From archive (archive) Subject: THE HIGH-TECH KNIGHT by Leo Frankowski Summary: Crosstime-Engineer Volume 2 From: ecl@cbnewsj.ATT.COM (Evelyn C. Leeper) Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Date: 7 Jun 89 00:12:07 GMT THE HIGH-TECH KNIGHT by Leo Frankowski Del Rey, 1989, ISBN 0-345-32763-2, $3.95 A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper The second volume of "The Adventures of Conrad Stargard" is finally out. Given that the first (THE CROSS-TIME ENGINEER) came out in early 1986, this is a long time to wait for volume two. (Frankowski promises that volumes three and four will be out later this year, so it won't take a lifetime to finish reading the series!) As you probably *don't* remember from three years ago, the premise is as follows: Conrad Schwartz, loyal citizen of Communist Poland, goes to sleep in the basement of an inn and wakes up in 1231 A.D. In the best "Connecticut Yankee" tradition, his knowledge revolutionizes the society he falls into. Of course, he does all this in the spirit of good Marxist dedication. He doesn't worry about the paradoxes of trying to change history so that the Mongols are defeated in their (in our universe, successful) attempt to over-run Poland in 1241. There are also some time travelers in the future who are watching him via a viewscreen and who have provided him with a bionic intelligent horse. THE HIGH-TECH KNIGHT continues the story with yet more inventions, yet more progress, yet more nude saunas and other bits designed to keep adolescent boys interested (this being written from the male perspective, the women involved in these episodes tend to be interchangeable and uniformly attractive--strange that Conrad never meets any homely women). There is a fair amount of build-up to a duel, which finishes in about four pages, leaving this reader with the feeling not unlike that of those people who pay hundreds of dollars for boxing tickets and then see the bout end in a knock-out after fifteen seconds. The horse is still annoying me--the time travel premise would be plenty without her. The interference from the future still smacks of deus ex machina to me. The sexual interludes still bore me. But the Mongols are still off on the horizon somewhere, and I want to find out what happens. My recommendation to wait for the entire series and then read it still holds. Evelyn C. Leeper | +1 201-957-2070 | att!mtgzy!ecl or ecl@mtgzy.att.com Copyright 1989 Evelyn C. Leeper From archive (archive) Subject: Leo Frankowski's _The Radiant Warrior_ From: mehawk@reed.UUCP (Michael Sandy) Organization: Reed College, Portland OR Date: 19 Jun 89 23:33:27 GMT The Radiant Warrior, the third in the Adventures of Conrad Stargard series has just come out and it is the best of the bunch. for comparison, the second one, in my opinion, was the worst by a slim margin, which left it very good indeed. Spoilers: mild There is still the old, "gee, I guess there's no nudity taboo in 13th century Poland, how nice! ;*) ;*)" The rest of the story elements aren't hurt at all by it though. Some of the inventions Conrad comes up with are pretty complicated, and since I know virtually nothing about the chemical reactions involved, I have no idea how practical they are. E-Mail me if you want spoilers of a more serious nature like- Does Krystyana get married? What the heck is Anna anyway? What happens to that thoroughly obnoxious Knight Stefan? How many Pink Dragon Inns are there by the end of the story? How are the Inquisition proceedings going as to Conrad's status? Incidently, the storyline takes us up to 1237, with a few references to "just in time for the Mongols" Michael Sandy mehawk@reed.uucp From archive (archive) Subject: THE RADIANT WARRIOR by Leo Frankowski From: ecl@cbnewsj.ATT.COM (Evelyn C. Leeper) Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Date: 18 Jul 89 15:56:56 GMT THE RADIANT WARRIOR by Leo Frankowski Del Rey, 1989, ISBN 0-345-32764-0, $3.95. A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper Copyright 1989 Evelyn C. Leeper This is the third volume of "The Adventures of Conrad Stargard; volume four (the last volume--at least so they say) is due out in a couple of months. Once more, the premise: Conrad Schwartz, loyal citizen of Communist Poland, goes to sleep in the basement of an inn and wakes up in 1231 A.D. In the best "Connecticut Yankee" tradition, his knowledge revolutionizes the society he falls into. His main concern is defeating the Mongols, due to invade ten years after he arrives. There are also some time travelers in the future who are watching him via a viewscreen and who have provided him with a bionic intelligent horse. THE RADIANT WARRIOR is like the second volume, THE HIGH-TECH KNIGHT, only more so, in its emphasis on how to build nifty inventions. Well-researched it may be, but stopping the plot to explain in great detail how to build a framis does not make the book flow. It almost seems as though Frankowski is marking time until the invasion. And the male chauvinism of the first two volumes is even worse in this one, with Frankowski even stooping to a scene in which a knight basically rapes the woman he wants, and that's how he wins her heart. (One suspects he did less research on women than on machines, borne out by the biographical note at the back of the book, which describes him as "a lifelong bachelor.") Much of the book is spent with Conrad building up an army to fight the Mongols. Whether his ideas of how to build a modern army in 13th Century Poland would actually work I can't judge. In the book, they work fine, but then so did flogging for traffic violations in STARSHIP TROOPERS. Having stuck with the series this far, I'll read book four. But it's getting more difficult to recommend it to anyone else. (Of THE HIGH-TECH KNIGHT, I said it seemed to be aimed at adolescent boys, but given the attitude toward women in this one, I can't even recommend it for them.) Evelyn C. Leeper | +1 201-957-2070 | att!mtgzy!ecl or ecl@mtgzy.att.com From archive (archive) Subject: Re: THE RADIANT WARRIOR by Leo Frankowski (**Minor spoilers ahead**) From: kayuucee@cvl.umd.edu (Kenneth W. Crist Jr.) Organization: Center for Automation Research, Univ. of Md. Date: 19 Jul 89 14:51:23 GMT > And the male chauvinism of the first two volumes is even worse in this one, > with Frankowski even stooping to a scene in which a knight basically rapes > the woman he wants, and that's how he wins her heart. > > Evelyn C. Leeper Thank you, Evelyn. Yours is the first review I've seen that mentioned this. I thought I was the only person who found this scene offensive. In the first book I thought Conrad's ideas about women were just his trying to fit into the 13th Century mindset. I was feeling uneasy during the second book whenever he discussed the women. Now, I'm pretty disgusted. Combined with the bit about the Duke having his servants all walk around bare-chested were pushing things too far. Ken Crist "You could turn both candidates down, but that would be exceptional and not advised." "Eventhough one wants to get God out of the Church of England and the other wants to get the Queen out?" "The Queen is inseperable from the Church of England." "What about God?" "I think He's what's called an optional extra." -- YES, PRIME MINISTER From archive (archive) Subject: Flying Warlord (spoilers) From: nazgul@BOURBAKI.MIT.EDU Date: 22 Sep 89 19:58:50 GMT I just stayed up intil 2am last night reading Frankowski's The Flying Warlord, and I'm a bit disappointed. ***SPOILERS*** This was supposed to be the final book of the series, and though it completes Conrad's story pretty well it leaves all of the interesting time travel questions wide open. The stage is apparently set for more sequels dealing with the time traveling community, in which Conrad will figure as only a minor character. Consider: At the end of the book causality is falling to pieces, Tom is multiply split and is both dead and not dead, and the Two Stooges are still back in the pleistocene. We know about at least four "Conrad" time lines: 1) Conrad doesn't rescue baby, doesn't become successful. (Our history results?) 2) Conrad rescues baby. 2a) Conrad runs away toward France, but gets called back. 2b) Conrad marries Lambert's daughter. 2c) Conrad marries Lady Francine. (Main storyline) In (2c) the final battle is fought near Sandomierz, but in (2a-b) it was apparently fought at Chmielnik. In the Appendix, where Conrad's future is described, this is always referred to as the Battle of Chmielnik. Maybe we *could* have Conrad as a major character in the sequels, since the Appendix describes a different timeline from that in the book! Consider also: On page 79, Conrad hints at a major tragedy happening later at East Gate. All the pieces then start coming together: Refugees keep pouring in, the commander at East Gate is mentally unstable, and the boats use up most of the ammunition from the fort while fighting the Battle for the Vistula. Then nothing happens! Was this sloppy writing, was the fall of East Gate edited out of the book by mistake, or could we possibly be reading parts of Conrad's diary from two different time lines? Did I just miss something? Enough speculation. Anyone else out there spot any other clues? Louis nazgul@math.mit.edu From archive (archive) Subject: THE FLYING WARLORD by Leo Frankowski From: ecl@cbnewsj.ATT.COM (Evelyn C. Leeper) Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Date: 3 Nov 89 12:38:16 GMT THE FLYING WARLORD by Leo Frankowski Del Rey, 1989, ISBN 0-345-32765-9, $3.95. A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper Copyright 1989 Evelyn C. Leeper Well, the Mongols have invaded at last. And Conrad Schwartz, loyal citizen of Communist Poland (well, it was Communist when the series started!) who awoke one morning in 1231 A.D., finally has his chance to do battle with them. The engineering descriptions are toned down, replaced by battle descriptions instead. I'm no expert on warfare, but some of the battles-- and particularly the casualties in them--sound unconvincing. After a suitable number of pages of political intrigue and fighting, the book ends, more or less. But the series probably does not, because Frankowski has left more loose ends than an explosion in a tinsel factory (to borrow a phrase from Donald Willis). There is a 24-page appendix describing just how Conrad's meddling resulted in the development of a Polish utopia, and this certainly leaves a lot of room for future books. And Conrad has also "shattered the temporal continuity of all creation," which sounds to me like an action that might have *some* consequences along the line. If you've read the first three books, you'll probably read this. If you haven't, I'd have to say that the series is probably not worth spending the time on: it drags out to four books what could have been accomplished in one, and pads the pages out with long engineering details and male chauvinist observations and descriptions. Which is a pity, because I think the basic idea held real promise. Evelyn C. Leeper | +1 201-957-2070 | att!mtgzy!ecl or ecl@mtgzy.att.com