Book Review: The Sirens of Titan

Classic Sci-Fi

The Sirens of Titan is a sci-fi novel by Kurt Vonnegut who is one of the most famous sci-fi authors ever.  Sirens was his second book, originally published in 1959.  Its still is one of those books that stands the test of time and is still considered a classic by many.

The story is complex and wide-ranging taking place on different planets in the solar system.  Its one of those novels that everyone should read at some point in there lives.

Kurt Vonnegut

The main antagonist in the book is a man named Wilson Niles Rumfoord.  Rumfoord is a very rich man who at one point before the novel begins built a spaceship to explore a certain part of the galaxy.  He was pulled into a phenomenon called a chrono-synclastic infundibulum.  From that point forward he appears on different planets for only a certain period of time before he disappears again to return in one years time.  Rumsfoord's only companion is his dog Kazak.

One of his appearances on earth he asks for a man named Malachi Constant to be there.  Malachi is a famous actor and has investments all over the world thanks to his father.  Rumfoord tell Constant that he can read minds and tell the future and that Malachi's future is very important.  He proceeds to tell him that Constant will travel through space to Mars, Mercury, back to Earth and then to Titan, the largest moon of Jupiter.  He says there is nothing Constant can do about it, its his destiny and Rumfoord's wife will accompany him along the way.  He entices Constant by showing him a picture of three beautiful women that he has dubbed "The Sirens of Titan" and that Constant will be repopulating Titan with the sirens and Rumfoord's wife.

Rumfoord however has created a giant ruse.  He uses his immense power to change the course of Earth's history and beliefs.  Up until this point the earth and its people have been secretly manipulated by an outside alien culture in order to bring them to a technological point where they can help a stranded alien that lives on Titan.

Rumfoord knows all this and constructs a plan to bring the people of earth together and teach them that god and fate don't have to influence their lives.  They have free will to do whatever they want.  Malachi Constant will be the figurehead of how someone can lose everything if they blindly follow god or others and don't make decisions for themselves.

The irony of the book is that Rumfoord manipulates the people of earth just as the aliens are doing but he is trying to make it so they can make the decisions themselves.  He doesn't like the alien that's living on Titan and is also trying to stop the influence they have on Earth as well.  He sees the aliens and what they are doing to earth as completely unnecessary and frivolous.

The other irony is that Malachi Constant's father made all his money investing by following the bible and using a strange formula based on the passages.

Sirens is a great classic novel.  Its easy to read and is entertaining all the way through.  There is a lot of sub-plots that are left up to the reader to decide what to make of it.  Its one of those novels that will expand your mind and make you think more about the world around you.  Highly recommended reading.