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Really enjoyed this considering I knew nothing about it. Very lovecraftian in feel
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The Santaroga Barrier
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Santaroga seemed to be nothing more than a prosperous farm community. But there was something ... different ... about Santaroga.
Santaroga had no juvenile delinquency, or any crime at all. Outsiders found no house for sale or rent in this valley, and no one ever moved out. No one bought cigarettes in Santaroga. No cheese, wine, beer or produce from outside the valley could be sold there. The list went on and on and grew stranger and stranger.
Maybe Santaroga was the last outpost of American individualism. Maybe they were just a bunch of religious kooks...
Or maybe there was something extraordinary at work in Santaroga. Something far more disturbing than anyone could imagine.
Santaroga had no juvenile delinquency, or any crime at all. Outsiders found no house for sale or rent in this valley, and no one ever moved out. No one bought cigarettes in Santaroga. No cheese, wine, beer or produce from outside the valley could be sold there. The list went on and on and grew stranger and stranger.
Maybe Santaroga was the last outpost of American individualism. Maybe they were just a bunch of religious kooks...
Or maybe there was something extraordinary at work in Santaroga. Something far more disturbing than anyone could imagine.
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 1,1968
This edition
- Format
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256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
- Published
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September 16, 2002 by Tor Books
- ISBN
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9780765342515
- ASIN
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0765342510
- Language
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English
About the author
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Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. was an American science fiction author best known for the 1965 novel Dune and its five sequels. Though he became famous for his novels, he also wrote short stories and worked as a newspaper journalist, photographer, book reviewer, ecological consultant, and lecturer.
The Dune saga, set in the distant future, and taking place over millennia, explores complex themes, such as the long-term survival of the human species, human evolution, planetary science and ecology, and the intersection of religion, politics, economics and power in a future where humanity has long since developed interstellar travel and settled many thousands of worlds. Dune is the best-selling science fiction novel of all time, and the entire series is considered to be among the classics of the genre.
The Dune saga, set in the distant future, and taking place over millennia, explores complex themes, such as the long-term survival of the human species, human evolution, planetary science and ecology, and the intersection of religion, politics, economics and power in a future where humanity has long since developed interstellar travel and settled many thousands of worlds. Dune is the best-selling science fiction novel of all time, and the entire series is considered to be among the classics of the genre.
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Rating(4.1 / 5.0, 100 votes)
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Wow weird barely begins to describe this book. I'm overly familiar with all the Dune books and was unprepared for something that takes place on this planet. I feel like this book would make a hell of a movie.
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One of the best of several stories from Herbert that hinge on a community set apart from the rest of civilization.
This one can read a bit like an episode of The Twilight Zone, but Herbert's imagination is what really sets apart stuff like The Santaroga Barrier from heaps of other pulpy sci-fi from this era.
This one can read a bit like an episode of The Twilight Zone, but Herbert's imagination is what really sets apart stuff like The Santaroga Barrier from heaps of other pulpy sci-fi from this era.
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Another excellent piece of science fiction by Herbert. Thoughtful and creepy. The letdown is the poor, borderline sexist characterisation of the lead female character.
EDIT: Finished the novel. There are obvious thematic links between this book's Jaspers and Dune's Spice - both are mysterious, consciousness expanding narcotics, that are addictive and mold society. So if you'd like to know what some of the main thrusts of Dune are - and a hint of Herbert's views on drugs - this book is highly recommended.
EDIT: Finished the novel. There are obvious thematic links between this book's Jaspers and Dune's Spice - both are mysterious, consciousness expanding narcotics, that are addictive and mold society. So if you'd like to know what some of the main thrusts of Dune are - and a hint of Herbert's views on drugs - this book is highly recommended.
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I enjoyed the novel, and thought that it was close enough to the quality of his Dune books.
The protagonist’s sentimentality is what I would expect from young, post-WWII pulp writers, which makes me think that maybe this was a trunk novel, at least begun in the early 50s while Herbert was living in Santa Rosa and working as a writer for the PD (Press Democrat). I think he should have made Dr. Dasein a first year graduate student, being sent out (in naïve enthusiasm) by his advisor, Dr. Selador (it would have made his hook-up with Jenny slightly less creepy). I don’t think he needed to explain the Jaspers’ origin (which he didn’t) but I was left with an ambivalent feeling as to whether it had a positive or negative moral value. The chain-store-consortium is obviously evil—as was Selador—but we’re still left with the potential of evil in Santaroga (is there an entity dedicated to killing outsiders?) and the threat from without. This would be okay, if he was going to write a sequel, but this was published three years after Dune, and I think Herbert saw the novel as a stand-alone.
The protagonist’s sentimentality is what I would expect from young, post-WWII pulp writers, which makes me think that maybe this was a trunk novel, at least begun in the early 50s while Herbert was living in Santa Rosa and working as a writer for the PD (Press Democrat). I think he should have made Dr. Dasein a first year graduate student, being sent out (in naïve enthusiasm) by his advisor, Dr. Selador (it would have made his hook-up with Jenny slightly less creepy). I don’t think he needed to explain the Jaspers’ origin (which he didn’t) but I was left with an ambivalent feeling as to whether it had a positive or negative moral value. The chain-store-consortium is obviously evil—as was Selador—but we’re still left with the potential of evil in Santaroga (is there an entity dedicated to killing outsiders?) and the threat from without. This would be okay, if he was going to write a sequel, but this was published three years after Dune, and I think Herbert saw the novel as a stand-alone.
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Very interesting, a psychological thriller with a lot of (mental) twists.
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Ho iniziato a leggere questo romanzo senza aspettarmi troppo, non saprei dirne il motivo. Forse perché quando si nomina Herbert, si pensa quasi unicamente alla saga di Dune, e quindi mi aspettavo che le altre sue opere non fossero all’altezza. Fortunatamente mi sbagliavo.
“The Santaroga barrier” mi ha preso fin dai primi capitoli. La struttura stessa della trama è fatta apposta per coinvolgere il lettore gradualmente, man mano che il mistero di Santaroga viene svelato. Il protagonista stesso passa gradualmente dallo stato di outsider guardato con sospetto, a membro della comunità di Santaroga, ma il passaggio è tutt’altro che indolore, e ve ne accorgerete.
La chiave di tutto (come si intuisce già dai primi capitoli) è il Jaspers, potente droga in grado di amplificare la coscienza. Il Jaspers è palesemente reminiscente del melange di Arrakis, ma qui esso rappresenta il vero e proprio fulcro della narrazione. I suoi effetti sul protagonista vengono descritti...
“The Santaroga barrier” mi ha preso fin dai primi capitoli. La struttura stessa della trama è fatta apposta per coinvolgere il lettore gradualmente, man mano che il mistero di Santaroga viene svelato. Il protagonista stesso passa gradualmente dallo stato di outsider guardato con sospetto, a membro della comunità di Santaroga, ma il passaggio è tutt’altro che indolore, e ve ne accorgerete.
La chiave di tutto (come si intuisce già dai primi capitoli) è il Jaspers, potente droga in grado di amplificare la coscienza. Il Jaspers è palesemente reminiscente del melange di Arrakis, ma qui esso rappresenta il vero e proprio fulcro della narrazione. I suoi effetti sul protagonista vengono descritti...
Contiuna qui:
http://figura4.com/review/show/29-la-...
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While it's not the Dune series, The Santaroga Barrier contains some similar elements. In Dune "The Spice" is the mysterious drug that is ingested into the entire culture and fabric of the community. The Santaroga Barrier has "Jaspers" that has the same effect on the residents. The book is about the community of Santaroga and its ability to shut out the rest of the world from entering. It's a decent fantasy novel by Herbert. It probably would have given it a 3.5 if possible.
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