Logan’s Search (Logan’s Run #3)

Logan’s Search, by William F. Nolan
October, 1980  Bantam Books

“With this volume the Logan trilogy is complete.” So claims author William Nolan in a brief but somewhat self-congratulatory Preface, which is funny given that in the second volume he promised to keep Logan “running for a long time.” I guess Nolan must’ve plumb run out of ideas, thus a potentially long-running series was changed to a “trilogy.” Logan’s Search would be proof of Nolan’s paucity of ideas for this particular character and his world, given that it’s basically a rewrite of Logan’s Run. I have to admit though…perversely enough, Logan’s Search turned out to be my favorite book in the trilogy!

It’s some time after Logan’s World, at least nine months, as we’re informed at the outset that Jessica is in the late terms of pregnancy. It will be a boy, and she’s finally succeeded in convincing Logan that they should name the child Jaq, after their previous son – ie the young boy who was almost casually killed in the previous book. Humorously, Jaq is mentioned more here than he was in the entirety of Logan’s World. It’s almost as if Nolan realized, “Wait a second – I killed Logan’s kid in the previous book. That’s kind of a big deal!” Whereas Logan and Jessica practically took the loss of their prepubescent son in stride in Logan’s World, here we finally get a bit of emotional content from both characters, particularly Logan.

I say “particularly Logan” because once again he’s the star of the show and Jessica’s cast out of the narrative. Actually, this Jessica, ie the one we know from Logan’s Run, is cast out of the narrative, but more on that anon. If you’ll recall, Jaq was murdered and Jessica was adbucted and abused in Logan’s World because our “hero” Logan just flat-out abandoned them, not even leaving them with a gun for protection. Well folks you’d think Logan would’ve learned his lesson from all that. But nope. Because as Logan’s Search opens, someone from Chicago flies in, says his people have plenty of medicine but hardly any food, and strikes up a bargain with Logan’s D.C. commune. Logan offers to fly the food to Chicago and return with the meds, given the Chicago guy’s injuries prevent him from making a return trip. That’s right – Logan once again plain abandons Jessica, though I guess this time at least she’s with a community.

One thing I should mention is that Nolan thankfully decides to describe things this time around. Logan’s World approached the vibe of an outline at times, with hardly anything described or explained. Logan flew in a “paravane” and the reader was expected to come up with his own interpretation of what the hell a paravane even was, let alone looked like. So we get a little more depth of description here, as well as more of a glimpse into Logan’s thoughts and feelings. Characters and costumes still aren’t much described, but then the book runs to around 150 pages so again my impression is Nolan’s intent was to deliver something quick.

On the way to Chicago Logan is zapped onto the massive spaceship of glowing, amorphous aliens. Hey, it could happen! These beings draft Logan into going to an alternate Earth, one that’s ten years behind Logan’s Earth and thus still enforces “Lastday” and the like – life is gloriously hedonistic but ends at 21. It’s the same as Logan’s Earth of ten years before, the aliens explain, but subtly different – enough so that Nolan can pretty much rewrite Logan’s Run but not be accused of plagiarizing himself. Here there’s no Sanctuary, but there is a thing called “Godbirth,” in which select Sandmen are afforded the mysterious opportunity to live beyond 21. The alternate-Logan is about to be granted this privilege, but the aliens have frozen him and want to send Logan to the alternate Earth in his place: his goal to destroy the system.

Logan doesn’t have much choice. These godlike aliens tell him it’s either do the job or be erased or something; he’ll never see Jessica or his soon-to-be-born son unless he goes to the other Earth and destroys the System…in two weeks! The aliens, who are humorously omniscient and omnipotent but somehow unable to alter the course of this alternate Earth on their own, warn Logan against meeting the alternate Jessica. They also don’t know what makes this alternate Earth so different from Logan’s, claiming there’s some sort of supernatural element at play which prevents Sanctuary, Ballard, or the other resistance movements that allowed Logan to help topple the system of his own world.

Here we return to the first half of Logan’s Run, which was by far my favorite part of that book (and the movie), in that it occurs in a psychedelicized future of pleasure domes and rampant hedonism. Nolan downplays the latter element this time, even though when Logan comes to on this alternate world he’s in bed with a dancer named Phedra, and ends up giving her some mostly off-page good lovin’ (“He thrust into her” being the extent of it). But again I had a hard time buying this Logan’s Run world of the novels, given that everyone is under 21. The movie got it so much more correct by increasing the age cutoff to 30. Nolan himself seems to forget at times that no one here is over 21. 

Logan, who by the way has been made to look younger by those omnipotent aliens, has a hard time adjusting to this alternate Earth. He’s once again a Sandman but is sickened by the job. And he’s once again hanging out with best bud and fellow Sandman Francis, who of course became Logan’s enemy in Logan’s Run. He’s also overwhelmed with his task, and has no idea how to take down this system in such a short time with no Sanctuary, Ballard, or etc. He’s again in the Angeles Complex, same as in the first book, but this time he’s about to undergo the mysterious Godbirth ritual; he hopes he can use this to destroy the system. As mentioned there’s more emotional content this time and Logan’s driven by the desire to see Jessica again and to be there for the birth of the second Jaq.

The novel follows the course of the first book. Logan and Francis chase a Runner, one who turns out to be Jessica’s brother, and same as in Logan’s Run he dies. Then Logan, despite the aliens’s warning, seeks out Jessica – who has heard of the great Logan and doesn’t seem much bothered that her brother is dead. She engages him in some good lovin’ that’s entirely off-page. Jessica seems to be like the version Logan is married to on his Earth, but her lack of care about her brother turns him off. But here the minor variations begin. Logan’s hauled off by some cops on suspicion of carrying an illegal drug called “death dust” (aka cocaine), and it’s clearly a setup thanks to sluttish dancer Phedra. Jessica is also accused and summarily punished alongside Logan.

Once again we’re pulled out of the more-interesting future world and sent into random, arbitrary plot detours, same as the previous two books. First Logan and Jessica are chased across the Serengeti by massive robot ants. Then Jessica reveals that it was she who set Logan up, in revenge for killing her brother – her icy carelessness about his death was just an act. However she didn’t plan to get set up herself. She also didn’t plan to fall in love with Logan. After several adventures the two make their way to Moscow, where the aliens have told Logan he can find a local contact, Kirov. This part is incredibly arbitrary, as Logan must steal a Sandman Gun for Kirov, and this leads to a humorous bit where Logan tricks a trusting robot that’s responsible for the Guns. After this Logan ventures to Jamaica, where he fights off barracudas to save a nearly-drowned Francis(?).

Meanwhile Jessica’s hit her Lastday, same as in the first book, but another pair of Sandmen go after her when she runs. Like other female Runners, though, she disappears before they can set in on her; we don’t see this happen, just hear about it when Logan asks the Sandmen what happened. They claim Jessica vanished. Meanwhile it’s finally time for Godbirth, which sees Francis and Logan being plied with drugs and taken to Egypt. I forgot, those thoughtful aliens also implanted Logan with defenses against drugs, despite which he goes on a chapter-long trip which sees snatches of surreal events taking place, similar to the stuff in Logan’s World when Logan was high on R-11.

The last quarter reminds me of Zardoz; Logan and Francis are whisked up to a secret floating city above the clouds, ruled by an older guy named Sturdivent. Like the “gods” in Zardoz, Sturdivent has surrounded himself with the great works of antiquity – he’s even had the Great Pyramid taken apart and rebuilt for him in his palace. Former Sandmen are at his beck and call as mind-controlled vassals. And those missing female Runners are now his “Dreamers,” kept in stassis and only brought out when Sturdivent wants some female company for the night. Of course, Jessica’s one of the Dreamers, and Logan makes prompt plans to save her, making various excuses for Francis.

Francis acts as a deus ex machina throughout the final quarter, turning out to be on Logan’s side and helping him figure out how to get around Sturdivent’s inner chambers. This is all explained in the climax, which first sees the head of the Sphinx getting sheared off by Sturdivent’s city as it crashed down into Egypt, then has Francis revealing his own story to Logan. Here Logan learns that those wily aliens were lying to him all along, and tells Jessica he’ll probably never get home despite their promises. I suspected Nolan was headed for a ‘70s-mandatory downbeat ending…but it’s the ‘80s now, baby!

Instead Logan’s first zapped back to the alien ship, then back to his own Earth, where he discovers that no time at all has passed. In fact Jessica wonders why he hasn’t left for Chicago yet! Logan has finally learned his lesson, though, and brings Jessica along with him. We don’t get to see the new Jaq, as here Nolan ends the tale, thus also ending the “trilogy.” Someone commented on one of my earlier reviews that there was a Logan short story many years later, and maybe some other planned novels, but these three books will be sufficient for me. I can’t say I didn’t enjoy Logan’s Search, as there was just a goofy charm to it, but I’d still rather watch Logan’s Run than ever read this trilogy again.