The Third Force: A Novel of Gadget

by Marc Laidlaw

Overview

The Third Force is a compelling, superb work of science fiction by a writer of extraordinary gifts who takes us on a journey through a dark and disturbing vision of reality.

For those already familiar with the CD-ROM, as well as for those just getting introduced to the world of Gadget, this entirely new and original work will add new characters and a new story line to the Gadget universe.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780684822457
Publisher:	Scribner
Publication date:	10/16/1996
Edition description:	Original
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Marc Laidlaw is a writer of science fiction and horror, and a former writer for the video game company Valve.

Editorial Reviews

Doomsday tale suggested by a CD-ROM game called Gadget, by the author of Kalifornia (1993) and The 37th Mandala, published earlier this year. The reader is set down in the eighth year of the Empire, ruled by a ruthless Emperor who, besides old age, has one weakness: his lust for the heroine, young Elena Hausmann. Elena was befriended by the Emperor in early life, as was her brother, Louis, who has become a soldier and henchman for the Emperor. Elena, however, has become part of the resistance. Gradually, we learn that the Third Force referred to in the title is the intelligence behind the approach of a great comet, hurtling on a collision course toward Elena's planet; its harbingers include the inexplicable actions of certain characters presumably loyal to the Emperor, and the sudden appearance of a malevolent machine that dissolves personalities into something called xenium. Yet there is a benevolent aspect to the Third Force, too, as a path is prepared for Elena, her brother, and certain valued others to escape.

Beautifully composed and full of high-level concepts (such as a virtual library and binoculars that allow one to look upon the future), but weighed down, in the end, by a plot that is strictly Buck Rogers.

Kirkus Reviews