Click here to support the Daily Grail for as little as $US1 per month on Patreon

KING WITHOUT AN EMPIRE – Paul Collins

By Rick MGon

KING WITHOUT AN EMPIRE is the second novel by Canadian writer, Paul Collins. A freelancer in the film business since 1994, Paul’s first book, PRESCIENCE RENDEZVOUS, came to him in a dream. KING WITHOUT AN EMPIRE is a mix of science/speculative fiction exploring topics that are right at home on TDG.

Michael Bassett is a multi-billionaire entrepreneur, Richard Branson style. He’s an arrogant, materialistic narcissist, an uber-Gordon Gekko. It’s a case of the bigger they are, the harder they fall, and Bassett crashes in spectacular fashion. He has an epiphany after the death of his girlfriend, and becomes obsessed with traveling to another world. With unlimited resources, Bassett gets his wish, enlisting scientists to build a spaceship that would make Doctor Who envious. Bassett and his team arrive at an earth-like planet in the Alpha Centauri system, and what they find is a mind-blowing surprise.

Paul Collins has many brilliant ideas, and he writes with an infectious enthusiasm. KING WITHOUT AN EMPIRE is packed with alternative topics – secret Nazi technology, CIA conspiracies, hallucinogenic drugs, alien life-forms, secret societies, and much more. Collins is never self-indulgent with these topics, and every one of them is in the novel for a reason. Many readers will enjoy going off on tangents to explore the topics, and it’s one of the author’s strengths.

Unfortunately KING WITHOUT AN EMPIRE can at times be a confusing, messy, and unfocused novel with poor grammar and punctuation. There are many parts of the narrative that are sorely underwritten, and need to be expanded and fleshed out. On the other end of the scale, Collins can give us too much exposition, especially for minor characters who really shouldn’t get so much focus. When we need insight into Bassett’s thoughts and feelings, or a progression of the narrative, we get a personal history of a limousine driver instead, exposition that includes everything from the kitchen sink to their mother’s brother’s lover’s niece’s former room-mate. The novel is far more effective and engaging when Collins sticks to the main characters and plot, and to the author’s credit there are parts of the novel where he does exude discipline and focus.

A major strength of KING WITHOUT AN EMPIRE is Michael Bassett. Clearly the love-child of Gordon Gekko and Richard Branson, he makes a refreshingly original protagonist. His materialistic arrogance is utterly despicable, yet you can’t help but want to know more about him. Bassett’s journey forms the spine of the novel, and Collins enriches it with Eastern mysticism. What begins as a material journey soon becomes one of the mind and spirit. With an ending reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, you may have to reread passages to fully understand the depth of Collins’ ideas, but the effort is worth it.

There are missed opportunities in KING WITHOUT AN EMPIRE. The construction of the flying saucer is never described, and Bassett’s acquiring of elite scientists is a little too convenient and easy. Relationships between the scientists and Bassett often play second-fiddle to the mind-bending ideas and topics Collins’ draws his inspiration from, although this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The vast oceanic life-form of Pangea is one example where Collins exceeds his potential, creating a memorable piece of scifi that’s rare in today’s market.

If you don’t mind an endearingly messy and bewildering novel that continually runs off on tangents, then give KING WITHOUT AN EMPIRE a go. Uniquely imaginative, it’s an ambitious and enthusiastic novel full of mind-expanding, fresh ideas. It may be several drafts away from a professional standard, but in a world where kitsch sells, it’s great to see an aspiring author do something passionately different.

Two and a half Holy Grails out of five.

KING WITHOUT AN EMPIRE is published by Publish America, and is available to order from Amazon (US or UK).

Rick MG

4 Comments

  2. A Note on Spelling and Grammar in Paul’s book
    I’ve been coming across much criticism of businesses such as PublishAmerica, especially the quality of their editing. Why We Don’t Recommend PublishAmerica is especially scathing of PA’s editors. An article from the Washington Post offers both sides to the story, but in the end is also critical of PublishAmerica.

    Which makes me wonder how many of the typos and grammatical errors in Paul Collins’ books are actually his, or the fault of the editor’s spell-check program.

    My advice to authors — write, write, write, then write some more, and do it because you love it.

    “Read like a butterfly, write like a bee.” – Philip Pullman

    1. Mystery of Everyman’s Way Paul Collins 07
      PAUL COLLINS PRESENTS:
      “Mystery of Everyman’s Way”
      An expatriate American, Gregory Henry Case, was a quantum physics professor at Oxford University in London, England. His life was rather dull and predictable, until his relationship with his long time girl friend abruptly ended. Case then found a body. Naturally, the authorities examined the corpse. They tested it for its DNA composition, blood type, and conducted a myriad of tissue extractions. Dental records were matched up. Thus Case was then told that the cadaver in question was not an unknown person, but was Gregory H. Case himself—one hundred and fifty years in the future!
      It was in this point in the narrative where Case met a mysterious Agent Derek Stratton, who warned Case about the exterritorial plot to kidnap him and others too. The intelligence officer labeled this enemy as the ‘The League.’ Case was manipulated into believing that members of the League were nothing but a mysterious group of astronauts, explorers from another level of reality. They eventually kidnapped Dr. Case from a British military installation.
      In time, a spacecraft craft then rocketed him and others into a series of fiery chasms. As they flew into the cosmos, ghosts emerged from the space bound chariot. They tried to inculcate the men into sahaja yoga, a form of Eastern Thinking.
      Eventually the men landed in another time and place, where dinosaurs walked the earth and early man lived in the caves. It was here where Case and his unknown travel mates met Father Thomas Toomey, a humble archivist. Toomey initiated them into a secret society called ‘The League.’
      Eventually, this archivist sent Case on an adventure of a life time by placing the professor in a holographic existence. Through an inexplicable set of circumstances, Case unwittingly drunk a secret love potion, which made him fall in love with Princess Daphne, who was a young Barbarian royal. As a matter of fact his new love interest was set to marry King David, which would bring peace throughout the worlds of Everyman’s Way.
      Forbidden passion became their sin. This was where the most powerful and prominent members of this society, the Land Owners, saw a seer and learned if the Daphne abdicated from the throne, a nuclear war would be the result, annihilating Everyman’s Way. Will Gregory Henry Case survive. Find out more by reading the Mystery of Everyman’s Way, where sci fi and romance collide.

      AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
      Paul Collins was born in Toronto, Ontario Canada. In 1998, Collins directed a 30 second commercial that went to air on Cable Pulse 24. In 2002, he directed a documentary about youth violence called Just Talk. Its world premier was at the Final Cut Short Film Screenings DJ & VJ Sets in the city of Brighton in the fall of 2003. Collins has written Prescience Rendezvous, King without an Empire, and Mystery of Everyman’s Way. Etreasures Publishing is also now republishing a revised, updated, and improved version of Prescience Rendezvous which hopefully be available in 2008.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Mobile menu - fractal