Eyes of the Calculor

By Sean McMullen.
Begun 22 May 2009; finished 29 May.

I had the misfortune of reading Sean McMullen’s Greatwinter trilogy out of order — The Miocene Arrow before Souls in the Great Machine — and have finally read Eyes of the Calculor almost 3 years late, when I’d forgotten much of the previous two books. But memories began to come back, and I was able to recall the backstories to some degree and understand the entire series as a whole. As these novels run together with little pause, I recommend that you don’t do as I did, and instead read the series in quick succession before you forget the details (of which there are many).

The Greatwinter trilogy is about a future-Earth where the human race, after a series of apocalyptic catastrophes followed by a long “dark age”, has rebuilt into a agrarian, semi-technological civilization. It is a saga spanning continents, cultures and numerous characters, and could be best described as a future-Earth geopolitical epic.

I’ll summarize the best I can (also check out my earlier reviews for more about the setting). The story spans Australia and America. Technology resembles that of late Victorian England, mixed with anachronistic future technology. Australia is a loose confederacy of nations called mayorates, the three religions of Christianity, Islam and “Gentheism” coexist relatively peaceably, the continent relies on solar, wind and manpower as sources of energy, and all information and technology are controlled by the influential Dragon Librarians, whose source of power is the Calculor, their mighty human-powered computer. On the other side of the world, America is fractured into small mountainous dominions governed by the aristocratic airlords, compressed alcohol-spirit is the main form of energy, and nobility-owned airwings are the main forms of transport and communication between the Havens. Human civilization is hemmed in on all sides by the A.I.-governed satellite called Mirrorsun, the Call which drives humans blindly into the sea and to death, and aviads, genetically-modified humans that can resist the Call.

But now the Call has mysteriously ceased, electricity (which was restored in The Miocene Arrow) has been abolished, and as Australia undergoes political upheaval, mayorates begin to fall under the tyranny of a self-proclaimed prophetess. Meanwhile, aristocratic envoys from America make a perilous airborne journey across the Pacific Ocean in hopes of brokering peace and trade with Australia — but they encounter more dangers than expected.

Yes, the Greatwinter world is unbelievably complex both in setting and plot. McMullen has also populated this intricate world with a myriad of characters, all with schemes, hidden motives and secrets of their own, and placed them into a byzantine setting rife with political intrigue, backstabbing, scheming and underhand dealing. And the author remarkably manages to keep all the details straight and largely easy to follow: I never felt lost or confused even in the midst of such complexity. The story is also fast-paced, apart from being fascinatingly complex, and the momentum of the plot kept me reading. The story is highly readable and far from dull, or pessimistic. The story makes every opportunity to laugh at itself and the world, and there is plenty of wit, farce and irony in every situation, no matter how grave. Definitely engaging and fun to read.

McMullen is one of the most original world-builders I’ve ever read, and I commend him for inventing a realistic, high-definition geopolitical future-Earth epic. However, I have much criticism for many other aspects of the novel, which echo the thoughts raised in my previous reviews.

Firstly and most maddeningly, all of the characters are so stylistically similar. For example, the dialogue is witty — and all characters speak with wit and cynical humour. There is much sex and bawdiness (a bit too much for me) — all chars ultimately hook up with each other. (There wasn’t one chaste character!) There is obsession, drive, ambition, megalomania — and all chars are obsessed over something or another. In other words, all the characters seemed to have come from the mould; after a while they looked way too much like the same character dressed up in different flesh. While I wasn’t overly irritated, it was disappointing, because too much homogeneity makes for bland and predictable characters.

Another objection I made about the previous books also plagues Eyes of the Calculor. There seems to be a bit too much “godmodding”, for lack of a better word. That is, all the characters have a reason, an excuse, an escape hatch at every sticky situation. Whilst I wouldn’t go as far to call this deus ex machina, the reason or excuse was never revealed before the point. To put it another way, a char encounters a problem or confrontation, or is found in a place where we wouldn’t expect him to be — bam! he has a way out, or a motive to explain himself, or knowledge that we didn’t know he had before. It seemed all too convenient, and gave the chars dubious “powers”. I can’t quite put a finger or adequately describe this phenomenon… but it smacks of godmodding and was a recurring theme in the trilogy. And it irked me, because it all seemed too easy.

Lastly, which ties in with the previous issue — characters sometimes don’t give a reason for their behaviour or changes in behaviour. I feel that McMullen spread himself just a bit too thin, following too many chars in too many sub-storylines, so the novel is largely driven by plot developments with char development almost neglected. True, this is a geopolitical novel so the plot is the main priority, but the chars never felt that they had any meaning or life beyond the context of story. They were merely pawns being moved by the plot, and I didn’t feel any connection with them. Perhaps that is the effect that McMullen is trying to convey after all: in the light of global events and world history, humans are no more than pawns.

I must also say that the ending of Eyes of the Calculor was a bit anti-climactic. I can’t help being a little disappointed at how quiet the conclusion was, compared to the intensity that was maintained throughout the main story. But to the book’s credit, I had no idea how it would turn out, and I can’t think of a better ending. I suppose that it was appropriate after all, given that the ultimate “happy ending” is the assurance that the characters — and the entire human civilization — will continue to endure beyond the bounds of the story.

Whilst I’m glad I finally got to read Eyes of the Calculor, I would rank the Greatwinter trilogy as solidly average and nothing more. The world-building is highly original and top class, and the story was interesting and kept me engaged. But the characters were the weakest part of the novels (when they ought to be the strongest), the overall epic story made little impression on me, and all I’d probably remember of it is the fine world-building and “future history” setting.