Denner's Wreck

This is a light, well-done, entertaining short novel that reads like a cross between a good Andre Norton and the Lord of Light Zelazny. The setup is familiar: hi-tech immortal humans (the Powers) are lording it over lo-tech tribesmen. Here, the immortal Powers are, well, really, *really* powerful (see Zelazny), but bored, so a few of them went looking for a lost colony as a lark. They found the colonists, liked their world, and some of them found out they liked being Gods. But mostly they relaxed into a nice, slow, 400-year vacation. Until one of the oldest, meanest, weirdest immortals decides he'd really like to rule a galactic empire...Fortunately the old weirdo is pretty dumb, and is brought to heel by a plucky tribesman and a sneaky immortal. One could quibble with some of the story logic, but that seems pointless in a book that so nicely accomplishes its goal of entertaining the reader for a few hours. Anyway, if you like Norton & Zelazny, you should look for DW. Recommended.Happy reading!Cheers -- Pete Tillman

Arthur C. Clarke said "and sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishible from magic." Denner's Wreck takes that concept to the logical extreme.Imagine, if you will, that a group of bored vacationers, made nearly immortal and omnipotent through technology, come upon a planet populated by the decendants of colonists who crashed there centuries earlier. This "native" population, which has reverted to hunter/gatherer and subsistance farmer society, views the newcomers as gods, and swiftly include these "Powers" in their mythology. If you can imagine that, you've got the premise for Denner's Wreck.Several different stories some together to form a seamless tapestry which is a joy to read. One one level, Bredon the Hunter must come to terms with the idea that the gods he has grown up beliving in are merely people not unlike himself who posess sophisticated technology beyond anything he could have imagined. Intertwined with that are several moral issues: Are the "natives" of Denner's Wreck less human because they lack the technology? ... ...The author laces all these ideas (and more) with a good dose of humor that makes the book a fun a surprisingly quick read. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who comes across a copy.