Beloved Son told how the world was given atomic power and chose the atom bomb, was given the key to genetic miracles and chose biological warfare.
The world was lucky the first time; enough of it remained for salvaging in a few decades. It was simply unfortunate that in those difficult years a new menace arose-the offer of dreams-come-true in this world, here and now. There was a price of course. What World Council could not realize-and did not properly query-was the immensity of the price, but the offer was one nobody in his right mind could refuse. Or could he?
Psychiatrist James Lindley recognized the danger of dealing with the Devil but fanatical Police Controller Parker saw it as the Gift of God; Angus, whose name and face changed as often as his coat, saw it as a fine game to be played, while Commissioner Ferendija saw it as an exercise in pragmatism-and Security Tech Sanders lost everything he believed in as the welter of guilt and disillusionment swallowed him whole.
Under the pressure of decision the cracks showed in the highest echelons of the proud Ethical Culture. Is there a benefit so great that, if the price were the end of homo sapiens, we would pay it?
George Turner's Beloved Son was the first volume in what is now recognized as on of the outstanding science fiction achievements of the past decade. Vaneglory is its successor; and, though completely self-contained, it develops with gripping imaginative brilliance the characters and situations already established in Beloved Son.
