SF Signal: REVIEW: A Thousand Deaths by George Alec Effinger

REVIEW: A Thousand Deaths by George Alec Effinger

REVIEW SUMMARY: More good reading from Effinger.

MY RATING:

BRIEF SYNOPSIS: A collection comprised of the novel The Wolves of Memory and seven stories. In the novel, Courane is unceremoniously exiled to a struggling colony planet by the somewhat flighty TECT computer.

MY REVIEW:
PROS: Effinger's writing style and storytelling; semi-autobiographical character lends the stories some poignancy and weight. Non-sequitur narrative made it more interesting.
CONS: The stories never quite reach the level of the novel.
BOTTOM LINE: An important collection, if only because the long-out-of-print novel deserves some notice.

I first discovered George Alec Effinger's work in 2005 when I read the hugely enjoyable When Gravity Fails. This was the first book in his cyberpunk Marîd Audran series which was followed up with the also-excellent A Fire in the Sun and the good-but-not-great The Exile Kiss. No matter what the final impression of those books, one thing stood out: Effinger's writing style.

I wanted more and the recent Golden Gryphon Press publication of the Effinger collection, A Thousand Deaths, was the perfect opportunity to get me some. The book consists of the full novel The Wolves of Memory and seven stories featuring its protagonist Sandor Courane. There is also a fine introduction by Mike Resnick, a poignant afterword by Anderew Fox (see also: Fox's online essay, Remembering George Alec Effinger), and the whole thing is wrapped in a beautiful cover by the über-talented John Picacio.

The Wolves of Memory - which Effinger cited as his personal favorite of his novels - was very good and is the cornerstone of the collection. It briefly features a slightly dystopian Earth in which the governing of mankind has been slowly handed over to the all-knowing computer called TECT, who now rules to its apparent whimsy. TECT decides that Sandor Courane, who has failed at the three jobs randomly assigned to him by TECT, is to be punished for his inability to succeed by "excarcerating" him to Planet D in the Epsilon Eridani system or, as its residents call it, Home. The residents of Home, being the small community they are, must learn to be self-sufficient to survive. This is their rehabilitation as determined by the all-knowing, infallible TECT. But when the residents - including Courane - become afflicted with a fatal disease that initially causes a progressive loss of memory, their rehabilitation might turn out to be a death sentence.

Effinger's skillful, non-sequitur narrative tells the interesting story in scenes that are discontinuous but easily followed. The two-second gist of the story is Man vs. Machine, but that omits the story's richness. TECT is not your average computer. His responses go from emotionless to passive-aggressive to downright hostile, and there's not much the people of Planet D can do; TECT is their only gateway to Earth. Courane must determine whether TECT knew about the disease and/or is somehow trying to stir rebellion. Or maybe TECT has been pulling the strings all along? Solving these mysteries is the thrust of Courane's new life. This becomes more difficult as Courane loses his memories. Even so, it seemed to take a long time for him and others to realize that the disease was related to their being on the planet. Or do they just assume that TECT has brought them together because the already shared the same disease? Thanks to Effinger's enjoyable style and storytelling techniques, finding the answers to these questions is a treat.

The seven Courane stories chosen for the collection are only marginally connected, plot-wise, with The Wolves of Memory and ultimately they never quite reach the level of the novel that precedes them. In them, Sandor Courane is used as a fictional cast-off character who, as hinted at by the collection's title, often meets his own demise. (Cue Cartman: "Omigod! He killed Sandy!") That's no spoiler - the point of those stories is about the events, not the standard plot-/character-driven stories. The character of Courane is semi-autobiographical and often deals with issue of sickness and health. This is something Effinger knows firsthand as his life was complicated with ill health. Knowing this lends the stories some poignancy and weight. Courane acts like a fictional alter ego in other ways, too. For example, Courane is often given the occupation of science fiction writer.

At first, the content of the stories was unexpected. Most of them were meta-fictions, stories in which the characters know that they're characters in a story and make references to the real world and the writer who is controlling their fates. I was really hoping for and expecting more straightforward fiction. But Effinger's magic eventually began to win me over and it seemed that the stories, which started out in the mediocre range, got better as I read more of them.

Reviewlettes of the short stories follow. Note that there are more Sandor Courane stories than are included in this volume.

STORIES IN THIS COLLECTION:

"Fatal Disk Error" [1990 short story]
- Synopsis: After arranging its own death, the TECT supercomputer enters the mind of a fictional character who is created by another who, in turn, is created by a science fiction writer.
- Review: A story that would do Philip K. Dick proud with its series of reveals. I was never much a fan of meta-fiction stories as they feel somewhat like a cheat - at least to a reader who is expecting a straight fiction story.

"In the Wings" [1981 short story]
- Synopsis: A team of fictional characters - including Sandor Courane -await their parts on a story being written by a science fiction writer while Phretys, the Muse of Modern Science Fiction Novels and Short Stories, acts as coach.
- Review: Meh. Plotless meta-fiction whose only redeeming qualities are some classic name-dropping ("Doc" Smith, Kornbluth, Kuttner, and Campbell) and the attitude of characters. One characters reference to the offstage writer's story being "uninspired" rang a little too true.

"From the Desk Of" [1986 short story]
- Synopsis: A science fiction writer named Sandor Courane, struggling to write some short stories, hopes that the latest technology will help him.
- Review: Another meta-fiction, this one somewhat redeemed by the Twilight-Zone-ish ending.

"The Wicked Old Witch" [1993 short story]
- Synopsis: Sandor Courane gets into a car accident and stumbles upon the gingerbread house of a lonely witch along the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
- Review: A humorous piece successfully played for laughs. This one got a few chuckles out of me. Being more of a fantasy story, this reminded me of Terry Pratchett. The bit about the witches' union (the WFSA) smacks of a reference to the SFWA (Science Fiction Writers of America).

"Mango Red Goes to War" [1992 short story]
- Synopsis: Sandor Courane finds a magic teapot and gets to make three wishes.
- Review: A fun story that shows some of the Effinger styles I like so much. The bit of fictional character self-awareness ("Courane rubbed the pot primarily for plot purposes") is only a minor detraction here. There's also a reference to Honey Pílar, the superstar from his Budayeen series.

"The Thing from the Slush" [1982 short story]
- Synopsis: Science Fiction Editor Sandor Courane works his way through a pile of story submissions and notices something weird.
- Review: Another meta-fiction piece, but at least with this one, the reader has as much fun as Effinger is evidently having.

"Posterity" [1988 novelette]
- Synopsis: A bedridden science fiction writer is visited by someone from the future who offers to take away his pain if he writes another novel.
- Review: The story here takes a back seat to the portrayal of health care. Effinger's descriptions of his medical care are frightening and, I suspect, based on reality.