The Wild (Requiem for Homo Sapiens No. 2) (Requiem for Homo Sapiens, 2)

by David Zindell

Book Overview

A galactic search for the truth fires this magnificent epic of war and discovery on both a human and cosmic scale.The Wild: a chaotic place where ten elite lightship pilots dared to venture. A place where one of those pilots, Danlo wi Soli Ringess, will learn the fate of his father. Did Mallory Ringess die during that first expedition to the Wild? Or did he become a god? Opinions vary, but Danlo's search is focused on one objective: the truth. It...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553289667
• ISBN13: 9780553289664
• Release Date: July 1996
• Publisher: Spectra
• Length: 552 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.3" x 1.0" x 4.5"

Customer Reviews

The best of all the Neverness books

While "Neverness" beats this novel for originality, this one is better in every other way. The author is now more polished there is more of what I liked about the Neverness universe presented in this book. Mostly, we see Danlo's search for the God Ede, which leads him to system after system in what is certainly a quest for the holy grail.I feel that if you liked the other Neverness books, or any other books by Zindell, you will also like this book.I don't think that there are any other authors who capture the feel of these novels, only Frank Herbert is close in his Dune series. I feel that Zindell is actually better though. I'm sure that many would disagree, but you don't see an author like Zindell very often, and I feel he should be given his due.

If you thought there was lots o' thinking in the LAST book

Zindell takes them up another notch here, both increasing the "philosophy" department and the "science-fiction" department at the same time. Here, Danlo (our hero) ventures into the Vild with a bunch of other Pilots in an attempt to find a cure to the disease that might just ravage his people . . . and maybe in the process find out just what his father became, if he's even still alive. And to say that this just scratches the surface of the stuff that's going here isn't any hyperbole at all. Before the quest is over (if it really ends) Danlo will find himself talking to gods, visiting strange worlds, playing a game of wits with an assassin and basically trying to avoid getting killed by basically not trying to avoid getting killed (it makes more sense in the book). It's a change of pace from the last book on the surface only, there's more science-fictional elements but since Danlo is visiting different cultures with different technologies it's perhaps inevitable and Zindell throws out enough ideas to give a horde of other writers enough meat to work with for years. At the same time, the philosophy has become more cutting, I think Zindell is hiding some of his own comments on various subjects, religion in particular, or even just having too much belief in any one thing. Danlo remains as fun as ever, though it is becoming a bit of a running joke that he tends to answer everyone's questions with questions of his own, but hey, it's part of the fun. Most of the characters are well rounded, more than just mouthpieces for various arguments (most of them at least) . . . if there's anyone I could compare this too, it'd have to be Isaac Asimov, since at the core his novels always were two people debating some highbrow concept for a bunch of pages . . . while at the same time there was very little action. Same here. If you want rampaging shoot 'em ups with bodies piled everywhere and wild careening space fights and people saying things like "So, Zolar, we meet again", this isn't the place to look. However if you want a brooding, thoughtful SF epic that might just stimulate the brain cells a bit and make you care about the wacky people infesting this book, well here you go. It's right here.

Wow!! Even better than his previous 3 books!

I've read Zindell's previous 2 books - Neverness and The Broken God - and I didn't think it would be possible, but he improved even on those two. This book, The Wild, is probably a little more science-fictionesque than the other two, since Danlo visits some worlds where the technology is more advanced (and more a part of the plot) than on Danlo's home planet of Neverness, where the other two books take place. But since I'm a hard sci-fi fan, that to me was good. The previous reader maybe has a point with there being a lot of philosophy, but I didn't find that overbearing - it just seems to be a part of Danlo's persona, to think about that kind of thing a lot. But of all things about this book (and the other two), Zindell does a great job of making Danlo to be a likeable and even admirable character, with just enough flaws to make him seem human. Can't wait to read the last one in the series.

The Wild- an engrossing ride into the human mind

The Wild takes Dalno further into the wild space (which is an anology for the mind), passing through dangerous places and ideas a stronger and more determined character. He risks his life to gain life, travels the depths of his psyche and accepts himself. But will he become a god, the thing he denies, the antithesis of his quest, or will he emerge a true Human. A truly insightfull and brilliant book, I find it hard for David Zindell to top these last efforts

Absolutely wonderful

"Neverness" was a good read; "The Broken God" started well, but got terribly bogged down towards the end; "The Wild" is absolutely wonderful. Zindell workswithin an SF framework to bring us books which considers the nature of conciousness, the development of religions, and the meaning of life. If you like mathematics, theology, philosophy, and SF then you MUST read Zindell. He writes well, though he never uses one word where ten will suffice! Some SF addicts will hate the philosophy; some literary types will hate the SF; but, for people in the middle (like me), this is the pinnacle (so far :-) of Zindell's writing. Bring on the next book!