Only her saliva can activate the eggs they produce, so that they can be implanted in a host mother to grow. As the price for the discontinuation of the Angel/Titanide War, Gaea has made the Titanides dependent on Cirocco to have children.

Gaby and Cirocco have a hidden agenda: they want to canvass the regional brains in order to overthrow Gaea, whom they see as being irretrievably insane.ĭuring the trip, the cause of Cirocco's alcoholism is revealed. Robin, Chris, Gaby, Cirocco and four Titanides set out on a heroic trek. His next memory is of the Titanide festival. Chris blacks out during the fall it is implied that his 'luck' causes him to fall onto one of the blimps that travel around the rim. Robin is rescued by one of the Angels who live in the spokes. They take about an hour to fall to the rim, reaching a high but survivable terminal velocity in the dense atmosphere. She explains the requirement to do something heroic and drops both through a trap door in the hub. She claims that she bit off one of her fingers to drive away the fits, though it is later revealed she cut it off. Robin is a member of a group of latter day witches living in an O'Neill orbital habitat who has a strange epilepsy that only manifests in gravity higher than the Moon's. Chris suffers from psychotic episodes which are often accompanied by paranormal 'luck'. This provides Gaea with entertainment, as she arranges hazards for them to overcome or die trying and by providing cures for diseases, Gaea proves her value to humanity so that they do not turn on her and destroy her.Ĭhris Major and Robin the Nine-Fingered are two pilgrims looking for a cure. Gaea provides miracle cures to those who come to her from Earth and prove themselves worthy by doing something 'heroic' – for example, travel once round the circumference of the great wheel. Gaea herself is bored, spending her time in the hub with her sycophants and watches old movies. Gaby Plauget has taken up the slack, carrying out special projects for Gaea such as building the Circum-Gaea Highway, in return for which she gets some of the benefits Cirocco enjoys, including apparently perpetual youth. Cirocco has become an alcoholic, apparently due to the strain of being the Wizard. Wizard takes place in 2100, seventy-five years after the events in Titan. It was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1981. It is the second book in his Gaea Trilogy. Wizard is a 1980 science fiction novel by American writer John Varley.

Wizard by john varley