From rec.arts.sf-reviews Sun Aug 25 20:08:14 1991 Path: herkules.sssab.se!isy!liuida!sunic!kth.se!eru!bloom-beacon!mintaka!yale!yale.edu!ox.com!caen!spool.mu.edu!uwm.edu!bionet!ig!pws.ma30.bull.com!wex From: wex@pws.ma30.bull.com Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf-reviews Subject: Review: ON MY WAY TO PARADISE by Dave Wolverton Message-ID: Date: 22 Aug 91 22:53:28 GMT Sender: mcb@presto.ig.com Reply-To: wex@pws.ma30.bull.com Followup-To: rec.arts.sf-lovers Lines: 51 Approved: mcb@presto.ig.com (Acting SF-REVIEWS moderator) ON MY WAY TO PARADISE by Dave Wolverton Review Copyright (c) 1991 Alan Wexelblat %A Dave Wolverton %T On My Way to Paradise %I Bantam Spectra SF %C New York %O paperback,US$4.95 %G ISBN 0-553-27610 %D 1989 Who let this man publish a 514-page first novel? Oy. Somewhere in here, there's a really good 325-page novel struggling to get out. Reading this is like watching Elizabeth Taylor during one of her overweight periods. You know beauty is possible, but who talked her -- or Dave Wolverton -- into adding on all that extra baggage? The basic plot is fairly simple: Angelo Osic is a sidewalk medic in a future Latin America. He sells drugs and occasional rejuvenation treatments while the world goes slightly more to hell every day. Angelo doesn't care; he doesn't have to do more than enjoy each day as it comes. Then the world's problems land in his lap in the form of a woman named Tamara who -- badly wounded -- comes to him fleeing powerful yet shadowy enemies. To get Tamara, and the knowledge she has, these people will kill Angelo. He is forced to run, taking her with him on a journey off-planet and into a completely different culture. Through the course of this journey, Angelo will have to decide on which side of the fence he really belongs. The metaphor of physical-journey as journey-of-self-discovery is at least as old as "The Odyssey" but Wolverton handles it quite well nonetheless. Angelo is neither totally passive, nor totally commanding. He takes actions and makes decisions appropriate to the growth of his character. Wolverton is also to be praised for his handling of the cultures, both Latin American and Japanese which dominate the book. The meld and clash of these two incompatible styles of living provides much of the background conflict of the book. Unfortunately, it's a weak plot premise, as anyone with an ounce of sense could have forseen most of the troubles in melding these two groups and avoided them with a little care. In addition, the story is set against a background of an Earth in the throes of tremendous, important turmoil. But all that interesting action takes place offstage. We learn about it, as do the characters, second- and third-hand. I think that people will either like this book right off, or hate it. If you find Angelo interesting and are willing to ride along on his odyssey, then you will like this book. If you take an instant dislike to him, the book will probably not get any better for you.