Philosophical Musings of a Book Nerd

I understand the saying 'don't judge a book by its cover' but the only reason I decided to read this book was because of its cover. I suspect that the saying means that because if we don't like the cover then we shouldn't necessarily throw the book away, however I do not think it really applies when we like the cover and then want to read the book. Still, just because a book has a cool cover does not necessarily mean that it will be a cool book. This was a little different though (and the cover that I selected for Goodreads is the cover of the book that I read – yes that is a naked female robot fixing herself).

This is the first book in the apprentice adept series, a series of books set on two parallel worlds. The series is divided into two trilogies (plus a seventh book) and the link in the books has more to do with the worlds than with any specific characters (however these characters are present). The worlds are Proton and Phaze. Proton is a barren world of domed cities and is ruled by science while Phaze is a lush verdant world ruled by magic. Almost everybody on Proton has an opposite on Phaze, however if the opposite dies then it allows the person to cross between the two worlds.

The main focus of the first trilogy is on Style, a serf on Proton. Anthony has created an interesting culture on Proton as it is a rigid class structure with limited ability to move from being a serf to a citizen (I will deal with Phaze in the next book). This is the one aspect of these books that stuck in my mind and I believe has parallels in our world. The main thing about serfs is that they are denied clothes (among other things). This is the most interesting aspect because some see that our ability to chose what we wish to wear to be a reflection of freedom in our society. Normally the matter works in the opposite: a denial of freedom works in hand with dress codes. We take pre-war Afghanistan for instance, where freedom was limited to a fundamentalist religious government, and this is reflected in the requirement for women to wear full faced coverings. Or for instance the corporate world, where employees have a specific dress code, and in some cases, a very specific dress code (such as a uniform). Where the work place requires business attire, at least there is freedom to chose what form of business attire to wear, however in other places, not only is a uniform required, but also very detailed grooming (as a friend of mine discovered recently).

Another aspect of this story is about upward movement and in some cultures this simply does not exist. Take modern Hindu culture which has a very strict class structure. While one can be tossed down classes, it is impossible to move upwards. Entry into a specific class is through birth. Quite a few Indians have found a way around this though, namely by changing religions (usually to Christianity or Buddhism), but this is actually really frowned upon and generally turns one into an outcast. On Proton the only way to move from being a serf to being a citizen is to win a tournament, of which only one is held every year. This means only one serf per year has the opportunity of becoming a citizen.

I find it very interesting that a planet ruled by science like Proton has such an unenlightened political system where in effect slavery still exists, and entry into the ruling class is difficult if not impossible for most. That does not necessarily mean that Phaze is any better, though Style finds out that because he is actually an adept in Phaze that this is not necessarily the case for him. In fact it appears that while he is in effect a nobody on Proton, he is actually a very important person on Phaze. I note that Anthony does like doing this in his stories - raising a nobody to become a somebody (he does this in Bio of a Space Tyrant as well), and I guess this is to show that while people in the position of his protagonists are able to make something of their lives in much more restricted world, we who live in relative freedom have the potential as well.