Wizard (Gaea)

We were introduced to the alien Gaea in Titan, when our characters came to investigate. Now we get to explore it in a great-circle journey around the rim, visiting almost every region. John Varley has created an intriguing, unique landscape in this installment of his trilogy. Not only is Gaea a world and a god, but she is also a political being with a sharp eye towards the future. It is only in Demon that we see how shrewd she really is, but for now she presents herself as the benign but not really caring omnipotent who grants cures to people with interesting diseases. The catch is that applicants have to perform an heroic deed first. We get some fascination candidates; an Earth man and a Witch from an orbiting colony. These two meet our heroes from Titan, and all set out along the river looking for adventure. Our old friends Cirrocco and Gaby who were the first humans to encounter Gaea have an ulterior motive for this little venture though, one that could change Gaea forever. All the characters here are so well written they become like old friends in a very short time. There are also moments of humor in here that made me giggle uncontrollably, endearing these people to me even more. Titanides are the most original, interesting and wonderful creatures ever conceived in fiction of any genre, from their instictive ablilty to understand and make music of any kind in existence to the myriad ways and means of conception. They are the most talked-about species in the book, but there are tons of other strange things to see and/or run away from. Blimps, Subs, buzzbombs, angels, sandworms and even King Kong! Readers of scifi will see Varley paying tribute to many other scifi greats along the journey.So here in Wizard, our little troupe sets off down the river, that flows around the world, that is Gaea, who is not sane. Anything can happen in a place like that, but to find out why, you have to READ IT!

Wizard is the second and best book in the Gaea trilogy, one of the best trilogies ever. It brings back most of the characters from the first book, shakes them up quite a bit, and adds some new ones. Cirocco Jones, the heroine of "Titan" and now officially known as the Wizard, is back - but she's a fairly hopeless drunk. Gaby, very much in love with Cirocco, has a hard time doing Gaea's errands without the magic powers granted to Cirocco, while taking care of Cirocco. Then there are the new characters - Chris, who loses his mind on a regular basis and has zero self-esteem; and Robin, a witch with an extreme condition resembling epilepsy and a major attitude problem. Together, they set out on a journey to visit all of Gaea's "regional brains", the demi-gods who live under Gaea's skin and control the lands surrounding them. From the moment they set out, they are threatened by evil humans and malevolent aliens, including the sinister buzzbombs. Buzzbombs, which are intelligent jet fighters complete with symbiotic heatseeking missiles, are my favourite aliens ever. ""Wizard" is full of wonderful symbolism, imagery borrowed from classic films, and Varley's fantastic imagination. It also features some fairly graphic interspecies sex, and a little extreme violence, so it's not for everyone - Star Trek this is not. But it's a wonderful mix of social exploration, ethics, some of the most imaginative landscapes in the genre, and action that begs for James Cameron to film it.

In a way, this is John Varley's "Lawrence of Arabia:" After her great success at the end of "Titan," Cirocco Jones is now something more than human, a hero on Earth and the "wizard" of Gaea. Of course, this isn't a fairy tale, and living up to all that an insane alien "goddess" has put on her shoulders is too much for anyone, even a hero.And that's the set-up for "Wizard," the second of three books in the Gaia Trilogy. Whereas the first story was an exploration adventure in the "Rendezvous with Rama" mold, and the third story ("Demon") invites comparisons to the "Star Wars" movies, "Wizard" is an odd little story that mixes a classic fantasy quest to redeem a fallen hero with science fiction action that is inspired (both by the author and the characters involved) by World War II movies.Along the way, Varley flexes his imaginative skills again, outdoing the weird alien creations of "Titan" with even more genetically engineered wonders and monstrosities, many of which stick in the imagination long after the book has been put down: I can never think of a buzz bomb in the same way again, nor a blimp, an angel or centaur.There will be some who find this book, like the others in this series, a bit too racy for them: One of Cirocco's chores is to be part of the breeding cycle for one of the alien species, although not in the way one might expect. It's a great character bit, an interesting bit of xenobiology and a good plot engine. It's also blantant sexuality, so this book isn't for those who are uncomfortable with such stuff.For the rest of us, though, "Wizard" is an amazing book, chronicling the rise of a fallen hero through an amazing alien landscape that's easily one of the most interesting settings speculative fiction has ever produced.A must-read for adult (or adult-minded) science fiction and fantasy fans.

John Varley is a masterful storyteller. I first encountered his work when perusing some ancient issues of Isaac Asimov's SF Magazine, in the form of the chilling short story "Press Enter." Wizard is a fantastic sequel to "Titan" - it's a page turner. Varley developed the characters from "Titan" between novels - he managed to keep them human and interesting, rather than falling into the trap of allowing them to become two-dimensional and boring because of the power they wield on Gaea, a moon of Saturn which has its own sentient consciousness. The new characters are interesting, and Varley avoids the predictable potential pairings, instead choosing to create a human-alien relationship and create a plot thread which (hopefully) will be resolved in the last novel of the trilogy. I must get my hands on a copy of "Demon" to see how Gaea and her agent, Cirocco Jones, deal with the unexpected betrayal that occurs in the last part of "Wizard."

I hate trilogies. I really do. Most of the time, the author barely writes anything interesting in the first book, let alone those that follow.Having said that, let me tell you that John Varley has written one of the great SF stories of the last twenty-five years. "Titan" (with its companion volumes, "Wizard" and "Demon") tells the story of Cirocco Jones and the crew of the NASA spacecraft DSV Ringmaster as they meet, are changed by and ultimately must fight Gaea, the living planet. The characters are vivid and well-drawn; Varley has justifiably drawn praise for his strong, realistic female characters.Like Jack Chalker did in "Well of Souls", Varley gives us a powerful story of humanity lost and regained in the face of epic struggles. His reach sometimes exceeds his grasp -- especially in "Demon" -- but I recommend this trilogy wholeheartedly.