The Hermetic Millennia

October 1, 2012
Second installment of Wright's ferociously dense and convoluted far-future space opera involving hyperintelligence, aliens and artificial evolution (Count to a Trillion, 2011). Warning up front: read the first book first. Thanks to the discovery of an alien storehouse of knowledge and source of energy, former Texas gunslinger Menelaus Montrose transformed himself into a supergenius. Unfortunately, so did his colleagues who, led by Zimen "Blackie" Del Azarchel, desire only to rule the Earth. Menelaus tried but failed to prevent them. However, aliens known as the Domination of Hyades regard themselves as Earth's overlords, and in 8,000 years, they will arrive to take ownership. Blackie and company, then, intend to force the development of a suitably advanced yet compliantly slave-worthy population. Menelaus' wife, meanwhile, is heading at near-light speed for a remote globular star cluster in order to confront the Hyades' bosses' bosses. She will, of course, arrive back at Earth 50,000 years too late to prevent the Hyades' occupation, so somehow Menelaus must prevent the slavers from exterminating humanity until she arrives. Menelaus arranges to enter cryonic suspension, with instructions to wake him periodically so he can gauge what Blackie and his co-conspirators have been up to and, hopefully, counteract them. When he wakes, however, Menelaus discovers that the tombs where he and others were preserved have been ripped open and plundered by Blackie's Blue Men minions--merely the latest example of Blackie's efforts to create ideal subjects for the Hyades. So: An impressive torrent of information, factual, extrapolative and speculative, explicated via a series of dazzlingly erudite conversations that build weird post-humans into recognizable characters. Oh, and a plot that goes nowhere at all. Astonishing stuff that leaves readers with plenty of work to do.

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November 15, 2012

When Menelaus Illation Montrose, posthuman genius and Texas gunslinger, discovers that an alien intelligence will threaten Earth in 8000 years, he elects to enter cryo-suspension in order to meet that menance. His extended rest is interrupted numerous times, however, as his caretakers call upon him to battle threats to a world that is growing stranger, more violent, and more "alien" as time passes. Wright's sequel to Count to a Trillion is a large-scale saga that deals with concepts and possibilities as seen through the eyes of a larger-than-life character with the attitude of a gunslinger and the intelligence of a genius. VERDICT The author's talent for imagining the future on a large scale places him in a category with David Brin, Iain M. Banks, and other sf visionaries, and should appeal to fans of speculative fiction.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2012
Those who have read Count to a Trillion (2012), which introduced Texas gunfighter-for-hire (and shining example of the next step in posthuman evolution) Menelaus Montrose, will be excited to know that, in this sequel, Montrose's pal Blackie is poised to bring to fruition his plans to reshape the human race. Meanwhile, Montrose, who spends most of his time in cryosleep but is awakened periodically to solve one world crisis or another, has his own plan to deal with the aliens, but he's shocked to discover that, first, he might single-handedly need to save humanity from extinction. Wright provides just enough backstory to keep newcomers on some sort of even keel, and the imagination and scale of the story (the book rivals the space operas of Alastair Reynolds for epic stature), not to mention its bigger-than-life characters and far-future tech and terminology, will keep readers glued to the page. It's one of those books where, even if you're not entirely sure what's going on at any given point, you know you're enjoying the ride.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)