A TWICE-DEAD GENIUS COMPORTING WITH MISUNDERSTOOD ABOMINATIONS

On a future, much-altered Earth, the archived intellect of crusty scientific genius is resurrected to confront various threats.

Raham’s comical SF sequel may confuse newcomers by thrusting together ensemble casts/creatures from his two previous books, A Singular Prophecy(2011) and A Once-Dead Genius in the Kennel of Master Mortice Ambergrand(2018). This installment’s cast includes human paleontologist Ryan Thompson and his lover, Skeets; they are more or less immortal because they fused with powerful “Grovians,” vaguely equine quadruped aliens (secretly inhabiting Earth since the Cretaceous) who spawn and hibernate in structures resembling trees. Returning players are: the digitized mind of grouchy scientist Rudy Goldstein and his guardian AI computer, Mnemosyne, aka “Nessie.” Both are lone remnants of technological human civilization following an apocalyptic asteroid strike. This odd couple had brokered peace between human survivors and the insectlike Jadderbadians, another bizarre alien race colonizing a beleaguered Earth. Now in a fresh caper, both sets of protagonists (plus substantial entourages) become aware of each other in the process of confronting threats. Ito Prime, a clone Grovian with no affection for any other race, is dangerously at large, possessing different bodies while seeking world domination. And the sentient aura/spirit/energy field of Earth, called Gaia, has grown irritated with all these antics and activates a Yellowstone supervolcano to cull the globe’s troublesome residents. Meanwhile, cyborg superhumans on Mars, led by an Australian-accented bloke called Pi, reveal ambitious projects of their own. It’s not unlike a late-career Robert Heinlein or Doris Lessing saga, with reappearing characters and themes, like widespread arrogance among the various species, though Raham’s attitude is quite tongue in cheek. The writer delights in strange ET zoology and reproduction habits, adding his own drawings of fanciful and factual flora and fauna. Unsurprisingly, a tribute to Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxyarrives in the mix. Rudy and Nessie outshine the fairly flat Ryan Thompson and his associates, but this eccentric, Stapledonian SF should sate the regulars.

Wildly inventive SF with a busy, sometimes-flummoxing plot.