Jack L. Chalker
found this pretty satisfying, I think I'm probably done with this series, thoughapparently there are two more Well World books, and then a spinoff trilogy with Nathan Brazil and Mavra Chang far in the future, but I'm just not interested.
This book wrapped it up well enough for me, although I was disappointed that, as soon as Brazil and Mavra got into the control room, we didn't hear anything more about the other characters.
We spent a lot of time getting attached to Ortega, Marquoz, and Gypsy, and with the big reveal of Gypsy's true identity, I would have liked some closure as to what ultimately happened to them before Brazil and Mavra headed off into the cosmos.
Still, a solid book. Although the books in this series are fairly consistent, I'm not sure the followups really add anything to the original concept, In fact this last installment wipes out any mystery surrounding Nathan Brazil and the Well World, Midnight at the Well of Souls was originally intended as a singular novel, and Chalker only wrote more because of popular demand, I'd recommend just reading that one, and leaving any unanswered questions to your imagination, See Midnight At The Well of Souls, for my discussion of this series, an interesting piece of SciFi, set in a world where computer can rule all, the storytelling bumps around as the character move through zones, . . If you love aliens and alien culture in SiFi stories then this series is for you, Great story and characters. Very recommended I enjoyed this book, although I felt the ending was a bit over the top, I also thought that some elements of the story were not adequately explained this is consistent with a few other series by Chalker, So many conflicting feelings about how it ended,
and the possible retcons it made, Some of it worked so well though, This finishes up the second story arc of the Saga of the Well Worlds, but Chalker later added several to the Saga a few decades or so later.
The subtitle of this is The Legacy of Nathan Brazil which is apt, as the entire point/plot of this involves trying to get Nathan Brazil to the Well to 'reset' the universe to fix the rent in space the Com opened up in their war with the strange aliens from the last installment.
The inhabitants of the Well World are rather mixed about this, however, While they know if the rent is not fixed, it will mean the end of the Well World eventually, they also know that if it is 'reset', then half of them will be the colonists on new worlds, so selfishly, many decide to stop Brazil.
. .
This really follows in the footsteps of prior installments as various strange aliens coalesce into 'pro' and 'anti' Brazil camps, with just about as many trying to help Nathan as those opposing him, so Nathan has to resort to some deep intrigue to slip into the Well World and all kinds of trickery to actually get to the Well itself.
Chalker treats us to some rather ham fisted speculations on the meaning of life, human motivations/nature, as well as religion he has done this in previous volumes, but it really features here because if Nathen does the 'reset', the existing universe will end and all life with it except for the Well World itself.
Mavra plays a prominent role here, but Nathen is largely in the shadows until the denouement, Good pulpy fun, but not great this series got a little tired as it went on, but I liked the ending so I could put up with a little slog along the way.
.stars, rounding up! Love the series, Started my love of scifi Had no idea this was a series, Read the first book decades ago and then came across the final book in the series at a funky bookstore containing piles and piles of old books in Vancouver BC.
Probably should have read the previousin the series and maybe brushed up on the storys premise, Still held my interest in the many types of creatures that lived on Well World, I have loved this series my whole life, I've read it through several times when I was younger, Now though I realize how Chalker did Mavra dirty, She's dumbed down a bit in this book which doesn't suit her personality as was established earlier in the series, She lost her grittiness. It was alright and was an interesting end to the saga, This is the series by Chalker that everyone asked me about, I had read his work extensively before trying it and I understand why they asked, It is an amazing adventure that brings together the stories everyone has heard, It explain almost everything you believe, It is glaringly iconoclastic but an entertaining fiction for sure, Grade B. Book Ws.Yeah, I have to finish a bunch of other books, but I couldn't leave the second half of Nathan Brazil's Return hanging! Boosting it a star, because my system has evolved in the past eight years.
Now, to those other books before I stumble into another Well Gate!
The storytelling is excellent, Still scratching the head as to how he made mistakes in his own series, . . especially a planned sequel the descriptions of a main character at the end of Nathan Brazil and the start of this one differ, great so far. Really enjoyed rereading this whole series, Held up very well overyears, An appropriate ending for this space opera, As always with Chalker, fast pace, A little repetitive could be deliberate, reflecting on previous books in the series, The last scene is weird, not compiling with the character's arc,
Not the deepest series although there are attempts at philosophical and religion thoughts, But easy read and great's fun, Shows that social injustice and prejudice are pretty universal, The end of the storyline about Nathan Brazil and the well World, There aremore books in the series that take place after brazil "refreshes" the universe, This is an excellent series! A predictable conclusion to the Well of Souls saga, and far too religious for a good scifi read, A decent story that wraps up loose ends, but I would have preferred to be surprised by the ending, Very good series of books, One of those that really makes you think, The rift in the fabric of space was fast approaching the Well World, and time was running out, Troops all over the planet were gathering for the final battle,
Excelently readable guilty pleasure SF,
A fantastic conclusion to the Well World series, Mysteries that have lingered since the first book are revealed, and the whole thing is brought to an emotionally resonant conclusion, The Well World combines epic scope with believable character study, I would recommend this to anyone who likes their scifi strange and wonderful, The completion of the series, with the loopholes all filled but a future available, Definitely well worth pulling out of the stacks, Besides being a science fiction author, Jack Laurence Chalker was a Balti City Schools history teacher in Maryland for a time, a member of the Washington Science Fiction Association, and was involved in the founding of the Balti Science Fiction Society.
Some of his books said that he was born in Norfolk, Virginia although he later claimed that was a mistake, He attended all but one of the World Science Fiction Conventions fromuntil, He published an amateur SF journal, Mirage, fromtoa Hugo nominee infor Best Fanzine, Chalker was married inand had two sons, His stated hobbies included esoteric audio, travel, and working on science fiction convention committees, He had a great interest in ferryboats, a Besides being a science fiction author, Jack Laurence Chalker was a Balti City Schools history teacher in Maryland for a time, a member of the Washington Science Fiction Association, and was involved in the founding of the Balti Science Fiction Society.
Some of his books said that he was born in Norfolk, Virginia although he later claimed that was a mistake, He attended all but one of the World Science Fiction Conventions fromuntil, He published an amateur SF journal, Mirage, fromtoa Hugo nominee infor Best Fanzine, Chalker was married inand had two sons, His stated hobbies included esoteric audio, travel, and working on science fiction convention committees, He had a great interest in ferryboats, and, at his wife's suggestion, their marriage was performed on the Roaring Bull Ferry, Chalker's awards included the Daedalus Award, The Gold Medal of the West Coast Books, Skylark Award, Hamilton Brackett Memorial Award, as well as others of varying prestige.
He was a nominee for the John W, Campbell Award twice and for the Hugo Award twice, He was posthumously awarded the Phoenix Award by the Southern Fandom Confederation on April,, On September,, during Hurricane Isabel, Chalker passed out and was rushed to the hospital with a diagnosis of a heart attack, He was later released, but was severely weakened, On December,, he was again rushed to hospital with breathing problems and disorientation, and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and a collapsed lung, Chalker was hospitalized in critical condition, then upgraded to stable on December, though he didn't regain consciousness until December, After several weeks in deteriorating condition and in a persistent vegetative state, with several transfers to different hospitals, he died on February,of kidney failure and sepsis in Bon Secours of Balti, Maryland.
Chalker is perhaps best known for his Well World series of novels, the first of which is sitelink Midnight at the Well of Souls Well World,, sitelink.
This book wrapped it up well enough for me, although I was disappointed that, as soon as Brazil and Mavra got into the control room, we didn't hear anything more about the other characters.
We spent a lot of time getting attached to Ortega, Marquoz, and Gypsy, and with the big reveal of Gypsy's true identity, I would have liked some closure as to what ultimately happened to them before Brazil and Mavra headed off into the cosmos.
Still, a solid book. Although the books in this series are fairly consistent, I'm not sure the followups really add anything to the original concept, In fact this last installment wipes out any mystery surrounding Nathan Brazil and the Well World, Midnight at the Well of Souls was originally intended as a singular novel, and Chalker only wrote more because of popular demand, I'd recommend just reading that one, and leaving any unanswered questions to your imagination, See Midnight At The Well of Souls, for my discussion of this series, an interesting piece of SciFi, set in a world where computer can rule all, the storytelling bumps around as the character move through zones, . . If you love aliens and alien culture in SiFi stories then this series is for you, Great story and characters. Very recommended I enjoyed this book, although I felt the ending was a bit over the top, I also thought that some elements of the story were not adequately explained this is consistent with a few other series by Chalker, So many conflicting feelings about how it ended,
and the possible retcons it made, Some of it worked so well though, This finishes up the second story arc of the Saga of the Well Worlds, but Chalker later added several to the Saga a few decades or so later.
The subtitle of this is The Legacy of Nathan Brazil which is apt, as the entire point/plot of this involves trying to get Nathan Brazil to the Well to 'reset' the universe to fix the rent in space the Com opened up in their war with the strange aliens from the last installment.
The inhabitants of the Well World are rather mixed about this, however, While they know if the rent is not fixed, it will mean the end of the Well World eventually, they also know that if it is 'reset', then half of them will be the colonists on new worlds, so selfishly, many decide to stop Brazil.
. .
This really follows in the footsteps of prior installments as various strange aliens coalesce into 'pro' and 'anti' Brazil camps, with just about as many trying to help Nathan as those opposing him, so Nathan has to resort to some deep intrigue to slip into the Well World and all kinds of trickery to actually get to the Well itself.
Chalker treats us to some rather ham fisted speculations on the meaning of life, human motivations/nature, as well as religion he has done this in previous volumes, but it really features here because if Nathen does the 'reset', the existing universe will end and all life with it except for the Well World itself.
Mavra plays a prominent role here, but Nathen is largely in the shadows until the denouement, Good pulpy fun, but not great this series got a little tired as it went on, but I liked the ending so I could put up with a little slog along the way.
.stars, rounding up! Love the series, Started my love of scifi Had no idea this was a series, Read the first book decades ago and then came across the final book in the series at a funky bookstore containing piles and piles of old books in Vancouver BC.
Probably should have read the previousin the series and maybe brushed up on the storys premise, Still held my interest in the many types of creatures that lived on Well World, I have loved this series my whole life, I've read it through several times when I was younger, Now though I realize how Chalker did Mavra dirty, She's dumbed down a bit in this book which doesn't suit her personality as was established earlier in the series, She lost her grittiness. It was alright and was an interesting end to the saga, This is the series by Chalker that everyone asked me about, I had read his work extensively before trying it and I understand why they asked, It is an amazing adventure that brings together the stories everyone has heard, It explain almost everything you believe, It is glaringly iconoclastic but an entertaining fiction for sure, Grade B. Book Ws.Yeah, I have to finish a bunch of other books, but I couldn't leave the second half of Nathan Brazil's Return hanging! Boosting it a star, because my system has evolved in the past eight years.
Now, to those other books before I stumble into another Well Gate!
The storytelling is excellent, Still scratching the head as to how he made mistakes in his own series, . . especially a planned sequel the descriptions of a main character at the end of Nathan Brazil and the start of this one differ, great so far. Really enjoyed rereading this whole series, Held up very well overyears, An appropriate ending for this space opera, As always with Chalker, fast pace, A little repetitive could be deliberate, reflecting on previous books in the series, The last scene is weird, not compiling with the character's arc,
Not the deepest series although there are attempts at philosophical and religion thoughts, But easy read and great's fun, Shows that social injustice and prejudice are pretty universal, The end of the storyline about Nathan Brazil and the well World, There aremore books in the series that take place after brazil "refreshes" the universe, This is an excellent series! A predictable conclusion to the Well of Souls saga, and far too religious for a good scifi read, A decent story that wraps up loose ends, but I would have preferred to be surprised by the ending, Very good series of books, One of those that really makes you think, The rift in the fabric of space was fast approaching the Well World, and time was running out, Troops all over the planet were gathering for the final battle,
Nathan Brazil and Mavra Chang somehow had to reach the Well of Souls in time to save the universe and before any of the hostile natives managed to kill them.
At best, a difficult mission, At worst, impossible especially since there was a price on Brazil's head and many wouldbe claimants! For Brazil, the difficult was but the work of a moment the impossible would take a little longer!
See "Midnight at the Well of Souls" for review.Excelently readable guilty pleasure SF,
A fantastic conclusion to the Well World series, Mysteries that have lingered since the first book are revealed, and the whole thing is brought to an emotionally resonant conclusion, The Well World combines epic scope with believable character study, I would recommend this to anyone who likes their scifi strange and wonderful, The completion of the series, with the loopholes all filled but a future available, Definitely well worth pulling out of the stacks, Besides being a science fiction author, Jack Laurence Chalker was a Balti City Schools history teacher in Maryland for a time, a member of the Washington Science Fiction Association, and was involved in the founding of the Balti Science Fiction Society.
Some of his books said that he was born in Norfolk, Virginia although he later claimed that was a mistake, He attended all but one of the World Science Fiction Conventions fromuntil, He published an amateur SF journal, Mirage, fromtoa Hugo nominee infor Best Fanzine, Chalker was married inand had two sons, His stated hobbies included esoteric audio, travel, and working on science fiction convention committees, He had a great interest in ferryboats, a Besides being a science fiction author, Jack Laurence Chalker was a Balti City Schools history teacher in Maryland for a time, a member of the Washington Science Fiction Association, and was involved in the founding of the Balti Science Fiction Society.
Some of his books said that he was born in Norfolk, Virginia although he later claimed that was a mistake, He attended all but one of the World Science Fiction Conventions fromuntil, He published an amateur SF journal, Mirage, fromtoa Hugo nominee infor Best Fanzine, Chalker was married inand had two sons, His stated hobbies included esoteric audio, travel, and working on science fiction convention committees, He had a great interest in ferryboats, and, at his wife's suggestion, their marriage was performed on the Roaring Bull Ferry, Chalker's awards included the Daedalus Award, The Gold Medal of the West Coast Books, Skylark Award, Hamilton Brackett Memorial Award, as well as others of varying prestige.
He was a nominee for the John W, Campbell Award twice and for the Hugo Award twice, He was posthumously awarded the Phoenix Award by the Southern Fandom Confederation on April,, On September,, during Hurricane Isabel, Chalker passed out and was rushed to the hospital with a diagnosis of a heart attack, He was later released, but was severely weakened, On December,, he was again rushed to hospital with breathing problems and disorientation, and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and a collapsed lung, Chalker was hospitalized in critical condition, then upgraded to stable on December, though he didn't regain consciousness until December, After several weeks in deteriorating condition and in a persistent vegetative state, with several transfers to different hospitals, he died on February,of kidney failure and sepsis in Bon Secours of Balti, Maryland.
Chalker is perhaps best known for his Well World series of novels, the first of which is sitelink Midnight at the Well of Souls Well World,, sitelink.