REVIEW SUMMARY: A very good group of stories that's better than many best-of-the-year anthologies.

MY RATING:

BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Original anthology of six far-future SF novellas.

MY REVIEW:
PROS: 4 standout stories
CONS: 1 mediocre entry
BOTTOM LINE: Four out of six is a very good score.

I've been reading lots of short stories and it amazes me how original anthologies can sometimes be better than some best-of-the-year types. I suppose it stands to reason that the best-of anthologies are the opinion of (usually) one editor whose tastes might differ from that of the reader. On the other hand, given the law of averages, an anthology of original stories should be equally hit or miss.

Along comes Between Worlds edited by Robert Silverberg. Two of these stories were chosen for Gardner Dozois' Year's Best Science Fiction #22: "Shiva in Shadow" by Nancy Kress and "Investments" by Walter Jon Williams. I did not re-read them this time around. Pity I didn't take better notes on the Kress story, though, which I thought was perfect.

Standouts in the collection were "Between Worlds" by Stephen Baxter, the Kress story, "The Colonel Returns to the Stars" by Robert Silverberg and "Keepsakes" by Mike Resnick. Four out of six is a very good score. The weakest story in the bunch, by my reckoning, was mediocre. But then again, that was the Williams story that got chosen for the Dozois best-of anthology. So what do I know?

In addition to providing an excellent story, Silverberg tasked each of the other writers with providing a snapshot of life in the far future and far from Earth. I don't know that all of the writers met that challenge as life remains pretty much the same. Or maybe that's the point? No matter, there are some really top notch stories in this anthology.

This makes the second original anthology I read this year from the Science Fiction Book Club that is well worth the read; the other being Down These Dark Spaceways, which also featured stories that have since gone on to be collected elsewhere and nominated for awards.

Reviewlettes follow...

STORIES IN THIS ANTHOLOGY:

1. "Between Worlds" [XEELEE] by Stephen Baxter [2004 novella] (Rating: ) [Read 06/24/06]
   
   • Synopsis: A refugee from a planet orbiting a black hole smuggles a bomb on board the rescue ship demanding to be taken to see a daughter for whom there is no record of existence. The acolyte assigned to remedy the tense situation enlists the aid of a virtual representation of his messiah, Michael Poole, who sees the situation as an opportunity for a renewed life.
   
   
   • Review: Baxter fans - and especially fans of his XEELEE sequence - will not be disappointed. I was unaware that this story took place in the XEELEE universe and my eyes opened wide in surprised excitement at the first mention of Poole's name. I read the XEELEE books many years ago and have fond memories of them. The reasons are all evident in the wonder-filled story. Baxter's signature use of hard science on the canvas of scales both grand and microscopic is also present. Although the story takes place at a time after a millennia-long war, background situations are still tense as contentious factions (The Ecclesia - the religious group to which the acolyte named Futurity's Dream belongs; The Guild of Virtual Idealism - inheritors of the fallen empire of the Coalition.) have ulterior motives and shadowy plans are in effect. Although it is unknown by the characters whether Mara, the refugee, is right or delusional to the point of insanity, Poole uses his god-like status to achieve the impossible and direct the ship, Ask Politely, to Mara's home world. (The story behind the ship's name - in which post-humanism takes a decidedly different direction than popular interpretations - is a whole other level of crunchy sf goodness that only adds to the story's appeal.) Poole's motive is to find a way to break out of his imprisonment as a Virtual; although he exists in digital form, the quantum nature of his makeup prevents him from being copied. Meanwhile, Futurity's Dream learns to break the boundaries of his training. This is interesting because the idea of separation of church and state is extended to the exclusion of knowledge as well, and for Futurity's Dream to do so is a form of heresy. Although there was a brief bout of too-detailed-but-necessary political discourse, in the end this story does all the right things with the genre: grand ideas, strong characters, sense of wonder and fun.


2. "The Wreck of the Godspeed" by James Patrick Kelly [2004 novella] (Rating: )) [Read 06/25/06]
   
   • Synopsis: Adel Ranger Santos, an essay winner on an all-expenses-paid pilgrimage, transports to a semi-sentient threshold ship (carved out of an asteroid) on a mission to find new, faraway habitable worlds. One problem: the ship may just be losing its marbles.
   
   
   • Review: After somewhat slow start, there was a definite HAL vibe through this story when the ship Godspeed (nickname: Speedy) started exhibiting behavior that become increasingly odd. (Not that the protagonist Adel wasn't off-putting with his good/evil conscience-like implants.) I wish that appealing undertone of insanity was more prominent but there was some small foray into the land of character growth when the narrative spent some time showing how Adel lost his virginity. The characters motives are back stories mostly driven by various religious beliefs, which play a prominent part in the Continuum universe. Each of the main characters on the ship was on a pilgrimage to new find new worlds. Sadly for them, Speedy is in a bit of a dry spell and hasn't found a habitable planet for a very long time. Could that be what's driving her insane? Or is it the history of deaths (intentional and accidental) that plague her past? (Insert weird vibe music here.) The story ratcheted up the excitement near the end when the ship's motives became clear and a new, more immediate threat loomed.


3. "Shiva in Shadow" by Nancy Kress [2004 novella] (Rating: ) [Read 11/07/05, here's what I said then]
   
   • Synopsis: Two male scientists (Kane and Ajit) and a woman captain (Tirzah) are on a deep space mission to explore a black hole. Their ship, the Kepler, launches a one-way probe to gather the data - a probe that is controlled by three uploaded analogues of Kane, Ajit and Tirzah.
   
   
   • Review: This well-written story was exciting and interesting at the same time. Amidst the scientific theories of dark matter, there is a tense, human drama being played out between the two competitive scientists. It's up to Tirzah, as Nurturer, to smooth the rough spots. Similar drama is played out on the probe as well. The story alternates between the first-person perspectives of Tirzah and Tirzah-analogue. Well done!


4. "The Colonel Returns to the Stars" by Robert Silverberg [2004 novella] (Rating: ) [Read 06/26/06]
   
   • Synopsis: A former colonel if the Imperial Service is called out of retirement to deal with his former protege, Geryon Lanista, who now poses a threat to the Imperium he once served.
   
   
   • Review: Silverberg shows mastery of the short form and simultaneously provides by example the reasons why, as he once noted, that the novella is the optimum size for a story. The plot and characters are painted in multiple layers - something that requires some length but not so much as to make it feel padded. The topmost layer is the colonel's mission to approach Lanista and resolve Lanista's attempts to secede from the Imperium. This is the same old story for the colonel who achieved much fame in his military career doing exactly that, usually with the pro-nationalist worldview that he shared with Lanista. On another level, that worldview is called into question through the Colonel's history. His pro-Imperium father raised him but his anti-Imperium grandfather warned him of the Imperium's stranglehold on humanity. His grandfather's message is taken with a grain of salt as his pirating past warrants, yet it was Grandad that showed the Colonel the marvels of the universe in a wonder-filled flashback scene that perfectly encapsulates what science fiction fans love about the genre: hopping from world to world through the matter transporters, seeing the vastness and diversity of the cosmos, and taking in the breadth and smallness of mankind's existence. The way Silverberg unravels the details exemplifies his talents as a storyteller. We know from the outset that Lanista has betrayed not only the Imperium, but the Colonel himself. This provides a nice bit of tension as we learn the truth behind a past mission that failed with dire consequences. Small pockets of political-speak (economic trade embargoes, tariffs, etc.) made for trodden reading, yet it was required for the tense intrigue part of the Colonel's mission and, ultimately, helped to make this a fine story with a classic feel.


5. "Keepsakes" by Mike Resnick [2004 novella] (Rating: ) [Read 06/30/06]
   
   • Synopsis: Two government agents - one a seasoned veteran, the other a young, idealistic and hopeful - are tasked with stopping Star Gypsies from tricking their unwary victims out of their precious, sentimental keepsakes that they trade for cheap labor.
   
   
   • Review: As premises go, this one is pretty standard: the detectives try to apprehend "the bad guys" who always seem to be one step ahead. Yet this seemingly innocuous premise is a sturdy platform on which to perform some great storytelling. One can not help but be drawn in by the mystery of the Star Gypsies. Who are they and why do they want to trick people out of their most precious sentimental tchotchkes? How do they manage to avoid description? Are they shape-changers or something else? Add to this the pessimistic old-timer who has been chasing them for so long that he's all but given up hope on catching them. Stir in a young, bright-eyed hopeful who believes he can make a difference and focuses on their motive. Together they make an interesting team. They get a break when they are able to guess the Gypsies next move and the story gets even better as the details unfold. I was amazed at how much suspense could be built up with even the shortest of scenes. There was an uneasy peace about the air as we finally meet the Gypsies, learn their secrets, and glide into the final, somewhat predictable - but still very engrossing - final confrontation. Well done.
   
   
   • Note: This story might have easily fit into Resnick's anthology, Down These Dark Spaceways, for which he also contributed another excellent story. Both are equally near perfect.


6. "Investments" [DREAD EMPIRE'S FALL] by Walter Jon Williams [2004 novella] (Rating: ) [Read 12/02/05, what follows is what I said then]
   
   • Synopsis: Lieutenant Severin and Lord Martinez attempt to settle the planet Chee while attempting to discovery the identity of the culprit behind some unscrupulous corporate financial practices.
   
   
   • Review: The beginning of this story was interesting in that it provided a glimpse into the background behind Williams' DREAD EMPIRE'S FALL series, something I had been meaning to look into. (I do wonder, since this is an afterward to the trilogy, if there were any spoilers in there. Oh well. By the time I get around to reading that series, I will have forgotten.) Also, there was a very interesting high-stakes game of "tingo", the rules of which were only secondary to the drama behind the bidding. But then the story got long, slow and boring while the characters were on their way to the planet Chee and the plot was overly-steeped in political protocol and financial number fudging. I almost gave up reading it but then the pace picked up again when a cosmological disaster threatened characters in the two, alternating story lines. While this part got more and more exciting, it was not enough to overcome the work needed to sludge through the long, drawn-out middle; a recipe that ultimately made this a mediocre reading experience.
   
   
   • Note: Set in the same universe as his DREAD EMPIRE'S FALL series and takes place few years after the events in book 3, Conventions of War.

Share: | Discussion (1) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Friday June 30, 2006 - 11:06 PM | Category: Book Review | © 2006 SF Signal

• New Gutenberg fiction: "Space Tug" by Murray Leinster.


• Neal Asher talks on Forbidden Planet's blog. [via Big Dumb Object]


• Vernor Vinge on computers, freedom and privacy. [via Boing^2]


• Chronicles Network interviews Geoff Ryman.


• Part movie trailer, part 70's-feel video, check out Star Lords, a mashup of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. [via Texas Best Grok]


• Naomi Novik is writing 3 more Temeraire novels to add to the series that's made up of His Majesty's Dragon, Throne of Jade, and Black Powder War.

Share: | Discussion (2) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Friday June 30, 2006 - 11:57 AM | Category: Tidbits | © 2006 SF Signal

We recently mentioned how Cross Plains, Texas, was celebrating the 100th birthday of Robert E. Howard, author of the Conan books. Now there's official word from Chris Roberson, author of Paragaea and owner of MonkeyBrain books, that a new limited-edition anthology is due to be released celebrating Howard and his work.

The book, Cross Plains Universe: Texans Celebrate Robert E. Howard, is being edited by Scott Cupp and Joe R. Lansdale. Stories will be written in Howard style and/or use some of his characters. The book features this nice lineup of Texas talent:

• "Slim and Swede and the Damned Dead Horse" by Dean Andersson


• "The Heart" by Neal Barrett, Jr.


• "Prince Koindrindra Escapes" by Jayme Blaschke


• "The Diamonds of Golconda" by Lillian Stewart Carl


• "The Heart of Ahriman" by Bill Crider and Charlotte Laughlin


• "One Fang" by Scott Cupp


• "The King Comes to Texas" by Brad Denton


• "A Whim of Circumstance" by Mark Finn


• "The Sea of Grass on the Day of Wings" by Melissa Mia Hall


• "A Penny a Word" by Rick Klaw and Paul Miles


• "The Pillar in the Mist" by Ardath Mayhar


• "The Roaming Forest" by Michael Moorcock


• "The Bunker of the Tikriti" by Chris Nakashima–Brown


• "The Toughest Jew in the West" by Lawrence Person


• "Wolves of the Mountain" by James Reasoner


• "Two Hearts in Zamora" by Jessica Reisman


• "The Warrior and the King" by Carrie Richerson


• "The Jewel of Leystall" by Chris Roberson


• "Thin, On the Ground" by Howard Waldrop


• "Boomtown Bandits" by Livia Washburn


• "Six From Atlantis" by Gene Wolfe

Share: | Discussion (0) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Friday June 30, 2006 - 8:02 AM | Category: Books | © 2006 SF Signal

Check out this rather scary 1979 Star Wars drunk driving PSA. Remember, friends don't let Greedo shoot first.

Share: | Discussion (0) | PermaLink | Posted by JP on Thursday June 29, 2006 - 3:19 PM | Category: Star Wars | © 2006 SF Signal

Sad news, folks. Publisher Jim Baen has pased away.

Through the Baen Free Library, Jim proved that free (and DRM-free, too!) e-books do indeed help print sales. Stop by and read Jim's sensible reasoning why that is.

SF Author and friend David Drake has written an obituary. More are sure to follow.

UPDATE: See also the Press Release, the SFWA Obit, SciFi Wire, Jerry Pournelle, Boing Boing, Patrick Nielson Hayden, John Scalzi, Memory Machine and Lou Anders.
[h/t Eternal Golden Braid]

Share: | Discussion (3) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Thursday June 29, 2006 - 9:15 AM | Category: Books | © 2006 SF Signal

• Revolution SF reviews John Picacio's art book Cover Story. They also have posted a gallery of Picacio's work. I thumbed through this while at Borderlands recently. This. Book. Rocks! [via Locus Online]


• Just in time for the release of Superman Returns, and the release of the book Man From Krypton, comes a Superman-related essay by Karen Haber called Clark Kent Just Gets Better Looking Every Day.


• Greg Egan offers Foundations, a series of articles on some of the theories of twentieth-century physics that have most influenced modern science fiction. [via CoolSciFi]


• TV journalist and a counterfactual author Giampietro Stocco interviews Robert J. Sawyer and C.J. Cherryh. [via Sawyer's blog]


• John Scalzi (Old Man's War, Ghost Brigades) interviews David Louis Edelman (Infoquake).


• BBC Radio 4 serializes H. Rider Haggard's She on July 2nd. [via SFF Audio]


• Paul McAuley reviews A Scanner Darkly. [via Big Dumb Object]


• Forbidden Planet bookstore has a blog and a podcast. [via SFBC Blog]

Share: | Discussion (4) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Thursday June 29, 2006 - 12:05 AM | Category: Tidbits | © 2006 SF Signal

University of Houston's Digital History offers Trailers of Historically Significant Films. [link via Cynical-C]

I've included the 53 films of note for sf/f/h genre fans in chronological order with links to their trailers. And before the genre-Nazis start howling at the moon, these are Digital History's classifications, except for Tarzan and His Mate (which was classified as Africa) and Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (Education ). Oddly, the 1933 King Kong is labeled as fantasy and the 1976 version is labeled as science fiction. Go figure. Also, I was going to include The Way We Were because it's arguably horror, but I didn't.

BONUS QUESTION: How many of these titles were based on books (excluding Outer Limits) ?

1. Metropolis (1927)


2. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)


3. Frankenstein (1931)


4. Dracula (1931)


5. The Mummy (1932)


6. King Kong (1933)


7. Invisible Man (1933)


8. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)


9. Buck Rogers (1939)


10. Wizard of Oz (1939)


11. Thief of Bagdad (1940)


12. Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman (1942)


13. Ape Man (1943) (2nd trailer)


14. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)


15. Harvey (1950)


16. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)


17. War of the Worlds (1953)


18. Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)


19. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)


20. Around the World in 80 Days (1956)


21. Forbidden Planet (1956)


22. Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956)


23. Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)


24. 1984 (1959)


25. Angry Red Planet (1960)


26. Time Machine (1960)


27. Outer Limits (1960's TV)


28. Psycho (1960)


29. Fahrenheit 451 (1966)


30. Wolfman (1966)


31. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)


32. Barbarella (1968)


33. Planet of the Apes (1968)


34. Night of the Living Dead (1968)


35. Exorcist (1973)


36. Tommy (1975)


37. King Kong (1976)


38. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)


39. Star Wars (1977)


40. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)


41. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)


42. Blade Runner (1982)


43. Zelig (1983)


44. Terminator (1984)


45. Ghostbusters (1984)


46. Back to the Future (1985)


47. ET: The Extraterrestrial (1988)


48. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)


49. Jurassic Park (1993)


50. Independence Day (1996)


51. Being John Malkovich (1999)


52. Day After Tomorrow: Storm Surge (2004) (2nd trailer)


53. Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)

Share: | Discussion (5) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Wednesday June 28, 2006 - 6:25 PM | Category: Movies | © 2006 SF Signal

Here's the height of irony. The cast of SF Signal is being featured on MemeTherapy's Brain Parade feature. And by "cast" I apparently mean "posse".

And as the SF blogosphere's undisputed linkmaster, I'd like to thank MemeTherapy for providing the link fodder.

Share: | Discussion (6) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Wednesday June 28, 2006 - 10:13 AM | Category: Web Sites | © 2006 SF Signal

• SciFi Wire profiles Paul Park, whose well-received novel A Princess of Roumania was just nominated for a Sidewise Award. The second in the series, The Tourmaline, is due out from Tor in July. Next in the series: The White Tyger and The Hidden World.


• Lois and Jimmy from the 1950's (Jack Larson and Noel Neill) get parts in Superman Returns.


• The World Transhumanist Association has award the 2006 H.G. Wells award for Outstanding Contributions to Transhumanism to Charles Stross. Ah yes, but did he foresee the Gilette Sungularity? [via Charlie's Diary]


• [On NPR] Tech Tycoons' Dream: My Own Private Spaceship.


• MemeTherapy interviews Fantasy & Science Fiction editor John Joseph Adams, a.k.a. The Slush God.

Share: | Discussion (0) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Wednesday June 28, 2006 - 12:06 AM | Category: Tidbits | © 2006 SF Signal

The very first teaser trailer of Spiderman 3 is available. Like any reasonable teaser trailer, it shows very little but really fires up the old blood. And Lowell as the Sandman...cool.

[via Every single science fcition website that shows even the most remote signs of being updated on a regular basis and even a few that aren't science fition-related at all.]

Share: | Discussion (7) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Tuesday June 27, 2006 - 6:31 PM | Category: Movies | © 2006 SF Signal

UPDATE: Rules updated to not require postal address. We don't care where you live unless you win.
UPDATE #2: Changed submission email address while we change web hosts.
UPDATE #3: Changed submission email after web host move.

At SF Signal, our motto is: "We got so many books, they're comin' out of our - whoa, hey kids!" And what better way to clean house than to give some books away for free! Well, almost free. There is some effort involved. Just answer the questions below and you could win a free book!

THE PRIZE:
A brand spankin' new trade paperback copy of Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town by Cory Doctorow.

THE QUESTIONS:
I'll give you a hint: All answers can be found on sfsignal.com.

1. Which author wrote the book that was the basis for the movie The Iron Giant?


2. What book was the basis for the TV show The Six Million Dollar Man?


3. Name three science fiction authors who wrote for the TV show Land of the Lost.


4. What was C.J. Cherryh's original last name?


5. Which author was nominated for two Hugo awards in 2006?


6. What three novellas make up Robert Silverberg's book Nightwings?


7. The SF Signal review of which sf book featured a snippet of dialogue from Woody Allen's Love & Death?


8. Who wrote the short story "I, Robot".


9. What's the name of the Google-like H.P. Lovecraft search engine?


10. What participant on the TV show Mythbusters has been honored multiple times on SF Signal by Pete?

READY, SET, GO!
All entries should be submitted to contest*AT*sfsignal*DOT*com.

RULES

Share: | Discussion (9) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Tuesday June 27, 2006 - 1:48 AM | Category: Meta | © 2006 SF Signal

Pyr editor Lou Anders has posted an appeal to U.S. readers to buy American (or both American and U.K.):

[I]f you live here in North American, can I ask you a favor, on behalf of myself, Pyr, and both of these authors? Please wait for our edition. I didn't used to think that it mattered. Sometimes I liked the UK cover better than the US, or I wanted a hardcover when the US publisher only brought the book out in trade paperback or mass market. Or I didn't want to wait [...] But now I know better. There are a long list of deserving British and Australian authors that you don't see over here. There are others that you don't see here any more. Science fiction is not such a big market that the few hundred editions that slip through the specialty shops, or get shipped from Amazon.co.uk don't make a difference.

There's some good comments on Lou's blog and on Emerald City. SFBC editor Andrew Wheeler also comments.

I've personally never bought a book from outside the U.S. There's plenty to read here and there was never a book that was published that I just had to have that warranted the extra charge. (Although the Gollancz Masterworks editions come darn close.)

I do wonder how many of our readers buy books overseas. (I'm extending this to out non-U.S. readers who may buy U.S. books before they are available locally.) So, have you ever purchased a science fiction book (or any book, really) from another country? For what reason?

Share: | Discussion (14) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Tuesday June 27, 2006 - 1:40 AM | Category: Books | © 2006 SF Signal

• Scott Westerfeld's young adult novel Uglies (first in a trilogy that is followed by Pretties and Specials) has been optioned by Hollywood. Now, if only we can convince Hollwood to pick up his Succession books. [via SciFi Wire]


• Orson Scott Card in a podcast-interview [via No Blasters]


• Highbrow List: SF works with archaeological elements.


• Lowbrow List: Nudity in SF.


• Mal vs. Doctor Who #10. [via From the Heart of Europe]


• Samuel R. Delany makes the Publishers Weekly pic-of-the-week. [via Andrew Wheeler]

Share: | Discussion (2) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Tuesday June 27, 2006 - 1:37 AM | Category: Tidbits | © 2006 SF Signal

BBC 7 is airing an audio rendition of "Shambleau" by C.L. Moore in three, 30-minute parts. The story is about "a space bounty-hunter who lives to regret rescuing a young woman from attack." This is Moore's first story and was written in 1933.

If you can't wait you can read it in glorious French!

A few years ago, I happened upon the Gnome Press edition of the collection Shambleau and Others. It's a beautiful reproduction of the original 1953 book. It comes in it's own sturdy carboard sleeve and earns a spot on my precious shelf.

Just don't ask me if I've read it yet.

Share: | Discussion (3) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Monday June 26, 2006 - 12:10 AM | Category: Books | © 2006 SF Signal

Share: | Discussion (0) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Monday June 26, 2006 - 12:00 AM | Category: Polls | © 2006 SF Signal

UPDATE: Whoops! Forgot one: The "Must" Audiobook.

The latest Entertainment Weekly (double issue #884/#885), which contains their "Must List", contains some entries of note for genre fans:

• "Must" Revivalist: Neil Gaiman (The Eternals)


• "Must" Love Machines: The Cylons of Battlestar Galactica - Grace Park (Sharon), Tricia Helfer (Number Six) and Lucy Lawless (D'Anna Biers).


• "Must" Comic Book: Rocketo by Frank Espinosa.


• "Must" Audiobook: A Scanner Darkly read by Paul Giamatti.

Share: | Discussion (4) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Sunday June 25, 2006 - 2:07 AM | Category: Web Sites | © 2006 SF Signal

• William Shatner is the guest of honor at Comedy Central's next Celebrity Roast, premiering Sunday, August 20. [via Trek Today]


• The Top 10 Classic SF Lines As Written by Shakespeare.


• A.R.Yngve on The Art Of The Blurb.


• Entertainment Weekly (double issue #884/#885) reviews Glasshouse by Charles Stross and gives it a "C".


• Minega shows some appreciation for Philip K. Dick.


• Ben Bova: Losing a job is just a part of working


• The Reality of Science Fiction: Chatting with Brenda Cooper.


• Score one for Delaware: "Century of Science Fiction" exhibition slated for library gallery.


• 40 Things You Don't Know About Superman.

Share: | Discussion (0) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Sunday June 25, 2006 - 1:51 AM | Category: Tidbits | © 2006 SF Signal

Wonder Audiobooks is promoting the audio anthology Among The Aliens by providing the free audio story "Beyond Lies The Wub" by Philip K. Dick.

The impressive table of contents for full contents of Among The Aliens looks like this:

• "Green Patches" by Isaac Asimov


• "Lover When You're Near Me" by Richard Matheson


• "Anthropological Notes" by Murray Leinster


• "Arena" by Fredric Brown


• "The Monsters" by Robert Sheckley


• "The Martian Odyssey" by Stanley G. Weinbaum


• "The Hanging Stranger" by Philip K. Dick


• "The Wind People" by Marion Zimmer Bradley


• "Captains Mate" by Evelyn E. Smith


• "The Devil On Salvation Bluff" by Jack Vance

Share: | Discussion (1) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Saturday June 24, 2006 - 4:13 PM | Category: Books | © 2006 SF Signal

REVIEW SUMMARY: A contemporary pulp adventure that injects some fun back into the genre.

MY RATING:

BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Retro-style adventure story in which cosmonaut Leena Chirikov is transported to Paragaea and must search for a way home.

MY REVIEW:
PROS: Fast-paced and action-packed; wondrous setting; likable characters; fun!
CONS: Slight pacing issues at times. Characters sometimes acted questionably.
BOTTOM LINE: True to its promise, if you like old-school pulp adventure, you'll like Paragaea.

In a time when science fiction seems to be taking itself way too seriously, along comes a contemporary pulp adventure that injects some fun back into the genre.

Chris Roberson's Paragaea: A Planetary Romance is an homage to the science fiction stories of yesteryear; specifically, as the book jacket conveniently points out, the off-planet adventure stories of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Leigh Brackett.

The story follows the plight of Leena Chirikov, a tough Soviet cosmonaut who, in 1964, encounters a space doorway to the faraway planet of Paragaea. Like many of Burroughs' novels, the low-tech planet is awash in wonders both amazing and deadly. Leena soon meets a pair of adventurers: Hieronymous Boneventure, displaced from the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, and Balam, a dethroned jaguar man prince and native of Paragaea. Together the trio travels the wondrous landscape of Paragaea looking for a way - via legend and lore - to get Leena home. During their quest they meet friends (like ancient android Benu, the mysterious Spatha Sekundus), foes and situations that force each of them to deal with their own past.

As promised by its subtitle, Paragaea reads like an old-school planetary adventure story; it is told with a linear narrative that essentially consists of a string of action sequences packed closely together. There be swashbuckling adventures here! (And air ships! We like air ships!) Anyone needing a steady adrenaline fix will easily find pleasure within its pages. The adventure-to-adventure structure of the story partly gives the book an episodic feel with each mini-adventure directing the band of travelers to the next exploration. For the most part, this made the story zip along at high speed (another contribution to the adrenaline rush). But there were some times when that pacing worked against the story. For example, when the trio of adventurers arrives at the Temple of Benu, they fight rat-creatures, a giant scorpion and clockwork men - all within a few scant pages. These supposedly fearsome foes are overcome so quickly that they seem more like pesky nuisances instead of the source of the worthwhile mini-adventures that sequence could have been.

The book does well with world building and characterizations. Paragaea is populated with a healthy dose of marvels like air ships, creatures and customs. There are several species of metamen, beings that are half man and half animal. Balam (one part jaguar) is determined to reclaim his throne and re-establish communications with his daughter, who has essentially been brainwashed by the religious Black Sun Genesis group. While Hieronymous says he is happy with a fist full of adventure, we briefly learn that he has a dark spot in his past. Meanwhile, Leena, who remains determined despite one otherworldly obstacle after another being thrown between her and her return to Earth, remains dedicated to Mother Russia. (With Leena, Roberson also does an admirable job showing how she gradually overcomes language barriers.) If I had to complain about the characters, it would be that they sometimes slipped into shoot-first-ask-questions-later mode when a simple conversation may have sufficed.

But the strong point of Paragaea is the adventure hook; and not just any adventure hook but a retro-style one. Paragaea is enjoyable for the same reason that Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow was - nostalgia. This ultimately gives the book a sheer-entertainment flavor that makes it charming.

ADDENDUM:
Chris Roberson has created the Paragaea website for the book where you can read the first three chapters. Do so, and you'll see what I mean. You will also find the prequel novel Set the Seas on Fire that gives some back story on Hieronymous (Hero) Bonaventure, who incidentally is part of Roberson's rapidly-building literary universe. Hieronymous' descendant Roxanne Bonaventure is the protagonist of Roberson's excellent book Here, There & Everywhere.

Science fiction trivia fans take note: As Roberson explains in the Author's Notes section of Paragaea, the book is stuffed with multiple genre references. My Geek-Guard^TM was down while I was reading this, so I missed most of them I'm sure, but Roberson welcomes and challenges readers to find all the juicy references.

Share: | Discussion (0) | PermaLink | Posted by John on Saturday June 24, 2006 - 1:40 AM | Category: Book Review | © 2006 SF Signal

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