Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #15 June 2015 | Page 52

little interest in rebuilding civilisation. Significantly,
the Eternals do not have full control over their technology—specifically, the Tabernacle and the cloning
process that keeps
them locked in
an unending
existence. Boorman presents the
Vortex as a place
where technology
is a trap, having
drained humanity
of vitality.
The lack of technology, as seen in
the wastelands,
may make for
a more “vital”
world, but it is
not a desirable
one. The Brutals
live in primitive
squalor, reduced
to a hunter-gatherer existence.
The use of all but
the most basic
technology has
ended. Even
the clothing the
Brutals wear
appears to have
been scavenged
from the ruins.
There appears to
be an ingrained
Luddism at work,
an indication of
another form of
cultural stasis.
When Frayn/Zardoz reintroduces primitive agriculture—using the Brutals to grow food for the Vortices
with the Exterminators as overseers—the idea is so
disturbing to Zed, that it prompts him to begin to
question his faith.

“Sexuality declined probably because we no longer
needed to procreate. Eternals soon discovered that
erection was impossible to achieve. And we are no
longer victims
of this violent, convulsive act which
so debased
women and
betrayed
men.” Consuella
Boorman
presents
starkly drawn
masculine
and feminine
worlds. The
former are the
Outlands, the
wastes that
are inhabited
by Brutals
and Exterminators. Zed
and his brotherhood live
what they see
as a pure male
experience.
They kill for
their god,
Zardoz. They
eat only meat
from animals
they hunt; at
one point Zed
is dismissive
of the idea of
growing food
or eating bread. Women exist only for reproduction.
In the world of the Eternals, by contrast, women are
dominant. Although ostensibly egalitarian, most of the
characters shown exercising power are female. Only
Friend is fleshed out, and he is a rebel who hates the

52