King without an Empire (Paperback)

The protagonist of the novel is Michael Bassett, a fantastically rich businessman who finances a project that will take him to the solar system around Alpha Centauri, Sol's nearest neighbor. In the initial stages of the story, we see Bassett globetrotting from one place to another to interview scientists capable of making his dream of interstellar travel come true. He meets a lot of strange characters and gets a short education in the history of Black Ops technology in the West. Apparently, he finds who and what he needs, as the next thing you know, he's landed on an alien planet alongside a small group of scientists. Their ship destroyed, the men go about setting up camp and getting along with life on this alien world, but the field trip to Pangea soon becomes a wild, dangerous, perplexing adventure. The men meet up with a stranger who claims to have worked for the Third Reich during World War II and taken part in a secret mission of interstellar discovery. Then a somewhat mystical entity called Lady Circe appears, sending Michael on a quest to become a man of knowledge. The spiritual journeys he takes invariably involve the drinking of hallucinogen-laced liquids.

This is where things start to get a little fuzzy. Bassett discovers incredible things during his "trips," which tend to blur the lines between the real and unreal. You also have to question how much of Bassett's experience is being staged by the most exotic form of alien intelligence I've ever encountered, an oceanic entity which seeks to communicate with Bassett in what can only be the most unconventional of ways. Another source of confusion is the fact that Pangea is in many ways identical to Earth. America, Germany, England - all of these nations exist on Pangea; what's more, the animal life forms inherent to the planet match those of Earth in millennia past.

Bassett soon finds himself imprisoned and tortured for years before being released into a world that is beyond strange. It's a technological wonderland run by an advanced race of beings called the Eons, yet Nazis rule the Germany of this, the Continental Kingdom, in the most iron-fisted and repressive of ways. The Eons don't care about human lives; in fact, they routinely conduct intrusive and cruel tests on the human population - including Bassett. In the latter stages of the novel, though, Bassett finally gets the chance to pursue his spiritual quest to become a man of knowledge. It all leads up to a rather nebulous conclusion.

Collins packs all kinds of incredible science-fiction ideas into the narrative. His description of the technological advancements of the Eons fills a number of pages. The level of detail he routinely includes on this and other matters tends to take something away from the story's progression, however. We are given entire histories of minor characters who disappear as suddenly as they appear, and Bassett's personal story is set aside at times for intricate descriptions of technological marvels. All in all, Collins tells a somewhat confusing story, and it took a second reading before I felt I had a good understanding of what happened to Bassett on Pangea.

Our hero, Michael Bassett, decides to use his phenomenal wealth to embark upon some space exploration. Unfortunately, I don't feel that we ever really get to know Michael - it is difficult to get a feel for what motivates him, and what he thinks. I am nosy, and really like to know the characters in the books I read inside out! Interestingly, we are, from time to time, given little insights into other characters with very minor roles in the tale, which adds richness to the dialogue, but only serves to remind us of how little we know about Michael Bassett.

Paul Collins has offered a wealth of information in some areas, such as the development of space science from the times of Nazi Germany, and clearly has researched the topic in depth. But as the novel progressed, I found that the scenarios had become more and more complex, and as such I began to find the story rather hard going. I appreciate that good science fiction is incredibly detailed and complex - perhaps my taste is simply not suited to this genre!

So all in all it is a good novel, not really appealing to my rather specific tastes, but well structured and written. For people who like their science fiction futuristic and space bound!