Voice Of The Whirlwind by Walter Jon Williams (book review).
If you’ve followed my interest in the Wild Cards shared-world book series, then you may also have thought about looking at the individual writers’ own work. Some, like Carrie Vaughn, have extensive series of their own, which can make it rather daunting to know where to begin. Walter Jon Williams, however, often writes standalone novels. Voice Of The Whirlwind is one of them, dating from the late 1980s.
Etienne Njagi Steward is a beta clone, born only three months earlier. His alpha original had failed to update the stored memories from which the clone was created, leaving Steward without the final fifteen years of his life and with memories only up to the age of twenty-two.
He builds up his muscles through exercise but decides to leave the hospital early and look for work. He also receives a recorded message from his alpha. ‘The Whirlwind’ was the original Steward’s nickname, and he also held the rank of captain.
Steward decides to travel to Sheol, where his alpha died. Naturally, he has to do it cheaply, so he undergoes accelerated training to become an assistant rigger aboard the starship Born.
Williams writes with considerable detail, filling in the lives of people inhabiting this future, where individuals become cyborgs to acquire enhanced senses or abilities. He also makes clear that these improvements come at a cost. Creating a clone is expensive, and not everyone can afford one.
The main problem with this writing style is that there is little variation in pace. When sudden action occurs, the rhythm of the sentences barely changes, reducing the shock value and making it easy to read on before realising what has happened. He doesn’t have such an obvious problem when writing for Wild Cards, so perhaps Williams was still experimenting with his style here. I’ve read only one of his other novels, Knight Moves, and can’t recall it affecting me in quite the same way.
Much of the book follows Steward as he makes his way through this advanced society. We also meet humanity’s alien allies, the Powers, a centauroid species that lives in a dense atmosphere. Helping them provides Steward with enough money to become very wealthy.
I’m having to avoid spoilers towards the end of the book, but it reaches a point where the plot follows a fairly predictable sequence of events, even though there is a final twist. The setting offers some intriguing complexities, particularly in its treatment of people seeking bodily enhancements while also needing periods of downtime.
There is almost a sense that Williams was determined to remain within the plot he had mapped out rather than explore opportunities to improve or complicate it. This makes for an interesting read, but I’m not convinced Voice Of The Whirlwind is among his best work.
GF Willmetts
July 2026
(pub: Tor, 1987. 278-page paperback. Price: varies. ISBN: 0-812-55785-9)
