Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'
The World of Tiers Volume One: The Maker of Universes, The Gates of Creation, and A Private Cosmos by Philip José Farmer
1 review
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
In Maker of Universes Wolff steps through the wardrobe and finds himself in a parallel universe. At the top of the mountain lives the ‘Lord’. This Lord has created the universe to his own specifications and peopled it with creatures from Greek myth. Periodically he comes down from the mountain and disports himself with the nymphs. In other words he has created the ultimate male fantasy. This is a world where men are men and women are buxom and potentially hysterical.
I read this when I must have 13 or 14. I saw it as very much a book for boys, but was just carried away by the drive and sheer invention of everything. I suppose we have enough fantasies at that age that it’s rather difficult to put your finger on the questionable nature of some of them. Coming back to it thirty years later it’s pleasing to see that Farmer was saying something deeper than I could read. I’ve seen a couple of reviews where they abandoned the book as being sexist. I think it’s important to note that Farmer is not being sexist, but rather that the Lord is sexist. The laws of the universe conform to his fantasy. Farmer was taking the piss out of this 14 year old. It’s like he was offering me something sweet and waiting to see if I noticed it was also toxic.
Anyway, Wolff soon gets into the swing of things.
‘Wolff handed Chryseis the gworl’s knife. “Here, take it!”
She accepted it, but she seemed to be in shock. Wolff slapped her savagely until the glaze went from her eyes. “You did fine!” he said. “Which would you rather see dead, me or him?”’
What kind of a man creates a world like this? A shallow one, so it’s not surprising that Wolff likes it so much. This is a man who can’t stand his wife because she’s fat and old and abandons her to a life on Social Security with hardly a second thought.
Not only is Farmer taking the piss out of 14 year old boys, he’s also taking the piss out of himself. When we find out Kickaha’s real name he has the same initials as Farmer. But in place of the balding writer we have a sort of he-man who runs about playing Red Indians.
In Gates of Creation Farmer turns the satire on Jadawin the Lord, and generally on people who think they’re just the bees knees.
So Jadawin’s wife has been stolen by his father because that’s the kind of thing that happens when you’re a God. Now he must complete a series of tasks to win her back. It’s like something out of The Great Task of Gwondor. I’ll not bore you with it but it had a girl in it, and a hammer. And something about mid-wives. At at the end the musicians squeaked out, quietly and incredibly fast the name of the poet, and their names, and the number of their agent.
Legends may call it a task, but we call that a short story. String enough together and you’ve got a novel. But then anyone can be subjected to a plot. Only a god may assail a series of tasks. Wolff does have a head-start though as he’s the only one with a gun.
In A Private Cosmos we have Kickaha, Farmer’s self-insert, who’s far to good to be real. Ridiculously brilliant at everything he does. Yadda yadda yadda makes you want to puke. I’m not sure if this is a satire on himself or if he’s just taking the piss. Kickaha doesn’t need a head-start. In fact, he can do it with one hand tied behind his back.
‘The shirt was charred off, and his hand was blackened and beginning to blister. At another time, he would have been concerned with this. Now, he had no truck with anything except major crippling injuries. Or with death.’
I read this when I must have 13 or 14. I saw it as very much a book for boys, but was just carried away by the drive and sheer invention of everything. I suppose we have enough fantasies at that age that it’s rather difficult to put your finger on the questionable nature of some of them. Coming back to it thirty years later it’s pleasing to see that Farmer was saying something deeper than I could read. I’ve seen a couple of reviews where they abandoned the book as being sexist. I think it’s important to note that Farmer is not being sexist, but rather that the Lord is sexist. The laws of the universe conform to his fantasy. Farmer was taking the piss out of this 14 year old. It’s like he was offering me something sweet and waiting to see if I noticed it was also toxic.
Anyway, Wolff soon gets into the swing of things.
‘Wolff handed Chryseis the gworl’s knife. “Here, take it!”
She accepted it, but she seemed to be in shock. Wolff slapped her savagely until the glaze went from her eyes. “You did fine!” he said. “Which would you rather see dead, me or him?”’
What kind of a man creates a world like this? A shallow one, so it’s not surprising that Wolff likes it so much. This is a man who can’t stand his wife because she’s fat and old and abandons her to a life on Social Security with hardly a second thought.
Not only is Farmer taking the piss out of 14 year old boys, he’s also taking the piss out of himself. When we find out Kickaha’s real name he has the same initials as Farmer. But in place of the balding writer we have a sort of he-man who runs about playing Red Indians.
In Gates of Creation Farmer turns the satire on Jadawin the Lord, and generally on people who think they’re just the bees knees.
So Jadawin’s wife has been stolen by his father because that’s the kind of thing that happens when you’re a God. Now he must complete a series of tasks to win her back. It’s like something out of The Great Task of Gwondor. I’ll not bore you with it but it had a girl in it, and a hammer. And something about mid-wives. At at the end the musicians squeaked out, quietly and incredibly fast the name of the poet, and their names, and the number of their agent.
Legends may call it a task, but we call that a short story. String enough together and you’ve got a novel. But then anyone can be subjected to a plot. Only a god may assail a series of tasks. Wolff does have a head-start though as he’s the only one with a gun.
In A Private Cosmos we have Kickaha, Farmer’s self-insert, who’s far to good to be real. Ridiculously brilliant at everything he does. Yadda yadda yadda makes you want to puke. I’m not sure if this is a satire on himself or if he’s just taking the piss. Kickaha doesn’t need a head-start. In fact, he can do it with one hand tied behind his back.
‘The shirt was charred off, and his hand was blackened and beginning to blister. At another time, he would have been concerned with this. Now, he had no truck with anything except major crippling injuries. Or with death.’
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail