Purgatory A Chronicle of a Distant World The Galactic Comedy Book 2 eBook Mike Resnick
Download As PDF : Purgatory A Chronicle of a Distant World The Galactic Comedy Book 2 eBook Mike Resnick 
The story of the planet Karimon, which has much in common with Zimbabwe, from colonization to independence.
Purgatory A Chronicle of a Distant World The Galactic Comedy Book 2 eBook Mike Resnick
This book is quite similar to its predecessor, "Paradise". And like that book, it suffers from the exact same problems.The story starts strong, with a protagonist you can get behind: Jalanopi, the "Snake" King of Karimon. He is an interesting character, and you look forward to rooting for him for the rest of the book.
However, the author has other ideas. After that strong first section of the story, he abandons Jalanopi completely in favor of using alternating points of view, each from the standpoint of a character more unlikeable than the last. I suppose the point is that it is the story of the planet, not the people. But there is nothing more unsatisfying than reading the story from the view of an unsympathetic character.
As far as characters go, others have said that there are no "good" or "bad" characters here, that these are morally ambiguous characters. I disagree with this. There is no moral ambiguity here at all. The humans / British are all devious, cruel, exploitive, and mean. The aliens / Africans are all ignorant, naive, kind, and fighting for their rightful freedom. There are a few exceptions to this. The token human here and there who isn't a racist thug. But these are few and far between. Humanity as a whole depicted here is a horrible, evil species.
Okay, so what? Humans have proven to be exploitive and cruel in the past, right? So why wouldn't that happen in the future? The thing is, we've progressed a lot as a species in terms of human rights. I just find it hard to believe that in the future, this could ever happen. It doesn't hold water to me.
Also, there isn't much science fiction in this story. Little or none. Which begs the question: If you are going to write a story about Africa, only you plan to change the species to aliens and humans instead of British and Africans, why bother making that change? Just write an actual story about Africa and be done with it.
Another thing that I found odd about this story is the choice in the narrative. The author will alternate between describing events in detail, and then "fast forwarding", where he skims over major events and just tells about them rather than showing them. During these portions of the story (including the ending), you feel like you are reading an outline of the story, of all the parts that he didn't feel like writing. And the choices made here are really odd.
For example, he goes into great descriptive detail about the building of a dam. But then when there are protests or wars, he just skims over it. "That day a bus blew up. Ten people died." I guess that's his choice, but the struggle here doesn't feel very real when you never see how the wars impact anyone in the story on a personal level. In other words, it's very dry. There's no emotional connection to these characters, no feeling. The humans are all pretty interchangeable, as are the snakes.
Now that you hate me because of all my criticisms, let me talk about the good things about this story.
It's a compelling read, no doubt. A page turner, even though it is somewhat unsatisfying. Jalanopi is an interesting character, and so is Fuentes and Paka. But Fuentes is still unlikeable, and the story spends far too little time on Paka.
It was interesting to read about Africa. This story sparks my interest to learn some actual history of Africa.
I still enjoyed it, and now I will read "Inferno". I haven't read it before, but based on the first two books, here is what I expect:
1. Alternating points of view with unlikeable characters.
2. Cruel, uncaring humans exploiting a native species.
3. African animals renamed, but still hunted, some to extinction.
4. Aliens fighting for independence from men, and ending up worse off for it.
Am I right? I will see!
I still think Mike Resnick is a good writer, and I plan to read more of his works, despite my criticism. Regards.
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Purgatory A Chronicle of a Distant World The Galactic Comedy Book 2 eBook Mike Resnick Reviews
I heard an interview with Mike Resnick and liked him so I picked up one of his books at random. Loved it! It jumps to many different time frames so each section is almost like a short story. He manages to recapture my attention each time. The parallels to African history are great. I felt as if I was learning a bit about the real history of colonization and reading a good scifi novel at the same time. I have started reading some of his other books and they are all page turners so far.
Entertaining, devastating, and moving!!
As a student of the history of Zimbabwe in general and Robert (the mugger) Mugabe in particuliar, I found this book facinating.Resnick is "right on" both as a history of Zimbabwe and the whole African continent. It reminded me a great deal of "Watership Down," in the aspect of a simple story being told while a whole different and significant story lurks just below the surface.
I read this book mostly because I am interested in the integration of human's into an alien race. What I found though left me speechless. Resnick turns a human battle for profits into an alien battle for survival and supremacy of their home world. Potent symbolism and intricate character development, and an ending that will stagger you with tragedy. One of your best and most meaningful books Mike. Why doesn't anyone know about it?
I'll give Mike Resnick this Purgatory is the most unique sci-fi novel I've read recently. The book chronicles the colonization of an alien world by the human race. It draws heavily from the history of Britain's colonization of Africa. Each section of the book covers an epoch of this history, so that it reads like seven interrelated novellas rather than a single coherent novel. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the book is that there are no clear good guys or bad guys; Purgatory is a tale that embraces ambiguity, and that refuses to paint good and evil in the stark black-and-white terms employed by most fiction. The novel also has a somewhat tragic surprise ending, which I won't spoil here. Suffice to say, it was quite effective. If I had to describe this book in one word, it would be "smart". I'm not sure, though, that it will satisfy most readers of science fiction. It does not fit the usual action-packed escapist mold, it abandons characters just as soon as the reader begins to get invested in them, and the writing is frankly somewhat lackluster. It is light on descriptive detail, which makes for a clean and unencumbered narrative but which also inhibits the reader from entering fully into the universe Resnick has imagined. I walked away from the book feeling pleased, but a little unsatisfied. Three stars.
This is one of the Future Saga books of Mike Resnick. This is easily one of the best stories in his sagas.
This book is quite similar to its predecessor, "Paradise". And like that book, it suffers from the exact same problems.
The story starts strong, with a protagonist you can get behind Jalanopi, the "Snake" King of Karimon. He is an interesting character, and you look forward to rooting for him for the rest of the book.
However, the author has other ideas. After that strong first section of the story, he abandons Jalanopi completely in favor of using alternating points of view, each from the standpoint of a character more unlikeable than the last. I suppose the point is that it is the story of the planet, not the people. But there is nothing more unsatisfying than reading the story from the view of an unsympathetic character.
As far as characters go, others have said that there are no "good" or "bad" characters here, that these are morally ambiguous characters. I disagree with this. There is no moral ambiguity here at all. The humans / British are all devious, cruel, exploitive, and mean. The aliens / Africans are all ignorant, naive, kind, and fighting for their rightful freedom. There are a few exceptions to this. The token human here and there who isn't a racist thug. But these are few and far between. Humanity as a whole depicted here is a horrible, evil species.
Okay, so what? Humans have proven to be exploitive and cruel in the past, right? So why wouldn't that happen in the future? The thing is, we've progressed a lot as a species in terms of human rights. I just find it hard to believe that in the future, this could ever happen. It doesn't hold water to me.
Also, there isn't much science fiction in this story. Little or none. Which begs the question If you are going to write a story about Africa, only you plan to change the species to aliens and humans instead of British and Africans, why bother making that change? Just write an actual story about Africa and be done with it.
Another thing that I found odd about this story is the choice in the narrative. The author will alternate between describing events in detail, and then "fast forwarding", where he skims over major events and just tells about them rather than showing them. During these portions of the story (including the ending), you feel like you are reading an outline of the story, of all the parts that he didn't feel like writing. And the choices made here are really odd.
For example, he goes into great descriptive detail about the building of a dam. But then when there are protests or wars, he just skims over it. "That day a bus blew up. Ten people died." I guess that's his choice, but the struggle here doesn't feel very real when you never see how the wars impact anyone in the story on a personal level. In other words, it's very dry. There's no emotional connection to these characters, no feeling. The humans are all pretty interchangeable, as are the snakes.
Now that you hate me because of all my criticisms, let me talk about the good things about this story.
It's a compelling read, no doubt. A page turner, even though it is somewhat unsatisfying. Jalanopi is an interesting character, and so is Fuentes and Paka. But Fuentes is still unlikeable, and the story spends far too little time on Paka.
It was interesting to read about Africa. This story sparks my interest to learn some actual history of Africa.
I still enjoyed it, and now I will read "Inferno". I haven't read it before, but based on the first two books, here is what I expect
1. Alternating points of view with unlikeable characters.
2. Cruel, uncaring humans exploiting a native species.
3. African animals renamed, but still hunted, some to extinction.
4. Aliens fighting for independence from men, and ending up worse off for it.
Am I right? I will see!
I still think Mike Resnick is a good writer, and I plan to read more of his works, despite my criticism. Regards.
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