Paradox (Nulaperion Sequence book 1) by John Meaney
01/03/2005 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 
pub: Prometheus Books. 496 page hardback. Price: $25.00 (US). ISBN: 1-59102-308-4. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check out website: www.pyrsf.com and www.johnmeaney.com
released: March 2005
A long while back now, I gave John Meaney's first novel 'To Hold Infinity' a
good review. I hate to say this, but I'm rather more ambient about the first
of his trilogy now being released in the US. This isn't to say that it isn't
easy to read, far from it, but there's a feeling of lack of depth with this
material and far too many unanswered questions.
Young Tom Corcorigan sees his mother take by one of the Oracles followed by
his father committing suicide and is sent to one of the lower levels for schooling.
A theft leaves him holding the goods and is seen as guilty and has his left
arm amputated by order of Lady Darinia who ends up taking him on as a servant
but still schools him. Education and an understanding of new mathematical theory
and how it applies to space travel, ends up giving the older Tom his own lordship
but doesn't remove his hatred. He even refuses having a cloning treatment that
would restore his arm while also carrying out an extreme fitness regime. After
murdering the Oracle who stole his mother, now deceased, he is forced to go
into hiding during the early stages of a coup he was involved in organising.
Discovered teaching a couple years later, the coup finally goes ahead.
Even giving a brief synopsis such as the above, hitting on the highlights, shows
some odd logic going on. You enter this reality running with little in the explanation
as to just what is going on on this planet. It's not difficult to follow but
tends to have a superficial level to it, not helped this time cos author Meaney
keeps the text fairly sparse but like any net, this makes the logic hole gaps
harder to make sense of. I mean, Corcorigan's lost left arm leaves him with
some discomfort but otherwise doesn't make much difference to what he does,
including some extreme mountaineering. All right, you do adjust to only having
one arm but it does change your outlook to your balance. Corcorigan's elevation
to lordship and responsibility seems totally without supervision and raises
odd questions about how someone can be so lucky to survive a theft - normal
choice is execution - and rise up through the ranks. As I was reading this,
I kept thinking that most of Meaney's understory wasn't developed enough or
he was experimenting with the form. If anything, 'Paradox' tends to come over
with a sense of superficial idealisation and one can only hope it's remedied
in the second book.
GF Willmetts 
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