The Werewolf Principle

I recently read an interesting article titled "what is it like to be a bat?" which works from the premise that there is something that it means to be me, which is different from what it means to be you (bats too, in case you're wondering). And that thing is not reducible to something physical and neither is is entirely subjective. A similar question is at the heart of this book, and as usual with questions about the nature of humanity, Simak gives readers something memorable.

Readers get reflections on memory, mind, experience, physiology, and even the teleology of the Human form. None of these fully explain what provides us with a subjective, defining experience. And I think this ultimately leads to the question of whether there is a show more distinct, inalienable human experience. This course of thought is often at the heart of Simak's explorations of robots, aliens, and dogs.

This one was published in the 60's and I think that the ideas are just as fresh and still as unanswered as they were when we was considering them. And the whole thing is written in Simak's delightful, folksy way. show less

I find Simak’s novels to be uneven. Whether it is uneven in plotting, pacing, or execution, it does not really matter because the result is always somewhat of a rolling up and down read. This novel may be slightly more uneven than some of the others I have read, but its, again, something I have learned to expect with Simak.

I liked the usual things one likes about Simak novels. I disliked the unevenness and I definitely did not like the sudden negative mood of the main character. I would not be surprised if the next novel I read of his also contains a character who does not fit in with humanity, finds a deep nostalgia for Earth and nature, but has a uncomfortable attitude toward humans. This is NOT a bad read, certainly not at all. It show more just is not the high level of Simak’s work. show less

The idea is intriguing, and Simak's prose is always interesting, but the plot and characterization do not rise above mediocre.
The idea of three totally unrelated minds in one android body - one mind being that of its "imprinter" - deserves some credit for speculative edginess, although I think that allowing physical changes to the body is not sufficiently credible.
There would have been more suspense if he hadn't telegraphed the plot with the title, and the surprise ending was cheesy.

The title notwithstanding, The Werewolf Principle is not a gothic. An android whose brain is based on an uploaded personality can morph into alien forms. Its purpose is to explore distant star systems and return to Earth with data about alien life. But something goes wrong, and he is found centuries later frozen in his capsule. Meanwhile, Earth has forgotten the whole deal. The first part of the story is about his adaptation to Earth and his efforts to restore his memory. There’s a great scene about what we now call the Internet of Things. The attempt at heavy philosophy about the human condition at the end is not so successful. And there was a plot twist that made me wince.

One of the more universally appealing Simak, perhaps. Many of the ideas could have been conceived by other writers. But only Simak's House would have offered not-wallpaper that's a collage of thousands of eyes, when requested to change it from a woodland scene featuring a bunny, and only Simak's Kitchen would have pouted because the resident asked for ham'n'eggs instead of lobster thermidor. And only in a Simak novel would our hero go (trout?) fishing and wind up feeding most of his picnic to a not-Brownie. And even the politics were interesting, how the two Senators from the US had to come to agreement or one would be forced to resign....

Lots of ideas here slowed me down from total immersion, but I reveled in them rather than show more resented them. If you're anything of a Simak fan, don't miss this. If you happen to be in the mood for some older SF that's a little different, do consider it. show less

Second (or third?) read. My previous review still stands. This time I want to add that the poetry of the writing surprised me. Lots of beautiful imagery and stylings... not purple prose, and easy to overlook in one's quest to figure out what's going on in the plot and with the characters, but definitely well-crafted.

The title is a little misleading for today's readers because Andrew Blake isn't really a werewolf although he is a shapeshifter. At the beginning of the book he has no knowledge of his past or of his shapeshifting abilities. He was found in stasis in an escape pod on a distant asteroid and brought back to Earth where he was revived. It wasn't realized at first that he was the result of a past attempt at genetically engineering the perfect space explorer. We gradually learn about his nature and his past along with Andrew. Simak includes some interesting ideas about how his future Earth would work, for instance, the flying houses. But, politics is still much the same.