Orbis
Scot Mackay
Roc, 408 pages
Order this book
In Scott Mackay's Orbis, real-world history veers off-track just after the death of Christ, with an invasion
by technologically-advanced alien beings calling themselves Benefactors, who are looking for a way to preserve
their dying race. Of all peoples on Earth, only the Romans refuse to accept the Benefactors' domination; when the
Romans realize they can't prevail, they steal Benefactor technology and escape to the stars, where they continue
their own tradition of cultural subjugation, conquering planets instead of nations. In the escape, though, the
location of Earth (Orbis) is lost. Ever since, the Romans have searched in vain for their home.
Meanwhile, on Earth, the Benefactors seize on the emerging Christian religion as a handy method of social control,
presenting themselves as angels of God's Heavenly Host and creating a global theocratic government. The result
is a present-day world very differently structured from our own (North America, for instance, was settled mostly
by Scandinavians, the Benefactors having taken various steps to limit Spanish, Portuguese, and British exploration)
but in which events follow an oddly similar pattern: in Europe, for instance, the Prussian Empire is fighting a
war against the Benefactors that seems to be progressing a lot like World War II.
But things are about to change. The underground resistance to Benefactor domination has begun to suspect that the
Benefactors aren't what they say they are--and that, far from realizing God's holy plan on earth, they've actually
hijacked human history. Even weakened by their centuries of earthly occupation, though, the Benefactors are too
powerful for human beings to overthrow alone. There's only one hope: somehow, the mighty Romans must be contacted,
and shown the way back to Earth.
This is certainly one of the odder books I've read lately. Opinionated person that I am, it's not often that I'm
not really sure what to say in a review; but this time I'm really kind of stumped. It's not that Orbis
isn't well-written and entertaining: it is. It's not that the characters aren't engaging: they are (especially
Ecclesiarch Eric Nordstrum, who becomes the prime mover in the attempt to bring back the Romans and suffers greatly
as a result). It's not that I didn't enjoy it: I did, very much.
But Mackay has filled his scenario with so many clashing elements that it's hard to figure out exactly what effect
he's intending to accomplish. On the one hand, there are things that suggest both pulp and parody--little blue
aliens who live in giant vegetables, religion as not just the opiate of the masses but a nefarious alien scheme
of mind control, and of course, the spacefaring Romans, led by a two-thousand-year-old Julius Caesar who has decreed
that his planet-trotting legions maintain their way of life unchanged, right down to tunics and marble columns.
But the book isn't consistent enough in its lampooning to work as satire--and it takes itself far too seriously
on a number of levels to be merely pulp. On the other hand, the serious themes, which include the liberation of
one man's true religious spirit from the artificial paraphenalia of organized religion and an interesting treatment
of the psychological costs of oppression, are undercut by the off-the-wall story concepts and the wild patchwork
of plot elements.
Too, the alternate world Mackay builds, while sturdy enough to support his tale, doesn't bear close scrutiny. In
a timestream so profoundly transformed by the Benefactors, how plausible is it that there would be Kodak cameras
and Ford automobiles? Or that history was parallel enough to produce Guglielmo Marconi and Enrico Caruso, but not,
apparently, Martin Luther? So Orbis doesn't really stand up as alternate history either.
Well. Maybe I'm thinking too hard. Maybe Orbis isn't trying for any of that high-flown stuff, and is exactly
what it seems to be: an entertaining, slightly pulpy yarn, with some startling speculations and a scattering of
serious themes. Maybe I should drop the revewierly analysis stuff, and just say: read this book. You'll enjoy it.
Copyright © 2002 Victoria Strauss
Top of Page
|
