This is the third of the Giants novels, after Inherit the Stars and The Gentle Giants of Ganymede. In the first novel, a body is found inside a space suit on the moon--and turns out to be 50 thousand years old. Later, on Ganymede, is found a derelict alien ship, with the remains of alien giants--and it turns out to be 25 million years old. These are the central mystery around which the first novel revolves, and the interesting part is the play of scientific ideas. In other worlds, the novel his hard science--pretty hardcore. In the second novel, those aliens, the "Gentle Giants of Ganymede" return. I found the Ganymeans interesting foils for humans, and found the interplay of ideas very lively. At first I thought the third novel would prove the best of the three. There was more at stake, more conflict than in the first two, and just as lively imagination and exploration of scientific ideas. I was pretty sure this would be at least a four-star book--until about half way through the book. And then.... Well, WTF?
I have to say I'm rather allergic to conspiracy theories. I consider it just as brain-rotting, as toxic, as the superstition and pseudoscience Hogan so deplores in this book. The more global, the more sustained the conspiracy presented, the more I simply reject it, not simply out of disbelief, but distaste. And the one presented here is a doozy. The Giants series are among Hogan's earliest novels, and his earlier ones are generally considered his best. As put by a critic quoted in the Wiki bio of Hogan, late in life he encountered a "brain eater" and became enveloped in a lot of fringe theories. A late novel is even dedicated to Immanuel Velikovsky. Actually, I think I can see hints of such beliefs even in these early novels. But they mostly come across as thinking outside the box rather than crackpot. After all, what else is science fiction for? But this conspiracy angle just annoys me no end. I'd still recommend Hogan's Voyage to Yesteryear, Code of the Lifemaker, and I did enjoy the first two Giants books. But beyond that? No.
