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The Identity Adventure, Saturn vs. Neptune
Stardoc by S. L. Viehl. (RoC Science Fiction, 2000.) Beyond Varallan by S. L. Viehl. (RoC Science Fiction, 2000) Endurance, Shockball, Eternity Row (other Stardoc novels I haven’t read) Bio Rescue by S. L. Viehl. (RoC Science Fiction, July, 2004) Afterburn by S. L. Viehl. (RoC Science Fiction, August, 2005) Rebel Ice by S. L. Viehl. (RoC Science Fiction, January, 2006) We have spent the first half of this year looking at various ways the USA group mind is being affected by a transit of Neptune to the USA’s natal Moon—all reflected in the general taste for fiction. In January, we looked at the loss of a sense of reality and proportion, then in February, the romance factor, followed by the bigotry factor, the decision factor, and the disinformation factor. This month we will look closely at the work of a national bestselling author of a group of novels all set in the same universe—not a series, but a universe of novels all set in the same timeframe, so far. The thematic focus of these novels is the medical profession, particularly the ramifications of genetic manipulation for identity. Viehl shows us not only how the identity of individuals is related (or not related) to their physical forms, but also how the identity of interstellar civilizations is related to their physical forms. In these novels, not only individuals and societies morph, but whole planetary ecologies morph under the impact of ecological transformations caused by outside agents. It asks the question, What is real, what is identity? The totality of the vision Viehl is showing us is coherent, tight, focused and directed at major concerns underlying of the USA group mind’s response to the transit of Neptune conjunct the USA natal moon. (Remember Saturn is the antidote to too much Neptune.) The first published novel in this universe was titled Stardoc, which I reviewed with its direct sequel Beyond Varallan in the May, 2002, column “Saturn In Command:” The Stardoc novels by S. L. Viehl are likewise focused on responsibility and the lessons of Saturn. In Stardoc, the single viewpoint character, a woman surgeon named Cherijo, learns she is a genetic construct—a result of an illegal experiment on Earth. Earth has just joined an interstellar confederation, and thus she is able to flee Earth to get away from her “father”—the one who made her. But her father convinces the interstellar authorities to declare her non-sentient, a possession, and he’s rich enough to hire mercenaries and spies to capture her. She falls in love with a nonhuman, her fiancé dies, she accepts adoption into his family, and through various good deeds in carrying out her oath as a physician, she gets away from the trap. But she’s still fleeing her responsibility. The writing is compelling, the characters real, the mysteries well turned. Viehl has used her medical experience from both military and civilian trauma centers to paint us a vivid picture of what might be out there. In Beyond Varallan, Cherijo embroils her rescuers in an interstellar war, fought over possession of her. With the price on her head, she is betrayed again and again—by those she least suspects, with only one unlikely loyalty actually holding fast. Those who’ve studied Saturn can use a computer to count the Saturn keywords here. Cherijo accepts responsibility for being who she is, and sacrifices herself for the safety and freedom of an entire people who exemplify loyalty and responsibility. After reviewing Beyond Varallan, I lost track of the series until Bio Rescue, Afterburn and “the new Stardoc novel” Rebel Ice turned up in my Reviewers’ Mailbox. Bio Rescue and Afterburn are not actually “Stardoc” novels because they do not feature the story of Cherijo Gray Veil Torin. They tell the story of other people, also in the medical profession, who are solving problems by grafting non-human and human genes to transform people. These two novels are set on and around Kervarzangia Two, a planet with an indigenous amphibious intelligent species who are apparently evolving into land dwellers. The planet has become a post-war haven for a wide variety of species, some of whom don’t get along well. One of the pioneering doctors from Earth has used advanced transforming techniques to save an amphibious child from a birth defect, and raised that child. This child, Jadaira, has a major identity problem because of rejection by the amphibians and land-dwellers. She has found a place for herself as a space pilot in a fighter squadron protecting her world. And the war front keeps sweeping back over them. The original Stardoc novels focused tightly on the single viewpoint of Cherijo, revealing all that mattered to her as she struggled to find her place in the scheme of things. That allowed us to experience her initiation into identity. These three later novels, while grabbing a much larger canvass to spread out the tale, destroy the vicarious initiation by flipping in and out of points of view. No matter how well executed the technique, it jars the reader out of the deep focus on the “matters of ultimate concern” to a given individual. Yet despite that, the three novels, Bio Rescue, Afterburn, and Rebel Ice, do indeed succeed in telling a tale of my favorite sort, Intimate Adventure (for more on the definition of Intimate Adventure, see www.simegen.com/intadv/). The first two novels, Stardoc and Beyond Varallan give us a strong enough connection to Cherijo that we understand her predicament, her spirit that refuses to let others (or her hybrid physiology) dictate her destiny, her dedication to the healers’ mystical dictum “Do No Harm,” and her positive genius at innovating new problem solving techniques. We know this woman. We love her. We have walked a parsec in her moccasins. But in the two books Bio Rescue and Afterburn, we lose track of her. She is missing, presumed dead, and we are following the results of her actions on other people while nobody knows what has really happened to Cherijo. As a result of wandering through a dizzying multitude of viewpoints during in Bio Rescue and Afterburn, we understand the larger picture of the galactic war Cherijo has left in her wake. It’s hard reading, but worth it. We meet a surgically morphed amphibian woman, Dair Mu’ T’resa, and an undercover agent of another species who has been transformed to look like a somewhat lupine species in order to impersonate their Prophet. Each of these two has built impenetrable walls around their psyches to prevent true (and painful) intimacy. When Dair teaches the Prophet to swim, they begin to peer at each other over their walls and the reader experiences the Saturn-Neptune combination of deception stripped to reveal reality, and deception combined to produce enchanting fascination. The courage to confess fears, confronting fears together, is the foundation of Intimate Adventure and here it is done to perfection, though buried in switching POV. Now in Rebel Ice, we reconnect with Cherijo and the true power of Intimate Adventure surfaces despite the broken, illogical, confusing, wandering point of view. Rebel Ice is set on the ice-world of Akkabar where Cherijo has been marooned with a virtual twin of herself. Both of them suffer amnesia and memory blocking trauma. They are both surgeons with skill remaining. When Duncan Reever, Cherijo’s husband, finally locates her with her twin, the planet is in the grip of a civil war between the slave population on the surface and the sky-city dwelling, decadent owners of the world. Trickery and heroics abound, but amidst it all, what actually triumphs is the human and non-human ability to forge bonds of true intimacy (not sexuality, but psychological intimacy) in the annealing heat of life-threatening situations. Although violence erupts creating a great deal of slaughter, events keep bringing up the question of whether life itself is of value, or whether some lives are worth more than others. Do some people “deserve” to die? What would it take to “deserve” death? How can you know that someone “deserves” death without knowing them intimately? And if you do know them that intimately, how can you condemn them to a horrible, suffering, tragic death? It would be like condemning yourself to such a death, and everything in you would fight it. Remember Neptune is Idealism. The Neptune-Saturn collision is clearly illustrated in the bonding of the twin, biologically engineered women who both have lost their sense of identity. Their bond ultimately restores their sense of identity because of the grand Intimate Adventure of a husband who refuses to give up the search for his wife. Reality eventually wins out by making romance and idealism into concrete reality. (I think—I’m not actually certain whether Reeve rescued his wife or her twin—that could be a deception.) Send books for review in this column to: Jacqueline Lichtenberg, email jl@simegen.com for instructions. |
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