Destroying Worlds

By John David
1st Books Library, 1-4033-7550-X,
November 2002, $14.95
Reviewed by Anders Monsen

I received this book in the mail recently, no return address or indication of the sender’s identity. It appears to be a print-on-demand book; research indicates that it’s a sequel to Becoming Death, from March 2002.

Set in the far future, with at least three competing world views (both human and alien) on planetary scale and local societies, this novel suffers from a fragmented narrative and surfeit of characters. There are moments when a narrative flows begins to assert itself, but the constant short bursts of scenes from all view points make it difficult to sustain attention or gain any understanding and empathy for the various characters.

Certain individualistic ideas show up in the critiques of slavery and views on women, but future novels in this series might need to focus on a more coherent narrative flow to keep the reader’s attention.