Necromancer is a science fiction novel by American writer Gordon R. Dickson, published in 1962. It was alternatively titled No Room for Man between 1963 and 1974 before reverting to its original title.[1] It is the prequel to Dickson's earlier novel Dorsai!.
First edition, published by Doubleday Cover art by Wally Littman
Necromancer follows the fortunes of Paul Formain, a mining engineer in the late 21st century who endures several accidents. His quest for self-discovery, and recovery from losing his arm, leads him to embrace the Chantry Guild. The Guild embraces a philosophy of destruction with the hope of making space for the rise of a new evolutionary form of humanity. The instruments in their goals are the Alternate Laws or Alternate Forces.
Formain is led to the Chantry Guild after encountering Destruct, a book written by Walter Blunt, the Guild's leader. Formain enlists under the mastery of Necromancer Jason Warren and the ethereal influence of musical vocalist Kantele Maki. His initial goal in joining the guild is the regeneration of his lost arm.
The story is punctuated by Formain's epiphany moments. First, he realizes the inadequacy of psychology in his self-exploration. He slowly realizes his own savant power over the Alternative Forces. He is taken aback by his growing hyper-awareness of the world around him, specifically the inter-related isolation of all individuals. This isolation is dramatically symbolized by Formain's own singularity. He has a final epiphany near the end of the book that clarifies for him his own identity and potential ... and much more.
The book is divided into three sub-books: Isolate, Set, and Pattern. In each book, Formain realizes the function of each mathematical collective in the flow of objective history and subjective reality. As with many science fiction novels, the philosophical underpinnings of evolution require a decidedly unscientific leap in the reader's understanding of what constitutes science to rally the punctuation that brings about the next stage of human evolution.
Major charactersedit
Paul Formain
Walter Blunt
Jason Warren
Kantele Maki
Themesedit
The title Necromancer is applicable to the contents of the book in two ways. The general, popular conception, a worker of magic, superficially describes the workings of the Chantry Guild. The more technical definition, the occupation of telling the future by communicating with the dead, is applied in the identity and history of Paul Formain, once again, revealed in the climax of the book.
Evolutionary transition is only one of several themes of classic Science Fiction found in Necromancer. It is the link between this novel and the rest of Dickson's Childe Cycle. Also represented, though, are themes of time-travel, immortality and parapsychology.
Place in Dickson's Childe Cycleedit
Though Dorsai! (as The Genetic General) was actually written first, Necromancer is chronologically the first story in Dickson's Childe Cycle of novels. Dickson's own chronology in the essay "See a Thousand Years" places the events at the last decade of the 21st century. However, Sandra Miesel identifies Paul Formain as another incarnation of characters found later in the Childe Cycle: Hal Mayne and Donal Graeme.[citation needed] So Formain's chronological place is somewhat fluid. His "life" extends the length of the cycle.
Referencesedit
^"Title: No Room for Man". isfdb. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
External linksedit
Wikiquote has quotations related to Necromancer (novel).
Dickson, Gordon R. "See a Thousand Years." in The Dorsai Companion. New York: Ace Science Fiction Books, 1986. ISBN0-441-16026-3.
necromancer, novel, other, uses, necromancer, disambiguation, this, article, about, science, fiction, novel, gordon, dickson, confused, with, science, fiction, novel, neuromancer, william, gibson, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, plea. For other uses see Necromancer disambiguation This article is about the science fiction novel by Gordon R Dickson It is not to be confused with the science fiction novel Neuromancer by William Gibson This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Necromancer novel news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2010 Learn how and when to remove this message Necromancer is a science fiction novel by American writer Gordon R Dickson published in 1962 It was alternatively titled No Room for Man between 1963 and 1974 before reverting to its original title 1 It is the prequel to Dickson s earlier novel Dorsai First edition published by DoubledayCover art by Wally Littman Contents 1 Plot 2 Major characters 3 Themes 4 Place in Dickson s Childe Cycle 5 References 6 External linksPlot editNecromancer follows the fortunes of Paul Formain a mining engineer in the late 21st century who endures several accidents His quest for self discovery and recovery from losing his arm leads him to embrace the Chantry Guild The Guild embraces a philosophy of destruction with the hope of making space for the rise of a new evolutionary form of humanity The instruments in their goals are the Alternate Laws or Alternate Forces Formain is led to the Chantry Guild after encountering Destruct a book written by Walter Blunt the Guild s leader Formain enlists under the mastery of Necromancer Jason Warren and the ethereal influence of musical vocalist Kantele Maki His initial goal in joining the guild is the regeneration of his lost arm The story is punctuated by Formain s epiphany moments First he realizes the inadequacy of psychology in his self exploration He slowly realizes his own savant power over the Alternative Forces He is taken aback by his growing hyper awareness of the world around him specifically the inter related isolation of all individuals This isolation is dramatically symbolized by Formain s own singularity He has a final epiphany near the end of the book that clarifies for him his own identity and potential and much more The book is divided into three sub books Isolate Set and Pattern In each book Formain realizes the function of each mathematical collective in the flow of objective history and subjective reality As with many science fiction novels the philosophical underpinnings of evolution require a decidedly unscientific leap in the reader s understanding of what constitutes science to rally the punctuation that brings about the next stage of human evolution Major characters editPaul Formain Walter Blunt Jason Warren Kantele MakiThemes editThe title Necromancer is applicable to the contents of the book in two ways The general popular conception a worker of magic superficially describes the workings of the Chantry Guild The more technical definition the occupation of telling the future by communicating with the dead is applied in the identity and history of Paul Formain once again revealed in the climax of the book Evolutionary transition is only one of several themes of classic Science Fiction found in Necromancer It is the link between this novel and the rest of Dickson s Childe Cycle Also represented though are themes of time travel immortality and parapsychology Place in Dickson s Childe Cycle editThough Dorsai as The Genetic General was actually written first Necromancer is chronologically the first story in Dickson s Childe Cycle of novels Dickson s own chronology in the essay See a Thousand Years places the events at the last decade of the 21st century However Sandra Miesel identifies Paul Formain as another incarnation of characters found later in the Childe Cycle Hal Mayne and Donal Graeme citation needed So Formain s chronological place is somewhat fluid His life extends the length of the cycle References edit Title No Room for Man isfdb Retrieved 4 December 2018 External links edit nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to Necromancer novel Dickson Gordon R See a Thousand Years in The Dorsai Companion New York Ace Science Fiction Books 1986 ISBN 0 441 16026 3 Miesel Sandra The Plume and the Sword New York Ace Science Fiction Books 1981 ISBN 0 441 49303 3 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Necromancer novel amp oldid 1180278945, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
