The Tides of God By Ted Reynolds
The idea is intriguing: God is a space monster, who is responsible of the dark ages of humanity, let's find a starship and destroy it. The realisation is not very deep though. Entertaining. 245 I read this when it came out, and wrote a rather negative review of it. The premise irked me, partly because it seemed like a secular humanist's fever dream, and partly because it provided an extraordinary explanation for religion, which I firmly believed required none. Also, there was a paragraph or two in which the writing didn't impress me (but it wasn't a consistent problem).
Now, however, looking back, I should have probably been more generous. Nearly all science fiction distorts reality with its scientistic fantasies. Besides, I am reading Ms. M. Snodgrass's EDGE OF REASON right now, and enjoying it — and that work makes Mr. Reynolds's lone novel seem a thing of sophisticated construction, at least in terms of the revelation of the underlying premise.
I hope to re-read this book before I die. And perhaps revise a long-held opinion. 245 I saw this in my high school library many years ago, and the concept seemed fascinating: humanity blames divinity for all sorts of bad stuff, and is trying to attack it. There is a lot of philosophical and theological potential in the setup.
Unfortunately, the book sidesteps everything, and the juvenile, irrelevant afterword by the author irritated me.
In the first couple of pages, I hit a whole bunch of typical sci-fi characterisation flaws: characters with stupid distracting names possessing shallow or non-existent inner life, who exist to fill roles, advocate particular views, or represent certain positions, who change their behaviour markedly between chapters, and possess a tendency to all think and talk the same way. There was lots of unsubtle exposition of the background, direct explanation of the mental and emotional states of the characters, and resort to cliches to fill in blanks.
The humans encounter the entity and try to attack it. Mysterious things occur and some kind of metaphysical Antagonist converses with one of the characters. Nothing is revealed, nothing is developed or discussed. One character is persuaded by impeccable logic, but this isn't conveyed to the reader. There are thousands of years of philosophical and theological writings about evil and the divine to which this book is completely ignorant. 245 This novel is proof once more that science fiction and religion are never a good match.
The opening of the book sets the stage. God is roaming the galaxy and is on his way back to Earth. Mankind must destroy him because his presence causes too much upheaval. And so the monster spaceship, with aliens on board called the Kroceri, heads off.
The first quarter of the book is spent establishing the type of utopian/dystopian society that exists 1500 years from now. It seems the number one aspect of this society is huge beds in every room because everyone has sex with everyone. The more on the bed the merrier. Personally, I found it almost comical.
The second quarter of the book is the start of the breakdown of this society with the first few subliminal messages from God.
The third quarter features a total meltdown as some people instantly become religious zealots. God is busier in the messaging. The first attempt to kill God fails.
Although, to this point, I found it somewhat ludicrous, nevertheless, the author has managed to build up the tension. How the author was going to resolve the story was intriguing me.
Then boom, the final segment. On board, held hostage by the Kroceri, is Satan. Melly, a 12 year old, is tasked with being a go-between for Satan and God. The thing is, that never happens. A build up for nothing. Instead, Ridge, a weapons operator, destroys God. But it's not God, it's a drone/transmitter from God. Everyone returns to their futuristic normal and a promise to go find the real God in the future. What a cop out. Talk about a disappointing ending. 245 In the 33rd century, after another round of Dark Ages, humanity has finally emerged with a utopian society built on the use of reason. Our more advanced alien allies loan us our first starship, on the condition that the crew hunt down and destroy a common enemy. The aliens tell us that this mysterious enemy is that long-forgotten entity, God. Twice before, it has passed Earth, each time driving us down into centuries of irrationality and bloody religious fanaticism, and it's headed back again. Now, if this were a James Morrow novel, that alien would actually be God. But in this, it is an unknown force that projects psychological belief in itself as God. Having no direct weapons, the projected madness is its only defense, as it causes the crew to turn on itself violently. Other than this one major innovative concept, the novel is a fairly routine space opera, with plenty of action and interpersonal intrigue. Somewhat more troubling, the author seems to have simply aligned several concepts without really examining their interrelationships, along the lines of reason=athiesm=libertarian sexual mores. At one point, I found myself cheering on the breakdown of the rational system of attachment-free sex. So while somewhat interesting in its portrayal of two extremes of human society, this book does not deserve the powerful acclaim implied by its cover blurbs. 245
The Tides of God