Electronic OtherRealms #26 Winter, 1990 Part 7 of 8 Copyright 1990 by Chuq Von Rospach All Rights Reserved. OtherRealms may be distributed electronically only in the original form and with copyrights, credits and return addresses intact. OtherRealms may be reproduced in printed form only for your personal use. No part of OtherRealms may be reprinted or used in any other publication without permission of the author. All rights to material published in OtherRealms hereby revert to the author. Words of Wizdom Reviews by Chuq Von Rospach Copyright 1990 by Chuq Von Rospach Good News from Outer Space John Kessel Tor, August, 1989, 402pp, $18.95, 0-312-93178-6. Good News from Outer Space is a good book that's hard to discuss. In the near future, the country has devolved into a stagnant, dystopic shadow of current life. The U.S. has become a police state, with travel restricted, goods in short supply and the network information services spewing forth a high-tech version of the National Enquirer for the high-tech version of the semi-literate. But is it? Or is it space aliens? George Eberhart is a reporter for HCR, one of the nations top sleaze-rags. He's also a Zombie, a suicide who has been illegally brought back to life. He stumbles onto a pattern inside the chaos that is ripping the country apart as it approaches the millennium. What else could it be but someone from space moving the earth along to Armageddon? Is this really happening? Is this the ravings of an insane man? Both? Kessel's book has a rather frenetic, multi-threaded structure where lots of different, seemingly unrelated things are all happening in different places at the same time. I found the book occasionally confusing, sometimes frustrating and mostly engrossing. It's not an easy read, but I place it close to Dan Simmons' Phases of Gravity as one of the important books of 1989. It'll drive as many people crazy as it does entertain. [****] Redshift Rendezvous John E. Stith Ace, June, 1990, $3.50, 0-441-71145-6, 250pp John Stith has set himself a difficult task: to integrate the worlds of SF with the the mystery. He did this successfully with Deep Quarry, where a hard boiled detective has to solve a series of thefts on a remote planet. His new book, Redshift Rendezvous is both hard SF and action/suspense. The acid test for a cross-genre work is to ask yourself if you could write the same story after removing one or the other of the genres. In Redshift's case, the answer is a strong no. Take out the science fiction and the story is impossible; take out the suspense and the story falls apart. Jason Kraft is first officer of the ship Redshift, which takes advantage of the ability to change the speed of light to travel between the stars. On one trip nasty things begin to happen: a passenger apparently commits suicide, a crewman disappears. While investigating this, the ship is taken over by a group of people who want to use it to raid the treasury of a very rich planet. Even that, though, is just the setup for the serious problems Stith writes into the book. The book's main flaw is that it suffers from a case of superhero protagonist complex. Jason is written in a mythic form. He's a superman, always in the right place at the right time. Also, because Jason is written to be so perfect, the rest of the cast seems to sit around waiting for Jason to do all the work. This will drive some readers crazy, but Stith is in good company -- Redshift Rendezvous reads very much like the Gil Hamilton stories by Larry Niven and should be considered required reading by anyone who enjoyed them. [****] The Compleat Traveller in Black John Brunner Collier, $3.95, 0-02-3-720-9. The new Collier Nucleus series of classic reprints answered one long quest of mine -- to finally get my hands on John Brunner's Traveller in Black stories. The Traveller in Black, a man with many names but a single nature, is a being put in place to help turn the tide from chaos to logic. He does nothing more but grant the wishes of those he meets -- reminding us that what we wish for and what we desire are many times very different. What's fascinating about the stories is that little really happens -- and it happens in such a fascinating way that you don't really notice that not a whole lot is happening. The writing and story are so intriguing that it just draws you in and carries you along. It's a fascinating concept, wonderfully written and truly a pleasant way to spend a day or two. Highly recommended [*****] The World Beyond the Hill: Science Fiction and the Quest for Transcendence Alexei and Cory Panshin Tarcher, 685pp, $29.95, 0-87477-436-5. In The World Beyond the Hill, the Panshins have taken a close look at the field of SF. Noted critics for many years, this time they take a step back and help us try to understand what SF is, where it came from and where it's going. This book isn't as critically rigorous as some of their other works, but instead is more personal and introspective, giving up the objective critical viewpoint for a more intense, subjectively persuasive one. It covers much the same time period (Frankenstein to current day) as Brian Aldiss' Trillion Year Spree, but is both less complete and more satisfying. The Panshins don't try to rationalize their point of views: this is what they believe, and you can agree or disagree. Much of the time, you'll probably agree. Either way, you'll learn a lot about the field and the people in it. Highly recommended [****] Grumbles from the Grave edited by Virginia Heinlein Del Rey, 274pp, $19.95, 0-345-36246-2 Grumbles from the Grave is a posthumous collection of some of Robert Heinlein's letters, edited by his wife Virginia. This is a book for Heinlein-ophiles, of which I happily declare myself. And yet. And yet. Much as it was a pleasure to spend a few evenings with the Grand Old Man, I came away with mixed feelings. There is a lot of Heinlein here, but not the pieces I really wanted. I really wanted someone to do for Heinlein what Chapdelaine did for John Campbell -- and that is not this book. This is an appetizer, and I'm still hungry. I want to see more of Heinlein's material made available, as complete and uncensored as possible. I also, selfishly, want to see someone do a biography of the Heinleins -- not just Robert, but Ginny, too. I've learned just enough to realize that you can't learn what you need to know by studying Robert; because the picture is incomplete. I'm being selfish here. I learned much about the field from the writing's of Robert Heinlein (and not a little about life in general). I have much left to learn from him. Heinlein is not someone who should pass quietly from view. [***+] Borders of Infinity Lois McMaster Bujold Baen, $3.95, 0-671-69841-9. Bujold has written another book of stories about Miles Vorkosigan, Heir to the throne, Officer in the Imperial Navy and Supreme Commander of a mercenary fleet that also happens to be a secret arm of the first two organizations. He is, on top of that, a dwarf in a society that is fighting to break itself free of a reign of genetic murders, where those that are 'different' are killed to protect the gene pool. Vorkosigan's purpose in life is to get deep in trouble and then figure out some way out. Borders of Infinity is not a novel -- it contains three novellas with a very weak bridge attempting to tie them together. Two of them appeared in Analog and the third in the anthology Freelancers so they may seem familiar to some. Despite that, this series is a lot of fun and an enjoyable way to spend a couple of evenings. [***+] The Boat of a Million Years Poul Anderson Tor, 466pp, $19.95, 0-312-93199-9. Gads, what a frustrating book The Boat of a Million Years was. The first major SF work by Poul Anderson in years, and it came *this* close to pulling it off. It's the story of a small group of humans who are, by some quirk of fate, immortal. They can be killed, but they will not die. The first two thirds of the book is a lovingly crafted, emotionally powerful trip through human history, carefully researched and wonderfully presented. You really get to know these people and learn to care for them -- and at the same time get a free trip through humanity's past that is intriguing, enlightening and engrossing. Unfortunately, the rest of the book doesn't hold up. There's a relatively short bridge section during 'today' that bogs down with a massive pot of message about societies ills and how to fix them. I don't mind being fed a political view, but I much prefer a spoon to a fire hose. Following this bridge, the final third of the book is set in the future and Anderson gives us society as the pot full of message would have it be, ending up in a sterile, machine-run dystopia that's lifeless and unpleasant. Our immortals then build a space ship and head off to parts unknown, meet some aliens, argue with each other, and end up doing a bunch of things that I felt were arbitrary (and, ultimately, meaningless) until they faded away off the last page with nothing significant resolved. They came, they watched society fall apart, they left, they dinked around. End of book. It's as if you took one of Quinn Yarbro's St. Germain books and then stuck part of Robert Forward's Flight of the Dragonfly on the end. The two had very little to do with each other and the latter part simply meant that by the time I was done, all of the enjoyment and thrill I'd had reading the book had dissipated, leaving a slightly sour taste in my mouth and a wish for the kind of book this could have been, rather than the one I got. It is not, by any means, a bad book -- just not the book it should be. [***-] Short Takes: Knight of Shadows Roger Zelazny Morrow, $14.95, 0-668-08726-4. The fourth book in the second Amber trilogy continues the story begun so far, answering some questions and raising others. When you get down to basics, Amber is a soap opera, with a bunch of people who don't like each other stuck together in ways that will generate actions. It's a good romp, enjoyable mind candy, and I'm going to look forward to reading it as long as Zelazny continues to write Amber books that he seems to be interested in writing. The one really cute twist here is when you realize that the long-term fight between Amber and Chaos over domination of everything is really only one skirmish in an even bigger battle. [***+] Soldier of Arete Gene Wolfe Tor, 354pp, $17.95, 0-312-93185-9 Soldier of Arete is the sequel to Soldier of the Mists, a continuation of the story of Latro, a man touched by gods who loses his memory every day, forcing him to write everything down so he can remember what he is. I don't think Gene Wolfe is capable of writing a bad book, but Solder of Arete left me somewhat disappointing. It's the middle book of a series and suffered somewhat from the stagnation that happens when a book is a bridge between a beginning and an end. Another thing that bothered me in Arete was that the gods, who were there but offstage start taking active roles, and I preferred the story when they were maybe there and maybe not (just like our gods) and not facts of life -- it shifted the book from it's historical aspects to it's fantastical aspects, and I think it weakened the impact significantly. [***] Blood of the Impaler Jeffrey Sackett Bantam, $3.95, 0-553-28183-6. I'm a sucker for vampire stories. I love them. Blood of the Impaler is, according to the material, a sequel to Bram Stoker's classic Dracula. Sackett has done a lot of research and thought about vampires and Stoker's version, but the story is disappointing and never gels. It didn't even have to be a sequel, really -- any vampire could have done as well as the Count. It could have been much more, and should have if it wanted to hold its own against the book it's trying to follow. As it is, I found myself wishing I'd spent the time reading the original again. [**-] No Prisoners! Reviews by Laurie Sefton Copyright 1990 by Laurie Sefton Here's another axiom for the file: There is no one correct interpretation of a mythical entity. Why is this important? How many books have you read lately that have had cute elves, doughty dwarves, standard issue dragons, and casting central trolls? Gets to be a bit of a bore, doesn't it? Besides, you've already got a good idea who is going to have which character traits (how Jungian!) and a pretty good idea who is going to be alive at the end of the story. What is much more interesting is when a writer makes a major twist on a archetype; turning a cliche into a new and fresh idea. Let's look at elves. To the Tolkien emulators, elves are outrageously beautiful, exceptionally good (except for those who are exceptionally bad), and morally superior. These attributes tend to be taken out to the nth degree, where they approach a rather sticky self-parody. Alamut [****+] Judith Tarr Foundation, 1989, 470 pp, $8.95 Alamut explodes these notions. Alamut is in the same universe as her Hound and Falcon trilogy, which dealt with the elven folk in the late 12th century. Tarr's elves are immortal, and that is as close as they come to the stereotype. Prince Aidan can be cold, merciless, and at times amoral. Morgiana, the other 'elf', is a half-wild assassin for the local warlord. Both are immersed in the cold loneliness that being an immortal in a mortal world can bring. There isn't any magic in this story, in the usual spellcasting sense. The elves are all gifted with certain abilities; shapechanging, telepathy, and teleportation. But none of these are preceded by any beseeching or calling of higher powers. In fact, the story itself could have been written with mortal characters, but it is the immortality of Aidan and Morgiana that provides a focus. While Aidan is searches for his nephew's killer, his interactions with his mortal relatives define who he is and why he is. Morgiana's few moments of peace with her friends sharpens the sting of the isolation she has from humanity. Alamut can be read on the surface as a historical fantasy, but the search and discovery of two unique individuals is what makes Alamut one of the best I've read this year. Strands of Starlight [***+] Gael Baudino Signet, 1989, 371 pp, $4.50 Strands of Starlight is a closer interpretation of classic elves that Alamut. Baudino, however, doesn't fall into the trap of making the elves either Sidhe-like or diabetes-inducing. The elves are more of a example of what humans could be, if they really tried, and that is one of the main themes of the story. In the broadest sense, the story deals with Miriam, a human with healing powers, and her revenge on those who beat and raped her. Miriam finds a group of elves after the last time she is tortured. The elves represent everything that is good, and the humans who come into contact with them--well, it seems to wear off. Miriam asks the help of the elves in her revenge, and the help she is granted is a double-edged gift. Miriam is brought to see humanity in a different light, but not without retaining the ability to exact vengeance. The elves do know how to wrest payment for transgressions. If there is any fault with the book, it's that it appears that the author's politics come peeking through. There weren't any evil women to balance the evil men in the story. The women tended to either be victims, future victims, or the antithesis of a stereotypical brutish man. The men in power are nasty to the degree that they become stereotypical; sometimes it seems that most of the men in the 14th century were entirely occupied with who they would next rape. And one small puzzlement; the elves in Strands of Starlight foresee a future where the elven folk will come back; namely 20th century Colorado. This refers to a short story by Baudino that appeared in 1985. Does this mean we'll see an update to the story, or possibly a full novel? I hope it does. Having left elves behind, let's look at intelligent, telepathic, non-humanoid entities. Or "the animals know what we're thinking." I looked it up in my Thesaurus, and telepathy has nothing to do with morality. Grass [*****] Sherri S. Tepper Foundation,1989,426 pp, $18.95 The animals in Sheri S. Tepper's Grass certainly haven't made the connection. In fact, a large subset of them have managed to enslave the nobility of the planet Grass, and the most interesting part is that the nobility doesn't know. They think that the "mounts" and "hounds" appeared for their convenience, so they could renew the hunt. Tepper addresses a number of societal stereotypes in this story; from the overweaning nobility, who are so blinded by their alleged superiority that they don't realize that they are being used as cannon fodder by the telepaths; to the Catholic church and its role in keeping societal stratification; to the existence of a theocracy and its incipient rot. And yes, there are some good telepaths to balance out the evil, but they aren't romping out of the woods to serve humanity either. Tepper's heroine, Marjorie Westriding Yrarier, is a strong, self-reliant character who only needed to free herself from her doubts, and the reinforcement of her captivity by societal mores. Her move to independence mirrors the unraveling of the horrible secret on Grass. Tepper also provides the best scenes I have read; after the heroine saves the known universe, she is patted on the head by her confessor, essentially told that it's good she got all this out of her system, and now would she please go back to her sneering adulterer of a husband, like a good little wife. You can guess what the answer is. The Renegades of Pern [***+] Anne McCaffrey Del Rey, 1989, 384 pp $19.95 Renegades of Pern is the latest in the Pern series by Anne McCaffrey. I have found that either you love these stories or hate them. I happen to find them delightful. In Renegades, McCaffrey takes a look at the holdless population of Pern, mostly itinerant workers and tradesmen, who don't belong to any Hold. Many of these are descendents of the original Gypsies who came to Pern, as chronicled in Dragonsdawn. Others have been thrown out of the Hold for one infraction or another. None are protected when the threadfall begins. While the story is supposed to be about Aramina, a traveler who can talk to all the dragons, it actually weaves in and out of a number of plots. Among these are the story of Thella, whose motivation was to not be a mere wife of a holder, but a holder herself. Losing her unprotected hold in Threadfall, she turns criminal. This is interwoven with the discoveries in the south continent, and the people of Pern starting to realize who they are and who their ancestors were. The scene of Master Harper Robinton querying the voice-activated computer in one of the abandoned ships is priceless. There are a few flaws in the book, mainly due to what appears to be sloppy copy editing. Scenes and descriptions change slightly from one chapter to the next. However, Renegades is an excellent addition to the Pern collection. Imperial Lady [****+] Andre Norton & Susan Shwartz Tor, 1989, 293pp $17.95 Imperial Lady doesn't have a telepathic animal in it per se, unless you count a fox woman who appears throughout the story. There is enough magic and suspense, however, to keep you occupied. Norton and Shwartz have set this tale in Han dynasty China and what is now Mongolia. I like the idea of using imperial China for a background; most of western Europe has been explored, and China has equally, if not greater, areas and folklore to explore. While there are motifs and legends with a common base, there is a freshness in the interpretation. Imperial Lady's heroine Silver Snow has a lot in common with Tepper's heroine. Both are strong women who have been shackled by their culture's restraints. Silver Snow doesn't have to leave earth to find her destiny, though. She is offered as a peace bargaining chip by the Chinese emperor to a Mongol tribal leader. There is the usual conflict between the tribal members and what they at first perceive as a too finely bred Chinese noblewoman. This is overshadowed quickly by the raw jealousy of the tribal Shamaness for Silver Snow. Silver Snow's dealings with the Shamaness as well as the others in the tribe are fascinating. Silver Snow is smart, resourceful, and casts off prejudices as she learns the truth. Imperial Lady is a superb adventure. OtherRealms back issues available through TAFF only TAFF (The Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund) is having a benefit sale of fanzines and other items. To get the list of available items, send a SASE with $.45 in postage or an IRC to Robert Lichtman, P.O. Box 30, Glen Ellen, CA 95442. I mention this because TAFF is the only source for back issues of OtherRealms. He currently has the following issues: 14, 15, 19, 20 and 22. They're $3.00 each (and add $1.00 per order for postage). He will also soon have a very few of #24 and #25. The Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund is an organization that raises money to help send fans (chosen by open election) from the U.S. overseas to the U.K (and vice versa) to visit a major convention, generally exchange cultures and come back and write fanzines about the experiences. It is one of the ways fandom tries to open up its doors and explore other cultures, and is well worth supporting. All OtherRealms back issues get donated to TAFF. An International SF Convention On the Volga Volgograd, USSR, September 8-14, 1991 SF Club "The Wind of Time" and the Youth Association ATOM announce the establishing of the "Volga-con" Organizing Committee. Volga-Con has in store for you: o Seven unforgettable days on the Volga. o Meeting old and new friends. Conversations from morning till night and all night long. o Talks, discussions, lectures and meetings with Cyberpunks on the Volga The Young Wave in the Soviet SF The Concise History of the Soviet SF and Fandom o A mini-con for SF Clubs of the Volga Region o Various Poetry Rounds, Folk-song performances, Story-telling contests, SF Stories Competition, an Auction and a Fancy-Dress Ball with a great Universe Banquet to crown it all. We are inviting 300 official guests to the Volga-Con, including Guests of Honour from many lands. We also welcome SF fans, writers, painters, critics, journalists, editors and publishers -- all people who love SF and Fantasy. We do believe that your participation will make the Volga-con brighter and more fascinating. Please, do not hesitate to contact us for further information. Our address for applications and inquiries is: Boris A. Zavgorodny Volgograd-66, Poste Restante, USSR, Volga-con Phones: 34-74-62, 34-74-64, 34-44-09, 34-86-56 ------ End ------