In this obscure science-fiction novel, written at about the same time as Dune, Frank Herbert asks a question which has occupied surprisingly few SF writers: if you were immortal, what would you actually do? His answer, which will appeal to many people on this site, is more or less that you would catch up on your reading. As things are, we're so limited by our puny lifespans. Usually we just read a book once and then move on to the next one. If we liked it, we might read it a second or even a third time. If we really liked it, we may occasionally go further: read books that it refers to or that influenced it, check out a biography of the author, perhaps find a doctoral dissertation that provides further details. Even though we know we could do a whole lot more, we don't have time. But suppose we could count on living to two hundred thousand. If we thought a book was interesting, we could spend a century reading it properly. We could become fluent in Polish or classical Japanese to get all the nuances of the original, visit the places it mentions, check out every single book that the author might have read, learn to imitate their style and try rewriting the story in different ways to explore the artistic choices they had available, and finally publish our conclusions in thirty leisurely volumes. A few thousand years later, when we were busy with another author of the same period, we'd be able to reread our previous work, see how our ideas had changed and revise a few things. Maybe we'd suddenly notice an angle we'd missed first time round.Well, that's roughly how the immortals here spend their time. Of course, the underground wants to get rid of these spoiled, decadent aristocrats, and you're encouraged to sympathize with their revolutionary ideals. But I wasn't sure I agreed. I quite liked the immortals and felt sorry that they couldn't go on with their cultural studies for another few million years.
Found the original paperback at a booksale recently and decided to indulge myself while slogging through Inferno by Dan Brown.I loved Frank Herbert. I loved his early books and I was passionate about Dune, so I was happy to see this book nestled next two old Andre Norton paperbacks which I also bought.It's fun to watch Frank Herbert (in 1966!) take on the potential dangers and pitfalls of genetic engineering and move 30,000 years into the future where the Optimen, a group of immortals (but sterile)rule and dominate completely the Folk. In vitro reproduction is the only form allowed the Folk and genetic surgeons control the process. It was a thoroughly entertaining re-read, until the last chapter, when everything completely fell apart. It was originally published as a short story in Galaxy, then expanded into the novel, and I could just imagine the editor yelling at Herbert to finish the damn book, just give him anything. Now back to Inferno. Or maybe not.
What do You think about The Eyes Of Heisenberg (2002)?
This book was a quick read, but full of food for thought! The novel takes place in a future time when the world is ruled by advanced (by gene science) beings called Optimen. These Optimen and all of their constituents rely on various prescriptions to live well beyond our current lifespans. As Optimen are essentially immortal they are worshipped as Gods.The series of events that occur in the book are related to a Folk couple who are to become parents, members of the cyborg resistance, and the ruling Optimen. As a result of these different viewpoints we get a well rounded understanding as to what is going on in the book. One aspect which interested me is that many of the ideas explored in the novel can be compared to what occurs today in relation to plant genetics! Overall I found the novel to move at a good pace to begin with but then a little too fast in the later stages. I also feel as though the ending could have been a bit stronger. But generally this is a great novel to pick up and read for relaxation and then have a little something to think about after it is done :)
—Ashley Harrison
Ni fu, ni fa. Ni novela corta, ni relato largo. Ni acción, ni introspección. Por quedarse a medio camino y no decantarse, termina resultando una historia puramente anecdótica, a la que le falta estar bien definida, y donde los personajes resultan bastante planos, cuando no meramente incomprensibles.A lo mejor es una, que tendría que dedicar un mayor porcentaje de neuronas a entender esta novela... porque lo básico, entender, se entiende... pero no va a ninguna parte ni aporta nada nuevo. Claro que también influye la cronología: de lectura, no de escritura, en este caso. En su momento probablemente tuvo mayor originalidad y valor intrínseco de los que posee llegados a este punto.
—Estibaliz79
The Eyes of Heisenberg has many of the qualities for which Herbert is known, and yet I still found it to be an unusual FH novel. The "hard" sci-fi language is present, similar to the style of language (not the vocabulary itself) found in Destination Void. There is also a clear plot direction with definite Herbertian themes and great potential for development. But all in all, it felt to me like TEoH was missing something, and the end came too fast. The novel seems rushed, and Herbert's usual level of depth was not reached. Reading it was a bit like swimming on the surface of a great reef and being able to see the ocean floor, but never able to dive down and really enjoy the view.
—Gibs
