Showing posts with label Attar the Merman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Attar the Merman. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Attar #2: War of Nerves


Attar #2: War of Nerves, by Robert Graham
March, 1975 Pocket Books

The strangest hero in men's adventure novels returns in the second and final installment of the Attar the Merman series. As mentioned in my review of Attar #1: Attar's Revenge, this was the work of noted sci-fi author Joe Haldeman, here posing as Robert Graham.

War of Nerves opens with a rather awkward recap of Attar's origin before getting to the plot at hand: a cache of experimental nerve gas, hidden at the bottom of the ocean by the US Gov't, has been discovered by a nutcase named Rasputin. Kidnapping an oceanographer named Mezler, Rasputin now demands a massive payoff before he detonates the nerve gas, which he has hidden somwhere off the coast of Cuba.

Once again hired by the CIA, Attar leaves his sea-city home outside of Australia and, along with his "brother" Victor and his pet killer whale Grampus, heads over to Key West, FL to help the CIA locate the nerve gas before it blows. Rasputin has given the US a week to meet his demands, and by the time Attar's onboard there are only a few days left.

The novel follows more of a low-key approach than standard for the genre. There are no massive shootouts, hardly any gore, and nothing outright lurid. There's not even any sex -- and despite the cover painting, there's not even a single female character in the novel. But regardless War of Nerves moves at a fast, absorbing pace. And I'll tell you why: the writing is great. This is one of the best-written men's adventure novels I've yet had the pleasure to read; in some ways it's nearly too good to be considered part of the genre. (But then Attar begins to breathe underwater and telepathically communicate with a killer whale, and it all makes sense again.)

My issue with Attar #1 was the lead character himself. There Attar was an arrogant ass, unlikeable and annoying. But here it's as if he's a reborn man. He's got a great sense of sarcasm throughout War of Nerves, and he and his psuedo-brother Victor trade witty banter throughout in a manner that would do screenwriter Shane Black proud.

All of the characters are wonderfully done, and again Haldeman does special justice to the aquatic characters. Attar's dolphin pal Sam is gone in this installment, replaced by a young killer whale named Grampus who was raised to think he is a dolphin. Through a convoluted process Attar's able to bring Grampus along to Key West, flying the massive beast on a C-130. The whale proves to be one of the most memorable characters, struggling against his "true" killer nature and the dolphin ways in which he was reared.

A tongue-in-cheek tone runs throughout the novel, elevating it beyond the genre norm. Here's just one example, as Attar and Victor, bloody and beaten after a brief skirmish with Rasputin, try to hitch a ride from Key West to Miami:

They decided they'd try to hitch-hike. Not surprisingly, though, nobody was anxious to pick up two burly young men - especially unshaven, in rumpled and dirty clothes, holding a probably stolen outboard motor and their eyes heavy lided with an obvious dope-fiend stare. The bloodstain down Victor's leg couldn't have helped.

The narrative proceeds in a cat and mouse game played between the villains and Attar. There are a few wonderful run-ins with the villains (in which we discover Rasputin might not be the main villain behind it all), and Attar is placed in grave danger throughout. There are also a lot of entertaining sequences with a one-legged assassin who's trying to kill Attar, Victor, and their CIA contacts. The novel builds to a spectacular climax as the villain holes himself up in a desolate fortress in Haiti, surrounded by a loyal, black-uniformed cadre of voodoo-practicing soldiers. (Okay, so maybe the novel is a bit lurid, after all.)

After Attar #1, I put off reading this second installment for a while. Now I'm sorry I did, because it's proven to be a highlight of the genre. Makes me sorry the series ended so soon. I wonder again if this early cancellation was due to low sales, or if Haldeman moved on to mainstream success and no longer felt the need to "sully" himself in genre fiction. (That War of Nerves is written so much more casually than Attar's Revenge makes me think this is a possibility, for this second volume is just worlds better than the first.) But if that was the case, wouldn't Pocket Books just hire some other chump to become "Robert Graham?"

I think again the issue lies with the lead character. Attar here is a good and resourceful character, but his ocean-centric background limits the type of adventures he can get into. In a way it's like that old Aquaman joke: he's pretty much useless unless he's near some water. But at any rate, this two-volume series is entertaining, with this installment in particular being pretty great.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Attar #1: Strange hybrid of action and eco-awareness...


Attar #1: Attar's Revenge, by Robert Graham
January, 1975 Pocket Books

One of those random used bookstore discoveries; scanning the aisles of the sci-fi section, Attar's Revenge jumped out at me. The cover too was interesting; it reminds me of the old Dell mass market paperback covers for Wilson and Shea's Illuminatus! trilogy. There are other similarities as well -- intelligent dolphins who communicate with humans, conspiracies, government operatives -- but other than that this novel is far removed from the fuzzy-funky league of Wilson and Shea's masterwork.

This was the first of a series, however it only lasted two volumes. Pocket Books clearly were trying something different: melding sci-fi pulp with men's adventure fiction, while at the same time overlaying it all with an eco-awareness. But it just doesn't work. For as our hero, Attar the merman, blasts his way through hordes of Japanese henchmen in order to save some dolphins, one can't help but put aside the book and wonder at the hypocrisy of his actions. Add to that another problem: namely, that Attar is a complete prick. But more on that later.

The novel is actually well-written considering its many problems. No surprise, because Robert Graham is a psuedonym of best-selling sci-fi author Joe Haldeman. It appears this was one of his first publications, coming out a few years before his groundbreaking Forever War. So even though this novel is part of the men's adventure world, it's blessed with better writing than the norm; POV-jumping is kept to a minimum, characters are developed rather well, dialog is good.

Attar is a half-caucasian, half-Japanese guy raised by a consortium which is dedicated to preserving the ocean and its creatures. Raised with a host of other orphans, Attar is trained in science and all the usual subjects; he's also taught to swim from very early youth, so that he's nearly one with the sea. This being a men's adventure novel, he's also trained in warfare and commando tactics, including arming explosives. Finally, upon reaching adulthood he undergoes surgery which endows him with gills, allowing him to basically breathe underwater. Hence "Attar the Merman." Shortly after this he discovers he can communicate with dolphins, who speak to him in his thoughts -- again, just like in Illuminatus. (These dolphins turn out to be the most memorable characters in the book.)

That's the groundwork. The plot of this fast-moving 180-pager is Attar's vengeance upon the Black Lotus gang, the Japanese mafia in all but name. Run by an American-raised Japanese man who is still bitter over how he was treated during WWII, the Black Lotus is currently raiding the seas for dolphin-meat, a delicacy in Japan. Attar's enraged and begins commando raids on their ships. Eventually it turns out that Black Lotus is into worse things: heroin, smuggling, the like. Attar takes up a mission from the CIA and goes with his "sister" to blow up yet more Black Lotus ships. Now, Attar's "sister" is also his lover -- something the back cover skirts around. For like Attar she is an orphan raised by the eco-consortium; they are not related in any way. His woman killed during this mission, Attar goes about obtaining the "Revenge" of the title.

The thing is, from here on out Attar becomes a very unsympathetic character. Of course I realize the reason for this -- he's suffered great loss, he can think of only vengeance. But he comes off like a total prick: arrogant, callous, pompous. He pursues the Black Lotus with grim-eyed resolve, but it just feels wrong -- he kills men left and right, all in order to protect the sea, and it just comes off as incredibly hypocritcal.

I'm assuming this clumsy welding of disparate genres is what spelled the early fate of the Attar series. For nowhere are we lead to believe that it was only scheduled to last for two volumes; volume 1 comes off like the introduction to "a great new series." My guess is that it sold in such low numbers that Pocket Books cancelled it -- or, rather, that Haldeman realized himself that it wasn't working and went on to greater things.

Attar returned in the second and final volume of the series, War of Nerves.