Category: Science Fiction

bufpuf?

Posted on by Greig

Only Forward

Michael Marshall Smith

Only Forward by Michael Marshall SmithSmith’s debut novel is one of my favourite science fiction books of all time.
It starts of as a far future noir detective story with the lead character, Stark, full of wisecracks and “I’m smarter than you” confidence. That it ends up being an incredibly moving piece is testament of Smith’s ability to shift the story around underneath the reader without them ever feeling cheated.
Part of that is the fact that it is made plain within the first couple of pages that Stark is a rather unreliable narrator, more than willing to lie, omit facts or completely fabricate things if he thinks it’s amusing or suits his needs.
By the end when the layers have been stripped away and there are no more falsehoods you are in no doubt of how brilliantly the tale has been told.
After more than a decade, after numerous re-reads, this is still a remarkable piece of work.
I have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending it to anyone to read.

Rating: A

shadow wire?

Posted on by Greig

Ringworld

Larry Niven

Ringworld by Larry NivenRingworld is considered a classic in the science fiction canon. It’s rich with concepts, quickly paced and absorbing.
The story is of Louis Wu, a 200 year old human, who is getting bored with the lack of novelty in his life. Hijacked on his birthday by a member of the secretive alien race known as the Pierson Puppeteers he is offered a place on an expedition with no more explanation than a look at a picture of of a star with a ring around it and the offer of plans to a new incredibly fast spacecraft. Taking the opportunity the Puppeteer, Nessus, builds up a team consisting of a member of the feline, warlike, alien race known as the Kzinti and another human the bred for luckiness Teela Brown.
Via an excursion to the rather odd Puppeteer homeworld this motley crew head on to what the now know to be the Ringworld, a gigantic artefact with the land area of hundreds of planets, the product of an unknown and incredibly powerful alien race.
While it’s quite mindblowing in concepts, the book falls down in terms of characterization and the plot falls apart in the last third destroying the momentum built up.
Definitely worth reading at least once if you have any interest in science fiction, it really doesn’t suit a re-read (as this was for me).

Rating: B+

lancer?

Posted on by Greig

The Final Reflection

John M. Ford

The Final ReflectionMike Ford died aged 49 on September 25, a man of prodigious talent, formidable intelligence and remarkable wit. I only knew him from a few online forums that we happened to both frequent. In my own small way this re-read is my tribute to the man. Other re-reads may follow.
This is one of the most remarkable Star Trek books ever written, being the first written from the Klingon perspective and the first to portray Klingons as more than bloodthirsty warriors.
The book barely qualifies as a Star Trek novel, spending so much time outside of the canon and only spending a handful of pages on the Enterprise with Kirk & co as a framing device.
It’s a thoroughly enjoyable book that makes you wish that men of such imagination were responsible for more of Star Trek’s output – being prone to bland platitudes as it is.
I’d recommend it as a nice piece of science fiction, especially to more Trek skeptical audience and as an eye-opener to how it could be done better to die hard trekkies/trekkers out there.

Rating: B

dora?

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Time Enough For Love

Robert A Heinlein

Time Enough For LoveThis is late period Heinlein. That means lots of right-wing libertarian politics, sex and glorification of the pioneer.
This is less of a novel than a series of short stories and novellas about the life of Lazarus Long – an incredibly long lived human being.
It takes in far-future human colonization and the First World War as part of it’s sprawling mess.
It’s quite mental and has no real focus to it, but it’s still one of the more enjoyable reads that Heinlein produced in his later years. I mean in comparison to I Will Fear No Evil it’s a top notch book!
If you loved Heinlein circa The Moon’s A Harsh Mistress then this is something worth checking out. Otherwise I couldn’t honestly recommend it to anyone.

Rating: B+

rhino?

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The Salmon of Doubt

Douglas Adams

The Salmon of DoubtThis posthumous cash in contains random articles, essays, speeches and letters written by Adams before he died as well as a hitchhiker’s based short story and the chunk of a Dirk Gently book that never was that gives this volume a title.
No single part of this book is worth buying it for, but as a whole it is a nice reminder of who Douglas Adams was, what he stood for and the work he was capable of.
I bought this book not long after it made paperback for less than half price in a supermarket. I don’t know I would have bothered if it wasn’t so cheap. That I only just got round to reading it speaks volumes as far as I’m concerned.
My recommendation, unless you’re a Hitchhiker’s nut, is that you don’t buy this for less than a bargain price.

Rating: C

kovacs?

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Watchmen

Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons

WatchmenI normally don’t blog about comics since, strictly speaking, even in trade paperback form they’re not novels. Even the majestic Sandman series consists of short stories and novellas. Moore and Gibbon’s classic, however, is beyond all doubt a true graphic novel.
Watchmen is about a subtly different version of now, where “superheroes” or masked vigilantes really existed, and the consequences of their existence for every living person.
It’s a densely layered piece making the best of a medium that is both visual and written. The central narrative unwinds beautifully, the characters are exquisitely portrayed, and the questions asked resonate in your mind for years.
It’s a piece I have read many times, and yet I continue to find new details in it even today.
I recommend this book to anyone, with no hesitation.

Rating: A

homunculi?

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Under Old Earth and Other Explorations

Cordwainer Smith

Under Old Earth and Other ExplorationsThis collection, as with the majority of Cordwainer Smith’s work, is set among the worlds of the Instrumentality – his vision of far future humanity. Smith was primarily a short story writer – only writing one novel – and this book contains some of his finest work.
For much of this collection I found it a chore to finish the stories.
Smith had some fantastic ideas, with some very astute insights into the future of humanity, the milieu is superbly realised with every nuance thought through, but his writing can be as dry and unexciting as cold toast.
(As an aside Smith’s real name was Paul Linebarger, and he was a professor of Asiatic Studies and an expert on psychological warfare. I suppose I could blame his writing style on this background, but I’m clueless when it comes to literary theory)
Highlight for me would be the story of the deposed ruler, who instead of coming back to his kingdom with an army, sneaks in and saves his people by subtly altering the mind of the dictator who replaced him.
This is worth a quick read if you have a keen interest in the past giants of science fiction, or if you are particularly keen on short
story collections. It really wasn?t my kind of thing.

Rating: C+

puzzle box?

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Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days

Alastair Reynolds

Diamond Dogs, Turquoise DaysThis book is made up of the novellas that comprise the title. Both take place within the Revelation Space universe and shed light on various aspects of Reynolds’ creation that aren’t discussed elsewhere.
Diamond Dogs is about a group of adventurers who attempt to solve the puzzle of an alien artifact known as the Blood Spire. Nothing new here, in fact many of it’s ideas are cribs from other better realized works.
Turquoise Days is the more interesting of the two pieces, but still nothing remarkable. This one is set on an isolationist Pattern Juggler planet and follows a researcher called Naqi as she deals with the legacy of the Jugglers and the implications of the arrival of off planet visitors. It’s too short to deliver on it’s promise.
I’d only recommend this to someone who has become hooked on Reynolds’ universe and wants to know more. Outside of that context these are pretty forgettable little pieces

Rating: C

clown assassin?

Posted on by Greig

Iron Sunrise

Charles Stross

Iron Sunrise is the sequel to Singularity Sky . This is a significant improvement over that work.
The main plot revolves around young girl known as Wednesday who uncovers proof of a plot by a group called the ReMastered that resulted in the destruction of New Moscow, a relatively low tech planetary system. As the ReMastered set events in motion to cover their tracks, Wednesday goes on the run. Rachel Mansour and Martin Springfield (from Singularity Sky) appear in another plot thread – New Moscow?s revenge against the (wrongly) suspected New Dresden government was to send slower-than-light
weaponry to destroy the planet. These ships can be recalled, or set on an irrevocable course by the remaining Muscovite Ambassadors – except they are being assassinated one by one and their authority keys taken.
Wednesday ends up on a cruise ship and in the company of Frank Johnson, a warblogger with reason to hate the ReMastered. Gradually these plots are drawn together with the realization that the cruise ship has been in port at every location that a Muscovite ambassador has been killed and Mansour & Springfield board the ship to investigate.
This is a well written and well plotted book. I really enjoyed it.
I’d recommend it to anyone would likes their science fiction.

Rating: A

azure?

Posted on by Greig

Maul

Tricia Sullivan

This is an enjoyable piece of work. A cartoonish thriller, heavy on the thriller element and light on scientific logic, it sets out to shock from the opening masturbation scene. Now normally this would just bore me, but it’s so fast paced that you just move through the story so quickly that you don’t have time to sit down and think about the absurdities and excesses.
The main plot takes place in a near future society where most males have been wiped out by an artificial phenomenon known as the Y plagues. The lead character is an autistic male clone, called Meniscus, who is used as a guinea pig in experiments designed to harvest useful chemicals from the human body by using modified Y plague strains. This process causes Meniscus terrible pain and the only thing that lessens it is immersion in a game called Mall.
The Mall forms the second thread of the story, an ultraviolent story of gun toting teenage girls, with the Jewish-Korean Sun as the main character. This part is very incoherent and sometimes completely ridiculous, but then again I suspect that this is a deliberate move to reflect the unreal nature of the Mall.
This book is a bit of a mess, but still a lot of fun. I wouldn’t read it if you were looking for subtle characterization or plausible science.
I’d recommend it if you’re in the mood for a pumped up, fast moving, science fiction thriller.

Rating: A-