oOon Mode, the fourth and final installment in the Virtual Mode sequence that Piers Anthony started in 1990, has everything but the kitchen sink: fantasy, magic, high-tech androids, fractal worlds, spaceships, intelligent dragons and evil overlords. The evil overlord is Emperor Ddwng, and he has captured our hero, Darius, our heroine, Colene, and their companions. The Emperor will release them if Darius gives his word of honor that he will send back a chip that allows travel through the multiverses.
There are other problems to solve as well. Darius is the Cyng of Hlahtar in his world. Colene is a 14-year-old girl from our world who is suffering from dolor. This is not an ideal match, because the Cyng needs a font of joy from which to draw his magic power. Furthermore, Colene cannot even consummate their marriage because of abuse and rape from her past. And, when traveling on the virtual nodes between universes, a mind predator that feeds on misery and dolor is out to get Colene--which is why they ended up trapped in the Emperor's world. When they do get back to travelling the multiverses, how will Colene survive the mind predator's attacks?
Other problems arise from their traveling companions, Nona and Burgess, and the Nulls that are at first their keepers but then become their friends. The Nulls, humanoid android slaves, know that ultimately the Emperor is going to recycle them for parts. Although compelled by their programming to not harm the Emperor, they do not want to die either. There is a whole planet of different types of Nulls, where they live (and die) unless chosen for duty. Darius and Colene will be trapped forever on this planet of the Nulls unless Darius gives his word. And yet the chip would let the Emperor roam the multiverses and wreak havoc there.
SF and fantasy mixed into one
This mix of fantasy elements, magic, high tech, multiverses, telepathy and group families is classic SF and classic fun. Anthony's mix here is definitely a page-turner. The change of scenes combined with the changes in the point of view kept me hooked. Darius' world turns out to be an interesting surprise. But the journey is creative in many ways, from the type of geography to
the type of flora and fauna to the various sentient beings. There are
barriers to outwit, and strange quirks that could be deadly, plus some
downright unfriendly worlds. These change of
scenes and little adventures kept me reading.
It is very science fictional to have group families and telepathy. This might spring from science fiction's roots as a literature of the outsider: give the outsider a happy ending by creating a family. And make the understanding of that family true thanks to telepathy. This sort of complete understanding might be what psychologists call "a fusion fantasy." In real life we will never experience this complete and total understanding. But longing for it is very real. This novel takes an odd group, each member an outsider for some reason, and brings them very much together.
The big downside of DoOon Mode is the suffering that Colene goes through at the end. Because she must cure her dolor not just to survive the journey to Darius's world, but in order to have any sort of happy life once there, she faces her past. Her past experiences seem far too horrifically graphic to match the tone of the rest of the novel, and at the same time too easily conquered, too simplistic. Other downsides include times where the characters seemed to be talking too much, soap-opera fashion. The final downside is the character of Prima, who shows up at the end. Prima is a multiplying font of joy; thus, all of Darius's worry
about finding a font of joy that is not drained seems rather
unnecessary in the end because he knew of Prima all along. However, this really is a quibble, because it is apparant from the beginning that Darius and Colane are going to solve all their problems and work everything out.
