THE MAN WITH SIX SENSES / AUTHOR: MURIEL JAEGER / PUBLISHER: BRITISH LIBRARY / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
Following the re-release of The Question Mark by the British Library, its Science Fiction Classics brand has now re-released a second novel from author Muriel Jaeger: The Man with Six Senses. Originally published in 1927, it was a book that weaved together science fiction and romance at a time when science fiction was not as established and revered as it is today.
The Man with Six Senses focuses around the relationship between Hilda and Michael. Michael is unlike any other man she has met as he has the ability to perceive the world’s energy unlike anyone else. However, the more she encourages this extrasensory gift, and how it may benefit the world, the more it slowly destroys Michael from within. Will Hilda make the right choice to help Michael or deprive the world of a gift that could change the course of history?
The Man with Six Senses is a standout piece in the context of sci-fi history. The primary narrative of this story is the relationship between Hilda and Michael; its development throughout the novel was unlike anything else at the time as the science fiction almost takes a backseat; it highlights the mundane and familiar between the character’s relationship within extraordinary circumstances which has become a regular trait amongst some sci-fi pieces. Also, similarly to her peer H.G. Wells, Jaegar offers jabs at the class-ridden world (which was 1920s Britain) and how it responds to a man who will always be more powerful than the elites despite having no money or influence.
However, with some potentially profound ideas to explore, it lets itself down by the use of a third-party narrator who is completely detached from the story between these two characters so it detaches from emotion and attachment that you may have for these characters.
The Man With Six Senses is worth exploring for the cross-genre plot that was very ahead of its time but the detachment in how the story is told can be frustrating for the reader.
