Ahira's Hangar

In the second chapter we move back in time to an earlier place in Sam's life (lives?). At that point in his existence he is known as Sidhartha, Binder of Demons. He is a middle aged prince who has come to the big city in order to obtain a new body.

Now I'm a bit unclear on the entire new body thing. Perhaps someone can help me out? Apparently the technology exists on that world to grow new bodies for people to replace their old bodies if they get elderly or, I suppose, sick. Somehow the person (mind? soul?) gets transferred into the new body. Somehow that new body doesn't already have a resident mind/soul??

Anyway, Sam has come to town to obtain a new body but becomes disturbed by some things he sees in the temples. (The temples are using technolgies forbidden to the general populace). He goes looking for an old friend named Jann to get some information on what is going on. Jann tells him that many of the first generation of human settlers (which includes both Sam and Jann, by the way) have become gods to the populace. They live in a place seperate from their descendents called Heaven, and they have all sorts of high tech creations/weapons brought about through the talents of a third generation person now called the deathgod. The deathgod has also perfected a sort of technology that had been brought from Earth in an imperfect state that can read people's minds. The former body merchants, now called Lords of Karma, use this technology to read the minds of the people seeking new bodies, judge the people, and give them new bodies based upon their findings. Instead of getting a healthy young body, for example, as was always the case before, you now might be placed inside a body riddled with cancer, or placed into the body of an animal. And the judement seems to depend upon your opinion of the gods, among other things.

So Sam becomes even more disturbed, and travels to the temple of Brahma. He insists upon being able to talk to Brahma to the priest, who finally rings up Heaven. Brahma agrees to talk to Sam, and the resulting conversation is quite funny, especially after Sam figures out who Brahma originally was!

Sam is still disturbed after talking to Brahma, so he tricks one of his princely neighbors, who has also come to town to obtain a new body. He drugs the elderly prince into thinking that he is Sam, then checks on him after he gets what should have been Sam's new body. He discovers that the new body is epileptic. Sam then leads his troops into a take-over of the place where the Lords of Karma operate. He makes new healthy bodies for himself and Jann, then confiscates all of the equipment for growing new bodies.
Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell<i></i>

Nice summary, Duchess! I am also a bit unclear about the technology about the reincarnation, but I guess that doesn't matter, eh? Sam is very cool! He whose desires have been throttled,
who is independent of root,
whose pasture is emptiness-
signless and free-
his path is as unknowable
as the of birds across the heavens.
Dhammapada (93)

Further up, and further in! <i></i>

oops! time 2 switch from Fall of Hyperion 2 LofL and And now Danlo looked in that direction, too. He remembered that snowy owls mate in the darkest part of deep winter, and so along with this beautiful white bird perched in a tree a hundred feet away, he turned to face the sea as he watched and waited.

Ahira, Ahira, he called out silently to the sky. Ahira, Ahira<i></i>

I'd really liek to hear your take on this new body business. I just don't get it. Why doesn't the new body already have someone home?? Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell<i></i>

I read chapter three on my lunchbreak at work tonight. it was pretty cool! Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell<i></i>

Almost done w/chapter 2! Hang on! And now Danlo looked in that direction, too. He remembered that snowy owls mate in the darkest part of deep winter, and so along with this beautiful white bird perched in a tree a hundred feet away, he turned to face the sea as he watched and waited.

Ahira, Ahira, he called out silently to the sky. Ahira, Ahira<i></i>

It has been a long while since I read the book, but from what I remember - yes, the timeline is all screwy, so my guess is that it was indeed, a flashback. The story is not in chronological order at all.

Crap!

Yes, with my reread I can definately say that chapter two takes place long before chapter one.

In chapter one, Sam's thougts and personality are retrieved from heaven, where he was placed by the gods after they defeated him, and incarnated in a new body.

In chapter two, we go back in time (how long is unknown) to the time and place where Sam began his war with the gods (or perhaps, where they began their war with him when Brahma wanted him to be incarnated in a broken body).

We get a bit of background to the world - an Earth colony, where the original generation of settlers deliberately kept the technology to themselves in building a heaven in which to live, leaving their own children and descendents ignorant and backwards on the ground. The original settlers turn themselves into gods and use the humans down on the planet for fun and recreation. They have developed a technology to transfer souls/minds/whatever you want to call it, into new bodies and use that tech to reward followers and punish thsoe who do not follow their rules.

I do not blame Sam for objecting to all of this. Or for starting a war with the gods.

The more I read, the more that makes sense with the rest of the book. In chapter 5, we meet Tak again, and he's not an ape this time.