The Broken God

by David Zindell

Book Overview

What do you do when the soul of your best friend breaks and he threatens to become not only your worst enemy but the destroyer of entire worlds?In Book One of David Zindell's epic science fiction... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553564501
• ISBN13: 9780553564501
• Release Date: December 1993
• Publisher: Spectra
• Length: 695 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.0" x 1.0" x 4.5"

Customer Reviews

Poignant and prophetic

Warning: this book is not for the all-action-no thinking-sci-fi readers. You find here beautiful word construction, great characterization and splendid athmospheres. The characters of Danlo the Wild, tortured yet innocent soul, of his friend Hanuman,haunted by his own interior ghosts, of the falstaffian Bardo, will remain in your memory. Here you will find reflections on human destiny, the implications of genetic and cybernetics, reflections on humand destiny and of the universe. Echoes of Douglas Adams, Neal Stephenson, Iain Banks and Isaac Asimov reverberate through this wonderful novel.(Not to mention that the Borja School chapters have a distinct harrypotteresque feel...and Danlo finds himself with a lightning scar on his forehead(!).This novel is real food for the soul, and whilst it could have been a bit less verbose, and some reflections may verge on the obvious (religions develops in directions their founders didn't foresee ... what else is new?), this book will make you think, whilst entertaining you with a magnificent story. And some notations on human alienation and the perils of religious dogmatism are very prophetics and actual. A must read!

philosophical, mystical, world-building science fiction

Three features of this book, and of Zindell's sf series as a whole (I'm on the third book, The Wild), stand out for me. First and foremost, the series is very philosophical. Whereas most hard sf authors go into plot-killing descriptions of technology and scientific theories, Zindell focuses on the spiritual and ethical dimensions of his speculative history of the far future. This isn't to say there's no science or technology in Zindell's science fiction or that the series borders on fantasy. Zindell does back up many of his speculations with scientific explanations, but the focus is on exploring philosophical and spiritual ideas. This might suggest that the series is a morality tale, but this would be so only if a morality tale were any story that is largely about morality or some other philosophical problem. Instead, at its worst a morality tale is a stilted, formulaic fable that so focuses on morality that the characters and the plot are beside the point. While Zindell's series is quite philosophical, Zindell is also a world-builder, and this is the second aspect of the series that strikes me. I happen to enjoy long, world-building sf series (Dan Simmons, Peter F Hamilton, Gene Wolfe). Zindell develops his vision of the far future to such an extent that the reader can't usually predict what will happen or discern any formula (except in the broadest sense of the formula for any epic story). For example, I wouldn't have predicted the disaster described in the very first chapter of The Broken God, nor could I have predicted what exactly is the broken god. Zindell's discussions of philosophical ideas and his invented world are so idiosyncratic that I wouldn't call the series a morality tale--at least not in a pejorative sense. Take the warrior-poets, for example. To some extent, these are Nietzschean overmen who are beyond good and evil, but there's also their preoccupation with finding the "moment of the possible," which I found peculiar and fascinating. Perhaps the main philosophical theme explored in the series is the relationship between gods and mortal creatures, and specifically the prospect of becoming a god. By itself, this indicates an unusual, mystical, Gnostic perspective on the author's part (everything is divine, the kingdom of heaven is within you, etc). A far future setting may not be necessary to the pursuit of this theme, but obviously one way to become a god would be to harness the sort of technology which doesn't yet exist. Finally, there's Zindell's writing style. Most of the writing I quite like, especially the similes and the substitution of detailed philosophical and psychological discussions for technoscientific ones. (Again, there are some technical scientific and mathematical descriptions, but they don't take up the foreground. For a fascinating philosophical dialogue, see the long, early conversation between Danlo and the Fravashi Old Father.) However, Zindell has an odd tendency to overuse certain phrases such as "u

A True Masterpiece

David Zindel's The Broken God is a novel light years ahead of it's time. I read this novel first over a few wonderful weeks two or so years ago. Since then I have read the prequel 'Neverness' and the following two books in the trilogy 'The Wild' and 'War in Heaven' While all four are excellent novels, 'The Broken God' stands above. The city of Neverness holds a special place in Science Fiction writing. It is one of the most beautiful, well realised cities ever imagined. Zindel's philosophical insight, broad reaching imagination, and poetic prose combine for a fantastic reading experience. It is a novel that you will always want nearby for a quick visit to Neverness. I am reading it now for the fourth time, and it is the only book that I have read multiple times in the past five years.

Limitless imagination

The Broken God can only be described as a tale of epic proportions. This is a novel of ideas and philosophy so deep and rich in scope and imagination I needed to take breaks between chapters to think about and absorb what I had read. It is the story of a young man's search for himself. It is a tale of friendship and religion. It is novel for and about humanity. If you haven't read this --- DO!