Review: The Wonderland Gambit Trilogy by Jack L. Chalker
Aaron M. Renn
Review Copyright (c) 1999 Aaron M. Renn
Conclusion: Worth Reading
This trilogy was the only Chalker SF I didn't own. It fell victim to my
recent tendency to take a pass on series until all books are out in
paperback, by which time I've usually completely forgotten the thing even
existed. When Priam's Lens came out a couple months ago, it prompted me
to check up on what other Chalker I might be missing, and sure enough out
popped the Wonderland Gambit.
Wonderland is a "what is reality?" story in a modern virtual reality
setting. Cory Maddox was a hotshot designer in the world of wireless
networking. When the company he works for gets sold out from under him,
he ends up working for a government VR project. Well as he discovers, his
own "real" world is itself a VR universe. He and several others are
trapped inside of computer simulation. How they got there nobody seems to
know. Maddox rapidly discovers that he's just about the most ignorant of
the "real" people in this VR world, and is caught in the crossfire between
two rival factions each struggling to sieze control of the master computer
running things.
I had very high hopes for this series at first. As Maddox learned more
and more about what was going on, I felt the "oh, this is cool" feeling of
watching an interesting mystery unfold, along with the tension of
wondering what would happen next. However, about half way through the
first book it turned into Yet Another Chalker Transformation Novel.
Obviously I don't think that's a bad thing, because I own them all, but
this series repeated far too many of the same elements and situations from
previous ones. I was browsing through the Chalker entry in the Linkoping
SF Archive, and was amazed at how many of the Standard Chalker Plot
Devices were present in Wonderland. It's got Shape and Sex Changing, Body
Swapping, Artificial Intelligence, Parodies of Earth Cultures, and
Nymphomania. Not only that, the archived Usenet posts actually nailed a
surprisingly large number of very detailed elements. I felt like I was
playing buzzword bingo.
"magic is really mathematics involving communications with an entity that
is really a computer" - Ding!
"strong, able bodied character turned into sex slave" - Ding!
"women who are fat (Ding!), blind (Ding!), stupid (Ding!), and sex
addicted (Ding!)"
"transformed male ends up with gigantic penis" - Ding!
It all gave me a "haven't I read this before?" feeling that I really
didn't enjoy. Plus you get the classic Chalker world gone mad effect
where one wacky thing after another happens that makes it damn near
impossible to figure out what's going on. In this book at least I'm sure
that's intentional.
I don't want to sound like I'm slamming this series because I actually
liked it despite the repetitive elements. I was interested enough to
finish the three books in only four days. Chalker might use the same
devices and tricks over and over again, but at least he uses them to novel
effect. He's also a solid writer and storyteller. But I do think this is
a series that will appeal mostly to those who are already big Chalker
fans. If you're a Chalker newbie, read Priam's Lens instead.
%A Chalker, Jack L.
%T The Cybernetic Walrus
%S The Wonderland Gambit
%V Volume One
%I Del Rey
%D 1996-06 (original publication 1995-11)
%G ISBN 0-345-38847-X
%P 322 pp.
%0 mass market paperback, US$5.99
%A Chalker, Jack L.
%T The March Hare Network
%S The Wonderland Gambit
%V Volume Two
%I Del Rey
%D 1996-12 (original publication 1996-06)
%G ISBN 0-345-38848-8
%P 323 pp.
%0 mass market paperback, US$5.99
%A Chalker, Jack L.
%T The Hot-Wired Dodo
%S The Wonderland Gambit
%V Volume Three
%I Del Rey
%D 1998-02 (original publication 1997-02)
%G ISBN 0-345-38849-6
%P 323 pp.
%0 mass market paperback, US$6.99
Reviewed on 1999-07-22
Aaron M. Renn (ar...@urbanophile.com) http://www.urbanophile.com/arenn/