Poll: Reading Classic SF

Recently I read Jo Walton's Among Others, which I don't think anyone can read and not be left with a craving for some classic SF. So I raided my rather formidable to read pile to see what might be hiding on it, to satisfy that craving. I've found five novels that would serve and taken the opportunity to try out the poll feature on Blogger. So my question to you is which one should I read?

The options are:

Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut (1963)
Babel-17 - Samuel R. Delany (1966)
Dying Inside - Robert Silverberg (1972)
Tau Zero - Poul Anderson (1970)
The City and the Stars - Arthur C. Clarke (1956)

The actual poll is on the right hand side, top of the screen. As far as I know Blogger doesn't allow you to integrate them into posts.

All of these authors are referenced in Among Others but Tau Zero and The City and the Stars are not (at least according to this list). I'll leave the poll open for two weeks and read the most popular choice in October.

When the Great Days Come - Gardner Dozois

Gardner Dozois is probably best known for his work as editor, for which he has won an unprecedented number of Hugo Awards. He was in the editor of Asimov's for twenty years between 1984 and 2004 and has edited an enormous number of anthologies of all kinds, including The Year's Best Science Fiction series, which is up to its 28th annual edition. Recently there have also been a series of cross genre anthologies edited with George R.R. Martin that were generally well received. Dozois' fiction is less well know. He is not a very prolific writer, somewhere between 50 and 60 short stories were published, the first of which appeared in 1966. He has also published three novels, the most recent being Hunter's Run (2007), a collaboration with George R.R. Martin and Daniel Abraham. This book was the only work I have read of Dozois before reading this collection.

When the Great Days Come is the latests of half a dozen collections that have appeared over the years. It is a selection of eighteen stories spanning his entire career and contains an insightful introduction by Robert Silverberg. The oldest stories were published in 1971, while the most recent is a story originally published in one of the cross genre anthologies I mentioned before. Three of them are award winning stories. Dozois got a Nebula for The Peacemaker (1983) and Morning Child (1984) and a Sidewise Award for Counterfactual (2006). The collection contains stories that range from post apocalyptic to alternate histories, first contact and horror/science fiction hybrid. One of the stories even borders on fantasy. They are often very bleak, containing very little in the way of optimism or utopian themes. As such, it took me a while to get though this collection. Although the stories are very well crafted, you don't want to read them all in one sitting. Eighteen stories is too much to discuss them all, so I will just cover a few. I found it very hard to pick favourites, the quality of this entire collection is exceptional.

Counterfactual is the story that opens the collection and is, in my opinion, one of the strongest pieces in it. It's an alternate history, set in an America where the civil war didn't end with General Lee surrendering his army but where the South started a guerilla war that lasted for generations. The main character is a journalist writing a counterfactual (alternate history) on a boring trip to cover a speech by the vice president in one of the occupied southern states. What Gardner does is have the main character examine a future that could well be ours, tugging at Lee's motivation for dispersing his army and wondering how close he came to giving up. He constantly asks the "what if" question letting the reader bounce back and forth between our history and that of the main character. There are some very good stories in this collection but I think I like this one the best.

Two stories that offer a nice contrast are When the Great Days Came (2005) and A Cat Horror Story (1994). In the first story Dozois writes about a great change from the point of view from a rat. He very carefully avoids anthropomorphizing pointing out several times that smart as they may be, we can't project human emotions on these rodents. He only hits at the evolutionary path these creatures are about to take, to which the rat is completely oblivious. Somehow Dozois makes this story work without a sentient character.  In a A Cat Horror Story, Dozois does the opposite. It deals with a gathering of cats telling tachometer stories of the horrible faith that may befall each of them. They include such evils as cars, castration and euthanasia. Despite being a cat person, I didn't think it was the strongest story in the collection but in combination with When the Great Days Came, which I like a lot, it works nicely.

Ancestral Voices (1998), written in collaboration with Michael Swanwick is one of the longest pieces in the collection. I guess you could see it as a first contact story. The story contains two points of view. One of a creature struggling to override his survival instincts, the other of an old woman who encounters it. It's a very bleak story, one that could be said to have happy end but one plagued by regrets and suspicions of manipulation. What I liked about this story in particular is the pacing. Dozois and Swanwick build to the climax carefully and deliver a twist I didn't see coming until they wanted me to.

In A Special Kind of Morning (1971), the author explores the emotional scars on a veteran of a brutal war. The story is basically told as a monologue. The veteran is speaking to a younger man or boy but other than that we never learn anything about him. The setting feels like a far future story, one in which reliance on technology has reached such extremes that it leaves society wide open to attacks with the most primitive means. I guess this soldier discovers post traumatic stress all over again during his campaign. Given the publication date I wonder if the Vietnam war had anything to do with writing this story.

I guess A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows (1999) matches A Special Kind of Morning in a way. The main character is also an old man, famous for making a political statement on the desirability of applying all kinds of technology to the human species to lengthen their lives, or to become in effect immortal, as well as the emergence of artificial intelligence. His message was a bit too subtle for the general public but his followers still hold him in high regard when his eightieth birthday approaches. Dozois uses what the main character things of as time travellers to impress the seriousness of the decision the main character will be faced with. Although it takes a few pages for this choice to become apparent, the author already builds the tension early on in the story. I also liked the rather ambitious ending of this story. It fits somehow. A story about the how a decision is made, rather than what the decision is.

As I mentioned earlier, I thought almost all of these stories were very well written from a technical point of view. They were very well paced in particular. Structured so as not to give the twist of the story away too early. The tone of most of them is very dark though, making When the Great Days Come a somewhat depressing read. That being said, I like the way in which Dozois delivers the punch of his stories. The endings are often ambiguous, yet fit the tales perfectly. They leave the reader to mull over the larger theme of the story, rather than the fate of the main character as often as not. Some readers may find his style a bit verbose at some points but that was not something that bothered me in any of these stories. When the Great Days Come is a great collection. It took me longer than I expected to make my way though it, but is was reading time well spent.

Book Details
Title: When the Great Days Come
Author: Gardner Dozois
Publisher: Prime Books
Pages: 359
Year: 2011
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-60701-278-8
First published: 2011

Green Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson

Green Mars is the second book in Robinson's most well known work, the Mars trilogy. Although many critics consider the second and third volume not quite as good as Red Mars, Robinson won both the Locus and Hugo Awards with this novel in 1994. Green Mars must have been a lot more difficult to write than Red Mars. The planet is no longer empty, vast changes take place in the physical environment and ideologies buckle under the stress of practical application and opposition from Earth. Mars is a mess in this book and Robinson obviously struggled with that.

After the revolution of 2061, the few members of the first hundred that are still alive are forced into hiding. Taking refuge with Hiroko's group in a dome habitat under the south pole of Mars, they bide their time. A whole new generation of Martians grows up around them in the small world under they ice. The remaining First Hundred members know they cannot stay hidden forever. The Martian underground is too extensive to suppress and the Transnationals that currently run the planet, too preoccupied with their own struggles to take notice of the social tension that are rising on the planet. Another revolution seems inevitable. Only the question of how to make sure this one succeeds remains to be answered. As usual, the first hundred disagree and they are by no means the only players in this political game.

The novel is divided in ten parts, each told from the point of view of a single character. As if to underline the changes taking place on Mars, Robinson first introduces us to Nrigal, the son of Hiroko and stowaway Desmond, and Art Randolph, Praxis employee sent to Mars to make contact with the underground. Nirgal in particular, is an interesting character. He and and John Boone's granddaughter Jacky, represent the new Martian human, tall, healthy, expecting to live for centuries and supremely ignorant of the planet that was the cradle of their species. The other parts are filled in by characters we have already met. First Hundred members Ann, Sax, Maya and Nadia, each of them using their fame as the first settlers of Mars to pursue their own agendas.

The plot of Green Mars is messy from start to finish. Robinson tries to tie a lot of political, social and scientific developments into the novel and this makes the story a lot more complicated than Red Mars. I guess a confrontation between Sax and Ann shows this most clearly.

Most of the people there had seen de famous videotape of Ann and Sax's argument in Underhill, and certainly their story was well-known, one of the great myths of the First Hundred - a myth from a time when things had been simpler, and distinct personalities could stand for clear-cut issues. Now nothing was simple anymore, and as the old enemies faced off again in the middle of this hodge-podge group, there was an odd electricity in the air, a mix of nostalgia and tension and collective déjà vu, and a wish (perhaps just in herself, Nadia thought bitterly) that the two of them could somehow effect a reconciliation, for their own sakes and for all of them.

Nadia witnessing an argument between Ann and Sax - Part Seven - What Is To Be Done?

Ann and Sax, thesis and anti-thesis in the Hegelian sense (with the synthesis yet to come in Blue Mars) arguing over a point that is essentially moot by this time. Rehashing an old argument while waiting for the right moment to launch a bid for Mars' independence. In a sense a lot of this book is waiting for the 'trigger' ans Sax puts it later on in the novel. Personally I think Robinson draws this out a bit too long. He has a lot to say on various political positions, scientific developments and social experiments, most of it very interesting, but all together it is probably more than the plot can carry.

Much of the Martian problems in this novel stem from Robinson's vision of late 21st and early 22nd Earth. With the effect of gerontological treatment beginning to make an impact, the planet seems to be heading towards a Malthusian crisis of huge proportions. The treatment is still only available to a (substantial) minority of the people however. Although some states guarantee the procedure as a basic human right, in practice only the privileged receive it regularly. Nevertheless, the population is booming and the pressures on Earth's already overstretched ecosystem become enormous. Earth is desperate for a way to take some of the pressure off and the empty red planet looks tempting. Even if it is quite clear Mars will never be capable of supporting a population large enough to make an impact back on Earth.

Through newsflashes received by the Martians, Robinson effectively shows us an Earth on the edge of complete ecological breakdown, a process helped along by the power of the Transnats. These organizations are conglomerates of the Metanats of Red Mars. Their turnover dwarfs the budget of any government save the few largest economies on Earth and their power is ever increasing. Using their capital to gain more and more political influence, they have effectively reduced Mars to their private property. It is not a pretty picture of capitalism Robinson is painting in this book. At the very least it appears incapable of finding a market incentive to respect the ecological limits of the planet. Most of Robinson's work is political very left wing (particularly by American standards) so the failure of capitalism to deal with the crisis should come as no surprise. Still, if neo-liberal economics are your thing this book is going to be painful to read.

The novel contains several attempts to offer an alternative. On Earth, the Transnat Praxis is trying to implement more ecologically sustainable business practices. Founder of the company, William Fort, is aiming for a kind of eco-economics (looking at the etymology of economy and ecology it sounds a bit like a tautology is you ask me ). Back on Mars, the underground is running a kind of gift economy that is partly based on an energy source as currency and party on preventing the stockpiling of resources by allowing a portion of the earnings to dissipate into the environment as either heat of nitrogen (both of which aid the terraforming process and therefore the long term goal of making the surface habitable). It's a system that knows a lot of problems. Robinson mentions some in the book but the most obvious, what to do if the long term goal is not terraforming, in other words the Reds' political position, is not tackled here. It's a great source of tension in the Martian underground. Economics have never been my forte but it appears there are a great number of problems still to be worked out. I can't help but feel this part is much more speculative than the hard science fiction elements in the book.

Of these there are still plenty. One of the things Robinson describes is the building of a new space elevator. He also goes into detail on the changes in the Martian landscape. Where in Red Mars, we mostly saw the planet as it was then known from the photographs returned by various space probes, Robinson is now actively trying to describe the impact of higher temperatures and a thicker atmosphere. With such a huge vertical dimension to the planet, the highest point on the surface is some thirty kilometres above the lowest, erosion is taking on dangerous proportions. Like in Red Mars, there are plenty of descriptions of people travelling across the planet and seeing interesting geological formations and fascinating meteorological phenomena (Robinson pays attention to the colours of the sky in particular). Even more than in the previous book, Robinson impressed the acute danger the planet poses to its new inhabitants. The terraforming effort, which can be charitably described as somewhat disorganized, is wreaking havoc on a massive scale. I'm still in awe of Robinson's ability to make this landscape come to life in his books.

On the whole I think Green Mars is not quite as good and Red Mars. I feel that Robinson tried to put too much information and too much very rapid change in the already compressed time-scale of the series. That being said, the attractions of the first novel are still present in this book. Robinson's vision of the colonization of Mars in frighteningly plausible in some respects and very well thought through. Despite the huge challenges being faced by the characters, there is a sense of optimism about these novels that human ingenuity and common sense will be able to overcome them. Although the situation is bad at times, there are always people working on ways to improve it, usually with very innovative ideas. I'm not sure all of it is equally realistic but it certainly makes for fascinating reading. It'll have to wait for a bit, but I already look forward  to my reread of the novel that got me hooked on Robinson's work  in the first place, the final volume in this trilogy: Blue Mars.

Book Details
Title: Green Mars
Author: Kim Stanley Robinson
Publisher: Voyager
Pages: 781
Year: 1996
Language: English
Format: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: 0-586-21390-2
First published: 1993

Among Others - Jo Walton

Among Others is one of the novels that was suggested for review number 200 earlier this year. I decided to go with another book eventually, because I was looking for something I was unlikely to pick up spontaneously. Among Others looked so interesting that I ordered a copy of it as well and it has been waiting on the to read stack ever since. I've read an awful lot of Walton's writing but none of it is actually fiction. She writes a column on Tor.com, lots of reviews on older works of science fiction and fantasy as well as a discussion on the Hugo Awards nominees and winners. Next Sunday 1999 will be discussed. I don't always agree with Walton but her reviews are usually well worth reading and she has added more than a few titles to my to read list. I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise that Walton added to the list again with this novel.

Fifteen year old Morwenna has grown up in a town in South Wales. When we first meet her, she has recently lost her twin sister and has run away to a father she barely knows. He is sending her to Arlinghurst, a boarding school in England, something that is not going to be easy on Morwenna. She is an outsider. Everything sets her apart from her fellow students; her accent, her bright intellect, he peculiar family and the fact that she is a cripple. As a child, Morwenna used to find refuge in two things. Her connection with the spirit world, something her mother is completely caught up in, and reading science fiction novels. The library become a refuge, but there is no magic at Arlinghurst however, and attempts to introduce it, only leads to unwanted attention from her mother. A reckoning with her past in unavoidable for Morwenna. She will have to come to terms with her loss and settle affairs with her mother.

The novel is entirely written in the form of a diary, with entries set in late 1979 and early 1980. Among Others is not an autobiography, but Walton seems to have put quite a lot of her own life into the novel. She was born in South Wales for instance, turned fifteen in 1979, did attend an English boarding school and read science fiction novels voraciously. Morwenna also shares a lot of opinions with Walton on novels. She's no fan of Philip K. Dick for instance, and has reservations about some of Heinlein's later novels even if she loves his earlier work. I haven't read any of Walton's other novels but I can't imagine them being as personal as this one. For people who are interested in the question to what extend this novel incorporates events from the author's life, I'll refer you to a a very interesting piece Walton wrote for John Scalzi's Whatever blog.

There is no denying it, Among Others is a book for geeks. There are lots and lots of references to science fiction classics. Morwenna reads Silverberg, Le Guin, Delayny, Zelazny, Heinlein, Clarke, Niven and Tiptree just to name a few (a complete list of novels mentioned in Among Others can be found here). It makes the novel something of a gamble. I read a lot but I don't come close to even having read half the titles Morwenna mentions. Walton mostly sticks to the more well known works so I pretty much recognized everything she mentions. Still, a fantasy novel that relies this much on science fiction titles, will put some readers of. In 1979 it might not have been the case yet, but the two genres have developed their own groups of readers with only limited overlap. Still, as a love letter to science fiction and fantasy, the book is a very good read. Morwenna's diary entries are full of entrances that show just how much her thinking is influenced by what she reads. One nice example from early on in the novel:

Robert Heinlein says in Have A Spacesuit, Will Travel that the only things worth studying are history, languages, and science. Actually, he adds maths, but honestly they left out the mathematical part of my brain. Mor got all the Maths.

Morwenna deciding on the subjects she wants to take - Thursday 6th September 1979

The list things Morwenna finds in these novels that connect with this young girl's world is very impressive. It makes you think twice about labeling science fiction as a genre for teenage boys. The fantasy element in the novel is provided by a subtle kind of magic. It's very easy to deny its existence, which is why not many people believe in it in the first place. Magic that Morwenna hasn't quite figured out how to safely use yet. Most of her magical exploits have been linked to the fairies Morwenna sees in the abandoned industrial sites of South Wales. They're nothing like the elves described in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, although Morwenna has a theory on how Tolkien might have arrived at his image of these creatures.With the novel being written from the first person and the fact that magic never really seems to impact anything directly, there is always a slight feel of the unreliable narrator in these sections but at the same time she makes you want to believe Morwenna. Especially since she has her reservations about the ethics of trying to influence events that way.

Under all the magic and science fiction references, Among Others is still mostly a story of a girl trying to find her balance again. When we meet her, things can't possibly get any worse. Gradually, Morwenna decides that despite the pain in her leg, the hole left behind where her twin used to be, her difficult family and being an outsider everywhere she goes, there is still reason to go on. Sometimes she is suborn or plain unreasonable but Morwenna is not given to self-pity or excessive displays of emotion. Her diary entries show a girl whit a more rational mind than most teenagers display, an inquisitive mind, constantly asking questions about what she encounters in the world. Some readers my find it hard to get close to Morwenna, in her diary she usually takes a bit of distance from the situations she describes. Personally, I thought to development from despair and a sense of loss to mild optimism and self-confidence is very well done.  

Among Others is one of those novels I'd like to see pop up in next year's awards shortlists. I'm not sure if it is the sort of novel that has a large enough appeal to actually win one, but I agree with a lot of the critics that it is definitely one of the books 2011 that one ought to read. I can see why some readers might not like it, but for me, it is absolutely one of the most interesting and well-written 2011 publications I've read. For fans of 1960 and 1970s genre fiction, it has a certain nostalgic appeal. Remembering reading a favourite novel for the first time definitely adds to this story. But even if, like me, you haven't read that many of the novels Walton mentions, the novel is very much worth reading. I'd say, give it a try.

Book Details
Title: Among Others  
Author: Jo Walton  
Publisher: Tor  
Pages: 302  
Year: 2011
Language: English  
Format: Hardcover  
ISBN: 978-0-7653-2153-4
First published: 2011

Resurrection - Tim Marquitz

Resurrection is the second part in Marquitz Demon Squad series and continues the adventures of Frank Trigg, also known as Triggaltheron. The series is set in a world where God and the Devil have decided to throw the towel and Angels and Demons are now fighting for control. Resurrection is set after the events in Armageddon Bound, the story refers to events in the previous novel several times, but it is also an entirely new case for DRAC. I wouldn't go so far as to say they can be read independently but Marquitz has made them pretty self contained. The first novel was entertaining but sometimes burdened by too lengthy action sequences. In this volume, Marquitz has struck a better balance.

The world has been saved from Armageddon but the work of a DRAC agent is never done. While Trigg is enjoying a well deserved bit of R&R in one of the more questionable bars in Old Town, he stumbles across a group of zombies. Or rather, they stumble across him. For someone with his supernatural powers they are not too dangerous but in large numbers they can still do a lot of damage. After a brutal fight, Trigg calls in his colleagues and an investigation into the origins of this zombie outbreak begins. What seems to be a relatively easy case compared to preventing Armageddon, soon turns into something more complicated when Trigg realizes the necromancer involved, will not settle for animating a few corpses.

One of my complaints about the previous book was that Trigg is a horribly sexist character, who apparently feels the need to describe his physical reaction to every pretty woman he comes across. Perhaps I am getting used to it but it appears that Marquitz has gone a bit easier on this personality trait of Trigg's. The poor man still can't get laid without being interrupted though. As with the first volume, if you are not at least capable of ignoring it, this book will most likely annoy you.

In the previous novel the emphasis was mostly on a struggle between Angels and Demons and factions within those two groups. In Resurrection, Marquitz takes a closer look at necromancy. Zombies are one expression of this but the larger plan calls for the resurrection of someone who, according to Trigg, ought to remain dead. Marquitz is once again expanding the array of supernatural creatures that populate his world. I must admit I don't share the current zombie fetish that is washing over the genre at the moment. Trigg's response to them, a complete lack of fear followed by a moment where he realizes he's screwed if he doesn't move, is very well done though.

Resurrection is more tightly written than then Armageddon Bound. While the first novel was relentless in terms of action scenes, it came at the expense of character development and plot. In this novel there are few more scenes in which Trigg is not fighting, arguing or running away from someone more dangerous than he is, which does the plot a world of good. Trigg is gaining power, his development beyond one of DRAC's foot soldiers takes some getting used to. He likes it when people underestimate him. From the way Trigg is picking up power in these two books I'd say this is something he'll have to get used to.

Although Marquitz' writing has improved in this volume, the final chapter could have used a bit more attention. It reads like the author is ticking off loose ends in the plot one of after another. When I read it I felt the author might as well have added bullets to the text. There's also a hint in this chapter in which direction Marquitz means to take the next book. It was nicely foreshadowed in the text and one of the stronger point of this chapter. The author manages to deliver a complete story and still add a hook to get the reader interested in the next volume.

Marquitz once again delivers a fast paced novel, full of action and Trigg's self-depreciating humour. He has managed to raise the bar quite a bit, resulting in a stronger second novel, that builds on an interesting premiss. There is still quite a lot to uncover in this setting. Most of the struggle between Angels and Demons seems to be limited to one city for instance. As of yet, there is no clue why this would be the case. Fortunately Marquitz clearly intends to write a third book and judging from the final chapter of this novel, I'd say it is going to be a conflict on a scale we haven't seen before.

Book Details
Title: Resurrection
Author: Tim Marquitz
Publisher: Damnation Books
Pages: 200
Year: 2011
Language: English
Format: E-book
ISBN: 978-1-61572-397-3
First published: 2011

Leviathan Wakes - James S.A. Corey

Leviathan Wakes is the first novel in a space opera trilogy named The Expanse by James S.A. Corey. Corey is a pseudonym for authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. I am familiar with the work Abraham published under his own name, some of which is very good indeed. Corey is his third pen-name. He also writes an Urban Fantasy series under the name M. L. N. Hanover. With ten novels under his belt, Abraham is definitely the more experienced of the two. I haven't read any of Franck's writing yet. I know he has contributed to the latest Wild Cards volume Fort Freak, which is still on the to read stack. Other than that, I only know him as George R.R. Martin's assistant. I didn't know what to expect of this novel, it is quite a departure from Abraham's previous (novel length) work and a new adventure for Franck. As it turned out, Leviathan Wakes is a very readable bit of science fiction. One that might appeal to a larger crowd than just the hardcore SF-fans.

The novel is set in a future where humanity has ventured beyond Earth and colonized Mars as well as a whole host of moons and asteroids. Humanity's cradle is still essential to the survival of the species however, the source of many materials that simply can't be produced in any meaningful quantities elsewhere. Its power is only rivaled by Mars, one of the few other places in the solar system to house a significant number of people. Further out, are the miners of the asteroid belt, people confined to small bubbles of air and artificial gravity in the the vast emptiness of space.

Jim Holden is the the executive officer on an ice miner, making runs between the Jupiter's rings and the asteroid belt. It's a dead end job on a rickety old ship and usually quite uneventful. Until that is, they come upon the derelict ship Scopuli, emitting a distress call. What they find on the ship draws the crew into a spiral of violence that almost inevitably seems to lead to war. In the meantime on the asteroid turned space station Ceres, detective Miller is on a missing persons case. Although the police force on Ceres has more than enough problems on their hands once the political instability of the solar system is exposed and Miller is told to let go of the case, he can't shake the feeling there is something fishy about it. Miller digs deeper, at great personal expense.

In there is one thing I admire about the book is the way that Corey has managed to make it a science fiction novel that has so many elements of other genres and sub-genres besides space opera in it that it has a much wider appeal that a hard science fiction novel would have had in today's market. That is not to say there aren't some classic science fiction elements in the tale. Corey spends a great deal of time on the effects of gravity (or the absence of it) to the human body, to the operation of space stations, to warfare etc. There is definitely a bit of Rendezvous with Rama in this novel. There are some nice references to things like space sickness and the trick of deciding which way is up in an environment without gravity that a hard science fiction fan will appreciate but doesn't take a vast knowledge of physics to understand.

On the other hand, the story line of Miller also injects a dose of police procedural into the narrative. It's a combination that can work very well, as Alastair Reynolds showed us in The Prefect, a novel I still consider his best. Miller's past and personal problems are woven into the case he is researching. He's increasingly unable to keep his job and his private life separate, or in fact, keep reality and illusion apart. He's clearly a man headed for self-destruction. Holden on the other hand, is a man who has a completely different way of getting into trouble. Besides being rather direct, he feels qualified to decide which information should be shared with the entire solar system and which shouldn't. Much to the disgust of Miller, who blames him for starting a war. The authors have stated it was not intentional but the parallel with Wikileaks is almost inescapable.

Although the story in Leviathan Wakes is essentially complete, the way the novel was written leaves a lot of possibilities for a series that goes well beyond the planned trilogy. There is quite a bit of attention for world building, an aspect that gives the whole novel an epic fantasylike quality. In this novel, the two main characters are far away from the places where the big political decision are made. They deeply impact the story but the real motivation behind them remains mostly guesswork by the main characters. Throughout the novel you can sense that there are layers of events and decisions that have yet to be revealed. It would be nice if the authors paid a bit more attention that than in the next two books. The action we get to see now is set at the fringes of human expansion but what is going on 'down the well', as the Belters refer to the inner solar system, sounds like it is worth a few pages more than are dedicated to it in this novel.

Leviathan Wakes is a novel that achieves what it sets out to do very well. Entertain the reader. It is a novel that is clearly meant to be a fun ride, without too many complications or being too demanding on the reader. As such, I enjoyed it a lot. It's fast paced, very careful not to let itself get distracted in grand descriptions of the solar system or futuristic technology. Many of the elements in this novel will be familiar to the experience science fiction reader, it is not shockingly original. It is however, a well written adventure with plenty of opportunities for an equally enjoyable continuation of the series. I look forward to reading the second volume, Caliban's War, scheduled for publication in the summer of 2012, already.

Book Details
Title: Leviathan Wakes
Author: James S.A. Corey
Publisher: Orbit
Pages: 561
Year: 2011
Language: English
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-84149-988-8
First published: 2011

I Missed the Second Birthday of Random Comments!

Outrageous, I know. I missed it by four whole days. Anyway, Random Comments now passed the two year mark. As I said when the blog turned one, I didn't think it'd last that long. Actually, despite a few recent hiccups, I'm very pleased I've managed to keep it going at a more or less constant pace. Thanks everybody for visiting. My traffic is still not a serious challenge Google's capacity but it is steadily rising. Let's see how we do in a third year.

The Frozen Sky - Jeff Carlson

The Frozen Sky is a novella originally published in 2007 in the anthology Writers of the Furure XXIII. Last year, author Jeff Carlson has made it available as e-book and was kind enough to provide me with a review copy. Like the stories in his collection Long Eyes and Other Stories, which I read a few months back, The Frozen Sky is a hard science fiction story. It's a fine example of a well written novella, a length that in my opinion is very hard to get right. I have seen relatively few examples of novellas that aren't bloated short stories or rushed novels. In The Frozen Sky, Carlson strikes the right balance.

The story is set in the early 22nd century, a time when humanity is expanding throughout the solar system. Although the search for extraterrestrial life is ongoing, none has actually been found. Until a crawler from Jupiter's ice moon Europa, completely unexpected, stumbles across evidence for multi-cellular life. Quickly an expedition consisting of three scientists is assembled to investigate. When they arrive, they find themselves completely unprepared for what they discover.

Europa is one of the few places in the solar system that may harbour life. A process called tidal heating is theorized to make liquid water possibly under the thick sheet of ice that covers the entire surface of the moon. The existence of this ocean and the possibility of life have made Europa the subject of many science fiction stories. One in particular that comes to mind is 2010: Odyssey Two, by Arthur C. Clarke, in which a monster from the deep takes down an entire spaceship down with it. Another one I recently read is A Spy in Europa, a short story set in Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space setting. In this story, Europa's oceans are settled by an advanced human civilizations. Clarke's portrayal of Europa's environment is a lot closer to what Carlson describes.

The novella is told in a non-linear fashion and contains two main story lines. In one, we find Alexis "Vonnie" Vonderach, the sole survivor of the expedition in terrible trouble, struggling to survive the challenges the moon throws at her. The second is set earlier and slowly reveals what went wrong. Carlson also uses this second story line to give the reader some background information on Europa and the history of space faring. It creates a very nice contrast between the immediate needs of Vonnie in the action packed and often frantic scenes in the first strand of the narrative and the slower, more scientifically oriented second strand.

Carlson creates some pretty fierce creatures in Europa's harsh environment. There may be a touch of the idea that such conditions drive the development of extreme physical and behavioural adaptations. An idea that frequently surfaces in the work of Frank Herbert for instance. I must admit the very thin atmosphere on Europa seems a big ecological challenge to overcome, but life sheltering in the ice, it may just be possible. The image of this huge dome of ice as the edge of the universe for these aliens is a nice one. It might feel a bit claustrophobic for humans though. Carlson's descriptions of the extremely cold ice caves Vonnie finds herself in certainly are.

Another thing Carlson gets right is the way he carefully avoids anthropomorphizing his aliens. Vonnie has serious trouble finding out the driving forces of their behaviour. If there is one area where the novella is perhaps a bit underdeveloped, it is in the understanding of what makes these aliens tick. When the penny does drop for Vonnie, it is the last piece she needs to reach an unexpected conclusion.

The Frozen Sky is a well written novella, looking for a reader not afraid of a generous helping of hard science fiction. As with many shorter pieces, some readers will feel it should have been longer and that is leaves a lot of the background of the story rather vague. Personally, I feel Carlson gets the level of detail right. It is after all, as much a story of Vonnie and how, despite the hostility she meets on Europa, she's still able to defeat the impulse to blindly strike back and realize what must be done instead. When Vonnie reaches that point, the background, fascinating as it may be, has served its purpose. To me at least,The Frozen Sky is a very satisfying first contact story. Recommended for hard science fiction fans in particular.

Book Details
Title: The Frozen Sky
Author: Jeff Carlson
Pages: 62
Year: 2010
Language: English
Format: E-book
First published: 2010

Midnight Tides - Steven Erikson

Midnight Tides is the fifth volume in Erikson's Tales of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series and something of a favorite of mine. By this time the series is already ridiculously complex but Erikson manages to weave a new strand into his tale nonetheless. With the first four volumes going back and forth between events on the continent of Genebackis and the rebellion in the Seven Cities, a return to Genebackis might be what the reader expects. In fact, Erikson will get back to that continent for a while in volume six, The Bonehunters, but this book takes a step back in time and moves us to the distant empire of Letheras. I think this is by far the most interesting place Erikson has created in his series, certainly given recent events regarding the world's economy.

The empire of Letheras has been expanding for centuries. A combination of rampant capitalism, merciless greed and military might has lead numerous peoples to complete cultural annihilation. Now, the empire has turned it gaze towards the lands of six tribes of the Tiste Edur for new resources. In the eyes of the Letheri, the Tiste Edure are uncivilized people. Although the tribes don't have a monetary economy and are few in number, they do posses a dreadful kind of magic. For as long as anyone remembers the Tiste Edur have been divided, always fighting amongst themselves. Recently the Warlock-King of the Hiroth tribe, Hannan Mosag, has managed to unite all six tribes under his rule however. And his ambitions go far beyond the Tiste Edur lands. The two nations are on a collision course, one that will pit not long armies against each other but also dreadful magic and powerful ideologies. It is a clash that cannot fail to attract the notice of the gods.

In the previous book, House of Chains, Erikson dedicated a quarter of the text to the back story of a single character. Now, we take another step back to find out the history of Trull Sengar, the flooded realm we first encountered him in, and the actions of groups of Tiste Edur referenced to throughout the first four novels. The chronology of the these books is a bit problematic, with several contradictions cropping up in the text. For me it would make most sense to place the events in Midnight Tides several years prior to Gardens of the Moon but some people insist it is set later.

One of the things I like most about his book is the depiction of Letheri society. It is a culture where money is the most important status symbol and indebtedness leads to slavery. It's the Uncle Sam king of capitalism in overdrive, an economic systems that crushes anyone who plays the game poorly. Erikson shows us the follies of this system, many of which resemble to cycles of boom and bust in our own economy, though the eyes of two of my favorite characters: the apparently destitute financial genius Tehol Bedict and his (unpaid) manservant Bugg. There is a lot more to this comical duo than meets the eye. Their attempt to crash the Letheri economy is a story line that continues into the seventh volume, Reaper's Gale . It's a brilliant bit of satire that never seemed more relevant that these days.

I said Erikson makes things even more complex and he doesn't just do it by adding a new continent, the whole system of magic we've come to know in the previous four books is left behind as well. In stead of Warrens, a rawer, wilder, more primitive magic, tied to Holds can be accessed here. Curiously enough, the Hold of Death is empty, Hoods influence non-existent, meaning the dead can be made to linger. This gives rise to a number of phenomena we haven't seen before in these books. Armies of shades, curses that keep a soul tied to an already dead body, and even people who specialize in cosmetics for zombies. Some of it is utterly bizarre.

The manipulation of death takes another shape in the figure of Rhuald Sengar, younger brother to Trull. Rhuald is the subject of another ploy by the Crippled God, who abused the absence of Hood's influence to gain influence over the Tiste Edur. Rhuald is the character in which all the fractures in the Tiste Edur society come together. From the ancient corruption of historical events to the smaller scale of the conflicts in the Sengar family. Rhuald's bride, his relationship with his brother Trull and his meteoric rise to power all put an enormous strain on him. And that is on top of the manipulations of th Crippled God. It makes Rhuald one of the most convincingly insane characters in the entire series. Disturbing to read about but also a character who evokes pity in the reader.

Midnight Tides is also the book where Erikson starts to explain a few things in fairly plain language. That is not to say he coddles the reader, you'll still be thrown into strange situations that take a while for it to make sense, but for the first time we get a description of what a Warren is (or an interpretation of what they might be at least). He also sheds some light on the troubled history of the Tiste peoples. The prologue of this novel shows us a pivotal point in their history, one that will define the future of the Tiste Edur. Until now, we've mostly dealt with the Tiste Andi and only received hits of the trouble between Dark and Shadow. I don't think I caught the full significance of the prologue, both to this novel and the over all series the first time through. It's worth keeping that information in the back of your mind when reading this book.

New continent, new characters, new forms of magic and new gods. Midnight Tides almost feels like a new start to the series, but Erikson will merge this new story line into the other novels quite quickly in subsequent novels. It is also the first novel that will have the story spin outwards from the Malazan Empire. Not all readers may be pleased by yet another totally unfamiliar setting but I enjoyed the change of scenery tremendously. The fact that Erikson introduces a host of fascinating characters doesn't hurt either. From the comical Thehol and Bugg to Trull Sengar, turn between loyalty to his family and knowledge of an ancient wrong and a new threat to his people, Erikson once again delivers an epic, dramatic and superbly entertaining Malazan novel. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

Book Details
Title: Midnight Tides
Author: Steven Erikson
Publisher: Bantam Books
Pages: 960
Year: 2005
Language: English
Format: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: 0-553-81314-5
First published: 2004

A Clash of Kings - George R.R. Martin

I had a bit more time on my hands then I knew what to do with last week so I attempted to write another review. Unfortunately this does not mean I am back. I will try to written another next week but don't expect a resumption of my two reviews a week schedule just yet.

Earlier this year, HBO aired the television adaptation of Martin's A Game of Thrones. It turned out to be huge success. I've only seen a few episodes but they appear to have stuck quite close to the original book, something that, given the scope of the series, can't have been easy. Filming for the second season, based on A Clash of Kings is under way and with the fifth volume in the series, A Dance with Dragons out in July, 2011 is turning into a very good year for Martin. I was about 650 pages into A Dance with Dragons when my girlfriend decided to steal it from me (truth be told, it was a birthday present). It will be a few more days before I can continue that story so in the mean time I consoled myself with a reread of the second book. It was A Clash of Kings that definitively hooked me on this series, the point in the story where the plot just explodes into so many directions that it is almost inconceivable that Martin will be able to pull them all back together again. Still, given what I have read of the fifth book, he may be able to pull it off.

The first book centred around the murder of John Arryn, the Hand of the King and one of the most powerful nobles in the realm, who died taking secret and potentially dangerous information into his grave. In the end, the next hand, Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell figures out what is going on and looses his head in the process. The genie is out of the bottle however, no matter how hard the Lannister family tries to pretend Queen Cercei's son Joffrey is the legitimate heir to the throne of the now departed King Robert, several parties smell blood. In the north, Lord Eddards bannermen scream for revenge and name his son Robb King of the North. Stannis Baratheon, Robert's younger brother feels he is the legitimate heir, now that Cercei's infidelity has been 'proven'. His younger brother Renly feels he'd be a much better king however, and raises support for his own attempt to seize the Iron Throne. On the Iron Islands, Lord Ballon Greyjoy, painfully subjected to the rule of Robert after a bloody rebellion a decade ago, sees an opportunity to become independent once more and proclaims himself King of the Isles. In the blink of an eye, the Seven Kingdoms have five kings instead of one. Blind to the threats massing on their border in the north, the emergence of a new trio of dragons across the sea and even the turning of the season, Robert's once unified Kingdom plunges into war.

Where A Game of Thrones offers a more of less complete story arc, we leave that approach behind us in this second volume. Martin is now fully committed to the series and it is immediately apparent that he is not going to be able to contain it in the originally envisioned trilogy. The first book provides us with the Casus Belli, in this book, things escalate to an incredible mess. Martin masterfully peels back the cultivated mannerisms and the gloss of chivalry of the long years of peace under King Robert and reveals a rawer, wilder and in many cases crueller face of the Seven Kingdom's nobles. Years of prosperity and peace lost in the blink of an eye, as the forces driving the Kingdoms apart are suddenly released. To keep his story from completely running away with him, Martin does not pay as much attention to the story line of Daenerys. If there is any part of the book that could be considered weak, it is probably her tale.

The story is mostly told from the same points of view as the previous book. Martin has lost one (obviously) and adds Theon Greyjoy to cover events on the Iron Islands and Davos Seaworth, who is in the service of Stannis Baratheon. I must admit, neither are favourites of mine. Davos is a fairly stagnant character. A man converted to Stannis' harsh sense of justice, his loyalty appears unshakable. I always thought this conversion a bit strange, Stannis is not a man to inspire such feelings in people, as Martin makes abundantly clear in this book. The author does more with Theon's character later on in the series. In this book, he strikes me as a selfish and spoilt little prick who is about the have a head on collision with the world.

The star of this second volume in the series is without a doubt Tyrion. Every time I read one of his chapters I wonder how much of Henry Munce he put into Tyrion. Born in the snake pit that is the Lannister household Tyrion has no illusion about the world and his place in it whatsoever. A number of painful lessons in the past have taught him what a dwarf, even a high born one, can expect in the world. Deep down inside he still wants justice and despite his open cynicism and self depreciating comments, he feels it is the best policy. His handling of the situation in King's Landing is his chance to put it into practice and it mercilessly exposes his weaknesses. I thought Martin showed the extend of Tyrion's control over the situation in this part of the story very well. Although quite a lot of what Tyrion tries to do appears to be successful, he is walking on eggshells. Could it be that the world wise and well read Tyrion is a bit naive in the ways of governing a nation?

What Martin does not show us in this book is the campaign of Robb Stark against the Lannisters. Although the Lannisters appear to be loosing, Robb wins all of his battles, his strategic position is not getting any better. As his mother Catelyn puts it, he wins all his battles but somehow he is loosing the war. Not that A Clash of Kings is short on battle scenes, the Battle of the Blackwater is one of the largest in the books and certainly a fitting climax to the novel but it is interesting that Martin passes up on the opportunity to show what Robb is up to. It's a clever bit of plotting to keep Robb away from the main story for a bit. Martin uses it to great effect to deliver one of the shocks A Storm of Swords is known for. It made me wonder why Martin decided not to make Robb a point of view character though, except for Rickon and Robb, all of Eddard's children are.

I have always thought of A Clash of Kings as my favourite book. I don't think A Dance With Dragons will change anything about that. Martin is still too busy pulling together the sprawling story to deliver a novel that works very well on it's own. I think I should reread A Storm of Swords again though. After this reread I've seen a lot of things Martin starts in this book that will have major repercussions in the next. I'm not sure I was quite as aware of that when I read A Clash of Kings of the first time in English a number of years back. I may change my mind after a reread of the third book. Still, A Clash of Kings is the book that got me hooked on this series, the book in which Martin unveils his world in all it's complexity and terror, and the book that raises it above the ordinary multi-volume epic fantasy series. It is the second volume in a seven book series however, don't expect a neat ending like A Game of Thrones had.

Book Details
Title: A Clash of Kings
Author: George R.R. Martin
Publisher: Voyager
Pages: 741
Year: 2003
Language: English
Format: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: 0-00-647989-8
First published: 1998