The Hyperion Chronicles

The Hyperion Chronicles
“Some call me the Space Gangster of Cowboy Love”

#381 The Traveler

THE TRAVELER
By John Twelve Hawks

I often sit around thinking about what kind of marketing strategy I would use if/when I ever get a book published. One of my fantasy ideas is anonymity; I love the thought of an entire nation trying to figure out who wrote this fantastic book.

When I first heard of The Traveler I thought that's what was going on. The author used the pseudonym John Twelve Hawks, and word came to us that not only was he not doing press in promotion for the book, but that his own publisher and editor had never met him. It has to be a publicity stunt, I thought.

The more I looked into him, though, the more I found out how real it was. Twelve Hawks, as I'll call him, really does believe the ideas presented in The Traveler, that there is a Vast Machine that watches over us, and really does want to live off the Grid, as he calls it.

(Twelve Hawks did consent to give an online interview. Check it out. You get the sense of what he's all about.)

I'm here to talk about his book. None of the ideas were wholly revolutionary, but they were presented together in an intriguing and new way. The basic set up is that there are Travelers, people who are able to journey in their minds to a different realm-however you want to look at it-and who try to get their fellow humans to think differently, to challenge orthodoxy and conformist thought. Examples of Travelers throughout history are Buddha, Jesus and Mohammed. They appear across all cultures and religions, not tied to any camp other than thinking differently than the current norm.

Then there are Harlequins. These people are basically the protectors of Travelers, assigned to keeping the Travelers alive and safe from the Vast Machine. Strangely, often the Harlequins have an adversarial relationship with the Travelers, and they are definitely not kindred spirits.

Our story starts with Maya, whose father was a Harlequin, and who was trained to be one herself. The brief description of how she grew up feels very real and at the same time is heart-breaking (one wonders if Twelve Hawks wrote from experience). Maya has rejected being a Harlequin and is trying to live a normal life. I think you've all read enough books to know how that's going to turn out.

The book takes place in modern times, when just about all of the Travelers have been wiped out by the Vast Machine. The Vast Machine goes beyond any official or single government. It is a world-wide conspiracy aimed at controlling the people. Interestingly, it doesn't appear to be a wholly evil presence bent on destroying people. The idea of the Vast Machine is simply that people are more easily handled when they are controlled.

But what about wars, strife, turmoil, you may ask. Ah, here's the genius part of it. Most of it's faked, either on the news, or the acts themselves, contrived to distract people from what's really going on. People see all these conflicts on TV and they think the world is often chaos, never realizing how carefully orchestrated it really is.

(I know it probably sounds like The Matrix, but the concept of the Vast Machine comes across quite differently. I don't know how to explain it further.)

There are so many ideas The Traveler made me think about that I want to share with you. I can't get to them all, so maybe just a highlight: The Panopticon.

This English dude Jeremy Bentham invented the Panopticon in the 19th century as a breakthrough in prisons. The set-up had the guards in centrally located, and by design the guards could see the prisoners, but the prisoners could never see who (if anyone) was guarding them. The idea behind it was that the prisoners would be habituated to not knowing if there were 4 guards or 20, and eventually you could guard the prison with fewer and fewer people. You wouldn't have to watch everyone all the time, because they knew they were being watched and just expected it.

Translate that to what we have today. We know there are cameras everywhere. When we go in a bank or 7-11. Traffic cameras at stoplights. Public Arenas. We know that there is a paper trail on virtually everything we do. Every time we use the ATM or pay with a credit card. Every time we check out a library book that information goes somewhere. Heck; you know that savings card you use at the supermarket? They keep track of what you buy to target you for direct mail and coupons.

The point is, we know we're being watched almost all the time. And most of us just learn to accept it. We assume we're always being watched. With that passive system of total surveillance in place, the Vast Machine doesn't need to watch all of us all the time. They watch quite a bit, and our behavior is modified by the knowledge that we're watched to make us act in accordance with it.

(One thing The Traveler mentioned that I don't know if it's fact or not, but if it is, kinda scary: the new credit cards have sensors in them that are triggered when you get on and off elevators in public places, so even when there are no cameras, they can still follow you. I think I believe this. After all, they can already track cell phones, even when they're turned off.)

As for the story itself, it's actually really weird. There was speculation when The Traveler first came out that this was an established author wanting to hide his/her identity. I don't think so. The characters aren't written like normal literary characters, and the scenes don't flow together like a well-written novel. They're more like…almost real life, if written by someone who's not that a great a writer. In other words, there's an authenticity here, if only because no actual writer would set it up that way.

As for the Science Fiction or Fantasy aspects, they are written in the same matter-of-fact way. It's kind of surreal. I really got the feeling that Twelve Hawks believes this stuff is real. (From his interview, he very well may.)

The Traveler isn't the greatest book ever written. And, you should know that at the end there is a casual mention that the book is part one of a planned trilogy, something I'd have liked to know, if only because it would have explained more about what certain things weren't delved into.

So why do I want you to read it? Because, The Traveler is so interesting. This book will make you think about things you've never felt before. I couldn't wait to have my family read it so I could discuss. (It's actually been distressing, since I know no one who's yet read the book.)

I like books that make you think, even if I don't agree with them. That brings us to how real The Traveler's claims actually are. The way he presents stuff is almost like Dan Brown; so straightforward that if you didn't know history you might be tempted to take the fabrications right along with documented fact. In The Traveler's case, most of it probably can't be researched. And yet, there was a disquieting grain of truth there. I'm not talking about the actual Traveler part; that's almost in the realm of spiritual faith. But the Vast Machine, and living off the Grid.

I suspect a lot of that has to be true. Sometimes I wonder how much; after all, if the government was that ahead of us, why would they blunder so much of the time? Then again, if the news is just there to distract us, who can say?

I heartily recommend The Traveler. It's not a hard read, and would make a great discussion piece for friends or a book group. If any of you read it, I'd love to email back and forth….as long as the Vast Machine isn't watching.

Hyperion
March 22, 2006