book of this epic a scale. It’s not even their fault to be honest – in a less concept-drive book they would make excellent and memorable characters – but when the world itself that the book is in is so fascinating, it’s hard for the main characters to take front stage at times. Believe me – the world IS fascinating. Bear touches on some highly theoretical physics – think multiple dimensions squared. He questions the nature of time, of place, of the natural order of things. The best thing is – while he does give you an answer of what he thinks the answers to his own questions are – he leaves plenty room for you to go back and think it over until you come up with a different answer. Maybe an entirely different interpretation of the book.

In short, get it, read it, understand it. Read it again, understand it a little bit less, then think some more. Repeat.

Verdict: Recommended