Reviews

Fast Forward 2: Best of the Year

In the just-released December issue of Locus, Gardner Dozois breaks down 2008’s best sf anthologies in his column, “Gardnerspace”.

“This has been an almost unprecedented year for the number of first-rate original SF anthologies published, at least since the heyday of Orbit, New Dimensions, and Universe in the ’70’s. …I’d have to say that the three strongest original SF anthologies of the year were Lou Anders’ Fast Forward 2,Jonathan Strahan’s Eclipse 2, and Strahan’s The Starry Rift…. Of these, I think I’d give a very slight edge to Fast Forward 2.

Meanwhile, at Strange Horizons, Alvaro Zinos-Amaro writes:

Fast Forward 2 proves itself that rare beast among anthologies of the imagination: one whose content actually provides a materialization of its own theoretical blueprint.”

Lots of nice things said about each of the individual stories. And (I must add) a very well-written review too, with paragraphs like:

Catherine Drew” by Paul Cornell is wildly inventive. Its Hero, Hamilton, speaks in a way (“‘You’ve got a problem, Miss Drewe,’ he said”) that captures the essence of this alternate-history spy thriller in a British Empire-dominated future. The plot, propelled not so much by a single McGuffin as by a combustible gas of intelligent deceptions and counter-deceptions, makes as much sense as it needs to:

‘Is that the mission, sir?’
‘No. We’ve created and are ready to plant chaotic information of an unbreakable nature strongly suggesting that this has already happened…’ (p. 22)

The alternate history milieu expertly justifies not only the background but the feel of the world that Cornell creates, yet is never so startling as to prove distracting from Hamilton’s exploits. Shaken, not stirred? More like vacuum-decompressed.

And then, in a final summation about the purpose of SF:

“What it should do, above all else, is tell stories well, so well that they cannot be disregarded, so well that they cannot but be taken seriously. Fortunately for us, Fast Forward 2 arrives with gifts that do just that. May it be followed by plenty of equally riveting and well-produced sequels.”

What a nice start to my Monday.

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Gonzo Alternate History in Fast Forward 2

The November 2008 issue of Locus has a review of Fast Forward 2by Rich Horton. He calls it “a fine anthology – one of several in what’s shaping up to be a remarkable year for original anthologies.” But I’m even more excited by his reaction to one story in particular, as the story in question has really set me on fire. So I’m thrilled when Rich writes:

“Another politically charged piece may be the best story here – the opener, Paul Cornell’s ‘Catherine Drewe’. This is an alternate history, a bit gonzo, about an English spy charged with taking out the title woman, an Irishwoman who seems to be helping the Russians as they try to dominate Mars. I’ve failed to convey the interest in the steampunkish tech displayed, as well as the bitter political realism at the center of the story.”

And, as you may recall, “Catherine Drewe” is available in its entirety on our new Sample Chapters page. Just go there and click on the link to Fast Forward 2 in the right hand margin.
Meanwhile, I expect we’ll hear a lot more about Paul Cornell in the near future.

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Give Your Soul a Good Scrubbin’

John Ottinger III, of Grasping for the Wind, on Robert Silverber’s Son of Man:

“I cannot recommend this book. That is not because it is not well-written … nor because it doesn’t dive deep into trying to understand the who and what of humankind. That fundamental question is the very thing we want from a good science fiction story. I do not recommend it simply because I have moral objections to the story’s graphic and over sexualized content. This book made me feel….dirty, as if my soul needed a good scrub. I therefore cannot recommend it to you.”

Now that’s a review!
No, Silverberg’s psychedelic odyssey of a tantric messiah certainly isn’t for everyone. But it is a masterpiece, and one of my personal favorite SF works of all time.

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The Martian General’s Daughter: Impressive!

Science Fiction and Fact Concatenation on Theodore Judson’s The Martian General’s Daughter:

This is a very entertaining novel, both amusing and intelligent with excellent prose and endearing characters. The ‘Golden-Age’ feel is both set-up and enhanced by the lovely cover illustration by Sparth. This is a fairly short book (by modern standards) and would be easily gulped down in a single sitting but, by the same token, would also recommend itself for re-reading. Either way it is an impressive addition to Pyr’s list and, like many another title, bodes well for their future output. Recommended.

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A Host of Pyr Reviews & a Podcast!

Okay, playing mad catch-up:

A podcast with Joe Abercrombie on the Dragon Page. Their description: “This week, Mike, Summer and Mike talk with Joe Abercrombie about Last Argument of Kings,the third book in The First Law Trilogy. We talk about the characters and the more contemporary feel of their speech, the more intimate nature of relationships and intrigues, and about how the buzz about these stories surround the writing style of the battle scenes.”

Meanwhile, Patrick Rothfus, he of The Name of the Wind,raves about Joe Abercrombie (and Brandon Sanderson) on his blog: “The books are good, really good. They pulled me in. Well-developed world. Unique, compelling characters. I like them so much that when I got to the end of the second book and found out the third book wasn’t going to be out in the US for another three months. I experienced a fit of rage, then a fit of depression, then I ate some lunch and had a bit of a lay down… I will also say this. This isn’t some cookie-cutter fantasy. It’s refreshingly realistic, but also very gritty and dark. It might even be fair to call it grim. You have been warned.” Of course, I should point out, the books are all three available in the US now…

Discover Magazine on Fast Forward 2: “It’s a great collection, with a good mix of stories ranging from hard science fiction to near magic realism. Stand outs for me included ‘True Names,’ a novella by Doctorow and Benjamin Rosenbaum set in a post-post-post-human universe, and ‘An Eligible Boy,’ written by Ian McDonald, that takes place in the mid-21st century India that McDonald has used as the backdrop for his 2004 book River of Gods.” Our friend and frequent commentator Rene also has a nice review on her blog, Little Bits of Everything: “This is a fantastic anthology that I look forward to rereading. I sincerely hope that Fast Forward becomes an annual anthology; the first two volumes are incredibly strong.”

Over at Adventures in Reading, Joe Sherry reviews Mike Resnick’s Starship: Mercenary. I was struck by a particular comparison he made – “This may be an odd comparison given the length and success of Mike Resnick’s career, but Starship: Mercenary is a fun military science fiction novel that fans of John Scalzi’s work will want to jump right into. There is a certain comparison and similarity in style.” This struck me because I read the manuscript for Mercenary within a month of The Last Colony and thought the same thing.

Also a positive review of Stalking the Vampire at Monsters & Critics: “…features offbeat humor, amusing dialog and a zany cast of characters that is sure to entertain the most jaded sci-fi fan and spark plenty of interest in an emerging series.”

And here Intercontinental Ballistic Discourse discusses a host of Mike Resnick works, including the extant Starship series: “I’ve got to say: wow! The characters are engaging, the story is fast and entertaining, and the plots are believable. My favorite form of science fiction is loosly described as military science fiction, or sci-fi that takes place around a starcraft or some form of governmental space navy and this series started off that way and branched out to something even more.”

Whew!

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Joe Abercrombie Speaks (again)!

Joe Abercrombie is interviewed by Andrew Brooks on SFRevu,
wherein he says many things about the just-released Last Argument of Kings, and the trilogy it completes, including:

I read a lot of history, and my observation has been that failures, mistakes, and idiocy are frequently much more important in the course of events than successes. I hadn’t seen that much failure and stupidity in fantasy so I was keen to redress the balance. I wanted my characters grimy, flawed, and difficult, as I have observed real people generally to be, so it made sense that my mismatched group of champions should mostly despise each other throughout. A couple learn grudging respect for one member of the team or another, but in the main they hate each other just as much at the end as they did to begin with.

John Berlyne also reviews the book for the site, and says, “The First Law is, I strongly believe, a seminal work of modern fantasy. It is a benchmark sequence that should be regarded as an example of all that is truly great in today’s genre fiction. It stands way above the vast majority of the marketplace, tainted as so many fantasy works are with the lofty and portentous myth cycles bequeathed to us by Tolkien. Instead, Abercombie’s work reflects today’s harsher world within its pages. This is fantasy come of age, a tale for a modern generation, a story for the selfish — for a harder, more self-aware audience, for people who live in today’s litigious, cynical, unforgiving society. You know who you are! Very highly recommended.”

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Two out of Two Anders Agree: MultiReal is Brilliant

In an earlier post, Mark Chadbourn asks “Should Scientists Forget Space?”, citing an article on the UK’s former Chief Scientist, Sir David King, who says that we are in need of a “re-think of priorities in science and technology and a redrawing of our society’s inner attitudes towards science and technology.” Sir King wants us to forgo experiments in space and in CERN in favor of addressing more immediate concerns at him. I’ve already given my opinion in the comments of Mark’s post, but it’s interesting to me to contrast it here with Charlie Jane Anders’ io9.com review of David Louis Edelman’s Infoquakeand MultiReal(books one and two of his Jump 225 trilogy).

Charlie Jane beings the review, which is titled “MultiReal is your antidote to science-bashing scifi,” by saying, “With so much mass-media science fiction featuring anti-science heroes who battle to stop science from “going too far,” it’s great to read a really smart novel about a hero who’s fighting to save scientific progress from being suppressed.” She characterizes the books as being “about the nature of technological progress” and says, “Where MultiReal really shines, however, is in the debates over the ethics of this reality-twisting software. There really is no right answer to the question of how society should deal with software that ‘liberates you from cause and effect,’ and the sequence where Natch’s mentor debates the government’s attorneys is easily my favorite part of both books. It’s a complex issue, and Edelman draws it out enough that you can see how it applies to today’s real-life challenges: should we try to suppress new technologies, should we regulate them heavily? Is it possible to suppress new knowledge after all? Does information really want to be free? It’s a lot more nuanced than the ‘science iz scary OMG’ idea that seems to be popular in media SF right now.

Now, with the understanding that I am generalizing horribly, I think that traditionally a majority of filmic sci-fi is concerned with maintaining the status quo and getting the genies back in the bottles. Something is developed, approaching, on the loose – and its up to the protagonists to stop it. An asteroid is going to hit the earth, aliens are invading, a man has turned himself invisible and is running amok – how do we divert it, repel them, contain him… In other words, there is a threat to consensus reality and by the end of the film or television show, it’s been dealt with and nicely put away. Go on with your lives. Nothing to worry about here.

By contrast, literary science fiction is often set after such an event has already happened, sometimes a good deal after, and throws us in medias res into a world in which part of the fun of the narrative is working out how the world in the tale differs from the world we know and part of the theme lies in examining how these changes act as a lens to illuminate some aspect of humanity that we take for granted. So, an asteroid hit the earth and killed everyone over 18, how do the survivors cope? Aliens invaded and are now our overlords – would you let one date your sister? 1/3 of the population is invisible, what new class of people do they form? The intrusion isn’t repelled, it’s part and parcel of the way things are now going forward. I find this the more honest approach, and underscores on of science fiction’s strengths as the genre that embraces the reality and inevitability of change.

There are, of course, examples of both approaches in both mediums. In fact, one of the (many) failures of The Matrix trilogy is that it began from what I’m calling a more literary position of science fiction and transitioned to the filmic. At the end of the first movie, Neo promises to hang up the phone and, “then I’m going to show these people what you don’t want them to see. I’m going to show them a world … without you. A world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible.” The goal of the protagonists isn’t to preserve consensual reality, but to destroy it, by ushering in a world where anyone can do the things he can. But instead of this, the subsequent films shift the emphasis radically away from the Matrix (which is never anything more than a set for agents and rebels to play in henceforth) to saving Zion and restoring the status quo of balance between machine and rebel. We never actually deal with another person who still believes in/is imprisoned by the Matrix’s view of reality – and the battle that is fought is all about getting things back to the way they were in the first film. I don’t know why this is, though the best explanation I’ve heard is that 9/11 occurred between the first and second films, forcing Warner to rethink the wisdom of making two more movies staring a group of admitted terrorists out to destroy 1999. (In some ways, V for Vendetta – which was released as public opinion was beginning to change re: the current war and Bush’s approval ratings were dipping, and questioning him was no longer being seen as being unpatriotic – is the film the Wachowski’s should have made out of Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions and didn’t/couldn’t at the time). But I digress…

To bring this back to the Jump 225 trilogy: What I personally love about Edelman is that he sets his story not before (and up to the point) of the radical transformation, nor after (and at a comfortable distance from) the transformation, but that he is actually charting the course through the societal singularity, showing how all the institutions of government, business, and society rearrange, realign, and topple. To an extent, Charlie Stross did this with his brilliant and essential Accelerando (though he moves his action off-world for a good deal of it – which is no criticism, it’s a different animal), but I’ve never personally encountered a work that did such a thorough job and concentrated so much of its focus in taking us through the shift point between paradigms. I think that’s why so many readers say that the future Edelman presents is a “believable” one, and why I think, though he mixes and matches tropes we’ve seen before, his approach is so unique.

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Got MultiReal?

From Rob’s Blog o’Stuff: “I posted my review of MultiRealtoday, the second (wonderful) novel in David Louis Edelman’s excellent Jump 225 trilogy. I know I tend to throw around the superlatives when I like something, but I try to be genuine with what I like. David’s novels are no exception…His books really work for me on a lot of levels…Where does MultiReal stand in this year’s slew of [SF] book releases? At this point it’s right at the top with Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother.”

From POD People, TCM Reviews, July 21, 2008: “Pyr is a new, up-and-coming science fiction press, and David Louis Edelman is one of their hot new stars…[MultiReal] is full of Big Ideas, in the best tradition of science fiction…Edelman is a programmer in real life, and his understanding of the process informs the book. Multireal is a deep book, full of plots and counter-plots, with a stunning vision of the future. It manages what seems to be impossible, making the act of computer programming exciting, while reflecting on the nature of government and business. This is high science fiction at its finest. RATING 10/10

‘Nuff said.

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MultiReal: Resonates With Past Classics

This Sci Fi Weekly review of David Louis Edelman’s MultiReal,written by the uber-knowledgeable Paul Di Filippo, (whose group blog Weird Universe just launched, btw), not only gives the book an A grade, but name checks a host of science fiction greats. Di Filippo suggests that MultiReal fits in nicely with the works of such giants as A.E. van Vogt, Robert Heinlein, John Brunner, Frank Herbert, Norman Spinrad, Bruce Sterling, Charles Stross, Cory Doctorow, Greg Egan and Alfred Bester. As he says, “The strongest overall vibe I get is that of Alfred Bester…Bester is much admired verbally, but very few authors really try to emulate him in print—he set the bar so high—and Edelman’s success is commensurate with his ambitions.”

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