Subject: THE DESTINY MAKERS by George Turner

From: [email-masked]
Date: 09 Aug 93 23:03:52 GMT

THE DESTINY MAKERS by George Turner
		       A book review by	Evelyn C. Leeper
			Copyright 1993 Evelyn C. Leeper

     This story, like many other by Turner, is set in a future, pre-
holocaust Australia.  There's been no bang, but the world seems to be going
through one long drawn-out whimper.  Politicians spend time trying to figure
out how to stretch Earth's resources over an ever-growing population.  There
are technical advances, but on the whole Turner paints an Australia of not-
quite-enough for everyone--except of course the upper class.  Shortages and
substitutes are the order of the day.  Only the veneer of equality, of
"we're all in this together" spirit keeps the lid on.

     But in Australia the government has even more problems--or at least the
prime minister does.  Having illegally rejuvenated his father (in a world
bursting at the seams, extending lifetimes is not considered a good idea),
he then discovers that his daughter is illegally pregnant.  (Everything, it
seems, is controlled.  But everything has to be to keep the world together.)
Harry Ostrow, a policeman of the lower-middle class, finds himself called
upon not only to protect these high-level politicians, but to extricate
them--and perhaps the world-- from the mess they've gotten into.

     The background of THE DESTINY MAKERS is well thought-out and developed,
but the story itself is somewhat weak, and the resolution for some of the
plot threads contrived and rushed.  The main idea of the end might have made
a good novel in itself, but here it's wasted as almost a throwaway.  It
could be that Turner will take this idea and expand it in a future novel (as
he expanded "In the Nursery" to BRAIN CHILD.)  But as it is, I can recommend
THE DESTINY MAKERS only for its description of a seedy, run-down future
facing the abyss.

     (It is unlikely that a sequel will appear soon, since it is reported
that George Turner has been hospitalized following a stroke.)

%T   The Destiny Makers
%A   George Turner
%C   New York
%D   February 1993
%I   AvoNova
%O   hardback, US$20.
%G   ISBN 0-688-12187-X
%P   321pp

Evelyn C. Leeper | +1 908 957 2070 | [email-masked] / [email-masked]