In case my 5 star rating is insufficient to persuade you to try this book, I prepared the following comparison scale to chart the exact amount of awesomeness contained in the story. 5.0 Stars. I think we all have those books that we absolutely love that just never seem to get the attention that we are feel deep down in our giblets they deserve. I call these my literary babies. Well this is one of my babies**. ** I have previously reviewed two others Liege-Killer and Heroes Die which I am mentioning again because my babies need all the exposure they can get as I want them to be well-liked and popular with the other books. While this novel was nominated for a Hugo Award when it was published in 1969, it has not remained in the collective consciousness of the SF world in the intervening years. This is something that constantly frustrates me because this book is a serious, complex, mind-expanding tour de force that seriously deserves to enjoy a wider audience as well as a spot among the towering works of the field.I see two reasons why this might be. First, I did not find this an “easy” read and some of the plot elements and concepts are thrust upon the reader only to be explained further in the book (see my reference to Ancient History below as an example). This may be a turn off for some. A second reason may be that it is written by Piers Anthony. I think most people who have read Anthony's work will agree that the man can come up with some brilliant ideas. I think most people would also agree that most of his books take a great idea and surround it with a significant amount of “MEH.” Even worse than the MEH component is the "SKEEVE" factor which afflict far too many of his stories. Not to worry here folks. There is very little in the way of "skeeve" in this book and it is free from MEH. It is, however, chalk full of Anthony at the top of his brilliant, mind-blowing best. I consider this book the poster child for “BIG IDEA” science fiction. However, because so much of the magic of the story is in “out there SF concepts” and the slow unfolding of the central mystery as the various cosmic pieces are gradually layered in one on top of the other, I am not going to give a traditional plot summary. Instead, I have done a breakdown of what I consider the “components” of the story and will leave you to discover the details for yourself. MIND-BLOWING SF CONCEPTS:First, the Macroscope which is one of the truly great SF concepts ever. For those who have read Robert Charles Wilson’s Blind Lake, I think you will see the inspiration for the technology Wilson used in that book. Add to the Macroscope nuggets like: (a) omnipresent information storage; (b) traveling through the creation of singularities and (c) galactic evolutionary criteria and you will have barely scratched the surface of the myriad of “WTF” concepts in this epic novel. ASTROLOGY: It’s real, it’s predictive, it’s science, it’s a fact….Accept it and let’s move on shall we. Seriously, watching Anthony weave astrology as a central plot device in the midst of all of the hard science concepts was fascinating and deftly handled. EVOLUTION OF HUMANITY: Yes, humanity is still a child race and the question is whether or not we have the potential to assume a place in the great galactic community. Place your bets people. PIERS ANTHONY SKEEVE FACTOR: Unfortunately, I can’t say it is completely absent from the work, but I did estimate it at only 3% of the total story which may actually be a bit high. There was one 3 page sequence that I had significant “skeeve” present and a few casual statements throughout the rest of the book. However, for the most part, Piers kept himself under control (I don’t think at this point he had truly developed his inner skeeve). UBER COOL GALACTIC-SPANNING PLOT: Uh, we are talking our whole galaxy and beyond playing a part in this plot and this is where the truly brilliant, multi-layered narrative really begins to shine. ANCIENT HISTORY: In Chapter 8, one of the main characters, Ivo, ends up in ancient Damascus. You are going to be WTFing all over the place. I am writing this to let you know….GO WITH IT…all will be explained in the end and you will say (hopefully)…NICE!!!PSYCHOLOGY: At the heart of the narrative there is a significant amount of psychology involving the main characters and what defines them as people and how their strengths and weaknesses become a necessary aspect of the cosmic drama to which they have been thrust.For fans of intelligent science fiction, I give this my HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!!!
Here is a review that I posted on Amazon.com in Dec. 2004:"I am rereading this book after a number of years, having first read it some time in the mid 1970's. Again I find that it is one of those books that changes how one thinks about things, and a work that can be appreciated on multiple levels.First, it can change one's view of what's possible within the genre of science fiction. It impressively weaves a tapestry from such diverse threads as music, mathematics, classic American literature, philosophy, psychology, and sheer imagination, just to name a few. To a degree I've seldom seen equaled, the combination of these elements after all these years still create in me a sense of wonder at the grandness and richness of Creation. Anthony's work here is truly a microcosmic reflection of the very universe of which he writes.That leads into something else I've kept noticing on this re-reading. I've been constantly struck by way the story suggests the interrelationship of things ranging from tiny (like the macron particle) to immense (like the universe); and by the synergy possible between people with diverse and seemingly disparate gifts. Ranging from the "ordinary" Beatrix to the "super-genius" Schön, each of the central characters is vital to the story, though each stands out as truly individual. The plot shows each of these characters as vital to the group's success, despite what appear to be huge differences in intellectual or personal development.The "hard" science fiction elements at first glance today might appear a bit dated, given a nomenclature that dates from the late 1960's. But then hard science and technology are not really central themes of this novel. These elements of the story are for me a necessary "window dressing" arrayed around more central themes like personal responsibility, the grandness of the Universe, and interpersonal dynamics. In that respect it's easy to overlook the book's roots in the technology of the 1960's."
What do You think about Macroscope (2003)?
From a general summary of Macroscope, you might get the impression that Piers Anthony took the "throw everything in but the kitchen sink" approach. After all, the book is bursting with ideas and oddities. Just some its component elements include astrology, ancient history, Sidney Lanier's poetry, a grand history of a multifarious universe, and the wars it endured, mind destroying beams, a project to create genetically perfect geniuses. And on... From these few sentences alone, you might think it a convoluted irreparable mess. You would be wrong. Long before huge epic novels became the norm rather than the exception in sf, Piers Anthony created this massive book. Ivo Archer, the protagonist is the product of one the aforementioned genius creating projects. He becomes immersed in a plot to save the titualar macroscope, an instrument orbiting the earth. The macroscope itself is a device which can read macrons. In other words, it can give a literal glimpse into any past. With this instrument, man now has the power to discover any portion of any alien history it can find via the macroscope. It is something like having a vast galactic library or internet at your disposal. Only there are a few hitches. For starters, it stops a viewer at a certain level of technology. A destroyer beam literally renders comatose any brain that tries get beyond it at a certain level. Adding to the trouble is that some politicians are trying to pull the plug on the project to save money. Ivo, and three others hijack the macroscope and set out for Neptune. How they pull this off and what happens from this point is mind bending. Discoveries continue via the use of the macroscope and the ever expanding scope (excuse the unintentional pun) make this book extraordinary. It doesn't hurt that the quality of writing is exceptional, either. A grand, epic masterpiece.
—Jim Hoff
I'm most familiar with Piers Anthony from his light-hearted fantasy series Xanth that I read as a youngling nerd, so it was very interesting to read this early, much more serious and ambitious science fiction novel of his. I would like to give it four stars for the many cool ideas in it (using planets and moons as spaceships to punch through hyperspace; an intergalactic signal that if you're intelligent enough to understand leads you down an inevitable logical chain that burns your brain out, lobotomizing you; the nature of the mysterious character Schon; the weaving of the work of Civil War-era poet and musician Sidney Lanier into the story). Even its use of astrology, potentially annoying, worked well, especially in the climax. Unfortunately it gets docked a star for clumsy characterizations, some lagging sections and creaky sexism. And overall Anthony does not quite pull all his grand gestures together successfully. Still, worth it for some true 'sense of wonder' moments.
—Jlawrence
[Summary review]:What I liked about it: -- The ever-green topic of Earth contacting ET civilizations and the implications, thereof! This novel provides some amount of elaboration on the different forms & levels that inter-civilizational communication and exchange might take, based on the maturity of those civilizations.-- The timelessness of the novel. Written in circa 1970, hardly any of it seems dated even today, if you discount some fairly recent events such as our discovery of exo-planets.-- Fast-paced (but not ending in pretty much 24 hours, Michael Crichton-style!).-- The use of the concept of the universe as an unending recursion of microcosms (or macrocosms, depending on what scale you are looking at)What I might have preferred to miss:-- The discussions and details on astrology (but I guess that's just my personal bias against astrology oozing out!)-- The Hollywood-style ending of the decisive game between Schon and Afra. Cheesy!![Some other reflections]:1> From the last time I watched the wonderful movie "Contact", based on Carl Sagan's awesome novel, one of the constant questions that lingered in the back of my mind was related to the conversation between Dr. Ellie Arroway and the alien (who has taken on the form of her long-dead father to ease the conversation). On the question of how benevolent, advanced civilizations in the universe made contact with fledgling civilization such as our Earth, the alien explains that it has always been done in baby steps, with the increasing maturity of a civilization being rewarded with more communication and exchange of ideas. And that was it....not much dwelling on that, beyond those few words, atleast not in the movie...That left some lingering questions: -- How may such communication advance, given the vast distances that separate the stars and the galaxies they call home as well as the currently known speed limitations to such communication?-- Will all such communication be benevolent or could there be Trojan Horses involved?-- What do these advanced civilizations stand to gain from such communication with lesser-advanced civilizations? and so on....'Macroscope' provided a good insight into some possible answers to such questions. Personally for me, to find that questions that had been triggered by a 1985 novel (Contact) seemed to find their proverbial 'Yang' in a novel written 15 years before it was moderately rib-tickling. :)2> At some time in my childhood, I asked myself a question only a little child could possibly dare to ask: "If I ever wanted to watch the life cycle of a little germ on a mountain, far, far away (maybe even on an alien planet somewhere out there in the galaxy, is there any way I could do that? Could I just fit a microscope on top of a telescope and be in business?!" In latter years, having gone through the topic of optics, speed of light and relativistic motion in school physics, I could begin to see the issues that would need to be tackled before any of that was going to be even theoretically possible. With the capabilities of the 'Macroscope' described in the novel and the resolutions that its creators claim it can achieve, I was glad to see atleast a fictional solution to that unanswered question. So, that makes one less question off my list before I can die in peace!! ;)-----------------------------------------------
—Sachin Kailaje
