Somehow I am still a couple of weeks behind on reporting my reading habits. I'm not sure how this happened... I do, however, have a distant memory of reading The Eyes of Heisenberg by Frank Herbert (1966). Frank Herbert is the guy who wrote the Dune books, and this is the only thing by him that I've ever read. I do remember my dad reading all the Dune books one winter when I was a kid, which is unusual because he hardly ever reads fiction books. In fact, I think those Dune books are the only fiction I can ever remember my dad reading.If The Eyes of Heisenberg is any indication, my dad must be on to something, because this was a very good little science fiction book. Let's see how I do with the plot: In the super-future, part of the human race has evolved into Optimen -- humans that never die (provided they take their enzyme supplements), but who are sterile and can't reproduce. The Optimen have learned a great deal about genetic manipulation, and have taken control over all reproduction by exposing all the regular humans to contraceptive gas and only letting them reproduce if the Optimen think its a good idea. Even then, the embryos are genetically modified to enhance beneficial traits like healthiness and obedience, and to get rid of any unique or potentially upsetting flaws. The embryos are then raised in machine-wombs and given back to the parents after birth.
Occasionally, however, an unseen force will change the genetic pattern of the embryo -- in some cases making it impervious to the contraceptive gas and able to procreate on its own. Obviously the Optimen don't like that. But the underground movement of parents loves it. They have temporarily teamed up with the Cyborgs to overthrow the Optimen -- the Cyborgs are another branch of humanity that enhances its nature by combining with robots instead of altering their genetics like the Optimen. The Optimen don't like the Cyborgs, and mostly pretend that they don't exist.
What will become of humanity? Can people figure out how to have sex the old fashioned way? Can immortal beings actually die? And do we really want to meld with robots?
These and other fascinating questions are explored in The Eyes of Heisenberg. So check it out.
Back cover is hanging out here.
And other versions of the front cover (which I love), can be found here.
3 comments:
holy mackerel! i ain't ne'er seen that one! can i borrow it? i promise to loan in return such "gems" as the santaroga barrier and... uh, other stuff that i can't remember.
-chew
This book may be freely borrowed by anyone who can arrange a book trade-off, particularly "gems." But, pants, you can't borrow it until you finish Wuthering.
Oh, and I forgot to mention that the underground movement of parents has developed a way of talking to each other by a complicated series of hand squeezes so that the Optimen, Cyborgs, and non-in-the-know-sterile-humans don't know that they are saying anything. Awesome.
This makes me want to read Dune again. I read it when I was in Junior High and thought it was awesome. Plus, I love (even though its pretty bad) the David Lynch movie version.
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