Psionics
Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 10:33 pm
I've been into psionics lately. Maybe others will be at some point, so I figured I'd make a thread. Here's what I've read so far.
Galactic Milieu, by Julian May
Intervention
Jack the Bodiless
Diamond Mask
Magnificat
My favorite of all. The rise of "operancy" in humanity. There have always been those who could astral-project, read minds, etc. But now it's getting more common and more powerful. Which attracts the attention of the Galactic Milieu - various other operant species from other planets. It follows various genetic lines; powerful individuals; organizations; the reactions of the rest of humanity... I haven't read the four books of The Sage of Pliocene Exile, which she wrote first, and of which the Milieu is a prequel and sequel. Maybe Av can tell us if it's any good?
Patternist series, by Octavia Butler
Wild Seed
Mind of My Mind
Clay's Ark
Patternmaster
Last book was written first, set... well, maybe a couple centuries in the future. Then she wrote the others, to show how it all came about. Very different stories, beginning a few centuries ago, involving a character who's a few millennia old. All pretty cool.
Warhammer 40K
There's tons of books, by many different authors, to flesh out the backstory of the tabletop game. An important part of the whole mythos are the psykers; people (and other beings) whose minds have a connection with the empyrean (another realm of existence). They can tap into that realm, and use its power in various ways. The God-Emperor, aka Emperor of Mankind, is among the most powerful psykers in the history of life, although we don't see much of him. But there are Inquisitors, Space Marine "Librarians", other humans, beings of other realms and worlds...
Dying Inside, by Robert Silverberg
Great book! David Selig is unique, born with the ability to read minds. But that ability is fading away as he ages. We meet him when he's in his 40's, and learn about his life. Not an upbeat character or story. Also, Silverberg's intro pointed me to many of the others I've read.
The Chrysalids, by John Wyndham. One of my favorites so far. All kind of weird mutations happening in a post-apocalyptic future, with religious hardliners trying to stop it. Meanwhile, there's a few telepaths cropping up.
The Demolished Man, by Alfred Bester
I'd heard of Bester, but never read anything by him. As I was reading this, I was thinking, "This is good!" Turns out it won the Hugo in 1953. Heh. So there's many "peepers" in the world. The world is actually adjusting to this bit of evolution fairly well, unlike many other books. A guy who is not a telepath wants to murder someone. A very difficult thing with so many people who can read minds. Hiding his tracks takes a whole lot of planning!
Pilgrimage, by Zenna Henderson. The People are from another world. It was destroyed in some unexplained natural disaster. Some reached Earth. But the ships were damaged, didn't do well upon entry into our atmosphere, and various Groups managed to reach the ground in lifeboats. They don't know if there are others who survived. And they have to figure out how to live safely; not revealing their alien nature, while trying to maintain their own culture/religion/ways.
The Whole Man, by John Brunner. Another good one. The world knows about telepathists. (No idea why he added the ist.) They are extremely rare, and work for the good of humanity. Often trying to defuse situations before war starts. Also working as really good therapists. The book is about the most powerful of them. As is often the case, life is not wonderful for those with power.
Slan, by A.E. van Vogt
One of those books where those who can't read minds are not okay with the fact that others can. Very bad feelings all around. It focuses on one "slan", a child when the book starts, who can't seem to find any others. Not for lack of trying.
More Than Human, by Theodore Sturgeon. Pretty cool. Various psionic powers, but it's about more than people with powers.
The Hampdenshire Wonder, by J.D. Beresford
Not technically psionics, but the themes of uniqueness, strangeness, isolation, fear, etc, are the same. A child is born who is brilliant beyond all description and all other humans who ever lived.
Odd John, by Olaf Stapledon
John finds others, and finds an island for them to live on. Things don't go well, alas. I seem to like the writing from the late 19th and early 20th Century. Unfortunately, he should've written a much bigger book, so various elements could've been explored a lot more. Still, a good read.
Poor Superman, by Fritz Lieber
Short story. Not all that great, imo, but not too bad. Post-WWIII, high-tech that's not high-tech.
Ubik, by Philip K. Dick. This one was just plain crazy.
Sentience, by Terry A. Adams
A first contact story. The human is a telepath, from a planet of telepathic humans. Good job of showing what might happen when trying to relate to a species with entirely different ways of thinking, living, everything.
The Telepath Chronicles, edited by David Gatewood
An anthology of short stories, most of which were written for the anthology. A pretty good range of ideas. I particularly liked a couple that were about high-tech implants that gave telepathy. I also enjoyed a couple about natural telepathy.
Galactic Milieu, by Julian May
Intervention
Jack the Bodiless
Diamond Mask
Magnificat
My favorite of all. The rise of "operancy" in humanity. There have always been those who could astral-project, read minds, etc. But now it's getting more common and more powerful. Which attracts the attention of the Galactic Milieu - various other operant species from other planets. It follows various genetic lines; powerful individuals; organizations; the reactions of the rest of humanity... I haven't read the four books of The Sage of Pliocene Exile, which she wrote first, and of which the Milieu is a prequel and sequel. Maybe Av can tell us if it's any good?
Patternist series, by Octavia Butler
Wild Seed
Mind of My Mind
Clay's Ark
Patternmaster
Last book was written first, set... well, maybe a couple centuries in the future. Then she wrote the others, to show how it all came about. Very different stories, beginning a few centuries ago, involving a character who's a few millennia old. All pretty cool.
Warhammer 40K
There's tons of books, by many different authors, to flesh out the backstory of the tabletop game. An important part of the whole mythos are the psykers; people (and other beings) whose minds have a connection with the empyrean (another realm of existence). They can tap into that realm, and use its power in various ways. The God-Emperor, aka Emperor of Mankind, is among the most powerful psykers in the history of life, although we don't see much of him. But there are Inquisitors, Space Marine "Librarians", other humans, beings of other realms and worlds...
Dying Inside, by Robert Silverberg
Great book! David Selig is unique, born with the ability to read minds. But that ability is fading away as he ages. We meet him when he's in his 40's, and learn about his life. Not an upbeat character or story. Also, Silverberg's intro pointed me to many of the others I've read.
The Chrysalids, by John Wyndham. One of my favorites so far. All kind of weird mutations happening in a post-apocalyptic future, with religious hardliners trying to stop it. Meanwhile, there's a few telepaths cropping up.
The Demolished Man, by Alfred Bester
I'd heard of Bester, but never read anything by him. As I was reading this, I was thinking, "This is good!" Turns out it won the Hugo in 1953. Heh. So there's many "peepers" in the world. The world is actually adjusting to this bit of evolution fairly well, unlike many other books. A guy who is not a telepath wants to murder someone. A very difficult thing with so many people who can read minds. Hiding his tracks takes a whole lot of planning!
Pilgrimage, by Zenna Henderson. The People are from another world. It was destroyed in some unexplained natural disaster. Some reached Earth. But the ships were damaged, didn't do well upon entry into our atmosphere, and various Groups managed to reach the ground in lifeboats. They don't know if there are others who survived. And they have to figure out how to live safely; not revealing their alien nature, while trying to maintain their own culture/religion/ways.
The Whole Man, by John Brunner. Another good one. The world knows about telepathists. (No idea why he added the ist.) They are extremely rare, and work for the good of humanity. Often trying to defuse situations before war starts. Also working as really good therapists. The book is about the most powerful of them. As is often the case, life is not wonderful for those with power.
Slan, by A.E. van Vogt
One of those books where those who can't read minds are not okay with the fact that others can. Very bad feelings all around. It focuses on one "slan", a child when the book starts, who can't seem to find any others. Not for lack of trying.
More Than Human, by Theodore Sturgeon. Pretty cool. Various psionic powers, but it's about more than people with powers.
The Hampdenshire Wonder, by J.D. Beresford
Not technically psionics, but the themes of uniqueness, strangeness, isolation, fear, etc, are the same. A child is born who is brilliant beyond all description and all other humans who ever lived.
Odd John, by Olaf Stapledon
John finds others, and finds an island for them to live on. Things don't go well, alas. I seem to like the writing from the late 19th and early 20th Century. Unfortunately, he should've written a much bigger book, so various elements could've been explored a lot more. Still, a good read.
Poor Superman, by Fritz Lieber
Short story. Not all that great, imo, but not too bad. Post-WWIII, high-tech that's not high-tech.
Ubik, by Philip K. Dick. This one was just plain crazy.
Sentience, by Terry A. Adams
A first contact story. The human is a telepath, from a planet of telepathic humans. Good job of showing what might happen when trying to relate to a species with entirely different ways of thinking, living, everything.
The Telepath Chronicles, edited by David Gatewood
An anthology of short stories, most of which were written for the anthology. A pretty good range of ideas. I particularly liked a couple that were about high-tech implants that gave telepathy. I also enjoyed a couple about natural telepathy.