The planet of Valchondria was once great. They sent people out among the stars to colonize other worlds, but then they turned inward and forgot about their former glory. An engineered virus has eliminated most diseases, but there’s nothing much to live fore. An ever more oppressive regime seeks to remove every perceived source of differences between people, attempting to turn the population into docile sheep. However, some of these sheep are not so docile, such as the scientist Taldra, who wants to bring back the glory days of Valchondria by returning to space.
Although Valchondria may have forgotten its colonies, at least one of them remembers where they came from. The people of Degranon are caught up in almost never ending civil wars over various interpretations of their sacred texts. At least one of these factions has discovered portals which can transport them to other worlds, and sometimes other times. Through portals to Valchondira, they send spies like Geln who seek to infiltrate the ruling parties that control their former home and bring about a revolution that will restore the planet to the Degran’s view of its former glory.
You generally expect that a story which spans planets and generations is going to take some time to come together, as the author introduces the people and cultures that are going to be the major players, but “Degranon” never quite gels. The plot seems to veer off in different directions, even up to the end. It’s one thing to keep the reader guessing about where things are going, it’s another when things are so disjointed that it appears the author didn’t have a clue either.
A big factor keeping you from getting into the story is the writing, which practically epitomizes the kind of adolescent awkwardness that many sci-fi haters characterize the whole genre with. Reading this story requires you to stumble over stiff formal dialog full of invented phrases that are repeated ad nauseam. The writing contributes to a lack of depth for the characters. The central character of Taldra is reasonably well drawn, mostly by dint of the fact that she is in almost every scene, but the rest of those around her, especially the critical roles of her sons, are not very believable. In particular, the rather pivotal character called Jase Dawn almost seems like an after thought.
“Degranon” tackles some heavy themes, such as totalitarian regimes and religious extremism. Unfortunately it does it so poorly that it never scores any points. Orwell’s “1984” or Huxley’s “Brave New World” are probably much better commentaries on such subjects, and both of them have stood the test of time, as relevant today as when they were written.
“Degranon: A Science Fiction Adventure” is available from Amazon
