The Naked God :: The Spoilers

(Apologies for the identical start, but it needs to be there so it reads well)

The Naked God is possibly the one novel that I have read continuously for about 12 hours. It's that kind of novel.

However, unlike the enduring classics, every time I think about the book, it seems a little less special. You get the feeling that Hamilton was desperately trying to finish off the novel as quick as he could (I believe that he himself said that by the end of The Naked God, he was fed up with the trilogy. It's not the same thing, but still).

Why do I say this? I think it was a little too easy for the good guys to win. I can't say that Hamilton performed a deux ex machina, because that's what he did, and that's what the Naked God was supposed to be all about (I can hear Hamilton laughing away at his cunning). All the same, it was too easy. The possessed were spirited away in the shake of a hand, their hosts returned to normal and Valisk pulled back from the Melange. The eight hundred stars teleported to outside the galaxy. You get the feeling that all the efforts and sacrifices of the Confederation, of Kulu, of Earth, were all for nothing since Joshua tidied it all up. They could have done nothing, and everything would still have been all right.

Speaking of tidying things up, did you notice all every single one of the plot threads were tidied up? It makes for good reading, and it gives the novel a sense of finality, but all the endings are too good. I personally was dumbstruck when I read the section describing Ralph Hiltch's change to Edenism. That was totally out of character, and I felt that Hamilton was only doing it so that he, and the Edenists, would look nice and cuddly.

A good quote seems appropriate here:

"...if you're going to criticize me for not finishing the whole thing and tying it up in a bow for you, why, do us both a favor and write your own damn book, only have the decency to call it a romance instead of a history, because history's got no bows on it, only frayed ends of ribbons and knots that can't be untied. It ain't a pretty package but then it's not your birthday that I know of, so I'm under no obligation to give you a gift."
--Alvin Journeyman
Chapter 1, closing paragraph
Orson Scott Card

Maybe Hamilton shouldn't have tidied everything up and made everyone happy. It's a nice birthday present, but it's not real, and it leaves nothing to the imagination.

There was a disappointing lack of build-up with the 'supermen' would could resist the possessed; by that I mean Hugh Rosler and Richard Keaton. We were enticed into the prospect of ultra-tech Kiint, but eventually nothing was made of it. Jay's teleportation to the Kiint planet ring was nothing more than a sideshow.

Ditto with the mysterious possessed who kept on popping up to revenge Carter McBride. Aside from a few instances where he appears, and disappears, that's all we get. At the final battle, you think, Oh, it's Powell Manani. And he doesn't do anything, except getting nearly killed by the Orgathe. What a waste of potential.