October 2007
REVIEW SUMMARY: Schroeder delivers an action-packed hard science fiction story that isn't afraid to go as deep with the characters as it is with ideas.
MY RATING: 
BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Hayden Griffen lives in the world of Virga - a balloon of air supported by artificial suns. He is out to avenge the death of his parents and ends up working for his sworn enemy. What follows is a romp through the world-let of Virga complete with pirates, intrigue, and a quasi-steam punk world.
MY REVIEW:
PROS: Characters evolve and grow, the science is interesting but not overwhelming, excellent wold-building ideas
CONS: The only thing I can think of is that it probably isn't a book for those who don't enjoy science fiction. It isn't universally accessible, maybe.
BOTTOM LINE: Excellent hard science fiction that any fan of the genre would enjoy.
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| Posted by scottsh on Wednesday October 31, 2007 - 9:53 PM
| Category: Book Review
| © 2007 SF Signal
OK, so not really the return of everyone's favorite mock a movie program. But if, like me, you miss the comedy gold only a bad movie can bring, you'll be happy to know that former MST3K cast members are working on several MST3K-like projects.
Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu and TV's Frank, among others, are starting a movie riffing company called Cinematic Titanic! That is good news indeed. They are in the process of riffing on a bad movie right now, and will release it before Christmas. Now word on the title, but Joel says "it makes "Manos the Hands of Fate" look like "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" in a car wreck with "Eegah!"". Sounds horribly bad, but good.
This may be a good time to point out that Mike Nelson and Kevin Murphy have their own website, RiffTrax, where they produce audio files meant to be played instead of your movie's or TV show's soundtrack, where they mercilessly lampoon the thing in MST3K style. And just look at all the SF goodness they make fun of: Spider Man, Heroes episodes 1 and 2, Revenge of the Sith and the Fantastic 4 among many, many others. Watch the previews to decide if you want to download, and if you do, each trax is only a few dollars. Bravo!
If you'd rather get your MST3K-type fix on a DVD, we can accommodate you there as well! Mike Nelson and Kevin Murphy have also created 4 DVDs as The Film Crew Online, where they take really bad movies and, well, you know the rest. Killers From Space looks really, really bad.
As much as I liked Mike Nelson in control of the Satellite of Love, I'll always have a soft spot for Joel. I'm glad to see him back in action, so to speak.
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| Posted by JP on Wednesday October 31, 2007 - 8:35 PM
| Category: Web Sites
| © 2007 SF Signal
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| Posted by John on Wednesday October 31, 2007 - 7:01 AM
| Category: Tidbits
| © 2007 SF Signal
It's October 31st, and all the little ghosts and goblins will be out tonight, looking for candy. Parents across the world cringe in anticipation of sugar fueled behavior and combative bedtimes, much like dealing with John on a daily basis. Not one to skip 'the next big holiday', SF Signal has scoured the web for Halloween items of interest for our loyal readers. Consider this our sugar free treat to you. (Note the completely gratuitous picture of zombie John Scalzi, because we can.)
I'm assuming most of us here have seen, and really liked, Ghostbusters. Well, CIO online has a neat article covering the technology of paranormal investigations. OK, so not real Ghostbusters, but more like the guys on Sci Fi's Ghost Hunters show. Still, who knew you could hunt ghosts with a mylar blimp? Read on for other interesting uses of technology and how it's used to ascertain the environmental reasons for hauntings. Or does it?
Sticking with 'science', Cracked.com gives us 5 scientific reasons a zombie apocalypse could actually happen. Mmm, brain parasites. Actually, quite an interesting list, and based on actual science, however far fetched the 'human turning into zombie' step may be. So if you see a zombie tonight, you can ask them which of the 5 reasons turned them into a zombie. Don't be surprised if they answer: "Braiiiiiiiiins!" Zombies aren't verbose.
Perhaps you're thinking of taking a vacation to get away from all the door knocking and bell ringing on Halloween. If so, Concierge.com has compiled a list of the world's creepiest places. Sadly (or luckily?), John's house isn't listed. Instead you get more mundane places, such as Easter Island and the Paris Catacombs. Good stuff here.
But let's face it, you're looking for Halloween items you can make. Out of paper. If this is you, then look no further than our link filled list of Halloween items:
And lastly, what's Halloween without pumpkins? Lame, that's what! You could, of course, search yourself and see all the themed pumpkins around, but you'd probably miss the weighted companion cube pumpkin, starring in the best short game of the year, Portal. Oh waited companion cube, your untimely demise was heart breaking, yet mitigated by your selflessness in helping me get past the puzzles. I'll miss you, companion cube.
So, as night falls, we wish you a happy and safe Halloween, whatever you decide to do this evening. Just remember, stay away from John's house and you'll be alright.
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| Posted by JP on Wednesday October 31, 2007 - 7:00 AM
| Category: Web Sites
| © 2007 SF Signal
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| Posted by JP on Wednesday October 31, 2007 - 12:34 AM
| Category: Tube Bits
| © 2007 SF Signal
Since Battlestar Galactica and Eureka are on season breaks, the best show on Sci Fi just might be the upcoming Mass Effect special!
"What's that?", you ask. Well, Mass Effect is only the most anticipated science fiction RPG console game (Xbox 360 only, sorry PS3) ever! Well, ok, maybe not ever, but at least this year, and definitely for me. Bioware has produced some awesome games in the past, and Mass Effect is their attempt to bring a new science fiction setting to the gaming public. I like games + I like science fiction + I like Bioware = fanboy in the making.
Mass Effect has gone gold and will be in retailers on Nov. 28th. In celebration of it's release, Sci Fi, Bioware and Microsoft have gotten together to produce a 'first look' at the game, airing on Nov. 20th. If you continually troll the Sci Fi link, you could win a Limited Edition of the game with all kinds of extras.
Mass Effect looks like it will set the bar for SF RPGs for a long time to come, the 'prequel' book not withstanding. Bearing this in mind, and considering that Razor doesn't air until Nov. 24th, this special may just be the best thing on Sci Fi.
But I have to ask, aside from those of us here at SF Signal who are gamers (me, Tim, Scott, Trent and Kevin), who else out there likes games, especially of the SF variety?
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| Posted by JP on Tuesday October 30, 2007 - 2:49 PM
| Category: Games, TV
| © 2007 SF Signal
In a Rocky Mountain News profile of Connie Willis, the article mentions that the author has the distinction of being the writer with most Hugo and Nebula award wins.
I though it might be fun (because this is how science fiction geeks have fun) to see who followed her, based on this handy data from Locus Online. I found 15 other writers who received more than 5 wins.
Listed below are the 16 writers, the total number of Hugo and Nebula award wins they've earned, and the total number of Hugo and Nebula award nominations they've received.
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| Posted by John on Tuesday October 30, 2007 - 1:23 AM
| Category: Awards
| © 2007 SF Signal
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| Posted by JP on Tuesday October 30, 2007 - 12:44 AM
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| © 2007 SF Signal
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| Posted by John on Tuesday October 30, 2007 - 12:09 AM
| Category: Tidbits
| © 2007 SF Signal
REVIEW SUMMARY: A fine collection of stories that showcase a variety of writing styles and genre leanings.
MY RATING: 
BRIEF SYNOPSIS: 24 loosely categorized science fiction and fantasy stories originally published in 2006.
MY REVIEW:
PROS: Eighteen stories good or better, with four excellent standouts.
CONS: Six stories mediocre or worse.
BOTTOM LINE: This is about what you'd expect from a "best of" anthology: a selection of mostly good stories of varying style.
Jonathan Strahan serves up a good mix of genre offerings with The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Of The Year Volume 1. If it's any barometer of quality, there is a relatively high concentration of Hugo and Nebula Award nominees in this volume; seven out of the twenty-four selections. Finalists for the Hugo Award include "How to Talk to Girls at Parties" by Neil Gaiman, "Yellow Card Man" by Paolo Bacigalupi, "Pol Pot's Beautiful Daughter" by Geoff Ryman, "Eight Episodes" by Robert Reed, "The House Beyond the Sky" by Benjamin Rosenbaum and "The Djinn's Wife" by Ian McDonald. M. Rickert's "Journey into the Kingdom" was a finalist for the Nebula Award.
My own tastes usually seem to differ from awards committees, but I had already read several of these stories and it seemed like a good mix. But was it?
It could be argued that "best of" anthologies should represent the genre by offering stories with a variety of narrative styles. It seems that here, the Editor has not only complied, but also played with genre definitions as well. Strahan has included stories all over the genre map (including stories that read like mainstream and horror). There's bound to be some stuff readers will enjoy. The flip side of that coin, though, is that there might be some stories that are not to taste. Of course, personal taste is as varied as the definitions of the genre, so your mileage may vary.
Although my own personal preferences lean towards sf and away from fantasy, I always keep hoping that some stories - especially those in a "best of" anthology - will help point me in the direction of the more enjoyable fantasy stories. To the book's credit, there were actually a fairly high degree of fantasy stories that I liked. By my count, there were four standout sf/f stories overall in this collection: "El Regalo" by Peter S. Beagle, "The Night Whiskey" by Jeffrey Ford, "The Cartesian Theater" by Robert Charles Wilson and "D.A." by Connie Willis.
Individual story reviews follow...
(I read "How to Talk to Girls at Parties" by Neil Gaiman as part of a 2007 Hugo Award Short Fiction reading project. What follows is what I said then.)
Synopsis: Two teenagers attend a different party than intended, thrown by girls who are nowhere near what they seem.
Review: An interesting premise, but it wasn't quite clear what the intentions of "tourists" were, at least insofar as to shed light into what happened upstairs between Vic and Stella in the final scene. And I'm not sure that Enn, the narrator, would be so horny that he'd be so oblivious to what the girls were telling him about their origins. Even so, Gaiman's conversational writing and realistic protagonists made this quick read on the right side of fun.
In "El Regalo" by Peter S. Beagle, a twelve year-old girl named Angie discovers that her pain-in-the-neck little brother can do magic. Marvyn's spells start out innocent enough, but eventually he gets in over his head and Angie must come to his rescue. Big points are awarded to this story for overcoming my indifference to fantasy. Perhaps it was the author's attention to the details involved in the well-drawn brother/sister relationship, or that the focus of the story is on Angie and her refreshing maturity, but this was one engaging read. 
(I read "I, Row-Boat" by Cory Doctorow earlier this year. What follows is what I said then.)
Synopsis: A sentient rowboat, tasked with carrying human shells used by the uplifted who wish to scuba dive, encounters a sentient coral reef with different theological beliefs.
Review: As is evident by title and anyone familiar with Isaac Asimov's writings, this story refers, at length, to Asimov's robot stories. More specifically, it intelligently exercises Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics in light of the rowboat's belief in Asimovism, the belief that "intelligence is its own reason." The rowboat is actually a likable character as anyone who has thought about the meaning of life can attest. This story has been nominated for (and won) awards and now here it is in a Best of the Year anthology. I know I'm supposed to like it - and to be sure, it does have redeeming qualities - but I've personally had my fill of posthumanism stories. The idea of uploaded consciousness is now officially old and tired. Let's move on. 
A baby girl is raised in a magical, abandoned library by feral librarians in the Ellen Klages story "In the House of the Seven Librarians". The library provides tremendous amounts of knowledge but, as the "mother" librarians come to realize in an allegory for life, it is nonetheless limited. Despite the fact that there is not much that actually happens plotwise, Klages has created an endearing, contemplative story.
"Another Word for Map Is Faith" by Christopher Rowe delivers a slightly off-kilter version of reality where faith is akin to cartography. When an academic leads a group of students on a mission to chart (and correct) the biblical representation of the land, they discover the blasphemy of an uncharted lake. Their religious beliefs lead to map-changing action. This is an interesting premise, if a little bizarre to grasp, but Rowe's idea tantalizes the reader through some ethical questions regarding the town situated near the lake. 
(I read "Under Hell, Over Heaven" by Margo Lanagan earlier this year. What follows is what I said then.)
"Under Hell, Over Heaven" follows a band of travelers in Limbo wanting to get into Heaven, while avoiding the call of Hell. While Lanagan evokes suitable imagery for the surroundings, I was not able to get immersed in this story at all. So much time was spent on descriptive surroundings that it seamed our sullen band of protagonists didn't actually do anything. Or perhaps that's the point. 
(I read "Incarnation Day" by Walter Jon Williams earlier this year. What follows is what I said then.)
Synopsis: A posthuman coming-of-age story in which virtual human children are downloaded into physical forms when they mature. Here, Alison narrates the story of her own approaching "incarnation" and freedom from the threat of termination imposed by parents who might see their children as defective.
Review: The virtual/posthuman aspect of the story puts a nice spin on the coming-of-age story. The children are not considered legally human until incarnation and are therefore have no rights. Nice touch. Children who don't measure up are snuffed out by the "blue lady", a digital version of the boogeyman. There's a nice sense-of-winder-filled scene where the kids are granted temporary physical form to attend the incarnation of one of their cadre. Ultimately, the story focuses on Alison's friend Janice and her very strained relationship with her mother. Alison comes up with a creative way to salvage the escalating situation, but will she be successful before the blue lady strikes?
Jeffrey Ford creates a beautifully detailed coming-of-age story with "The Night Whiskey", a story about a small town ritual involving a mysterious plant that grows even stranger berries. Fermenting and ingesting the berries leads to lucid dreams and encounters with the dead. One young man, Ernest, is recruited to the Drunk Harvest, where those affected are brought back to our world. His first experience turns out to be a unique one in the small town's history. This experience is shocking and doesn't happen until near the end of the story, but Ford's straightforward prose and detailed characterizations make this captivating reading right from the start. This is one of those stories that make you feel like you were there and the strangeness and fantastical events seem totally believable. Well done. 
Benjamin Rosenbaum's "A Siege of Cranes" is an imaginative quest fantasy in which the hero seeks his wife and child after returning to his burned, lifeless village. Along the way, he solicits the help a duty-bound Jackal-headed creature and a djinn to help defeat the White Witch. The creative elements found here - a huge chariot built from body parts of the defeated, armored killer infants, and even some old tropes like a flying carpet - were pretty cool. The only thing that took away from the story is based on a personal nit: the usage of magic whose rules and boundaries go unexplained and are seemingly created at whim to suit the plot and not the world created.
I'll chalk up the bad reading experience of Frances Hardinge's ethereal "Halfway House" to being the kind of fantasy that doesn't suit my restrictive and elusive preferences. The plot involves a man named Paul who finds a hidden land on his daily commute. There he meets and makes sacrifices for a woman named Ticket who was abandoned as an infant. Anthologies sometimes offer a wide range of stories to suit a variety of tastes. That means some stories misalign with the reader. For this reader, this is that story. 
"The Bible Repairman" by Tim Powers is a supernatural story that, on the outside, deals with ghosts and souls. Deeper down, this is a story about sin and redemption. The Bible repairman uses pieces of his own soul to do odd jobs for folks like editing Bibles, exorcising ghosts and the like. Torrez does not have much to offer anymore, but has to think twice when a kidnapping case offers him a chance to make up for not using his abilities to save his own daughter. Powers maintains a world that, even as you pick up more clues, always seems to be just beyond complete understanding, but the intriguing premise and his detailed characterization of Torrez make this a very good read.
(I read "Yellow Card Man" by Paolo Bacigalupi as part of a 2007 Hugo Award Short Fiction reading project. What follows is what I said then.)
Synopsis: In an overcrowded Thailand, a Chinese refugee struggles to survive. Review: Bacigalupi's story is set in the same future of last year's Hugo-nominee, "The Calorie Man" (see SF Signal review) where genetic engineering has wiped out all the crops save for those owned by the corporations that hold the few patents on resistant crop strains. The refuges that come to Bangkok were looking for a better future but found instead a life of extreme poverty. The country houses them in high rises without air conditioning, cramped together in unacceptable living conditions. The focus of the story is on Tranh, a Chinese refugee who was once a successful businessman until his people (and his family) were massacred. Now Tranh is left with nothing, struggling to find scraps of precious food. A not-too-promising job lead - which takes the first thirty percent of the story to get to while the narrative loiters with much world building - gives Tranh some slim hope of working his way up from poverty. In this, Tranh is a sympathetic character, a victim of unfortunate circumstance. Tranh also has a table-turning encounter with a former employee, fired in disgrace by Tranh himself but who is now much better off than his former boss. The employee (Ma Ping) shows compassion for Tranh in his time of need and Tranh's circumstances elicit humility at first, then anger. This is a sign of things to come. Tranh's situation gets the best of him and the hope of finding a job is overcome by a chance to get ahead at the expense of others. In short, his misfortune turns to desperation and a sympathetic character becomes much less so.
(I read "Pol Pot's Beautiful Daughter" by Geoff Ryman as part of a 2007 Hugo Award Short Fiction reading project. What follows is what I said then.)
Synopsis: The daughter of the infamous Cambodian leader of the Khmer Rouge (the man behind the "Killing Fields") falls in love with a young cell phone salesman and is haunted by the ghosts of her father's past.
Review: This is really a story about redemption. Sith, a shallow rich girl who has always has everything done for her, falls for Dara and hides from him her true identity. She has little memory of her father and refuses to learn about his past actions. But she is forced to face that past when the ghosts of those murdered in the Killing Fields begin contacting her. This is done through copy machines that print their faces even when they are unplugged, or through cell phones and iPods. Eventually, she must come to terms with the atrocities of the past and finally attempts to atone for the sins of her father. Ryman's haunting story is powerful for its fact-based background alone, although the repeated reminders that the story is entirely fictional took away from its immersive quality. The prose is clean and to the point. However, Sith's transition from spoiled brat to redeemer probably took longer than was needed. To Ryman's credit, he managed to get this fantasy-indifferent reader totally bought in to the idea of ghosts.
"The American Dead" by Jay Lake is a memorably dark tale about one young man's hope to escape the oppressive society in which he lives. The land is ruled by a city of priests who abduct women for sex. Outside the city walls, people scrounge for food in the disease-ridden streets and oppressive heat. Pobrecito's ill-fated hope of leading a life of decadence is derived from looking at porn magazines, secreted away in an American cemetery, which he takes to selling on the streets in exchange for food. Lake's rich prose beautifully describes this dark setting and calls up some striking imagery, but big questions are left unanswered. What is the unnamed apocalypse that killed all the Americans and, by symbolic extension, Pobrecito's hopes and dreams?
Robert Charles Wilson serves up a quite enjoyable science fiction story with "The Cartesian Theater". It takes place in a "Rationalized" society where all work is performed by "aibots" and the government provides all the basic necessities of life, free of charge. Most people choose to work, but those that don't live in Doletown. People can also live on after death, albeit in a slowly deteriorating mental state. This last bit of magic occurs by imprinting neurological patterns which, unfortunately, decay over time. The main thrust of the story is a man who is hired by an unknown client to finance a performance artist who deals in death...sort of. It's this "sort of" part that is great fuel for thought-provoking issues concerning life and souls. Wilson's story reads like a Chandler-esque mystery, but it's got all the great elements of science fiction: meaty content, a well-imagined future, and fantastic atmosphere. Well done.
(I read "Journey into the Kingdom" by M Rickert as part of a 2006 Nebula Award Short Fiction reading project. What follows is what I said then.)
Synopsis: A girl named Agatha meets a widower named Alex who is convinced Agatha is a breath-stealing ghost.
Review: My indifference towards fantasy left little hope for this story, which is interesting since, at one point, it seemed as if this were not a fantasy story at all. The reason is due to some creative story construction. Alex, hanging out in a coffee shop, reads a story written by the artist of the pictures hanging on the wall. We read Alex's story right along with him and learn about the girl named Agatha, a lighthouse keeper's daughter whose father becomes a ghost and brings other ghosts home to meet the family. Agatha falls for one of them, becomes a ghost herself and ultimately suffers heartache. Alex then learns that the author of the story, Agatha, works at the coffee shop in which he sits. He proceeds to woo her, fully believing her fiction is a memoir. This is where Rickert's story seems to be a fantasy bait-and-switch. The fantasy was self-contained within Agatha's written word. It seemed as if Alex's desire to be with Agatha negated the fantasy setup of the first part, thus precluding the need for a story at all. By this point, I was becoming a bit frustrated. Then the story somewhat redeemed itself in the last twenty percent when Alex's intentions reveal themselves to be on the wrong side of normal.
(I read "Eight Episodes" by Robert Reed as part of a 2007 Hugo Award Short Fiction reading project. What follows is what I said then.)
Synopsis: An episode-by-episode description of Invasion of a Small World, an unsuccessful television series about how an alien spacecraft landed on Earth millions of years ago, may actually be a factual message sent to Earth by those aliens.
Review: Reed's synopsis-story is intentionally as dry as the television series it describes, no doubt aimed at television programming in general. And while it's fun to try to figure out whether the alien creators who made the show are sending humans an "explore space" or "stay at home" message, nothing else really stood out.
The best thing I can say about Kelly Link's "The Wizards of Perfil" is that the prose is engaging and gives off a rich fairy tale flavor. Two cousins - a boy named Onion and a girl named Halsa - each have the magical ability to read thoughts and are somehow linked together. The boy travels on a doomed train and the girl is taken away to be a slave-attendant/apprentice of one of the legendary wizards of Perfil. The wizards, who live at the tops of tall towers, go largely unseen and it's not too hard to guess why. Although the story delivers an admirable "everyone is a hero" message (as seen through Onion's and Halsa's bravery and perseverance through difficult trials), the otherwise engaging writing style is eventually stifled by the unexplained abilities of the cousins.
"The Saffron Gatherers" by Elizabeth Hand is billed by Jonathan Strahan as a blending of sf, fantasy and mainstream, but the emphasis is clearly on the mainstream. (Minor throwaway references to bioethics and hybrid cars notwithstanding...) Classification aside, this was one very good story. The somber tone of the story somehow fit my mood at the time of reading it. This is a (mostly) quiet character study of Suzanne, a writer who is visiting her occasional lover, Randall, in California. Just as she finally commits to the relationship, the fates decide to intervene. Maybe it's because this story takes place in the present, or because the parallels drawn with an ancient civilization destroyed by disaster call attention to our ultimate defenselessness, but the final scene is effectively horrific.
(I read "D.A." by Connie Willis earlier this year. What follows is what I said then.)
In Connie Willis' novella, D.A., Theodora Baumgarten is enrolled as an IASA space cadet and is quickly whisked away to the Academy space station, named the RAH after Robert A. Heinlein. (No coincidence - this story is overtly Heinleinian, which is good because it gives me two chances to say "Heinleinian".) While Theodora's appointment is considered a great honor by her friends, family and fellow students, all of whom would love to be in Theodora's space shoes, there is a problem: Theodora never actually enrolled in the IASA. With the help of her Earthside hacker friend, Kimkim, Theodora sets out to find out how she could possibly come to be signed up in the IASA. Reading D.A. is like a getting a shot of Heinlein injected directly into the bloodstream. Actually, it's like Heinlein on speed because the story mimics themes in his juvenile novels - a young person overcoming obstacles by using ingenuity and intellect - and moves incredibly fast. Willis' engaging plot and her highly entertaining prose make the Lucy Ricardo circumstances surrounding Theodora's enlistment sing with in the tune of classic science fiction parody. Even though there are no real surprises for the Heinlein fan, watching her as she tries to figure out what the heck is going on is just plain fun.
"Femaville 29" by Paul Di Filippo follows the plight of a cop named Parrish. Parrish has an unfortunate incident that occurs while he is trying to maintain order after a tsunami hits an East coast U.S. city. He is relocated to the titular refugee camp set up by FEMA and meets a woman and her daughter. The girl, Izzy, spends her time with the other kids building a non-existent city whose layout is as vivid to her as all the other children - but not the adults. The city is eventually poised to somehow become the salvation of these dislocated people as they try to reclaim their lives. "Femaville 29" reads like mainstream fiction (or "slipstream", if you prefer) and Di Filippo paints a stark picture of refugee life. At the same time, we get to know the small handful of realistic characters through his straightforward prose. Despite an unclear ending, he has created an thoroughly enjoyable story.
I'm not entirely sure how Gene Wolfe's horror story, "Sob in the Silence", landed in an anthology of science fiction and fantasy; that seems to be stretching the definition of fantasy a bit too much. At any rate, the story concerns a horror writer who is introducing a family to his definitely-not-haunted house. But their seemingly innocent stay is interrupted by the author's plans to kidnap the daughter...plans that do not quite unfold as expected. In fact, one might think that this guy was a buffoon the way he let himself into his ultimate predicament. Still, the story is entertaining enough as a straightforward horror story.
(I read "The House Beyond Your Sky" by Benjamin Rosenbaum as part of a 2007 Hugo Award Short Fiction reading project. What follows is what I said then.)
Synopsis: A virtual construct named Mathias must answer to his maker when he begins playing God to creations of his own making.
Review: Rosenbaum's worlds-within-worlds story is simultaneously touching, dramatic and symbolic. Mathias creates worlds, like his own, where the beings eventually evolve beyond their artificial boundaries; they become aware that they are artificial. Mathias elevates them to his own world in the form of birds. Mathias wishes to save one of his constructs, a young girl named Sophie who has abusive parents. But the saved may instead turn out to be savior when Mathias own creator - a pilgrim to Mathias' priest persona - comes knocking on Mathias door. Heady and mind-bending stuff.
(I read "The Djinn's Wife" by Ian McDonald as part of a 2007 Hugo Award Short Fiction reading project. What follows is what I said then.)
Synopsis: A famous dancer falls in love with an artificial intelligence.
Review: Set as a prequel to McDonald's fantastic River of Gods, this piece has many of the ingredients that made that novel such a success: an "aeai" who is as much a character as any human one, threatened by the Hamilton Acts that prohibit his growth; a sympathetic enforcer from the Department of Artificial Intelligence (Thacker, a "Krishna Cop"); the political background of a water war between neighboring nations; and a hefty injection of Indian culture. Sad, then, that this story was nowhere near as engaging. The fault lies in the execution. The aeai named A.J. Rao, who is also a major figure in the negotiations for precious water, reveals himself to be a fan of the dancer named Esha. Esha immediately notes how handsome the AI has made himself in his mental manifestation - Esha "sees" him thanks to hardwired brain hardware. A desire for social status prompts Esha to proclaim Rao as her fiancée, a charade to which he readily agrees. Their relationship - and here is where it gets silly - eventually leads to sex in which Rao brings Esha to e-orgasm. Life is apparently perfect for Esha...until the realization hits her that Rao, being the computer simulation that he is, can manifest himself anywhere simultaneously - an ability that is the digital equivalent of unfaithfulness. At around the same time, Esha is confronted by Thacker who is concerned of Rao's advanced intelligence since impending legislation would make Rao eligible for "excommunication". Thacker eventually wins the affections of Esha while she plays the part of spy. Of course, Rao finds out, and all hell (briefly) breaks loose in an ending that lifts the enjoyment level of this story to the realm of mediocrity. Another thing that hurt the story was the occasional use of run-on sentences meant, I suppose, to convey the hurriedness of the speaker but instead were long winded interruptions to the flow of the story.
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| Posted by John on Monday October 29, 2007 - 12:44 AM
| Category: Book Review
| © 2007 SF Signal
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| Posted by John on Monday October 29, 2007 - 12:22 AM
| Category: Tidbits
| © 2007 SF Signal
| (112 total votes) |
"I picked up 'Shikasta' a couple months ago, and it's been hovering at the top of my reading list since then... I plan to read it by the end of the year." - Gabriel MckeeBe sure to visit our front page and vote in this week's poll about turning your favorite book into a movie!
"I read 'The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five' and 'Shikasta' when I was in college and trying to be intensely literary. I couldn't tell you now what they were about. Or maybe my memory was affected by all the sloe gin I was drinking at the time. Ah, college." - Misty
"Let us face it, if I want a good time I am not reading a Nobel Prize Winner. It is all too political. Also when I think of the SF greats Lessing does not rate all that high. Am I a Philistine?" - General X
"Wake me when Bradbury wins one..." - Mark Stephenson
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| Posted by John on Monday October 29, 2007 - 12:00 AM
| Category: Polls
| © 2007 SF Signal
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| Posted by John on Sunday October 28, 2007 - 2:27 AM
| Category: Tidbits
| © 2007 SF Signal
MSN offers suggestions for science fiction and books that should jump to the big screen. Here's the short version:
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| Posted by John on Sunday October 28, 2007 - 2:20 AM
| Category: Books
| © 2007 SF Signal
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| Posted by John on Saturday October 27, 2007 - 12:22 AM
| Category: Tidbits
| © 2007 SF Signal
By the ingenious blog, Indexed.
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| Posted by John on Friday October 26, 2007 - 1:15 AM
| Category: Humor
| © 2007 SF Signal
"Remember...zombies don't eat candy...only brains."
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