Alfke.PASA@XEROX.ARPA (08/07/84)
Another story that "deals with paramentalism and mysticism in a technological future" is 'Little, Big' by John Crowley (an EXCELLENT writer --- I enthusiastically recommend all four of his books to everyone!). This book deals with the simultaneous return of the denizens of Faerie and an ancient force of evil, with the decaying America of the next century as the backdrop. One could call this book "fantasy" instead of "science-fiction", but I have largely given up making such distinctions . . . in any case, it's a wonderful book. -- Peter Alfke "Man, woman, child -- All is up against the wall of SCIENCE"
susser.PASA@XEROX.ARPA (08/07/84)
On the subject of paratechnomysticism, A. E. vanVogt has a fairly new book out called COMPUTERWORLD. The book is set in a future where the USA (or moral equivalant thereof) is largely controlled by a vast, central computer with something on the order of eighteen billion peripherals. The entire book is written from the computer's point of view, which is presented very believably. The paratechnomysticsm comes in when the computer is fitted with peripherals that allow it to monitor what I would call people's "auras", but what vanVogt refferred to as "bio-magnetic energies". In response, a group of scientific mystics arises, protesting that the computer is actually draining these energies, much to tthe detriment of everybody's life force. The mystics use the computer's manipulation of these bio-magnetic energies to increase their own power and find a really nifty conclusion to the story. I don't know if this is the kind of paratechnomysticism you were looking for, but I would reccommend it as an entertaining story (if you can ignore the gaping holes in vanVogt's knowledge of computer science). -- Josh Susser