Black Hills - Dan Simmons

Black Hills is the fourth book by Dan Simmons I've read and in these works he has impressed with the variety of themes and settings he takes on. Simmons has written science fiction, horror, historical novels, crime and probably other things I am not even aware of. The man's a very versatile writer. This book, like his previous two novels The Terror and Drood, could be considered historical fiction with a clear supernatural theme. Despite his science fiction past, this book may escape the genre ghetto and end up in the mainstream section of the book store. It certainly has a wide enough appeal to attract readers from both sides of this imaginary line.

The novel tells the story of the Paha Sapa. His name means Black Hills in Lakota but it is only used by those he is most intimate with, to the rest of the world he is Billy Slow Horse. Born in 1865, Paha Sapa lives through the final days of the independent, buffalo hunting lifestyle of his people. In 1876 he is present when a coalition of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho defeat General George Armstrong Custer in what is known as Custer's last stand. As any young Lakota boy would try to do, Paha Sapa counts coup of the dying general. In this act, Paha Sapa takes the spirit of Custer into his own body. It is the start an uncomfortable life carrying the spirit of one of the greatest enemies of his people around.

Paha Sapa's story takes us far beyond the Little Big Horn battlefield. It shows us much of the turbulent past of the region, from events like the death of Sitting Bull and the massacre at Wounded Knee to the Dust Bowl that would hit the Plains in the 1930s and the construction of the Mount Rushmore monument, where Paha Sapa works as a powder man. His life is lead in the belief that somehow he can make a difference, redress the old sores of the injustice his people suffered, stop the continuing degradation of the plains ecology he has witnessed throughout his life. The job at Mount Rushmore seems to present an opportunity. Especially when it becomes clear president Roosevelt will be visiting the site to dedicate the recently finished head of Thomas Jefferson.

Although not much of it shows up on this blog, I've read quite a few books with Native American themes in them. Anthropology of North American peoples is one of my father's interests and he owns a stack of books and magazines on the subject, quite a few of which I have read. In the fiction department it ranged from Karl May's hopelessly inaccurate and moralizing Winnetou adventures to Dee Brown's heart-wrenching historical fiction Creek Mary's Blood. I later added books such as Eye of Cat by Roger Zelazny and Indian Killer by Sherman Alexie (although I seem to have misplaced my copy of that book) and right now Frank Herbert's Soul Catcher is staring at me accusingly from the to read stack. The tragic events in the American West have been a source of inspiration for some great literature but there is also a god-awful lot of nonsense being written about it. Simmons has obviously come across his share of this doing the research for this book. I don't think I have ever read a book on the subject that so brutally pops a number of myths and misconceptions as Black Hills.

With Custer in his head Paha Sapa frequently has to face uncomfortable truths about his people's past. The general, who has a grudging respect for people like Crazy Horse, one of the great Lakota war chiefs, and despises the reservation Indians and the more peace-minded chiefs such as Red Cloud and Black Kettle (whom he thinks of as a hypocrite). He also reminds his host that even without all the military action that received so much attention the life-style of the plains tribes is doomed simply because of their reliance on the nearly extinct buffalo. The general is not shy about detailing the brutal style of warfare of the Lakota and the fact that a mere century and a half ago they pushed other tribes out of the region themselves. None of this noble savage living in harmony with the environment crap for Custer, who's cruel observations don't even spare the actions of his widow, fighting to preserve the reputation of her late husband. Simmons is not afraid to touch more recent controversies, such as the Crazy Horse memorial being built in the vicinity of the Mount Rushmore monument or the question of how much blood it takes to be part of a tribe, either. If you prefer a more romantic picture of Native Americans this book is a positively uncomfortable read.

Paha Sapa is an intelligent man, he sees the truth in some of what Custer tells him. That does not prevent him from seeing the tragedy of the defeat of his people, the senseless massacres and the unsustainable practices that drive the plains ecology to the brink of collapse. Throughout his life he fights against blatant discrimination but also what is described as the sullenness that overcomes the reservation Indians. Paha Sapa is a man who has lost a lot. His people and their culture, his wife after only four years of marriage and ultimately his son. You'd think the combination of a blunt ghost and a hard life would make him bitter. It doesn't. Paha Sapa strikes me as a gentle and very lonely man. Simmons has done a wonderful job portraying him as someone still very much in touch with the Lakota world view of his youth but certainly not blind to what the modern world has to offer. At times Simmons makes you feel like he should strike back at the world that has treated him so cruelly and he should do it NOW! But then, there is always this nagging doubt. Simmons holds that tension very well throughout the novel.

Black Hills is written very much out of chronological order. Chapters set in 1876 and the 1930s alternate and Simmons throws in a few chapters set in other periods as well as some interior monologue by Custer's ghost at various points in the novel. Gradually a more or less complete view of Paha Sapa's life appears. Simmons chooses to reveal quite a few important facts about his life before the events are actually described in the book and this is not something everybody will appreciate. Personally I didn't mind the non-linear fashion in which the story is told but the reader does have to pay attention.

Another factor that makes this book an interesting but challenging read is the sheer amount of research Simmons has put into it. The text is riddled with Lakota phrases for one thing. Thanks to Kevin Costner we all know one word in Lakota, Simmons adds to this vocabulary considerably. Names, places, concepts not easily translated into English, some passages are pretty hard to read because of all the Lakota injected into them. There are other places in the book where the weight of all that research seems to lie heavily on the story. The novel contains some very descriptive passages about the Chicago World Fair of 1893, the work at Mount Rushmore and New York City. In general I enjoy historical detail and much of it is fascinating to read about but at times I think it is slowing the story down more than it ought to.

Despite overdoing it slightly on the historical detail, I liked Black Hills an awful lot. From what I can tell Simmons has managed gotten as close as it is possible for a wasicu to get to the Lakota mindset. Paha Sapa is a very intriguing character, someone you can't help but like. The dilemma Paha Sapa faces and the way his life leads up to this one moment in which he has to choose kept me fascinated with this story. Simmons is most definitely a candidate for the best of 2010 list as far as I am concerned. It's one of those books I would recommend to everybody, no matter what your reading preferences are.

Book Details
Title: Black Hills
Author: Dan Simmons
Publisher: Quercus
Pages: 487
Year: 2010
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-84916-088-9
First published: 2010

The Terror - Dan Simmons

In my end of year post a couple of months back I said I wanted to read one of the two huge tomes by Dan Simmons on my to read stack this year. This week I decided it was going to be The Terror. My only previous encounter with Simmons' writing is the Hyperion Omnibus I read last year. This much more recent book promised to be quite something else. Where Hyperion is a far future science fiction novel, The Terror is an interesting blend of horror and historical fiction. Add to that my soft spot for books about Arctic exploration and this book should be a winner for me. And it was, mostly.

The novel is based on the 1845 expedition lead by Sir John Franklin in search of the north-west passage. In those days the Canadian Arctic archipelago was far from completely mapped. Several previous expeditions had tried to force their way through the ice to the Pacific and failed. Now they would try again. Equipped with the latest technology the largest expedition yet to explore the far north of Canada sets out for Greenland and the north-west passage beyond. Their ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror are last seen in august of 1845 by and American whaler and are never heard from again. Explorers and historians have been trying to figure out what happened to them ever since.

Simmons tells the tale of the ships frozen in the Arctic ice, of bone-chilling cold, back-breaking physical labour and ever dwindling supplies but most of all of the terrifying creature that haunts the expedition and regularly takes one of its members. After two years without a summer and with escape from the ice increasingly unlikely, the officers and crew are forced to make some hard decisions about their future. Hunger and scurvy threaten the crew if they stay, the creature and the cold if they go. And what's worse, the creature is trying to get in...

There is something heroic and often tragic about these stories of polar exploration. On the one hand the reader knows very well that getting themselves in these impossible situations is their own fault. There usually isn't much of a purpose for these voyages other than exploration. More often that not the situation is not helped by the unpreparedness, stubbornness, prejudice and ignorance of those who plan and lead these expeditions. In fact, on the the characters asks himself the question what the hell he is doing on the pole:

So why, wondered Crozier, did a nation like England, blessed to be placed by God in one of the most gentle and verdant of the two temperate bands where man was meant to live, keep throwing its ships and its men into the ice of the northern and southern polar extremes where even fur-wearing savages refuse to go?
Chapter 16 - Crozier

That quote nicely sums up the attitude of the explorers, in one sweep making it clear that neither the poles nor the equator are fit for civilized societies as well as wondering what drives them to these places anyway. On the other hand, the sheer determination, unbreakable optimism and thrill of exploration found in these stories are contagious and can turn many of these tales of survival and human ingenuity into a great read. I encourage you to read Alfred Lansing's account of Shackleton's Trans-Antarctic expedition for example. The author captures both these elements of polar exploration very well in The Terror and goes on to add a few elements of his own.

History tells us that Franklin's expedition finally was lost to a combination of exposure, hunger, scurvy, tuberculosis and lead poisoning and was even reduced to cannibalism at the end. Various rescue expeditions and later scientific study have given us a telling but incomplete picture of what happened in the years after 1845. Simmons has clearly done his homework, besides the detail on the ships and it's crew, he manages to seamlessly work most of the detail of the journey itself that has been uncovered in the past century and a half into his story. Those discoveries leave him more than enough room to add his own horrific element to the story.

He tells the tale seen from the point of view of a number of expedition members, from John Franklin himself to the lowliest sailor or marine, often using flashbacks to events earlier in the expedition to flesh out some part of the story. If there is a central figure, especially later on in the book, it is Captain Frances Crozier, an experienced naval officer held back by the navy because of his Irish background. After the death of Franklin in June 1847, before the events described in the bulk of the novel, the burden of command falls on him. Crozier considers himself melancholic, which I think he mistakes for alcoholic at least partly. His private thoughts are in stark contrast to the determination he projects when dealing with his men. The strain of command, the private doubts and his outward calm and competence make him an interesting character. I can't go into it much without spoiling the end of the book but he certainly doesn't end it as a melancholic drunk.

The other key character is the mysterious Lady Silence. An Inuit woman (the book uses the term Esquimaux) who has taken up residence on board the Terror after one of the expedition's scouting and hunting parties accidentally shoot her companion. The medical officers on the ship soon find out she is unable to speak because her tongue has been cut out. Her mysterious presence, the immense cultural and linguistic barrier and her ability to survive a lot more comfortably than the men on the ship make her the focal point for superstition and worship. Especially later on in the book, Inuit mythology adds another layer to an already rich work of fiction.

The historical part of the novel as well as the intense and chilling descriptions of the Arctic environment make this book a great read. I had some issues with the horror part of the book and the pacing however. At 960 pages this book is long. Longer than the story justifies I think. Part of that is due to unnecessary repetition. Crozier has the habit of mentally going over the roll for instance. We get several quite detailed summaries of who perished and when and who is still around, what their medical condition is and what their chances of survival might be. The expedition starts with over 120 men, these roll calls can get quite long. There are also a number of detailed descriptions of funeral ceremonies and of course the repeated attacks of the creature.

The scenes in which the creature appears are very well written. Especially early on in the book they add an element of fear on top of the other burdens of the men. After several attacks however, it doesn't quite as well any more. I guess the reader and the characters both put it in the back of their mind as an inconvenience that can't be helped. It doesn't push the plot forward or alter the decisions the men are facing. It isn't even all that clear what attracts it in the first place, although the final hundred pages or so of the novel shed some light on that. As such, the whole supernatural element in the story is not terribly effective.

On the whole the good far outweighs the bad. The author manages to make you shiver from the descriptions of the polar landscape and experience the life aboard a 19th century ship though a myriad of well researched details. He also delivers a surprising finale which, given the fact that the reader knows the fate of the expedition before reading a single page, is quite an achievement. The Terror may be long but despite my quibbles about the pacing, it reads quickly and at no point failed to hold my attention. Simmons has created a fascinating book based on this great tale of exploration. Definitely worth reading.

Book Details
Title: The Terror
Author: Dan Simmons
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Pages: 960
Year: 2009
Language: English
Format: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-316-00807-5
First published: 2007

The Hyperion Omnibus - Dan Simmons

In an effort to make a dent in the stack of unread books in the house I picked up this book two weeks ago. It has been gathering dust since I bought it at a discount almost two years ago. It's the first book by Simmons I read. His bibliography includes books in several genres but the science fiction novel Hyperion is one of his best know works. This Omnibus edition collects the novels Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion, two books in a four book series known as the Hyperion Cantos. Both are books or fair size so the omnibus is a huge tome. Taking this book on is quite a project but definitely worthwhile. Stylistically the books couldn't be more different. The skill the author displays in these books in impressive.

Much of this book is influenced by a number of classic works of literature. Hyperion for instance takes the same approach to telling a story as the Canterbury Tales. A group of seven pilgrims leave for the planet of Hyperion named after an unfinished epic poem by John Keats. Hyperion is the focal point of a large interstellar conflict, the causes and precise nature do not become clear in this first part of the omnibus yet. What the pilgrims do know, is that they are to face a dreadful creature known as the Shrike (I can't help but think of him as Edward Scissorhands' older brother for some reason). The creature seems to drive people away from the mysterious Time Tombs on the planet. A region in where time seems to flow in the opposite direction. Nobody has figured out what the Tombs contain but they appear to be on the verge of opening.

Hyperion doesn't really delve into the larger conflict but explores the reason for six of the seven pilgrims to join the expedition. While on their way to the site of the Time Tombs to face the Shrike they tell each other their story. Their stories are bloody, violent, dramatic and often heart wrenching and slowly an understanding between the pilgrims of what makes them join what is by most of them regarded as a suicide mission emerges. As the company nears it's destination, despite their differences, a bond between the pilgrims is forged.

The book is divided in six part, one for each loosely related story, with a few snippets of the adventures of the pilgrims on the road in between. Simmons manages to create a distinct voice for each of the six story tellers, partly by using different styles. Much of the Priest's tale is written in a series of diary entries for instance, while the Soldier's tale is told in the third person and the Detective's tale in the first. The risk with this technique is of course that not all stories will appeal to the reader in equal measure, thus creating parts of the books that will be a struggle for some readers. Hyperion opens with the Priest's story, which in my opinion is the least interesting of the bunch. This section is some 70 pages long, made it hard for me to get into the book. After that, as we launch in the more action packed soldier's tale, the book really got going for me, steadily working towards the best tale of the six, the consul's tale. I very much like the way the consul uses a non-linear structure for his story, especially since time and time debt (as Simmons put is, think time dilation) plays such a large part in his tale.

Hyperion is not an easy book to like. While the pilgrims' tales are engrossing, the reader's view of the overarching story remains hazy. Simmons drops a lot of hint and sets things up that will not make sense until you have read Fall of Hyperion. You have to appreciate this book for it's style, the individual stories and the unique voices Simmons creates for his characters but don't expect a conclusion of the overarching story. After the first fifty pages I wasn't sure if I was going to finish it, after reading the Consul's tale I absolutely loved it.

The nice thing about this omnibus is that you can dive straight into the next book. Right from the start it becomes clear that Fall of Hyperion is nothing like Hyperion. Simmons introduces new characters and points of view and switches his tale of the pilgrims' confrontation with the Shrike and events in the decision making centres of the Hegemony, an interstellar federation that rules most of the planets colonized by humanity. In this book Simmons delves deeper into the overarching conflict. An interstellar war is about to break out between the Hegemony and the Ousters, a space faring faction of humanity that mostly has come into conflict with the Hegemony before, with Hyperion as the first battlefield. Of course the conflict does not turn out quite a simple as it appears at the start of the book. As the conflict escalates more layers of intrigue, deceit and planning are uncovered and it soon becomes clear that human liberty and the very survival of the human race are the real stakes in this war.

Fall of Hyperion has much more of a Space Opera feel to it that Hyperion. It deals with some classic SF-themes such as star travel, artificial intelligence, colonization and terraforming of alien worlds and of course interstellar warfare. The structure of the book is more conventional than that of Hyperion as well, although Simmons continues to use various styles for various characters. Fall of Hyperion is not a book that is likely to provoke the either very positive of very negative reactions that Hyperion does. Personally I don't think Fall of Hyperion is any less of a literary achievement than the previous book though. It's Byzantine plot and interesting characters make it a very good read. I suppose Severn/Keats is meant to steal the show but I liked Gladstone better.

These two vastly different looks at the same conflict make the books almost inseparable in my opinion. Putting them in one omnibus edition makes a lot of sense. Without the in depth looks at the motivations of the pilgrims Fall of Hyperion doesn't work well as a novel. On the other hand the ending of Hyperion is rather abrupt. There isn't really any sense of conclusion at the end of the book the see what the sacrifice the pilgrims are making is all about. I rarely read two books that are so different yet so much interlinked. Each of these books has its merits but it's the combination that makes it a great work of science fiction. Do not start on Hyperion without a copy of Fall of Hyperion at hand.

Book details
Title: The Hyperion Omnibus
Author: Dan Simmons
Publisher: Gollancz
Pages: 779
Year: 2004
Language: English
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 0-575-07626-7
First published: 1989/1990