The Paradox Men – Charles L. Harness

Title: Paradox Men Author: Charles L. Harness Genre: Science Fiction

The Paradox Men is a very engrossing read. I, of course, love to read what’s been written on the covers of books (not just the pictures, though if the pictures are cool enough, they still get me!), and this one proclaimed itself to be a masterpiece. And after reading all the introductions by various important people I’ve never really heard of (other than Asimov), I had pretty high expectations for this work.

Well, it almost lived up to them. I was engrossed and really had problems putting it down (I really shouldn’t stay up that late to read if I have to work the next morning…). Harness’s pacing is excellent, almost manic at times, and I really was becoming fascinated with the characters as they grew, evolved and were revealed.

I guess the finale was anti-climactic to me. I had kinda of guessed it already, but wasn’t sure if things were going to really play out that way. I think a twist away from that almost inevitable ending would have been a little more brilliant, or may just more intriguing. [spoiler alert!] And the move for the primary character to all of a sudden super-evolve (or whatever you want to call it) seemed a little over the top for me. And using this leap in evolution to then paint an almost poignant ending seemed a little too much in my mind. Almost had an incredible conclusion, but just missed it.

Would I recommend it? Yes, kind of. Mainly to individuals who enjoy sci-fi and also enjoy thinking about the concepts and sociological analysis many sci-fi writers engage in within their stories. I think this is an excellent example of science fiction in it’s early years – and an extremely fine example of that.

Recommended Age: This was actually a pretty clean book other than the fighting.
It is older, so that is kind of to be expected.

Worldview: Atheistic, though there is an almost pagan aura to it