Book Review: The Traveler

Book Review: 'The Traveler' by John Twelve Hawks

4 / 5 Stars

'The Traveler' first was published in 2005 in hardcover by Doubleday. This mass market paperback (480 pp.) was issued by Vintage Books in July 2006. The cover design is by Song Hee Kim.

'The Traveler' is the first book in the so-called 'Fourth Realm' trilogy; the other two volumes in the series are 'The Dark River' (2007) and 'The Golden City' (2009; issued as a trade paperback, rather than a mass-market paperback, by Vintage).

'The Traveler' is set in the near future, and revolves around a covert war, waged between two cabals, that has been going on for centuries. One cabal, which resembles The Illuminati, is called the Tabula, and is comprised of individuals who believe that subjecting Mankind to absolute and uncompromising control best secures the future of the planet.

Warring against the Tabula is an alliance of humanists known as the Travelers: mystics who possess the ability to project their souls, or consciousnesses, into other realms. Throughout history the Travelers, often being hailed as saints and visionaries, have been catalysts for transcendent change in society. The Travelers stand for individuality, freedom, and mutability, traits that are anathema to the Tabula.

Being pacifistic as well as numinous, the Travelers are quite vulnerable to the depredations of the Tabula. Luckily a caste of warrior-assassins, known as the Harlequins, have pledged to protect the Travelers. The Harlequins have been raised from birth to excel in combat, employing - with superhuman abilities - all manner of weapons (although they favor swords).

As the novel opens, the age-old conflict has been tipped in the favor of the Tabula, thanks to the advent of the computer-driven Information Age and the accompanying rise of the Surveillance State. Having infiltrated every government, the Tabula are able to quickly identify Travelers and pursue their elimination. The coming victory of the Tabula will leave the ability of the human race to embrace new ideas, and new philosophies, permanently extinguished. Soon, all of world's peoples will live as unwitting prisoners of the Global Panopticon.

However, hope lingers in the form of the brothers Gabriel and Michael Corrigan, nascent Travelers with only a vague awareness of their capabilities. Having been enjoined by their parents to live lives 'off the grid', the Corrigans so far have escaped the notice of the Tabula. But the Tabula, led by the scheming General Kennard Nash, are closing in on the brothers.

One of the few remaining Harlequins is a young woman named Maya Thorn. Ambivalent about participating in the conflict with the Tabula, Maya initially is reluctant to abandon her life as an office worker in order to take up an existence as a Harlequin. But when the Tabula mounts an attack on her family, Maya has no choice but to respond. And her response will forever change the fates of the Corrigan brothers............

'The Traveler' is a thriller that presents with a healthy number of sci-fi and cyberpunk tropes, including AI-mediated mass surveillance; quantum computing; other dimensions; astral bodies; genetic engineering; and other topics that I won't disclose because they're Spoilers. These are introduced in a common-sense way that contributes to the novel's sense of believability. 

Author Twelve Hawks relies on short chapters and a clipped, declarative prose style to impart momentum to the novel, and in the main this works well, although - somewhat inevitably, for a 480-page novel  - the middle sections of 'The Traveler' display a slowing in pacing. And, because the plot has to be extended into two more volumes, the ending has something of an underwhelming character to it. 

The verdict ? 'The Traveler' is a solid 4-star Modern Cyberpunk novel, and well worth picking up. 

And its depiction of a near-future USA under the control of a secretive cabal that uses information technology to monitor and control the population ? An entertaining exploration of paranoia ? 

Maybe. But then, have you been to the website of ID2020 ?!