Generations ago, settlers colonized a new planet. Of the technology they brought to the planet is the ability to create a new body to transfer consciousness to, giving them a functional version of reincarnation. Over the generations as the population has increased, technology was withheld from the people. The world entered a dark age, and the ever-reincarnating First members of the original crew have hoarded the technology and set themselves up as gods, named and modeled after the Hindu pantheon. They have reintroduced that religion to the world, using mind probes to “judge” people at their 60th birthday to determine what kind of body they should reincarnate into. They say they will slowly reintroduce technology “as people are ready”, but instead, they have consolidated their power, destroying new technologies such as the printing press as soon as they are invented. They have also manipulated the reincarnation system, so that those who are dissidents find themselves in an unfavorable body or prevented from reincarnation at all.
Enter Sam, one of the original crew, who has ruled as a prince in a far off kingdom after leaving the world’s counsel in disgust after the first talk of godhood. He is appalled by what he sees of the new system, calling it a fascist oligarchy. He starts a movement to oppose the gods, taking on the name and persona of the Buddha to set the wheels turning on revolution. What follows is a war among “gods” and men, bringing in “demons” bound generations ago: the original energy-based inhabitants of the planet.
Overall this is a great read and it has many interesting ideas. It plays fast and loose with Buddhism and Hinduism, so those with strict conceptions of those might find this a little blasphemous. It is also very related in the “60s scifi” tone and writing style. In addition, it feels anachronistic at times, when both gods in men both in heavenly palaces or in dark age villages just light up cigarettes and begin smoking in the middle of the conversation. In the 60s, when smoking was much more accepted, this may have seemed normal, but reading it today it’s very jarring.
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