A science fiction novel published in 1951. I have never read any of Raymond F. Jones' 16 novels, but If I had done in my teenage years I would have enjoyed this one. The novel was first serialised in the magazine Astounding in 1944 and was later published by Gnome Press in 1951 as a novel, reprinted in 1963 under the title Man of Two Worlds.

It has a fairly complicated plot, but Jones holds it together well, with some atmospheric world building especially the planet Kronweld. Ketan by profession is a seeker after knowledge and spends his time engaged with a massive computer system called the Karildex. He finds that some information has been blocked off and when an old woman accosts him in the great hall, she tells him of a plot by the rulers to keep some knowledge hidden. He is also warned by his female companion Elta not to challenge the ruling triumvirate. The mystery surrounds the temple of birth where some selected young women go to assist with procreation as there has not been a child born outside the temple in living memory. A religious cult has sprung up based on the temple and when Ketan breaks into the temple he discovers a gateway to another world and the world is earth. On Earth there is a war going on between the Statists a high tech group and the Illegitimates a more primitive culture, the Statists are planning an assault on Kronweld in order to seek knowledge to build an atomic bomb. There are also the Restorationists hidden deep in the desert who are attempting to restore the scientific culture that was once the pride of Earth before the cataclysm.

Jones does not hold back on the action and just about manages all the elements before they run out of control. He has time to create mysteries around his characters: as to who they are working for?, are they who they seem variety? and he poses questions about the viability of re-imposing a culture that has previously destroyed itself in a conflagration. It is a page turner to discover how the author can make sense of all the balls he has juggling in the air, but he does a fairly good job. His character development is no worse than much of the writing of this period and he has some strong female personalities and he handles dialogue well enough. There is plenty of subject matter to provide that sense of wonder essential to much science fiction; there is a full scale battle of atomic laser weapons, there are portals to other planets, treks through hostile environments, advanced technology and 3D laser imagery. An absence of sexism and racism is refreshing and so overall a 3.5 star read. ( )

Jones is a good writer and knows how to tell a tale. I have enjoyed some of his other works. This book was major effort and may be his longest novel. It's the little guy fighting the centuries of embedded theocracy. It tries to be space opera but it's too close to a fantasy for my taste. I can't put my finger on why it didn't interest me. It just didn't. ( )

A fascinating golden age Science Fiction novel from Astounding, 1944. It employs parallel worlds and a post-nuclear-war Earth, and a man (Ketan) who seeks to destroy a thousand years of superstition by finding the truth about his world and the wall surrounding it. The book is surprisingly not as dated as many of its contemporary novels, and contains taut action, as well as some of the philosophies that tear the protagonist as he searches and learns more of his world (Kronweld) and Earth. Clute and Nicholls consider it as probably Jones' best novel, as do I. Originally entitled "Renaissance," it has also been published as "Man of Two Worlds." Both titles fit the story well. ( )

Mille tara erano passati e la civiltà dei Ricercatori di Kronweld stava morendo. Nessuno, dopo il leggendario Igon, aveva osato sfidare i misteri della Landa dei Mille Fuochi, che di notte tingeva di fiamme violette il cielo della città, né aveva cercato di penetrare l'enigma della vita. Ma Ketan, il ribelle, aveva deciso di opporsi al Consiglio dei Ricercatori; aveva deciso di scoprire per quale motivo nessuno nasceva a Kronweld e tutte le creature umane uscivano già mature dal Tempio della Nascita, situato sul confine che si ergeva come una muraglia di tenebre. E a questo lo spingeva una visione ossessionante: l'immagine di un deserto di sabbia bianca e scarlatta, in mezzo al quale si innalzava un maestoso pinnacolo...
Romanzo di ampio respiro, poderoso e avvincente, fantasioso e poetico affresco di un futuro bizzarro, La fine del silenzio, a 65 anni dalla sua prima pubblicazione, resta un grande capolavoro della narrativa fantascientifica.