(2005)Sci-Fi. Travelers can go over to another realm (dimension) and are protected by Harlequins. However the world is controlled by the Vast Machine and Travelers are dangerous. Gabriel & Michael Corrigan are among the last of the Travelers and Harlequin Maya tries to find them so that she can protect them from harm. Very good paranoid novel by an anonymous author which reflects his fear of being monitored and his privacy being destroyed by the various methods of surveillance and security in place. First of a trilogy The Fourth Realm.(PW)Twelve Hawks's much anticipated novel is powerful, mainstream fiction built on a foundation of cutting-edge technology laced with fantasy and the chilling specter of an all-too-possible social and political reality. The time is roughly the present, and the U.S. is part of the Vast Machine, a society overseen by the Tabula, a secret organization bent on establishing a perfectly controlled populace. Allied against the Tabula are the Travelers and their sword-carrying protectors, the Harlequins. The Travelers, now almost extinct, can project their spirit into other worlds where they receive wisdom to bring back to earth¥wisdom that threatens the Tabula's power. Maya, a reluctant Harlequin, finds herself compelled to protect two na?ve Travelers, Michael and Gabriel Corrigan. Michael dabbles in shady real estate deals, while Gabriel prefers to live "off the Grid," eschewing any documentationÂ¥credit cards, bank accountsÂ¥that the Vast Machine could use to track him. Because the Tabula has engineered a way to use the Travelers for its own purposes, Maya must not only keep the brothers alive, but out of the hands of these evil puppet-masters. She succeeds, but she also fails, and therein lies the tale. By the end of this exciting volume, the first in a trilogy, the stage is set for a world-rending clash between good and evil.

I came at this book with literally no knowledge. It was "assigned" as part of an online book club: http://brownbookproject.blogspot.com

In short, I loved it. An interesting take on the alternate reality genre with a good bit of technology/privacy awareness thrown in to boot, it's an entertaining read as well as a warning about the future. If we keep going down the road to a fully-fledged surveillance society, our freedom will be gone.

It's the first in a series (I didn't realize this), but can also stand on its own. ( )

So much telling and info-dumping and useless information (we don't need to know a character likes sushi; it has nothing to do with what's going on). Based on the author's foreword and website, the book feels more like an indulgence in paranoid conspiracy theory than actual exploration of surveillance issues. ( )

After a start that had me concerned that I wasn't going to like this book (the thought of having to read volumes II & III was not appealing) my interest has grown considerably. I'm on pg 102 at this point.

I finished this weekend. My interest in the trilogy has grown somewhat but I'm going to read something else before starting "The Dark River". I'm still up in the air regarding this trilogy. It started off reminding me of Stephen King's "Dark Towers" series (not my favorite of his writings). I'm still not captured by any of the main characters in Volume I. Maybe they will grow on me.

Twelve Hawks , John (2005). The Traveller. London: Corgi Books. 2006. ISBN 9781407071886. Pagine 498. 12,86 $

Twelve Hawks , John (2007). The Dark River. London: Corgi Books. 2008. ISBN 9781407038032. Pagine 515. 11,55 $

Twelve Hawks , John (2009). The Golden City. London: Transworld. 2010. ISBN 9781407056746. Pagine 370. 17,69 $

The Fourth Realm Trilogy

Un’altra recensione tardiva. Sono 3 libri che ho letto nell’estate del 2010, dopo essermi imbattuto nel primo della serie perché incuriosito da una citazione di Albert-László Barabási nel suo Bursts: The Hidden Pattern Behind Everything We Do (un altro libro letto e non recensito).

L’intera saga – che naturalmente t’acchiappa, ma non vale realmente la pena di leggere – è dominata dalla paranoia del Grande Fratello attraverso i secoli, e soprattutto nella nostra era di sorveglianza totale (dal Big Brother al Big Data). I membri di una società segreta vivono off-the-grid. Come l’autore dei tre romanzi, di cui in realtà non si sa nulla.

E persino io, di cui non si può certo affermare che non sia compulsivamente curioso, posso vivere benissimo senza.

* * *

Qualche citazione (riferimento come sempre alle posizioni sul Kindle).

Cominciamo da The Traveller.

At that moment, she was trying to control her anger and find the calm place within her heart. Think of a stone, her father used to tell her. A smooth black stone. Pull it out of a cold mountain stream and hold it in your hand. [2289]

Privacy had become a convenient fiction. [2856]

«Love is just another means of manipulation […]» [2923]

«Freedom is the biggest myth ever created. It’s a destructive, unachievable goal that has caused a great deal of pain. Very few people can handle freedom. A society is healthy and productive when it’s under control.» [3731]

«[…] History is a puppet show for childish minds.» [3927]

He wanted a road map, not philosophy. [4742]

«Every new experience is unusual. The rest of life is just sleep and committee meetings. […]» [5376]

«[…] The realms are dominated by a particular quality. In the Sixth Realm of the gods, the sin is pride. In the Fifth Realm of the half gods, the sin is jealousy. You need to understand that we’re not talking about God, the power that created the universe. According to the Tibetans, the gods and half gods are like human beings from another reality.»
«And we’re living in the Fourth Realm ….»
«Where the sin is desire.» Sophia turned and watched a king snake moving slowly down a conduit pipe. «The animals of the Third Realm are ignorant of all others. The Second Realm is inhabited by the hungry ghosts who can never be satisfied. The First Realm is a city of hate and anger, ruled by people without compassion. There are other names for this place: Sheol, Hades, Hell.» [5430]

[…] the appearance of freedom with the reality of control. [5910]

Passiamo a The Dark River.

Maya had watched the growing attraction between Hollis and Vicki. It was the first time she had ever noticed the evolution of two people who were falling in love. At first, their eyes followed each other when one of them got up from the table. Then they leaned forward slightly when the other person was talking. When they were apart, they spoke about the other person in a bubbly, foolish manner. [833]

Infine The Golden City.

«Even crazy people have enemies …» [1573]

«If the gods have left the stage, then it’s just the two of us.» Matthew stepped toward his son. «So who are you, Gabriel? And what kind of world do you want to live in? I’m not going to tell you what to believe. All I can do is guide you forward, and make sure you don’t turn away from your own vision.» [4588]

They were Styrofoam words — light and unsubstantial, packing materials to blunt the sharp edges. [4667]

«As ideas lose their power, stories and visual images become more and more important. Leaders offer competing stories, and this is what passes for political debate. […]» [5497]

«We can regret the past, but we can’t change what happened. We can anticipate the future, but we can’t control it. All we have is this moment—here in this room.» [5888]

«Privacy is the ability to control access to information about one’s Self. It’s easy to see that this invisible, all-pervasive system will destroy any sort of privacy. We’ll lose the power to protect our Self from the scrutiny of unknown groups or individuals. […]» [6700] ( )