Fractal Mode

• Publisher:   Ace
• Number Of Pages:   352
• Publication Date:   1992-12-01
• ISBN-10 / ASIN:   0441251269
• ISBN-13 / EAN:   9780441251261

Colene and her multi-dimensional allies must help fulfill a prophecy in Nona's male-dominated universe. But first, Nona herself must cross dimensions to a world more unpredictable than any she has encountered--a world called Earth.

This is a very good book as all the books in this series are. However, if the only thing you've seen of Piers Anthony is his Xanth series that is so popular, then you may want to screen this for the kids. All of these books deal with adult issues. You can judge whether someone is mature enough to read it, but all the books in this series follow a girl who is suicidal, the older man she loves and who loves her and their various companions. They deal with issues like suicide, rape, sex, etc... They do it in good way that is relevant and fits into the story. The story is about a girl Coleen, who was raped at a party once. Her father is an adulterer and her mother is a drunk. She puts on a good act and is a very popular girl on the outside, but cuts her self and frequently contemplates suicide, though she's very smart. One day on the way home from school, she comes across a man passed out in a ditch. Her suicidal nature leads her to take him home. After learning a little of each others language, he says that he's from another world/mode and that he wants to take her to be his wife there. She doesn't believe him and he disappears. She believes him and realizes she's made a mistake and he realizes he shouldn't have left. The method he takes is random though and the only way to reliably get back to Coleen is by invoking a virtual mode. The rest of the story is about how Coleen and Darren are trying to find each other and get back to his mode. They continuously encounter problems and solve them with the help of their friends from the other anchor modes. The whole time Coleen is trying to deal with her issues so that she can be with Darren in a health relationship. So there are many different things going on in this series and I have just gone over the general gist so that I don't give anything away. Everything is done in a tasteful manner, but as I said it contains very adult subject matter. Enjoy.

This is the second novel of the mode series, and it is much worse than the first! The same cast of characters return here: Darius, Provos, Colene, and Seqiro, and a new one is added, Nona. The story features Nona predominently.
The mathematical concepts Anthony uses in Fractal Mode--the Mandelbrot Set and the Julia Set--are not very well explained and do not lend themselves well to the imagination. The Fractal universe's construction was very confusing and it felt like an inept math professor was trying to shove their erroneous agenda down my throat. For those interested in fractals, check out the Mandelbrot Set, which is actually fairly simple to understand in math terms. In literature, not so much.
The rest of the story is awful. There are sections wherein the main characters are forced to breed with underground people. There are still further sections which seem to obsess over the female form. In this novel, Anthony mentions a woman followed by a "her sexy way", "in the manner of her sex", and similar ilk EVERY SINGLE TIME. I have no problem with the female form; gratuitous explanations of it in this book, however, are simply ridiculous.
The two-dimensional characters plod along on their relatively plotless adventure through a fractal universe where the BAD MALE MAGICIANS OF THE ANIMUS are oppressing the SERF MAGICIANS and only the FEMALE MAGICIAN OF THE ANIMA can bring order to the world. Huh?
The worst part of this is probably the writing. There are many times when Anthony's characters discuss a complex solution to a problem, how to implement it, and prepare to. Then there is a short sentence say "they did it." No explanation, no detail, nothing. In addition to that, the dialogue really makes you want to retch sometimes with how plainly stupid it is. There are also large, superfluous portions of the novel dedicated to side stories with almost nothing to do with the overall story. I can only hope that books three and four are better than this one. Anthony can do much better.

Like the first book in this series "Virtual Mode", this is another wonderful trip into an area never gone to before in a novel and a unique way of getting there. As a writer, Mr. Anthony never ceases to amaze me! He always entertains while educating you at the same time.

This book is very interesting, covering a variety of topics from child abuse to in-depth discussion of fractals, love to culture, society to magic. Piers shows an acute knowledge of the scientific aspects of what he writes about. The book seemed to focus a little too much on helping Nona, and not enough about the MAIN characters, but this didn't detract from the book too much. The settings are varied, as always with Anthony, as are the characters. Anthony provides much insight to what Colene is thinking, which I think is the most interesting part of the book-- to see how she reacts mentally to things like stress, Darius, her parents, etc. There are heartwarming moments, and some interesting happenings back at good old normal Earth. Many different things happen, settings change quickly, minor characters come and go, but the plot runs smoothly enough and what the gang learns along the way is interesting and their adventures are still fun, sometimes amusing--they get stuck in one really odd situation in Nona's reality! If you read Virtual Mode and are interested in how Colene and Darius' relationship will grow and change, and how Nona plays into their scheme, and if Colene and Darius will EVER settle down back in Darius' home reality...this is a good book for you.

I think that people looking for a book that they can just chill with, litrally switch their brain off and read are going to hate this book. It has references to maths, explanations of magic, totally-twisty landscapes, in depth character profiles and a totally confusing multi-reality storyline. Oh, and some sexual references too, which might wake some up. This is the second book of the series that touched me, I love it and could recommend it (and have) to anyone. Read it, read them all! I await the arrival of my Chaos Mode book.. and whats this I hear about another!

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