Up to Eric's Home Page | To Index | Fri Feb 02 13:03:54 EST 1990 |
In The Third Eagle, MacAvoy ventures for the first time into SF. The book is lightweight but fun, a gentle parody of the hard-man-with-a-mission stories so common in the genre.
The protagonist, Wanbli, is born to a tribe of Wacaan, genetically modified Amerinds who serve as bodyguards to the decadent merchants of planet Neunacht. He is a Paint, one of the tribe's elite of martial-artist/warriors. As the novel opens he is brooding on how boring his job is. Our Wanbli, you see, has a very un-Wacaan ambition; he wants to be a movie star.
A victory over two Paints sent to off Wanbli's employer gives our hero his chance. He takes the money and runs off-planet, heading for New Benares and the Bright Lights. The Wandering Innocent he's not, though -- nor is he the secretive, volcanic Tough Guy. No, our Wanbli is a naive but charming wiseass.
A modest amount of adventure in bed and battle follows, with our hero carefully modelling himself on his screen idol. He acquires an alien sidekick -- a fearsome-looking scaly monster with the personality of a scared rabbit and a predilection for chess and higher mathematics.
Then, things start to come unstuck. To say more would give away too much plot -- but Wanbli learns more than he wants to about dreams and what can happen when they come true. Even the on-the-run scenes are parodic, though MacAvoy works up a satisfying amount of action and drama for the climax of the novel.
I read this one in bed after a long day, and I'd say that or a bathtub is about the perfect setting for it, especially if you've read too many novels with tough-guy loners in trouble in them lately -- The Third Eagle will make a welcome antidote.
Up to Eric's Home Page | To Index | Fri Feb 02 13:03:54 EST 1990 |
Eric S. Raymond <esr@snark.thyrsus.com>