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A review by sacredblues
Wizard by John Varley
3.0
The first book in the Gaea trilogy was Titan, a story about the captain of a NASA team being thrust into the world of a satellite-sized alien with her own ecosystem. How would the second book, Wizard, top this?
By being the story of a woman suffering from a patriarchal religious colony who suffers from debilitating seizures and a mild-mannered man who has dissociative personality disorder -- turning him into a crass brute -- and their quest to prove themselves as heroes, thus earning them the favor of Gaea and having her heal them.
John Varley's imagination once again knows no bounds as he takes us on another adventure in the bizarre world of Gaea.
It did take me a bit to appreciate these new characters, however. Going in the story, I should stress that it's important to know that the sequel takes place distantly in the future. We don't really get to see Cirocco learn the ropes of being the Wizard and I was a bit put-off by the fact that the story picks up with characters we've never seen before. I was initially thrown off by the fact that we were on Earth and it took a bit for me to realize the story was set far into the future (approx. 80 years after Titan). I'm not sure I really recovered from my dashed expectations. I wanted to see the story pick up after the last one and I felt that I was left hanging.
However, due to being granted apparent immortality, Cirocco and Gaby are still along for the ride. I enjoyed seeing how they had changed since the last book and a big part of my enjoyment of Wizard was seeing the two women deal with the past eighty years in their own way.
That isn't to say the new characters are lacking; by the end of the book they were fully realized and i was invested in them. I enjoyed seeing them change as their journey went on. It's kind of amazing that I liked Robin considering how annoying her ignorance can be early on. If anything, more than Titan, Wizard excels in its characters: their feelings, their goals, their changes, their sexualities. On a less serious note, I was really happy my shipping came true by the end of the novel.
I was a bit disappointed to see that there aren't pictures (except for one in the interior cover), at least in my version. I had just gotten used to it. At the end of the book, we are treated to a diagram explaining Titanide mating. If the thought of centaur sex makes you squeemish, luckily there isn't anything graphic. If the thought of centaur sex intrigues or excites you (which may or may not intrigue/excite this reviewer), then man, do I have the book for you!
The story lends itself to another adventure, but ultimately I felt the adventure angle was similar to the first book. It's a tour of Gaea with guides this time, but still a tour of Gaea, nonetheless. There's a plot-point that can potentially shake things up, but it isn't explored to my satisfaction. It shakes up the story, for sure, but it's ultimately used to set up the third book. A bit disappointing to be sure, but I'd be lying if I wasn't excited to read on.
The jump-forward in time and the feeling of retreading might make this a bit of a hard sell, but if you loved the first book, I'm sure you'll have a great time with the insane trip that is Wizard.
By being the story of a woman suffering from a patriarchal religious colony who suffers from debilitating seizures and a mild-mannered man who has dissociative personality disorder -- turning him into a crass brute -- and their quest to prove themselves as heroes, thus earning them the favor of Gaea and having her heal them.
John Varley's imagination once again knows no bounds as he takes us on another adventure in the bizarre world of Gaea.
It did take me a bit to appreciate these new characters, however. Going in the story, I should stress that it's important to know that the sequel takes place distantly in the future. We don't really get to see Cirocco learn the ropes of being the Wizard and I was a bit put-off by the fact that the story picks up with characters we've never seen before. I was initially thrown off by the fact that we were on Earth and it took a bit for me to realize the story was set far into the future (approx. 80 years after Titan). I'm not sure I really recovered from my dashed expectations. I wanted to see the story pick up after the last one and I felt that I was left hanging.
However, due to being granted apparent immortality, Cirocco and Gaby are still along for the ride. I enjoyed seeing how they had changed since the last book and a big part of my enjoyment of Wizard was seeing the two women deal with the past eighty years in their own way.
That isn't to say the new characters are lacking; by the end of the book they were fully realized and i was invested in them. I enjoyed seeing them change as their journey went on. It's kind of amazing that I liked Robin considering how annoying her ignorance can be early on. If anything, more than Titan, Wizard excels in its characters: their feelings, their goals, their changes, their sexualities. On a less serious note, I was really happy my shipping came true by the end of the novel.
I was a bit disappointed to see that there aren't pictures (except for one in the interior cover), at least in my version. I had just gotten used to it. At the end of the book, we are treated to a diagram explaining Titanide mating. If the thought of centaur sex makes you squeemish, luckily there isn't anything graphic. If the thought of centaur sex intrigues or excites you (which may or may not intrigue/excite this reviewer), then man, do I have the book for you!
The story lends itself to another adventure, but ultimately I felt the adventure angle was similar to the first book. It's a tour of Gaea with guides this time, but still a tour of Gaea, nonetheless. There's a plot-point that can potentially shake things up, but it isn't explored to my satisfaction. It shakes up the story, for sure, but it's ultimately used to set up the third book. A bit disappointing to be sure, but I'd be lying if I wasn't excited to read on.
The jump-forward in time and the feeling of retreading might make this a bit of a hard sell, but if you loved the first book, I'm sure you'll have a great time with the insane trip that is Wizard.