I loved the Dune books when I was a teenager, and I know that Frank Herbert is an amazing writer. When I learned that the video game Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri was inspired by The Jesus Incident, I thought I would like to read it. The library didn’t have it, but it did have the sequel, The Lazarus Effect.The story is original. In the far future, human beings have been deposited on the ocean-world of Pandora, where they split into different factions over the years. I am not sure how The Lazarus Effect plays into the wider mythology, but it’s a good story.4tCharactersVery goodI loved these characters. Queets Twisp was my favorite, but Brett (who I keep imagining looking like Brent Sienna), Scudi Wang, Shadow Panille, Ward Keel, they were all excellent. They feel real in every possible way. I do think Scudi and Brett both have a problem of “first love” though, and I wonder if it could last. She was only sixteen.2.5tPaceSatisfactory with positive exceptionsThis story has a good pace, and I was interested even though it took me a while to read through it. It picks up toward the end, and Herbert/Ransom introduces exciting situations at the beginning of each chapter that is explained in a mini-flashback.3.5tStoryGood with positive exceptionsI really enjoyed this story. Herbert/Ransom (I suspect Herbert did most of the actual writing) spins an amazing tale of an alien world. Without much in the way of description (it is never over-descriptive), the environments and the situations feel alive. I actually found comfort in the living islands.I don’t understand Herbert’s fascination with sex though. I agree that it is a special power- a holy power, but it seems to form the crux of human relations in several of his stories, usually without acknowledgement of its true purpose (procreation).3tDialogueGoodThe dialogue was good. It felt realistic, and I wasn’t confused. There were a few moments when it felt too heavy (mostly from Scudi, but Brett falls into the trap too).5tStyle/TechnicalVery goodHerbert is an amazing writer. Everything is clear. His technique of explaining a situation and then reversing gears to describe how it came about before returning to the actual story is a trick I wish I could learn.The storytelling here isn’t poetic like Sabatini, but there all kinds of little tricks that help tell the story that an average reader probably doesn’t even notice.3.6tOverallGood with positive exceptionsThe Lazarus Effect is a good book. I really enjoyed reading it. It transported me to Pandora, where I walked the living islands and explored the merman bases. I will definitely need to read the other books in the series.Queets Twisp was easily the best part of the story for me, though I liked all the characters. The general setting was alien at first, as was the presence of the mutants, but once I was accustomed to the setting, it was an amazing ride.
After being gravely disappointed with The Jesus Incident and almost deciding not to read The Lazarus Effect, I'm glad that I did, if for no other reason that it restored a little bit of my lost faith in Frank Herbert. So many of his less-known works have been forgettable at best and simply tedious at worst. I already vented my frustration about the Jesus Incident and it's almost complete lack of compelling characters or engaging plot. The Lazarus Effect was much better and in fact never required any strength of will on my part to stay with it. The characters were distinct and engaging if a little expectable, Brett and Scudi being a somewhat typical "opposite sides of the tracks" romance. But Twisp was an engaging everyman while keel with all of his "lethal mutations" was arguably the most human character in the book. My only disappointment was that the climax as a bit too Deus Ex Machina for my taste. I wanted to see Twisp and Gallow fight it out, whether a battle of wills, brains or brawn didn't matter, just something more satisfying than how Herbert wrote it. Lastly, I must say that I don't really get the whole Vata/Duque thing. What Herbert was trying to do was lost on me. Was her trying to personify the whole Avata/world spirit/gaia idea or what? Maybe I didn't get it because I've never found the planetary consciousness to be all that interesting. Asimov tried it in Nemesis and sci-fi writers have played with the idea all the way up to Cameron's Avatar. It just isn't interesting to me. In the end though, the Lazarus Effect was a cool sci-fi story at the very least.
Do You like book The Lazarus Effect (1987)?
Frank Herbert, famous for the Dune series, has produced another work as great as Dune, but this time on a water world. The book is actually a sequel to "The Jesus Incident," a volume about a scientist who tampers with human genetics to help them survive on the water world. The Lazarus Effect is stand alone, however, and from I can detect, more accessible than the first (which is in turn a loose sequel of Herbert's "Destination Void"). The Islanders live on floating organically grown islands with a crowded, smelly third-world culture. The Mermen live in cities under the ocean, and are a much more "civilized" western-style culture. The Islanders are pariahs because many of them have genetic mutations, as three of main characters display with luminous eyes, a giant head one can barely hold up, or elongated arms, respectively. Mermen value genetic purity and science and look down their noses at the more religious Islanders, who worship "Ship". Yet both are human with good and bad points, just very different cultures. This book is pure genius on many levels, but I will have to write a more deserving review on another occasion.
—Daniel Routh
read this long time ago. it's actually the third book in this series about a sentient being called Ship created by the hand of man.this book focuses on Pandora, the planet upon which Ship marooned its crew, demanding that they learn how to worShip him. at the beginning of the book, humanity is divided into mermen who live under the sea, the remnants of the true human crew of Ship, and the Islanders, descendants of the clones made by the humans. there is no land at all left on Pandora, the Islanders live on Islands composed of organic tissues, which totally freaked me out. but it's a good story.
—Rowan O'bryan
Strangely, The Jesus Incident and The Lazurus Effect stand out a little stronger in my mind than the sequels to Dune. Herbert seemed fascinated with the idea of interactive, alien intelligences all exerting their influences on human behavior, what their dynamics might be and how they could shape us. The titles seem peculair and out of context with the books. As with all his work, it takes a lot of reflection into the subtle metaphors before you can begin to scratch away the layers to the deeper meanings.
—Karla
