The Paradox Men loomed large in my mind for a while. I first read about it in Brian Aldiss's SF history, Trillion Year Spree, where he categorizes it as a exemplary example of Widescreen Baroque, comparing it favorable to some of my other favorite SF such as The Stars my Destination and The World of Null-A. I got a nice hardback copy with introductory essays and afterwards, but I had to let my internal hype die down before I gave it a shot. I'm pleasantly surprised to find that it holds up to those other classics, especially after reading a disappointing Charles Harness book (Firebird). There are some clunky expository explanations but it's otherwise a fast-paced novel that may have inspired the shield-based combat of Dune. Like Stars and Null-A, the main character is a man of superhuman potential with a mysterious background. But my favorite character was the villain, the brilliantly named cruel emperor Haze-Gaunt, who's given a strong back story motivated by jealousy and a great ending.
A really fun fast read that has held up well. Some of the physics is just wrong (confusing relativistic increase in mass with an increase in rest mass / gravity), outdated (the universe is only 13.7 years old), or half baked ( an event a billion light years away would take a billion years to show up, so you can't take a picture of it yet). The twists and surprises are setup enough that you can guess what is coming, but the novel is perfect nevertheless. This is great, fast paced story telling with some depth. I was pleased to see that Frank Herbert stole some ideas from this. Why isn't this more famous? Yeah, you should read it.
What do You think about The Paradox Men (1976)?
6.0 stars. On my list of "All Time Favorite" novels. The great novels of the "Golden Age" of science fiction, when done right, are some of the best stories EVER WRITTEN. After having just re-read this story (February 14, 2010), I would put this book in that category (along with other notable examples such as Fury by Henry Kuttner, The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester, and The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov). This book is superbly written, has a compelling, fast-moving INTELLIGENT plot, and an outstanding ending with a message. HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!!
—Stephen
