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Fiction. Science Fiction. GATHER, DARKNESS! is a science-fiction classic. It tells the story of Armon Jarles, a man on the edge, living amidst the disputes of two rival powers at large in the world. 360 years after a nuclear holocaust ravaged mankind, throwing society back into the dark ages, the world is fraught with chaos and superstition. The new rulers over the masses of humanity are the techno-priests of the Great God, endowed with scientific knowledge lost to the rest of humanity. Jarles, originally of peasant descent, rises to become a priest of the Great God. He knows the gospel propagated by the priests to be a fraud, based on illusion and trickery. Even more offensive to him is the paucity of true believers among the priesthood. One day he rebels against his priestly training and attempts to incite the peasants to rise up and demand freedom, but they are not ready. Jarles is not the only dissenter trying to sabotage and expose the false theocracy of the priesthood�??witchcraft is slowly gaining strength and support among the populace. Although Jarles is unaware, his rebellion against the power of the priests is about to throw him headlong into the middle of the greatest holy war the world has ever se… (more)
User reviews
The beginning of the book does not take off too well, getting bogged down in trying to explain the theology behind both sides. But when it begins moving, it does a decent job. It just feels like there could have been a lot more here. For example, there is a section where one of the heroes is effectively brainwashed. It is an important plot point and important to the way the story is told. And it is also at this point where the book, exploring what the brainwashing can mean, begins to dig deeper into the make up of personal beliefs. It begins to put an interesting subtext to the overall story. Or, at least, it could have if it had been built upon. It was not, and the story is weaker for that.
Maybe I just wanted more from this story than just a story. And, if the story is all this book is meant to deliver, then it is a so-so book. But I just feel there could have been so much more.
It is set on earth during the year 2305. The earth is ruled by a Theocracy and the priesthood is known as the Hierarchy. There are references back to a Golden Age of Civilization from which the Hierarchy have gathered technological knowhow and some weaponry, society is now made up of a clerical elite and non members of the priesthood who are known as commoners. Unsurprisingly the commoners do all the work and the clerics rule by fear from their headquarters in Megatheopolis. There is an underground movement amongst the commoners known as the Witches and when one of the lower order priests denounces his superiors in the central square he finds some unexpected help from the Witches movement that is shrouded in mystery. On the surface they appear to be women who have minor spell casting abilities, but are a cover for a more sinister organisation that has technology of its own. The book features witches familiars, a sisterhood of sorts and an attempt to seize power, but the main thrust of the story is the battle between the Hierarchy: (riven itself into "realists" and "fanatics") and the Witches revolutionary movement. What appears to be spell casting or divine intervention is driven all along by scientific hardware. There is even a duel with wrath rods which appear to be light lasers like something out of Star Wars.
This is plot driven sword and sorcery science fiction with enough mystery to keep the reader turning the pages. I enjoyed the mix of genres which is handled well and the writing is good enough to keep it all moving along, but which also can find time to fill in some gaps with some imaginative ideas. There are no super heroes, and characterisation is not a priority here. Not a classic by any means, but a good example of the stories that might appear in Astounding Magazine - 3 stars.