Book Briefs: October 2005
«Notable Novels»
«Dazzling Debuts»
«Excellent Collections»
Notable Novels
The Algebraist by Iain M. Banks
Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler
Thud! by Terry Pratchett
Tumbling After by Paul Witcover
While combing through data he has obtained by communicating with the Dwellers, a
race of beings who live for billions of years, a smalltime human researcher
discovers a secret, which, if it really exists, would launch an interstellar war
for its possession. Full-blown modern space opera ensues. Some have found
Iain
M. Bank's The Algebraist (Night Shade Books) to be bloated and meandering.
It
may not become a classic, but for sheer imagination and vastness of scale, this
Scottish author's return to SF is worth reading.
There's still life in the undead. Octavia E. Butler re-imagines the
vampire
science fictionally in Fledgling (Seven Stories Press). Butler's vampires
(well, most of
them) only kill when they must and have devoted "symbionts" who
exchange blood for bliss and good health. The plot hinges on Shori, who looks to
be 10 years old, but is actually over 50, and is a genetically engineered
half-human/half-vampire with dark skin pigmentation that helps protect her from
sunlight. A page-turner that's also a parable about race, relationships, and
sexuality
Terry Pratchett's serio-comic speculative fiction Discworld novels began
in 1983
and Thud! (HarperCollins) is, amazingly, the thirtieth in the series.
Despite
all that back story, new readers will still delight in this hilariously goofy
tale of a long-standing feud between trolls and dwarves that allows the author
to take satirical swipes racial strife, religious extremism, and The Da Vinci
Code.
If labeling is needed, Tumbling After (Eos) by Paul Witcover could
best be
described as speculative fiction. Mixing sharp prose with elements of a
mainstream coming-of-age novel, role-playing quest fantasy, twinship, odds,
sfnal alternative realities, and Witcoverian uniqueness for what may prove to be
the sleeper of the year. There's a certain indelible quality here that could
stick with enough readers to be parlayed into a higher level of commercial
success.
 |
 |
 |
 |
Dazzling Debuts
Counting Heads (Tor) by David Marusek is a dazzling science
fictional debut from a gifted writer. Life on twenty-second century Earth is
nearly perfect -- so perfect that most of its 15 billion human inhabitants are
redundant. The powerful Eleanor Starke, is able to ride herd on the greedy,
dastardly affluent elite, but her assassination leaves only her daughter, Ellen,
to keep the world safe. Ellen, decapitated in the attack that killed her mother,
survives only as a cryogenically preserved head and all factions are after her.
Savvy, amusing, and original.
Elizabeth Bear's Hammered, Scared, and Worldwired (Bantam
Spectra) were released in January and July respectively with the third due in
November, But consider all three as a single 1000-page mass market paperback
debut novel. Set in a cyberpunkish near-future dystopia, the story features
50-ish Canadian woman warrior Jenny Casey's techno-thrilling adventures with
multi-threads of plot and myriad well-drawn characters. Bear tosses in just
about every sci-fi spin and associated kitchen sink, but there's more here than
mere mind candy.
Two solid fantasy debuts named for their invented cities: Melusine by
Sarah Monette
(Ace) and Elantris (Tor) by Brandon Sanderson. Monette's strong
characterizations of a cat burglar and court wizard thrown together by fate and
Sanderson's world building are first-rate. Janine Cross also makes a notable
debut with a well-imagined world in Touched By Venom (Roc), the first of the
Dragon Temple Saga.
Nominally for young adults, Twilight (Megan Tingley) by first novelist
Stephenie Meyer
crosses (yes, again!) vampires with star-crossed young lovers when teenage Bella
falls
for benign and beautiful bloodsucker Edward. This darkly horrific romance deals
well with the
supernatural by realistically portraying teenage life (which is pretty scary)
and draws suspense from the dangerous theme that one mistake might mean your
life. Grown-ups didn't
ignore Harry Potter and they shouldn't overlook this book either.
[Also: Jeff VanderMeer's first novel, Veniss Underground.]
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Excellent Collections
China Miéville's Looking For Jake (Del Rey) and Kelly Link's
Magic for Beginners
(Small Beer) are probably frontrunners for any year's best lists. But you can't
go wrong with
veteran Gene Wolfe. His new collection Starwater Strains (Tor) samples a diverse
batch of his more
recent, frequently stellar, short fiction. Gregory Frost's first collection,
Attack of the Jazz
Giants and Other Stories (Golden Gryphon) is both varied and accomplished. The
previously barely
published Holly Phillips makes a strong positive impression with her The Palace of Repose
(Prime) collection. On the dark side To Charles Fort, With Love (Subterranean)
is yet another exquisite collection of lyrical disquieting fiction from Caitlín
R. Kiernan, Mr. Fox and Other Feral Tales: A Collection, A Recollection, A
Writer's Handbook (Subterranean) republishes Norman Partridge's famous 1992
debut collection of seven stories adds eleven more and offers a sizable amount
of nonfiction. Partridge's "recollections" are interesting and his advice to
writers insightful and needful. Even if you've read the fiction or feel Partridge's
later oeuvre outshines his early work, the nonfiction alone makes it worth a read.
Another re-issue is Conference with the Dead by Terry
Lamsley (Night Shade). Lamsley is a master of mood and the modern
weird tale and this collection from 1996 went a long way toward proving it.
(Winner of an International Horror Guild Award.) The Dogs of Truth: New and Uncollected Stories (Tor) warns author Kit Reed, is not for those who "want to go
somewhere warm and fluffy where everybody's nice and only nice things happen..."
but her dark humor and uniquely unsettling stories will please those who
prefer good fiction rather than fluff. -- PRLG
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |