The Thurb Revolution

The first book in this series was a thriller, involving criminals and danger. This second book is distinctly different. It includes a dangerous assassin, but he's merely one of a whole bunch of characters whose lives intersect to form the story; and the story is not really a thriller, it's an experience—a word that I associate with the late 1960s, when this story was written.Torve the Trog doesn't perceive causality as humans do, he thinks that things happen because “lines of occurrence” require them to happen, so his behaviour seems strange because his rationality is alien. If you look at this story from his point of view, you can see all the characters following their own lines of occurrence, which come together perhaps accidentally into a quite satisfying climax and resolution.This time, Villiers acquires a larger and more diverse group of associates than in [b:Star Well 13496898 Star Well Alexei Panshin https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1330104742l/13496898.SY75.jpg 1905853], and they spread themselves out in the open air, mostly in the countryside. I can imagine both books as cinema, but the first is indoor cinema, in rooms and corridors, while the second is outdoor.Which do I prefer, the first or the second? It depends on my mood at the time. I'm very happy to have both of them—plus the third volume, of course.