Wine of the Dreamers

Rating:
Summary: One of the Old Sci-Fi Greats!
Review: John D. MacDonald, along with those other great sci-fi writers of old -- Heinlein, Asimov, Budrys, Gunn, and others -- wrote what I consider to be the last of the greats. These writers and others like them wrote science fiction that was "science based." They also wrote powerful and thought- provoking science fiction which challenged the reader to think seriously about humanity and its moral progress. Their brand of classy sci-fi isn't popular anymore. No, what one finds in the sci-fi section in bookstores nowadays is science fiction polluted with crippling doses of fantasy. It isn't science fiction anymore. It contains today little science and no relevance. All you readers and reviewers who complain about a few out-of-date ideas presented by those wonderful old sci-fi novels need to consider the real reasons why you approve of today's "sci-fi." Are interplanetary swash-bucklings and dragon/evil wizard killings that present little or no moral dilemmas truly science fiction? Are poorly-written "sci-fi"literature containing poorer character development and dumb dialogue really the future of science fiction? After an entire summer wasted on magic spells, scantily-clad, telepathic warrior virgins with wings, and black hole-less universes, I was ready for those fine old inspirational novels -- like Wine of the Dreamers.

Wine of the Dreamers is one of the finest science fiction novels I've ever read. The characters of Lane, Inly, Raul, and Leesa are well-rounded and believable. Their personalities are vivid and unpredictable. Their language is thought-provoking and intelligent. The theme, especially, taps into a hidden desire of the human race -- to find intelligent life in other parts of the universe. The idea of mind control by a superior species was a fantastically original fictional explanation for humanity's violent compulsion. I only hope that others like me who accidentally discover this treasure realize what a gem this novel actually is. Read it!

Rating:
Summary: Amazingly original science fiction from a NON-SciFi author
Review: This book along with his other SF book "Ballroom of the Skies" gives two entirely different reasons for all the violence and destructiveness we face in the world. Both were written over 30 years ago and are still very original ideas. Readers of these two will also like his book "The Girl, the Goldwatch and Everything" If you are a lover of Science fiction you will most certainly appreciate these books. If you are a lover of John D. MacDonald material (like me) then these books just may draw you into the world of SF.

Rating:
Summary: Good ideas, but poorly executed sf novel.
Review: This early novel by MacDonald is chock full of great sf ideas, as much as any sf book of the early 50's. Unfortunately it is a real let-down when compared to MacDonald's great suspense novels of the same period, like "The Brass Cupcake" and "Judge Me Not". With those two novels MacDonald burst forth on the paperback original market in 1950, after his apprenticeship in the pulp magazines, as a fully developed talent, fully as great a writer from the get-go as he ever would be. Unfortunately, "Wine of the Dreamers", while it succeeds for its ideas, is a dud with respect to execution. It is telegraphed, some of the key scenes happen off stage, it reads like an outline for a novel that never actually got written. Read "Judge Me Not" if you want great early MacDonald, and read "Bright Orange for the Shroud" if you want MacDonald the greatest he ever got.

Rating:
Summary: Good ideas, but poorly executed sf novel.
Review: Tries to account for the things most would ordinarily attribute to the devil. Fun reading. One of only a couple science fiction works of John D. McDonald. Also see Ballroom of the Skies.