Equally touching, tender, and socially exploratory, A Rarefied View At Dawn by David Farland is a short story that takes place in the far future on a Equally touching, tender, and socially exploratory, A Rarefied View At Dawn by David Farland is a short story that takes place in the far future on a planet far from here.
Men and women are segregated by gender and on the mountain top fortress of Kara Kune most births are controlled, allowing only females to be born. But not always. Bann is a boy, but until he begins to approach puberty he doesn't realize that there are any differences between himself and the others around him, including his best friend Maya. Only then does his mother take him on a journey that will change his view of everything.
The story begins high on a mountain above thick heavy mists and clouds over a low, sweaty jungle, and as the story progresses the reader literally and figuratively descends with Bann and Maya from the heights of innocence. It's a dystopian society, and Farland's short tale is a curious exploration at what happens when trends are taken to the extreme.
What is most interesting, though, might be Farland's notes to the story. He tells a personal story about young woman who bounced from destructive relationship to destructive relationship, and his desire to examine what he sees as a societal trend towards the abandonment of young men and his interest in what happens if we allow these trends to cycle out of control.
The end result is a society that is, to say the least, distressing and destructive, hardly the kind that any of us would want. But that's exactly what fiction is supposed to do: to hold up a mirror to our own world and ask what will happen if we continue down the current path. Farland does it well here, and I laud the effort, despite its conclusion.
Merged review:
Equally touching, tender, and socially exploratory, A Rarefied View At Dawn by David Farland is a short story that takes place in the far future on a planet far from here.
Men and women are segregated by gender and on the mountain top fortress of Kara Kune most births are controlled, allowing only females to be born. But not always. Bann is a boy, but until he begins to approach puberty he doesn't realize that there are any differences between himself and the others around him, including his best friend Maya. Only then does his mother take him on a journey that will change his view of everything.
The story begins high on a mountain above thick heavy mists and clouds over a low, sweaty jungle, and as the story progresses the reader literally and figuratively descends with Bann and Maya from the heights of innocence. It's a dystopian society, and Farland's short tale is a curious exploration at what happens when trends are taken to the extreme.
What is most interesting, though, might be Farland's notes to the story. He tells a personal story about young woman who bounced from destructive relationship to destructive relationship, and his desire to examine what he sees as a societal trend towards the abandonment of young men and his interest in what happens if we allow these trends to cycle out of control.
The end result is a society that is, to say the least, distressing and destructive, hardly the kind that any of us would want. But that's exactly what fiction is supposed to do: to hold up a mirror to our own world and ask what will happen if we continue down the current path. Farland does it well here, and I laud the effort, despite its conclusion....more
If Andy Weir isn't up for the Hugo next year for The Martian, then scifi fandom doesn't deserve good fiction anymore, because The Martian is pure awesIf Andy Weir isn't up for the Hugo next year for The Martian, then scifi fandom doesn't deserve good fiction anymore, because The Martian is pure awesome sauce.
Left behind on Mars after a freak dust storm puts a hole in his suit and buries him, Mark Watney--astronaut, biologist, engineer--knows that the odds are against him returning back to Earth again. But he'll be damned if he's not going to do his best to make it happen. He doesn't have anyway to communicate with Earth, his food is running short--far too short to last until NASA sends a rescue, and, to boot, NASA thinks he's dead, anyway.
What more could go wrong?
Full credit goes to Howard Tayler for recommending The Martian on an episode of "Writing Excuses." Thank you, Howard (go buy his books)!
Though it's been described as Apollo 13 meets Castaway (and probably you could use Robinson Crusoe meets Apollo 13, too, since that's what Castaway is based on), I found it far more exciting. No,you won't find any lasers guns, alien encounters, or Martian princesses (you'll need to go look up Edgar Rice Burroughs for that), but the story is gripping from page one and it doesn't let up until the very last paragraph.
Not only is it exciting (and how he manages to make being stranded on a frigid desert planet millions of miles from Earth is impressive in itself), but Weir spares no effort to build Watney's character along the way, making him not only sympathetic, but interesting and entertaining, even when Watney is explaining the technical details of how he is saving himself from yet another crisis during his Martian sojourn. And there are a lot of crises.
Which leads me to another thing that Weir does so well: the science. First off, I'm not a scientist, and second, I'm pretty sure we haven't yet developed a lot of the technology that Weir brings to bear as part of his imaginary Martian expedition. But it sure felt like it. I would not be surprised if most of the technology Weir uses in his book is out there, maybe even part of NASA's arsenal, just not perfected, yet, or ready for application on a Mars mission.
The level of detail Weir provides, though, is enough to provide the how, but not so much as to provide a nap. There's no "handwaivium" or application of Clarke's law, here. Rather, it's technology just a few years ahead of our own, making an expedition (or two or three) to Mars credible (if we could all just forget the cost for a few minutes, as well as the public's aversion to all things extraterrestrial and not produced by Hollywood). What Weir adds is a fantastic job of explaining the tech without coming off like an engineer.
Have you had an engineer explain something? Trust me. It's not exciting.
Weir fools us all, though, with great lines, dripping with sarcasm as Watney McGuyver's his way across the surface of Mars and to survival. Some of my favorites?
“Actually, I was the very lowest ranked member of the crew. I would only be “in command” if I were the only remaining person.” What do you know? I’m in command.” “Yes, of course duct tape works in a near-vacuum. Duct tape works anywhere. Duct tape is magic and should be worshiped.” “As with most of life's problems, this one can be solved by a box of pure radiation.” “The screen went black before I was out of the airlock. Turns out the “L” in “LCD” stands for “Liquid.” I guess it either froze or boiled off. Maybe I’ll post a consumer review. “Brought product to surface of Mars. It stopped working. 0/10.” “I started the day with some nothin’ tea. Nothin’ tea is easy to make. First, get some hot water, then add nothin’.” “It’s true, you know. In space, no one can hear you scream like a little girl.” “I guess you could call it a "failure", but I prefer the term "learning experience".”
With great character development, page flipping writing, and an edge-of-your-seat plot, Weir's The Martian might be the best book I've read so far this year, and I hope it'll be on the short list for the Hugo in 2015. Scifi needs more like it and giving Weir scifi's top award would be a great step in that direction.
Parental Warning: there be cussing here. In fact, you'll find it on the first page. In the first sentence....more
If there were a genre for a book that includes the Old West, an alternate American history, a rebel Mormon kingdom, a slave-free Confederacy, more thaIf there were a genre for a book that includes the Old West, an alternate American history, a rebel Mormon kingdom, a slave-free Confederacy, more than a bit of steam punk, fantasy, and an all star cast of historical-larger-than-life-and-truth-is-stranger-than-fiction characters, I don't know what it would be called, but City of the Saints by D.J. Butler has invented it.
And did I mention that it was explosive, fast, and action packed?
On the eve of the American Civil War, the Kingdom of Deseret is the destination for for diplomats, spies, and explorers, Pinkertons, criminals, and mountain men as agents of Queen Victoria, the United States, the Confederacy, and Mexico converge on Salt Lake City. War is imminent, and each is seeking an edge.
I wasn't sure what to expect when I opened City of the Saints. I met Dave Butler at Salt Lake Comic Con in 2013, and then ran into him again at Life, the Universe, and Everything (LTUE)earlier this year. The first time I met Butler, he had been on a panel discussing themes in Lord of the Rings. Then, at LTUE he started off a panel on folklore in modern fiction by informing the other panelists that he was in the mood for a good debate...which it was.
I couldn't help but like Butler's style, and I opened his book that night, not sure what to expect, but with promises from Butler that I would enjoy it.
And Butler did not oversell. From the first pages, City of the Saints is fast paced, with a swirling and full cast of colorful action figures. Pulling a whose who of the mid-nineteenth into the ranks of his characters, Butler cleverly saves himself time in character development by leveraging the very real lives of some of the most vibrant characters of the time. From Captain Richard Burton to Edgar Alan Poe, Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) to Porter Rockwell, Butler weaves in nods to American history, western lore, and Mormon heroes, villains and misfits, including Eliza R. Snow, John D. Lee, Brigham Young, and John Moses Browning, whose guns are among the most famous, even today.
This isn't to say that Butler doesn't develop his characters. In fact, Butler does very well building a large cast, multiple protagonists, streaming the plot lines together, and building on the relationships each has with others. For any novelist, its a feat. For a first time novelist, it's most impressive.
And despite the setting in the early Mormon west, this is not a "Mormon" book. Quite the contrary. Featuring swearing Irish, mad scientists, and an almost endless supply of thuggish Pinkertons, it's a mix that defies a simple description, niche, or market, but is well-written, engaging, and, surprisingly, self-published.
Yeah, I know. Self-published. I don't get it. Well written, a romp to read, and thoroughly and carefully conceived: I guarantee I'll be reading another Butler book soon....more
V-Wars, edited by Jonathan Maberry, is a collection of stories set in the same world but written by a bevy of talented authors.
In the world Maberry cV-Wars, edited by Jonathan Maberry, is a collection of stories set in the same world but written by a bevy of talented authors.
In the world Maberry creates in V-Wars, a prehistoric virus has been released from polar ice, awakening recessive genes in the human genome. The virus triggers changes in some humans, awakening physical changes that are varied and dramatic. Before long, vampires walk among us. Some are benign; many are not.
Maberry's collection of tales does well and more credibly what X-Men (at least the movies--I'm not familiar with the comics) tries to do: it portrays a genetic mutation that changes a portion of humanity, causing ostracization, fear, violence, and, of course, government action. I've always been dubious about what the reaction to the X-Men. After all, the powers they have seem to be magical and useful. On the other hand, the mutations in V Wars result in a change that seems to drive its mutants to, well, suck blood.
That seems a bit more against the public interest than the power to start fires, freeze objects, levitate, or any of the other number of changes that Stan Lee's X-Men undergo.
Maberry does an excellent job tying the stories together with a common story that intersperses the tales. While the majority of the stories seem to take place in and around the American northeast, especially New York City, V-Wars treats readers to a semi-global perspective, with stories from the American southern border with Mexico, in the shadows of the Appalachian Mountains, and one that crisscrosses the globe, starting in Antarctica, jetting off to Romania, and stopping through France, too. Some times we read from the vampire's perspective; other times, from the humans. Maberry breaks up the stories, too, giving the collection something of novel-like feeling.
As interesting as the collection is, the stories are not all created equal, and it's part of the reason I had a hard time settling on just three stars. I wanted badly to give the book four stars--but several of the stories disappointed, even bored me.
They were few, however, and generally the stories were creative and enjoyable, if occasionally not for the faint of heart. Here are a few of my favorites:
"Stalking Anna Lei" by James A. Moore brings together legends of vampires from East Asia, as John Lei searches for his sister while navigating the dangerous world of Asian gangs amid reports of a monstrous creature that seems to be haunting his every step. Told from John's perspective, Moore has a great voice that makes his story one of the most enjoyable, and his plotting makes the final twist satisfying and unexpected.
"Vulpes" by Gregory Frost begins in Antarctica and trails Ruksana back to her home in Romania. Beware, though: when the change comes to her, the results are anything but vampiric.
Yvonne Navarro's "Epiphany" asks what happens when society's most weak go through the vampiric change, trading vulnerabilities for superhuman power. Red Moon is the orphaned daughter of Native Americans, raped, pregnant, and infected by the virus. Beset by changes she cannot explain, she finds herself on the edge of motherhood in a world that threatens to destroy her for the changes that have come over her.
V-Wars deserves a second installment. It is, in many ways, only the opening chapter in the new world that emerges as vampire and human eye each other and wonder if they will live together or in conflict. ...more
Finding an interesting, new author is a fantastic experience, like discovering a new favorite restaurant or traveling to a place you’ve never been befFinding an interesting, new author is a fantastic experience, like discovering a new favorite restaurant or traveling to a place you’ve never been before. It is full of exploration, of discovery, and the refreshing feel of something new and fresh.
Imagine, then, what it’s like to find one book with 12 interesting new authors, all at once. It’s exactly what you get with Writers of the Future Volume 29. As a collection of the fiction, it’s a cornucopia of clever tales and excellent writing, and you won’t even need to buy 12 different books to enjoy each author.
Perhaps only slightly hyperbolically, the cover says that the stories “show us who we are, what we may become, and how far we can go.” Indeed, the stories may be more imaginative than predictive, but it does nothing to diminish their ability to convey the reader away from the ordinary and to lands and worlds unbounded by time or physics. And, eschewing the cliches even as it embraces them, the stories prove that science fiction and its close cousin fantasy are just as much about people and relationships as spaceships and magic.
The Writers of the Future contest is unique among collections of short stories. Where others focus on a topic, share a single author, or even share the same imaginary world, the commonality between tales in Writers of the Future Volume 29 is in their selection by a panel of judges comprised of the who’s who of science fiction and fantasy authors and headed by Dave Wolverton. Authors submit their work to the panel and their submissions are reviewed blind.
In other words, the only commonality is the genre and the high level of writing. Only the best selections win, and it shows. Each tale is carefully crafted, from “cut to the chase” openings that thrust the reader right in the middle of the action, to heart breaking conclusions that both satisfy and leave you wanting more. In addition to the tales, the contest features art from the parallel contest for art, as well as essays on writing by L.Ron Hubbard, Dave Wolverton, and others.
One of my favorite s was “Planetary Scouts” by Stephen Sottong. In the far future, he writes, technology has taken humanity to the stars, but only to confront the harsh reality that many of the planets we might colonize are already occupied, often by forms of life not welcoming to our exploration.
Another exciting tale by Brian Trent is “Hero,” a fast paced story about a young man who must face his nemesis not once, but twice, in a revolution that sweeps the peaks of Mars.
“Dreameater” by Andrea Stewart is a clever and horrifying story about a girl coming to grip with the terrible legacy that may become her future.
And there are more. Writers of the Future Volume 29 is replete with great writing and good stories. If you want a bead on tomorrows great writers, this is the place to start reading.
Review first published as "Book Review: ‘Writers of the Future Volume 29′ edited by Dave Wolverton" on Blogcritics.org....more
I have no idea where I found Killer of Enemies. Something about the title caught my attention, I think, but by the time I had picked it up (from the lI have no idea where I found Killer of Enemies. Something about the title caught my attention, I think, but by the time I had picked it up (from the library) I had already forgotten why.
Somehow, though, I decided to read it, anyway. Despite a title that probably should have died in marketing (as one commentor already noted), the description promised a little bit of everything: dystopia, magic, Apache prophecies, monsters...
Also, it's YA. How much time commitment could it require? I'll take a gamble.
I'm glad I did.
Lozen is a seventeen year old survivor after the end of the world. Poor even before a cosmic cloud obliterated all electronics worldwide, Lozen is an Apache, a gifted hunter, and she is utilized as a tool to kill the enemies of the elites who rule on this side of the end of civilization. She is, however, not a consenting tool, and as she hunts the strange mutant monsters that roam the Earth, she is scheming and planning to free her family, held as hostages to control Lozen. Meanwhile, with the Earth held in a permanent technological dead-end, psychic powers begin to awaken in Lozen.
Let me just pause here and note that despite a pretty strange premise--not mention some concerns about the book not really knowing what it wants to be--Joseph Bruchac seems to do a great job telling a story. It starts at a run, and it never really slows down. And that makes it worth the read. It's fast, it paces well, and it's fun to read.
But it doesn't know what it is. There are mutant monsters, vampires, giant eagles, high tech electronics that are genetically integrated with humans (at least until the Cloud arrives and ends anything electronic), psychic powers, Big Foot, and old Apache myths and prophecies...
Yes. The book is all over the place. I couldn't tell if Bruchac has been watching too many horror movies or if he was trying to channel his inner Larry Correia, but aimed at a younger audience than Monster Hunter International. There's really no cohesive mythology or explanation tying it all together, though, and though there is a plausible explanation each time a new creature or plot twist pops in--whether its vampires (some plague that escaped) or Big Foot (preexisting human civilization) or psychic powers (they had been repressed during the electronic era)--in the sum, it gives me the impression that Bruchac was winging it, pulling little slips of paper out of hat to figure out what was going to be the next "miniboss" or obstacle.
But don't let that deter you from reading. It's a fun read, clean, and with good character development. Lozen is sympathetic, and it's easy to feel her emotions for her family, the Ones who control her, for the gardener boy, and her desire for freedom. If you're looking for a wild ride, The Killer of Enemies is good to go. Just don't look too closely at the scenery on your ride....more
Unless you want to be entertained, intrigued, and possibly disturbed, do not read this book.
On the other hand, if you enjoy thought provoking s[image]
Unless you want to be entertained, intrigued, and possibly disturbed, do not read this book.
On the other hand, if you enjoy thought provoking short fiction, then download a copy of Guy Hasson's The Emoticon Generation
[image]
today. A collection of short stories that seem to focus on human nature when technology allows us to play with the rules of physics, each is an interesting tale with a twist.
In one we see a controversial national war hero confronted with a technology that in one moment vindicates his version of events while simultaneously forcing him to reconsider history's premise. Another story questions what it means to be human and sentient. A third allows a man to revisit his past, with results that are disturbing.
The stories fascinated and intrigued. I saw echoes of Philip K. Dick or the Twilight Zone in several.
Ironically, the title story was the selection that I struggled with the most. In it, the author poses himself as a journalist who becomes interested in the effect of emoticons on rising generations. Satirically, it wonders if too many words are unnecessary, and if we can communicate meaning just as well, if not better, with smiley faces. Then, in just a couple of paragraphs, the author concludes that, no, it is the power of language that has allow great engineering feats, Shakespeare, and the progress of the human race, and the failure of language presages our decline. I laud Hasson for writing so convincing that I almost thought he was serious--until the last few paragraphs--but I felt cheated that he didn't respond to his own arguments. On the other hand, it is perhaps a tribute to his ability to satirize emoticons that his arguments for simpler language were so simple and sarcastic that response is perhaps unnecessary.
If creativity, an eye for human nature, and insight are strengths Hasson's stories can rely upon, an editor might be the single thing to improve them. While some stories clearly showed sharp and efficient use of language, others rambled beyond when Hasson had made his point.
As I opened with, go pick up a copy of The Emoticon Generation[image] for your ereader. If Hasson's stories don't make you think, then you may not be paying attention.
Ironically, Dick lived his live in near poverty. As an homage to his influence, the Library of America included Dick in their "quasi-official national canon" in 2007, the first science-fiction writer to be included.
I was introduced to Dick through his movies and later picked up the novels and short stories they were based on. In contrast to much of what is classified as science-fiction, Dick's stories and novels focus on human nature and the effect of technology and science on our character and relationships.
The Crack in Space
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, written in 1966, tackles parallel universes, time travel, gaps in the time-space continuum, and, to make things interesting, racism.
Compared to some of his other novels, The Crack in Space
[image]
is not the most exciting tale in the Philip K. Dick canon. In addition to a parallel universe, it weaves in the candidacy of a America's first black presidency. That's not so controversial now, but writing in the 1960s, during the civil rights movement, Dick was predicting what was then almost impossible to conceive. Other issues addressed include population growth and control, scarce resources, and the morality of sexual promiscuity. The story is interesting, if a bit dated. It''s a worthy, if not gripping, read for a quiet weekend....more
Few novels I have read recently have made me stop and think, reexamine my world, quite the same way that Cory Doctorow's Little Brother does. AlthoughFew novels I have read recently have made me stop and think, reexamine my world, quite the same way that Cory Doctorow's Little Brother does. Although published five years back when the politics of the Bush Administration and the post-9/11 expansion of government surveillance were still fresh in our minds, I found the novel fresh and relevant.
One part thriller and two parts geek, Little Brother opens on a group of high school kids who play hooky from school to participate in a treasure hunt. They are caught up in the aftermath of a massive terrorist attack that kills thousands, literally caught at the wrong place at the wrong time, and end up in a secret prison as suspects.
Also, did I mention that they happen to be more technically inclined than the average student?
Released, they fight back, using hacks and technical resources I didn't know existed, but that Doctorow clearly explains and uses. As an added bonus, Doctorow explains in an addendum where he gets his technical material and what resources a reader could use to replicate what he describes in the book.
It's a fascinating story, for geeks and nongeeks, and the message is still fresh today: how much privacy should we expect, and to what extent are we willing to give up privacy and freedom for security?
The sequel to Little Brother is Homeland and is out now. ...more
I didn't finish, which perhaps is an unfair way to rate a book, but the novel opens with an inaccurate representation of the law--what a protected claI didn't finish, which perhaps is an unfair way to rate a book, but the novel opens with an inaccurate representation of the law--what a protected class of persons is--and proceeds to become a heavy handed look at racism that didn't seem to jive with how I would imagine human nature to proceed. The story also felt like a repeat of ground that the X-men movies have already trod, and not as convincingly.
Too bad. I really enjoyed Wilson's first book, "Robopocalypse," and look forward to seeing it on the big screen....more
Daniel Wilson has imagined a world, our world, just a few years further down the road. Technology is not too far removed from the present day. For allDaniel Wilson has imagined a world, our world, just a few years further down the road. Technology is not too far removed from the present day. For all intents and purposes, it is our world. It feels like our world. And one day, the machines of our world—the cars, computers, missiles, tanks, and toys—wake up.
It’s a little bit scary.
No, strike that. It’s very scary. While in many ways reminiscent of a zombie outbreak – albeit instantaneously worldwide and with zombies that look like cars, tanks, robots, and elevators—Robopocalypse is, well, not a zombie book. Rather than the messy destruction of the brain seeking undead, the uprising I surprisingly clean, considering the destruction involved. The robotic slaves of humanity clean up after themselves, leaving a tidy wake as they hunt, kill, and destroy mankind. Scenes of a silent and orderly New York City, where the silence is only broken by roving toy helicopters seeking the living, are spooky and eerie. The sudden and inexplicable head-on collision of cars destroying their drivers, or diving headlong into lakes with living occupants is horrifying as any attack of the undead. Perhaps even more so because of the sheer alien feel to the uprising by our own machines.
It’s not a new premise. Both the Terminator series of movies and I, Robot (both book and the movie) are both examples of artificial intelligence run amok. In Robopocalypse, we again see machines take on awareness, but with a descriptiveness and reality set much closer to our own.
With a degree in computer science and another in robotics, Wilson has written several books on robot uprisings and including robots. In Robopocalypse, he creates a story told in an almost documentary style, not unlike the format of World War Z. While using this gimmick might seem to hurt the flow of story or disconnect the reader from any one character, Wilson chooses to focus on just a few individuals and does a wonderful job of quickly building them up without the need for extended page time.
The documentary style also prevents the story from becoming bogged down with transitions and lulls. Instead, the plot jumps to the center of the action, horrific and human, as protagonists survive, die, and fight against their own cars, tools, toys, and machines.
It is vivid, fast paced, and each chapter finishes on a cliff hanger that makes Robopocalypse a page-flipping whirlwind. I picked it up on Friday night and finished it before I returned to my day job on Monday morning. When I did, I was just a little more wary of technology, but regretful that the story had ended.
It’s a fun, fast, and exciting read, if, at moments, horrifying, and I count it as one of my top five reads this year. However, you don’t need to take my word for it. Steven Spielberg agrees, and the word is that he’s making Robopocalypse into a movie for release in 2013. Count me in for opening night tickets. ...more
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