May 15, 2008
Book Review: Iron Man - Beneath the Armor by Andy Mangels
* Genre: Nonfiction, Media Tie-In, Graphic Novels
* ISBN: 0345506154
* ISBN-13: 9780345506153
* Format: Paperback, 224pp
* Publisher: Del Rey
* Pub. Date: April 2008
Sometimes reading about fictional characters can be almost as fun as reading the stories themselves. If this were not the case, there would be no controversy of the Harry Potter encyclopedia that J. K. Rowling hates so much. There would be no need to have a Star Trek or Star Wars encyclopedia (both of which I read cover to cover in high school, thrice). Such nonfiction works add to the experience of a book or series we enjoyed immensely - be on the look out for a biography of Robert Jordan in the coming years, mark my words – and nothing jump starts this phenomenon better than the movie industry.
So with the immensely successful release of the Iron Man movie a couple of weeks ago, you are certain to be able to walk into your local bookstore and find several re-printings and new volumes on this rather iconic character. Publisher Del Rey and Author Andy Mangels’ contribution is Iron Man: Beneath the Armor a retrospective look at the comic book hero from his inception up to the recent release of his first live action film, starring Robert Downey Jr.
Thoroughly researched, Mangels’ book takes us all the way back to Iron Man’s first appearance in Tales of Suspense, and looks at creator Stan Lee’s influences. From there the reader progresses through the birth of Iron Man’s own comic, the constantly shifting roles that Tony Stark/Iron Man play in the Marvel Universe. Much of this story is told from interviews that the artists and writers had given over the years, and Iron Man’s story comes to light through the eyes of his creators. Mangels then brings all of these interviews together to show the recurring theme of the Iron Man character, the concept of an ordinary man doing ordinary things. Page after page this comes through, and yet all the while we learn the strange and convoluted history of Iron Man.
Anyone familiar with the comic book hero will know that his story is one of the most complex in the Marvel universe. His comic book was killed and brought back numerous times, had occasions where only four books were produced in a year, and even grew from a more kid-friendly character to an angst and guilt ridden adult one. Mangels skillfully shows all the various incarnations of Iron Man and deftly explains the whys and wherefores of the various directions the Iron Man comic has taken.
I had always wondered why comic book characters would appear in other comics, or would have side stories unrelated to the original. Ever wonder why the TV character you loved to watch as a kid bares only superficial resemblance to the character of today? Or why Iron Man’s back story changed so many times? This all is explained in Iron Man: Beneath the Armor in an engaging manner. Even those readers unfamiliar with the comic will learn about how the comic book industry works in this work. But Mangels doesn’t bog the reader down in excessive facts.
This glossy, full color book does have some difficulties. Some of the quotes that Mangels’ chooses to help us understand the character of Tony Stark/Iron Man can tend to keep ringing the same bell, even when coming from different people. This can feel repetitious. The watermarking that the book uses can also be distracting. Some of the text is overlaid on top of a picture or design, but the designs were not made subtle enough, resulting in some of the words fading into the background. This causes the reader to have to peer closely at the words, causing an uncomfortable squint, which hurts after a while.
Iron Man: Beneath the Armor also has extensive character profiles (almost a full quarter of the book) which are very helpful, especially in understanding the evolutions of the characters. Anyone researching the characters will find these useful. They are also just fun to read, much like when we read a biography of a famous celebrity. We feel closer to the character and that much more connected to their story.
As a supplement to the movie, Iron Man: Beneath the Armor is superb. As a work in its own right, it is extremely helpful in understanding the comic book industry by examining the permutations of the character of Iron Man. All Iron Man fans need to add it to their library, collectors should use it as a resource for identifying missing issues, artists will learn about the re-envisioning common to comic books, and writers will learn about how even the most established character can be taken in new directions. I highly recommend Iron Man: Beneath the Armor by Andy Mangels as a visual and intellectual feast.
Share:
May 13, 2008
Book Review: Breach the Hull by Mike McPhail
* Genre: Military Science Fiction. Short Stories
* ISBN: 1892669439
* ISBN-13: 9781892669438
* Format: Paperback, 232pp
* Publisher: Marietta Publishing
* Pub. Date: November 2007
Since the publication of Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, stories about the soldiers who fight the wars in space have had an enduring popularity among science fiction fans. Of late, though, its popularity has waned with the rise of fantasy, steampunk, and urban fantasy novels. Editor Mike McPhail has attempted to revive this sub-genre with the publication of his collection entitled Breach the Hull. Collecting 16 tales of military SF, Breach the Hull does a good job of covering the spectrum of military style SF, while only including three previously published tales.
There are two stories by veteran writer Jack McDevitt, “Cryptic” and “Black to Move”. “Cryptic” tells a modern story of the SETI project and the need to question just what we might encounter out there if we are not careful. Continuing in that vein, “Black to Move” mixes chess and war, and left a cold feeling in my heart with its chilling ending. Both stories are very well-written and their inclusion makes this anthology extremely strong. Even though both have been previously published, they are hard to find, and are an excellent introduction to an SF writer everyone should read.
John C. Wright, another excellent SF author has two stories in this anthology. The first, “Peter Power Armor” is a new story for this anthology. “Peter Power Armor” is about a child’s toy in a man’s war, and the salvation it can bring. This story was heartwrenching. “Forgotten Causes” is a story about a weapon and a man, but a planet destroying weapon of an unusual nature. I would vey much like to read more stories of Marshall Lamech. Wright’s stories had well integrated themes of heroism and revenge and would make anyone want to find more stories by Wright.
Mike McPhail’s own contribution to the anthology, “Wayward Child”, is actually the one least liked. It was disconnected and vague. It tried to tell the story of a soldier on the ground, and the sacrifice one makes for a comrade. McPhail’s protagonist simply did not generate empathy, and the final conclusion of “change” was too vague to be of use in defining the character’s future.
“Not One Word” by James Daniel Ross is a spy story. The protagonist is on the run with some sensitive information, and the reader will experience the thrill of the chase as he runs from his pursuers. Ross’s story brings the thrill of excitement by telling an action packed tale. It is actually part of lager world he has developed, so you I recommend you visit his website to learn more.
“In the Dying Light” by Danielle Ackley-McPhail was one of my favorite stories of Breach the Hull. An Alien style horror tale, it is about the dangers of the strange uncharted regions of space. Ackley-McPhail builds tension well, and by the end you may find yourself gripped in the cold sweats of fear.
James Chambers' “Killer Eye” explores the reasons that some go to war. For his protagonist, it is revenge for a family killed. Bringing to mind the close confines of spaceships and the sometimes lonely life on would expect in such situations, Chambers' story find enemies both within and without in a wartime situation. Well-conceived, “Killer Eye” shows why and us-versus-them mentality can bring about solidarity.
“Compartment Alpha”, by Jeffrey Lyman, is an epic space battle. Each ship fires on another, and eventually one is destroyed, but the true heroes never stop fighting. Lyman brings the bravery of soldiers to the forefront, and envisions what happens to the survivors of those huge spaceships after they go silent.
John Hemry’s “Dead End” looks at the diplomatic side of military SF. Sometimes our understanding of the enemy is too clouded by our own perceptions. Hemry’s tale really drives that point home, and you will look at our own conflicts a bit differently after reading “Dead End”.
Bud Sparhawk’s “Broadside” wants to point out the colossal waste in life and potential in war. By describing a battle instigated for reasons of trade, Sparhawk makes allusions to the Gulf War and the current conflict in Iraq. Although the story was politicized, it’s still worth a read. Sparhawk’s second story “Alliances” is a pirate tale, a story of rebellion against a ruling empire. And sometimes rebellion makes for strange bedfellows.
Making allusions to Shakespeare throughout, Lawrence M. Schoen’s “Thresher” is another pirate tale. Although not really a military SF story, I can see why the editor included it in this anthology. Schoen’s paean to Shakespeare in this tale piques the interest. Schoen’s story is a worthwhile addition.
“Dereliction of Duty” is an admixture of zombie fantasy and military SF. Sometimes fear can overrule even the best of soldiers, but if one person stands up and does what is right, many innocents can be spared. Patrick Thomas adds urban fantasy elements to an older genre, and out pops an inventive little story.
“Perspective” by Tony Ruggiero is another urban fantasy/military SF mix, and gives a sci-fi explanation to our own myths about vampiric beings. I truly was surprised by its ending. Sometimes our change in perspective makes us see things in a whole new light.
C. J. Henderson closes out the collection with a humorous tale called “Shore Leave”. As you can imagine, the story is about a couple of gregarious soldiers who do the right thing when an unusual situation presents itself. The story was a good one to end with, as it allows the anthology to end on a high note.
McPhail’s editing is superb. Breach the Hull is full of excellent stories, no two of which are the same. While similar themes crop up throughout, each writer has managed to take the subgenre and make it his own. McPhail, a graphic designer as well as editor, has given each story an opening illustration that heightened the sense of military splendor and pageantry. I highly recommend this little known anthology for all SF enthusiasts.
Share:
May 06, 2008
Book Review: Rolling Thunder by John Varley
# Genre: Science Fiction
# ISBN: 0441015638
# ISBN-13: 9780441015634
# Format: Hardcover, 352pp
# Publisher: Penguin Group (ACE)
# Pub. Date: March 2008
Rolling Thunder the new novel by John Varley, tells the story of Podkayne, a Martian Naval Officer and singer extraordinaire. Varley, three time winner of the Hugo award and two time winner of the Nebula award, continues to tell stories full of strong female characters, and twisting, curving plots.
Podkayne is the daughter and granddaughter of some of his characters from previous novels, and her story continues the tale of the exploration of our solar system in the not too distant future. Podkayne is just trying to get through her required service in the Martian Navy. What she really wants to be is a singer. When an opportunity to perform her music for the Navy on Europa ((one of Jupiter’s moons) is offered, she snatches up the chance. Her story seems simple, prosaic even (at least, as much as it can be for a good-looking nineteen year old), until she encounters Europa’s “freckles”. After that, her life takes a drastic turn, culminating the revelation of just what the “Rolling Thunder” really is, and what it means for her family.
Varley is continuing a story he has told in other novels, but Rolling Thunder is so well-written, and the past so deftly inserted into the narrative, that the reader has no need to read the previous novels to enjoy this one. Podkayne’s story is her own, and while it meshes with the previous novels (and fans of John Varley will be surprised at some of the occurrences), it is not reliant on it. Varley has Podkayne tell the story memoir style, reliving her past by writing events from her perspective. So it’s a historical account of fictional events from one person’s perspective. It’s a unique way to tell a fiction story.
Varley uses a great deal of hard science in his story. A great deal of the tale takes place on planets, and various facts about the planets and planetoids of the solar system come to light throughout the course of the story. Varley also introduces alien life (they think) but doesn’t fall into the SF trope of making it easily comprehensible to humanity. Rather, he makes it alien and strange. That incomprehensibility makes the story have a different flavor from the average SF tale.
The story, told from Podkayne’s perspective only, and relies a lot on character The reason is this; although the story has plenty of action, lots of science, and a good narrative, the truth is that even though earth (and space) shattering events occur, there is little a singer can do about it. Podkayne is not a heroine who suddenly finds herself able to save the world just because of dire circumstances. She is just a girl attempting to live her life in a solar system gone mad. The reader will come to love Podkayne’s story, as she is both enviable and pitiable at the same time, and the ebb and flow of the two emotions in the narrative will keep you reading Rolling Thunder.
Varley’s story mirrors much of Heinlein’s works in style and content. Like Heinlein, he uses free societies and free love (with some rather explicit sex) in his stories, so this work is solely for adult reading. Varley goes a bit over the top with the amount of sex he has in the novel, even if it is logical for the culture he has set up, and people who would be offended by it should skip this work altogether. Some readers might think that Varley’s politics are coming through in the early pages of the book, but it makes more sense that given the assumptions and cultures the Varley is presenting, that the thoughts really are Podkayne’s, not an author with an agenda.
Rolling Thunder is a fast reading novel that packs a great deal into a few pages. Varley can get as much into his three hundred pages as other authors do in five hundred. It is a novel that takes many unexpected twists and turns, and its ending is both surprising and an excellent set up for more John Varley novels to come. I recommend this novel to adults who enjoy Heinlein, near space SF, or character driven plots.
April 11, 2008
E-Zine Review: Flash Fiction Online
Flash Fiction Online is a brand new e-zine, edited by Jake Freivald, which publishes fiction of 1,000 or fewer words. They began publication in December of 2007. But even though they are a young e-zine (with possible print anthologies on the horizon) their commitment to meet the SFWA guidelines for being a professional market, results in Flash Fiction Online publishing work by some known authors, such has James Van Pelt, Carl Frederick, and Bruce Holland Rogers, that really doesn’t have place in other short fiction magazines due to the extremely short length of the stories.
Now, some of you reading this review are probably skeptical about the ability of any author, no matter how good a writer, to tell an entire story in under 1,000 words. I was until I read the April Issue of Flash Fiction Online. In the span of twenty minutes, my preconceived notions about story were challenged, and I was able to read five great stories. And each one took no longer to read than the average blog post.
Readable online in either HTML or PDF format, these stories are laid out clearly, in a readable format, with clever and excellent illustrations by R.W. Ware (who, by the way, is also a tattoo artist) to add to the panache of the e-zine. Additionally, each story has a short bio on the author, with a clever author photo that I think underscores the whole concept of the fiction being “flash” in nature. The entire site is very polished and professional, and even is set up with an RSS feed to allow readers ease of access to the stories.
In the April issue of Flash Fiction Online, Freivald collected five stories that were humorous in their content, playing on the fact that this month begins with April Fool’s Day.
“The Dyslexicon”, by Carl Frederick is a story written about a dyslexic robot that can’t fulfill his function due to his dyslexia. The story is populated by spoonerisms, homographs, and misspellings. In way, this story is both funny and sad, as it allows the reader to get a glimpse into the world of dyslexia sufferers. But it isn’t preachy, just funny. Sometimes the word equivalencies are hard to discern, and Fredrick might have done better to only play around with the words most obviously incorrect to readers.
“How Not To Stage a Play in the Aftermath of a Zombie Apocalypse” by Kurt Bachard wonders what life would be like after a zombie apocalypse in the world of the theatre. A “woe is me” type of story, it says an awful lot while using a true economy of words. In keeping with the economy of words, Bachard’s explanation of the directors special situation and retention of his humanity might have been better integrated into the narrative, rather than being separate paragraph. It is out of place and makes the narrative slightly choppy. Any theatergoer or amateur thespian will enjoy Bachard’s wry humor about the world of the stage.
“Call of the Wild, Line Three” by Dalton Keane was the funniest of the five. The idea of stockbrokers as a pack of wolves is apt and funny. Keane has transposed the hierarchy of the animal kingdom onto the world of business, and it results in a hilarious story. Of the five, this one was the only one that made me laugh out loud.
“Fast Living” by Hank Quense, while only a quarter of a page in length tells a story that (no insult intended) is like stories you read in the Reader’s Digest humor sections. The story may be short, but the punch line brings a smile to your face. It's a type of story called a Feghoot.
“Quiet Please” by Kevin Scott is a reprint of a classic story that qualifies as flash fiction, but that is now in the public domain. Each issue of Flash Fiction Online includes on of these classic reprint stories, many of them from authors that are obscure. “Quiet Please” was probably the most difficult of the stories to read, and I had to read it twice in order to get why the story ended the way it did. Once I did, I thought it a neat, quirky story about language barriers from the November 1961 issue of Word of If.
Flash Fiction Online is one of the few e-zines I plan to read regularly. The length of the stories makes it ideal for reading on the small screens of internet capable cell phones, iPhones, and any PDF capable eBook reader.
Additionally, Freivald is not overambitious, and doesn’t try to print every story he receives. This allows the reader to get a few good stories at the beginning of each month, but without having to sift through a lot of stories to find ones that interest them. Plus, you don’t have to wait overlong to get new stories (and a few articles) since publication is monthly. Lots of e-zines publish either bimonthly or quarterly, and it is often easy to forget check them. Flash Fiction Online has made that easy. I hope they are able to stay in business, as their unique style of fiction is a breath of fresh air, in the overburdened Internet.
With the easy to use RSS feed, I can read these short stories at the office on my coffee breaks. They only take five minutes or less to read, no matter your speed, and you can step back into your office work not feeling guilty about taking your employers time, but with the smile and feeling of refreshment that fiction lusually brings to your face.
Jake Freivald and Flash Fiction Online are providing an excellent service to all fans of short fiction, and I encourage you to take advantage of it.
Artwork © 2008, R. W. Ware
Share:
April 08, 2008
Book Review: Infoquake by David Louis Edelman
* Genre: Science Fiction, Thriller
* ISBN: 1591024420
* ISBN-13: 9781591024422
* Format: Paperback, 421pp
* Publisher: Pyr
* Pub. Date: July 2006
* Series: Jump 225 Trilogy
* Read Chapters 1-7
Those men and women who don’t read the business pages of the newspaper or subscribe to Forbes and The Economist are unaware of just how exciting the business world can be. Many people see it as dry, dusty stuff – kind of like all the memorization of dates and places your teacher required of you in grade school. But the reality is far different. Scandals like the Enron debacle, advice from such folks as Warren Buffet, and tales of good works by people like Bill Gates make it into these pages. Yet very few have tried to novelize this exciting field. Anthony Trollope did it with The Way We Live Now but few others have made the attempt, except to demonize it.
David Louis Edelman has recreated the excitement of the world of business in his science fiction novel, Infoquake the first in the Jump 225 trilogy. Set in a far future, where the old nation states no longer exist and all technology is more related to biology than mechanics, Infoquake tells the tale of Natch, a master programmer and CEO of his own business. Natch is skilled, shrewd, and often unscrupulous. These are traits that serve him well in the laissez-faire world in which his business operates. When he is given a business opportunity he can’t pass up he find himself plunged into a political, scientific and economic war with his competitors, the government, and even his own partner.
Edelman has succeeded in making the world of the corporate boardroom into an adventure filled narrative. What John Grisham has done with the legal thriller, Edelman has done with business. Drawing on his experiences in marketing and computer programming, Edelman has created a very thorough world, consistent and detailed. (A small portion of the book is appendices explaining the political and social structures of this trilogy, and more information on the setting of the Jump 225 trilogy can be found at Edelman’s website.)
Natch is a compelling and interesting character, enigmatic and intelligent, yet troubled and in some ways aimless. He is driven by the need to succeed, the need to vanquish his opponents, but he doesn’t really know why. Edelman uses the juxtaposition of success without true direction to create Natch the character. But as the novel progresses, we learn that when Natch is given purpose, he goes all out, and when the new technology of MultiReal is placed in his hands, he does all he can to make it a success.
The unfortunate part of Infoquake is that is part of a larger trilogy, and so ends well but without any true resolution. When the story ends, Natch is actually in more trouble than when he began and the reader will have to wait for the release of the second novel MultiReal to really find out what will happen.
Some readers will find the technology of Infoquake hard to understand (hence the appendices) and it took me a while to figure out what the technology of MultiReal could do. And Edelman does not really explain the difference between the philosophy of his world (which is human-centric) and ours (which he claims is machine-centric). Both relied on machines, and I didn’t really see the difference between Edelman’s version and our own.
As a businessman myself, I understood the excitement and action in the need to coordinate different factors (like marketing, competition, timing, etc.) in creating a product, but some readers may find that less than compelling. But for those readers, there is the constant shadow of government force hanging over Natch’s head to add excitement to the tale, as well as, the race against the clock, since Natch and his team are forced to create a product out of whole cloth in just under three days, something that is plenty exciting enough.
Infoquake is well-written and well-cadenced. The climax is fulfilling and exciting, yet it is only a speech, and a marketing one at that. Edelman has so well woven the elements of his plot together that Natch’s simple speech has a much power and excitement to it as another science fiction story’s destruction of a spaceship or a fantasy’s evil overlord dying hideously at the hands of a hero. That takes skill to write, and Edelman has it in spades. I highly recommend this novel.
March 21, 2008
Book Review: The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells
* Genre: Steampunk, Fantasy
* ISBN: 0380788144
* ISBN-13: 9780380788149
* Format: Mass Market Paperback, 544pp
* Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers (Eos)
* Pub. Date: July 1999
Nicholas Valiarde is a young man bent on revenge. His adoptive father was executed for the horrendous crime of necromancy through the machinations of a crime lord in the Il-Rien city of Vienne. Since that time Valiarde, under the pseudonym Donatien, has been subverting the crime underworld to his own ends to take revenge on his father’s murderer. But Valiarde is forced to turn away from thoughts of revenge when bodies begin to turn up and they appear to have been used for necromantic magic. Further incensed by the fact that Nicholas’ foster father’s inventions seem to have been used to assist the evil necromancer and his cronies, Nicholas uses his wealth and influence to root out the evil sorcerer.
Set in a lush and vivid Victorian fantasy world, Martha Wells' novel, The Death of the Necromancer is a 1998 Nebula Nominee and the quintessential steampunk novel. Although /I have never liked the title of this subgenre, Wells’ novel does fit it. Vienne is very Victorian in setting, with carriages, underground trains, guns and other such items of that strange age, but with sorcery, the realm of faerie and strange doings mixed in. In a lot of ways, Vienne reminds me of London, with close knit streets, sharp divisions between upper and lower classes, and a criminal underworld unsurpassed in its evil.
Nicholas is a compelling character. Except for a few side forays into events surrounding his female companion Madeline, the story is told entirely from his point of view. Nicholas has also surrounded himself with an oddball cast of characters, from the actress who rejects her magical heritage, to the safecracker, to the not-so-disreputable former cavalryman. Add in some interesting enemies, including a spiritualist and a detective/doctor duo reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson and you get some interesting characterization.
Wells style of writing will seem a little odd. Although her prose is full of action, it is also wordy and has lots of commas and conjunctions, creating long sentences that slow the pace of the tale down considerably. Add in exquisite descriptions of the myriad settings and you get a slow-moving novel. But the descriptions are carefully written and not overdone, so while the tale has a slow cadence leading up to the climatic flourish, The Death of the Necromancer is not a tale that will bog the reader down. And yet, for all the description and wordiness of the tale, the action never lets up.
Nicholas and company move from one problem to the next, and Wells weaves several plots together, sometimes bringing in new information from unlikely sources, and creating events the reader would not have expected. For instance, in a mundane piece of foreshadowing, Nicholas’ birth family is mentioned. In the course of a normal novel, this would be an interesting fact, but only essential to the plot if it where a case of pig farmer turning king. Not so in this story. Wells then makes Nicholas’ family background a significant turning point much later in the book, a thing which leaves his life hanging in the balance.
Where the novel fails is in partly in Wells writing style, and partly in the rather unexceptional ending to both of Nicholas’ problems. Wells writes in such a way that I found myself easily distracted from her book even though I wanted to keep reading to find out what was to happen next. At times, my eyes would pass over a section of the novel, and I wouldn’t be able to remember what I just read. Not because nothing was happening, but because the way Wells writes requires more attention than the average mindless story. I found the ending to both of Nicholas’ problems to be rather anticlimactic. The final confrontation with the necromancer by Nicholas and Madeline didn’t really seem like much of a triumph and Nicholas final confrontation with his nemesis and father’s killer is was rather ho-hum to my mind. Others will likely disagree.
Even if I didn’t enjoy the ending overmuch, I did enjoy the ride. The Death of the Necromancer has so many plot twistings and turnings, and such interesting characters; it is easy to see why this novel made it on the Nebula ballot. I do recommend this novel for all readers who enjoyed Jonathan Barnes The Somnambulist or Gregory Maguire’s’ Wicked. Like those books, The Death of the Necromancer will appeal to those folks who like the blending of magic and technology that is so much a part of the steampunk subgenre.
I recommend it as a book that is out of the ordinary and unusually creative. If you are looking for something outside the traditional tropes of fantasy, Martha Wells The Death of the Necromancer is a good place to start.
March 06, 2008
Book Review: Grimspace by Ann Aguirre
* Genre: Science Fiction, Romance, Humor
* ISBN: 0441015999
* ISBN-13: 9780441015993
* Format: Mass Market Paperback, 320pp
* Publisher: Penguin Group (ACE)
* Pub. Date: February 2008
Grimspace by Ann Aguirre is one of those novels that you thoroughly enjoy reading. You wouldn’t tell serious fans of speculative fiction that you did, but you would spend an entire evening devouring it anyway. Billed as “romantic science fiction” by its author, Grimspace tells the tale of Sirantha Jax, a woman with the genetic ability to move ships through grimspace, a hyperspace equivalent. The story begins with Jax being held by her superiors for a crime she doesn’t remember committing, a crime that killed nearly a hundred people, many of them senior diplomats. In walks March, a rouge agent who is looking to recruit people who can move through grimspace. Casting fate to the wind, Jax escapes with him, setting her on a collision course with the Corp (her former employers), a company that holds the monopoly on grimspace transport.
Tightly woven and moving at breakneck speed from page one, Grimspace is funny and fun. Aguirre writes a novel that would translate onto the big screen as a romantic comedy. March and Jax’s relationship has echoes of the Han and Leia relationship in Star Wars. While they begin their relationship hating one another, through a series of circumstances out of their control, a romantic relationship is built. It is a classic story of two people hating each other only to find they truly love each other when their relationship is really put to the test.
The story is told entirely from Jax’s point of view, and the internal monologues that Aguirre gives her heroine are absolutely hilarious. From the beginning of the novel till things get rather serious towards the end, I found myself smiling at Jax’s reactions and comments to the events unfolding around her. Like Elizabeth Bennett’s thoughts on Mr. Darcy in Pride on Prejudice, Jax’s comments on March and the other characters have a wry wit and humor.
The pacing and the humor of the story allow the reader to gloss over a lot of its faults. For instance, Aguirre fails to explain how a society as advanced as the one she has created is unable to isolate the genetic component necessary to create people who can travel through grimspace. This inability is important to the plot, but Aguirre failed to make me believe that such a thing would not be possible. (Though perhaps this may be answered in the sequel, Wanderlust, due out in September of this year.)
Aguirre is also writing a novel that owes a debt to the bodice-rippers of the romance genre. There is one very explicit sex scene (I’m always uncomfortable with this, but it was easy enough to gloss over). Additionally, since it is a novel centered on romance, many of the interactions and actions of the characters have something to do with love and romance. One character lost her female lover, another (evil) character uses women, and of course there is the sexual tension between Jax and March.
Where the novel succeeds is in creating a fun, action filled story that I would imagine would translate well to the big screen. It has all the elements of an action movie. The heroine is broken but is also extremely strong-willed and gifted. She is no weak woman to be pushed around by a stronger man. The action is almost non-stop, and the characters move from one danger to another, with each successive danger being more and more difficult to survive. And finally, the climax is satisfying, as the evil people get their come-uppings and the heroes ultimately triumph.
Grimspace is the novel you have on your shelf when you need a little excitement, a little romance, but don’t want to work to hard to enjoy it. With the caveat that this is a romance novel in every sense of what that genre has come to mean, I recommend it as an exciting story of humor and action.
Grimspace is just pure entertainment, and anyone looking for a novel of depth or philosophy would do well to avoid it. But if you need a no-brainer novel with a funny and appealing heroine, Grimspace will give you what you are looking for.
February 19, 2008
Christianity in Space: An Interview with Chris Walley
Chris Walley is the author of The Lamb Among the Stars a series set in the far future that has a unique setting. His novel discusses good and evil within the context of Christian understanding, something very unlike its contemporaries. Walley was kind enough to answer of a few of my questions about his series, his life as a geologist, and the relationship between science and faith. (You can read my review of his first book here.)
Grasping for the Wind: Tell us a little bit about the genesis of your speculative fiction trilogy, The Lamb Among the Stars. Where did the idea come from?
Chris Walley: I was converted into a Christianity of the sort of reformed tradition that took the Puritans seriously. I was intrigued that many of them held the view that there would be a great and long time of blessing before the End came. As I thought about that the question came to me ‘what it would be like to be at the end of such a Golden Age?’ At the time, I was working in Beirut during the civil war and issues of good and evil were brutally on the agenda. Finally one day, I had this image of my hero walking across the wintery landscape of a made world and things started to come together. But it’s been a long haul!
GFTW: Christians writing science fiction is a rare thing. Why do you think this is?
CW: I don't think it should be a rare thing, but I agree it seems to be. I am very concerned that, unlike our ancestors, many Christians have rather given up on any sort of future. Indeed, there is a slightly despairing mood around that basically says ‘all we need to do is hang on until the Rapture’. Well the end may be imminent – I will be delighted to be wrong – but my reading of Scripture is that we are to prepare for the long haul. We have also become scared of science. Shame on us!
GFTW: On the blog Speculative Faith, you have claimed that science can do a great job in explaining spiritual matters. How is this so?
CW: I think there are several reasons why science is of help. The first is that even if they do not understand science (how many of us can explain the principles on which a cellphone, GPS or even an aircraft operate?) people acknowledge that it must be true because it works. In doing so the great agnostic argument ‘I cannot believe in your God because I cannot understand him’ is undermined. The second reason is that the world revealed by science is very complex and very strange. After you have read anything of modern physics the doctrine of the Trinity or predestination seems far less problematic. A third and related reason is that science is enormously humbling.
GFTW: You are a geologist and teacher by trade. Why did you feel called to study what we here in the US often call “Rocks for Jocks”?
CW: Actually, I never felt ‘called’ to study geology. I was not a Christian when I became a geologist, but despite my repeated attempts to be called to the other things (I am quite open to becoming a successful full-time writer!) God has seen fit to keep me in the rock world. There are actually a lot of parallels between geology and writing fiction. To examine a sequence of dull, dusty rocks and conjure up from that some ancient world of steamy swamps and vanished ecosystems is a considerable exercise of imagination.
GFTW: Your science fiction novel The Shadow and Night is deeply philosophical rather than action intensive. Why did you spend so much time exploring the philosophical implications of the entrance of evil into Farholme society?
CW: I hope the ‘deeply philosophical’ isn’t too off-putting! The action increases in the series and by the time we get to the The Infinite Day any philosophy or theology is largely discussed while the characters are either running or reloading. But I am unrepentant about taking time to set the stage in the first volume. One of the problems of the world that we live in is that we have become utterly blasé about evil. We assume that it is normal and it has lost its shock value. What I have tried to do is paint innocence first so that the true nature of evil is made clearer. It is long-felt belief of mine that by relegating evil to truly monstrous men and women doing appalling acts of bloodshed we overlooked the fact that the vast majority of evil is quite undramatic but equally damning.
GFTW: Merral is both deeply flawed and truly heroic. Was his character modeled on anyone in particular?
CW: Merral’s weaknesses are my own; Merral’s heroism is imagined! I have however tried to make him very much an Everyman; a figure that we can all identify with. What is, I think, particularly compelling about Merral is that this is a man who we first meet in a state of innocence who is forced to become the greatest warrior of his age. He never quite loses the horror of having blood on his hands.
GFTW: Why did you have Merral be so dependent on outside help (i.e. Vero, Anya, Perena, the angel of the Lord) for success?
CW: Another fascinating question! Let me suggest two reasons. One of the problems of action novels is that we tend to create heroes with such mighty abilities that they do not need grace. I can't identify with such people and I'm not sure your readers can either. As an aside, they are not actually very interesting creatures. A second reason is the terrible subtlety of evil; how concentrating on a spectacular external evil may cause us to overlook the no less deadly evil within us. Merral’s greatest enemy is always himself.
GFTW: Did you find it difficult to mesh the science (which is based in what we know in 2008) of the Made Worlds with the Christian culture of the Assembly when you were writing?
CW: Handling advanced science is very difficult. I first started drafting ideas for the first novel 20 years ago, and some of the technology I dreamed of then is now available in the shops today! I have actually largely minimised science innovations; one of the great emphases of the Assembly is that it has a great deal of caution about science and technology. Someone has commented that the Assembly are the ‘Amish in Space’; it's not entirely true, but there is something in it. So other than travel between stars through Gates and gravity modification there is very little that is new in the Assembly technology. However as readers soon find out, there are other cultures about who have no such limits.
GFTW: What can you tell us about how the story progresses in The Dark Foundations and The Infinite Day?
CW: Well I'm not going to give you any plot spoilers, but rest assured that soon enough the action comes fast and furious. There is also a progressive escalation of scale. We start off in a quiet, cosy rural world where nothing has happened and we end up with bloody battles in a war that involves a trillion people and a distance of 600 light years. Someone made the off-the-cuff comment that he thought the series was as if C. S. Lewis had written Star Wars. It’s a bizarre thought, but I take it as a compliment and a reflection on the scale of what happens. What I can promise is that evil is defeated but it is not defeated easily. A price is paid.
GFTW: What speculative fiction novels would you recommend other than Tolkien or Lewis?
CW: Ah, here you have embarrassed me! Because I had always had to squeeze my writing into my spare time I have not read as much as I should of late. Where I have read fantasy recently, I have been rather disappointed. Modern British fantasy, for instance, tends to be either dark and gloomy. That’s partly why I write my own tales! I've promised myself that some day I will go into my local bookshop and buy a great pile of speculative fiction. But in the past I’ve enjoyed both Arthur C. Clarke and Asimov – his Foundation trilogy in particular is a great story and probably a subtle influence on my own works.
GFTW: Any parting thoughts?
CW: Only to say that I'm grateful for all the questions. Writing is a lonely pastime, and sometimes you need external questions to make you think about what you're actually doing and trying to achieve. Oh and if anybody reads the books and wants to comment or contact me they can get me either on what is now becoming a pretty well populated facebook fan site [http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2216305373] or via my own website [www.chriswalley.net].
This interview is part of the February 2008 CSFF Blog Tour. Other participants include:
Brandon Barr; Jim Black; Justin Boyer; Grace Bridges; Jackie Castle; Carol Bruce Collett ; Valerie Comer; CSFF Blog Tour; Gene Curtis; D. G. D. Davidson; Chris Deanne; Janey DeMeo; Jeff Draper; April Erwin; Marcus Goodyear; Rebecca Grabill ; Jill Hart; Katie Hart; Michael Heald; Timothy Hicks; Christopher Hopper; Heather R. Hunt; Jason Joyner; Kait; Carol Keen; Mike Lynch; Margaret; Rachel Marks; Shannon McNear; Melissa Meeks; Rebecca LuElla Miller; Mirtika or Mir's Here; Pamela Morrisson; Eve Nielsen; John W. Otte; John Ottinger; Deena Peterson; Rachelle; Steve Rice; Ashley Rutherford; Chawna Schroeder; James Somers; Rachelle Sperling; Donna Swanson; Steve Trower; Speculative Faith; Robert Treskillard; Jason Waguespac; Laura Williams; Timothy Wise
Share:
February 18, 2008
Book Review: The Shadow and Night by Chris Walley
* Genre: Science Fiction
* ISBN: 1414313276
* ISBN-13: 9781414313276
* Format: Hardcover, 640pp
* Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
* Pub. Date: October 2006
* Series: The Lamb Among the Stars
* Read the First Chapter
* Read an interview with Chris Walley
AMAZING! There is simply no other word to describe Chris Walley’s speculative fiction novel The Shadow and Night. I just could not put this one down. Actually a combination of two books previously published, The Shadow and Night is the first novel in a three part trilogy called the Lamb Among the Stars (originally published in four volumes). Walley spent many years perfecting this series, and his efforts have born fruit in this grand space opera.
In The Shadow and Night mankind has reached the stars. But he has found that only Earth supports any life beyond the minutest of single-celled organisms. Yet man has learned to make worlds suitable for his own life. Due to what is know as the Great Intervention (a spiritual revival of humanity in which all come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ) a great peace has existed for eleven centuries. During this time, Earth and all the many Made Worlds have prospered so that mankind serves one another in peace and love, and evil (as we know it) is a thing of the past. On the far edge of the universe, the Made World Farholme has only just begun its young life.
Merral is a young forester on the Made World of Farholme. In the course of his duties, he comes across some very strange occurrences. Strange, alien beasts are seen on the surface of Farholme, and human beings begin to act strangely, cruelly toward each other, shattering the peace that has existed for millennia. And then the unthinkable happens, and contact with the other worlds is lost. Merral is forced to a take on the mantle of leader, a title for which he is gifted but that he despairs to take.
The Shadow and Night is told entirely from Merral’s perspective. Merral’s inner struggles and outward failures and successes become our own. Walley has excellently crafted a man of great ability but who is flawed at his very core. This is a character anyone with the least humility can identify as themselves. He is a man who understands evil as a concept, but when forced to experience it firsthand, almost crumples under the strain. Merral is an exceptionally compelling character, and I read on mostly because I wanted to know how Merral would deal with the philosophical and physical conundrums Walley forces him to experience.
The novel is long at over 600 pages so reading it is not for the faint of heart. Walley has also chosen to build a slow tension for his story, rather than leaping from action sequence to action sequence. I think some readers might find this dull, although his character study was so intense and engrossing, that I didn’t feel the loss. He takes time to ponder the effect of events on his characters, and to have them grapple and wrestle with philosophy, although in a practical way. For instance, when faced with evil, at what point should a person fight against it, and at what point is diplomacy in order? When confronted with temptations, how should a person react? These are struggles Merral goes through, and to a lesser extent his supporting characters, but it is Merral who we most identify with.
As I have said, there is little action in the story. The story takes place on the planet of Farholme (in a sense reminding me of the way Dune takes place on only one planet) and has little space action. There are three big action sequences, so readers look for epic space battles or hand to hand combat will be disappointed. The Shadow and Night is about the battle between good and evil, mostly within yourself, especially in the face of evil circumstances. It is this that drives the plot. The slow build of the tension only makes the final confrontation all the more epic.
There are some predictable elements. There is an obvious set-up for a particular character to be killed, but I still felt the loss. Walley also overuses the word “suddenly”. As I would read the sentences with the word in it, I felt that many times he could have done without and have been just as effective in communicating his point, sometimes even more so. Some of the early dialogue is a bit wooden, but as the characters deepen from two dimensions to three during the narrative, this feeling disappears.
Some readers will also take exception at the explicitly Christian nature of the novel. Walley creates a setting in which all people believe in the Christian view of Heaven and Hell, and believe in the salvation offered by Jesus Christ. The setting is based in a Christian postmillennial view of history, but the novel is not proselytizing in any way. (For more on the belief system he uses, check out “Puritans in Space”.) Walley himself stated “the purpose of this book is not to open a theological debate nor engage in ‘fictionalized theology’; it is simply to sue this as a setting for a grand tale.” (from an accompanying letter to the book) And I think that he has truly fulfilled that goal. In its way, this novel is no more proselytizing than any book written by a secularist or agnostic. It is simply a narrative that uses one of the great beliefs of our day to create a setting and story set far into the future.
Walley, a geologist and teacher, also weaves great science into the story. His machines are believable, and the science behind them solid. The Shadow and Night weaves religion and science together so that there is continuity between the two. With the culture he has set up, the scientific feats of Farholme make sense. He is also very descriptive, drawing on his Welsh heritage to write a novel as filled with description as the sagas of the ancient Celts. Although perhaps not as poetic as those sagas, his writing shows a love of the land and nature.
This is a not a fast paced novel by any means. Yet, I couldn’t put it down. I sped through the pages, desperate to find out what was to happen to Merral and Vero, Anya and Perena. Walley builds the tension so slowly and subtly, it is like reading a John Grisham thriller. When the final culmination of events came, I was literally sitting upright on the edge of my seat. I highly recommend this novel. The Shadow and Night is a literary speculative fiction novel, and needs to be read by anyone trying to understand “the need to fight evil without becoming evil” (from an accompanying letter to the book). The Shadow and Night is a tale that fans of authors like George R. R. Martin, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Frank Herbert are sure to enjoy, if not agree with philosophically. This book is a must read for all science fiction fans.
This review is part of the February 2008 CSFF Blog Tour. Other participants include:
Brandon Barr; Jim Black; Justin Boyer; Grace Bridges; Jackie Castle; Carol Bruce Collett ; Valerie Comer; CSFF Blog Tour; Gene Curtis; D. G. D. Davidson; Chris Deanne; Janey DeMeo; Jeff Draper; April Erwin; Marcus Goodyear; Rebecca Grabill ; Jill Hart; Katie Hart; Michael Heald; Timothy Hicks; Christopher Hopper; Heather R. Hunt; Jason Joyner; Kait; Carol Keen; Mike Lynch; Margaret; Rachel Marks; Shannon McNear; Melissa Meeks; Rebecca LuElla Miller; Mirtika or Mir's Here; Pamela Morrisson; Eve Nielsen; John W. Otte; John Ottinger; Deena Peterson; Rachelle; Steve Rice; Ashley Rutherford; Chawna Schroeder; James Somers; Rachelle Sperling; Donna Swanson; Steve Trower; Speculative Faith; Robert Treskillard; Jason Waguespac; Laura Williams; Timothy Wise
Share:
February 15, 2008
Book Review: Wastelands - Stories of the Apocalypse edited by John Joseph Adams
* Science Fiction, Post Apocalyptic Fiction
* ISBN: 1597801054
* ISBN-13: 9781597801058
* Format: Paperback, 352pp
* Publisher: Night Shade Books
* Pub. Date: January 2008
Man has always been fascinated with death. From Plato’s lauding of Socrates’ death to modern experiences of the “white light and tunnel”, humans have always wondered at death. And this same dread fascination includes the death of Earth itself. Through warfare, natural disaster, neglect, or religious experience, humanity has predicted the end since recorded history, and in many forms. Post apocalyptic SF is the fictional descendant of the Book of Revelation or Nostradamus’ predictions. It speculates about what life would be like for survivors of a cataclysm that rocks the Earth, changing the very fundamental nature of society. And we, as readers, read on with dread horror at what unfolds, for we know ourselves, and that we can be capable of deeds both heroic and ghastly.
John Joseph Adams has collected some of the greatest post apocalyptic SF from the last twenty years, from some of the greatest speculative fiction talents, all in Wastelands: Stories of The Apocalypse. Many of the stories have garnered awards like Nebula’s or Hugo’s or Locus’. Many more have been nominated or their writers have for other work. You cannot be disappointed by this collection, because the work evidenced here is some of the best story telling science fiction has to offer.
The very first story is a doozy, coming from the mind of horror fiction writer, Stephen King. King spins a tale entitled “The End of the Whole Mess” wherein a genius of uncharted proportions turns his mind to the problem of human violence. But passivity has a consequence, as the protagonist discovers. His story is unique from most of the others in this anthology in that it approaches the apocalypse from the untainted side. Most of the other stories in the volume look at what happens after the world ends, but King writes with his exceptional prose the tale of the end through the catalyst of that end.
Orson Scott Card explores his own religion of Mormonism in “Salvage”. His protagonist, Deaver, seeks wealth in drowned Salt Lake City. But the story is really about how faith and reliance on one another, with hope, allows people to bring about a rebuilding of civilization. This is one of the first stories in the “Mormon Sea” series by Card.
“The People of Sand and Slag” by Paolo Bacigalupi is a strange one. Earth has become a hostile environment, but man has adapted through the use of technology, so much so that he can survive by eating radioactive rock. Without the need for animal meat, humans have left them to become extinct in the hostile world. But when three humans come across a dog, their humanity seems to return. This is a sad story about humanity’s ability for empathy and what would be lost without it.
“Bread and Bombs” is truly horrifying. It is Mary Rickert’s response to the events of 9/ll and our subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Her ability to make something as innocent as snow into something horrifying and then make it a metaphor for the surprise ending was compelling. I’m not sure what point she was making, but it was still a tale both prosaic and chilling all at once.
Jonathan Lethem has a dislike of VR technology. In “How We Got into Town and Out Again” he explores what place VR would have after an apocalypse. The story is really a denouncement of those who would escape reality, and those who would profit from that desire.
“Dark, Dark Were the Tunnels” applies evolutionary theory to an apocalypse. How different would men be if some survived offworld from a worldwide cataclysm and some survived underground, but were separated by centuries? Would they be able to communicate or work together? George R. R. Martin’s conclusions are sad, and remind me of colonialism in Africa, and the thoughts the conquerors must have had over about those they conquered who looked so different and seemed so primitive.
In a short and hopeful story, Tobias Buckell explores a technology that is little more than a hobby now, land sailing. “Waiting for the Zephyr” was a good story, but I felt that it was too short, and was more the seed of a story than a complete one. I like Buckell’s writing a lot, but was disappointed by this one.
In “Never Despair” by Jack McDevitt one of the great leaders of history appears to one of the survivors of a cataclysm. In a clever weaving of leader’s statements and the reactions of the protagonist, McDevitt reminds us that hope will be our greatest asset in the wake of apocalypse.
With his characteristic black humor, Cory Doctorow explores his own career in “When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth”. Doctorow’s story pokes fun at geekdom, and at a strange and bizarre culture of those people who keep the internet flowing. There is a lot of techie speak that is part of the story, but Doctorow both humanizes and ridicules the scions of the Internet Age. Funny and sad all in on go.
In “The Last of the O-Forms” James Van Pelt finds that when the abnormal is normal, then normal becomes a thing of wonder and fascination. Using a traveling circus as his setting, Van Pelt reflects on what humanity takes for granted.
“Still Life with Apocalypse” is the shortest story in the anthology. At two pages, Richard Kadrey’s story provides a picture of life for those left to clean up the world. A tale reliant on visual imagery, it is a painting of a moment in time.
Catherine Wells creates a neo-Arthurian story in “Artie’s Angels”. Although a little heavy-handed in its metaphor, it is still compelling and in a way celebrates the need for legend and the idea that a hero’s death can be more world-changing than his life. It also delves into the effect on the poor that a mass exodus from a dying planet would have. People live in bubbles due to the radiation outside, and different sectors of the bubble are richer or poorer, with the rich able to get off planet. In a way, this is a look at the modern cityscape with its slums and its suburban areas all cordoned off, each from the other.
The only story not previously published elsewhere, Jerry Oltion’s “Judgment Passed” is an anti religious screed. When a colony mission returns to earth to find that everyone has been raptured by Jesus, the leftovers struggle with whether to curse God and move on, or ask him to take them too. Oltion’s villain is essentially a religious zealot and his heroes’ agnostics. But I think his story backfires, because his heroes end up seeming shallow and selfish where he was trying to make them seem pragmatic and intelligent.
This was the first time I had read any of Gene Wolfe’s work, and I have to say that I enjoyed it. In “Mute”, Only two children are left at the end of the world. This one defies description and simply must be read; even then it probably won’t make any sense. But it is still well-sculpted.
Nancy Kress explores identity in “Inertia”. A horrible disfiguring plague causes governments to intern the victims into ghettos. Expecting them to devolve into violence, they are surprised when they create sustainable societies. A rouge group of scientists finds out why. Kress wonders at just what it might take for man to live peaceably with each other.
“And the Deep Blue Sea” has a word that comes before it in English idiom. If you know it, you’ll have a leg up in enjoying this tale. Elizabeth Bear’s story of a mail courier who is forced to choose between saving her own hide and that of an entire city is a sort of post apocalyptic Faust.
“Speech Sounds” has the most horrifying apocalyptic event of the entire anthology to my mind. Octavia E. Butler’s humanity has lost the ability to communicate through speech, and are forced to rely and hand gestures. Add to that brain damage that makes males more primal, and women to lose their memory, and what you have is a truly frightening tale. But this one ends on a hopeful note, as many of the other stories in this anthology do not.
Carol Emshwiller wrote “Killers” as a follow-through to what we have been told about the war in Iraq. It thinks about what might happen if the war were to move to our shores. Yet really, it is more about feminine jealousy than anything else. In Emshwiller’s world, most men are dead or insane from the sights of war, so good men are in short supply. If a woman were able to redeem one of these men, and then have him stolen from her, how might she react?
For those looking for a Mad Max type story, Neal Barrett Jr.’s “Ginny Sweethips Flying Circus” provides the action adventure element of post apocalyptic SF such fans are looking for. An interesting story with some interesting and unexpected plot twists, this one was just fun to read without being heavily philosophical.
Dale Bailey wonders why everyone at “The End of The World as We Know It” is always trying to rebuild civilization. A satire of the genre of post apocalyptic SF, Bailey’s story is both a review of some of the favorites we all know and love, and a close look at our sick fascination with the end of the world.
David Grigg simply looks at the effect that a catastrophe would have on artists in “A Song Before Sunset”. Since culture not longer exists, what would musicians, painters, and dramatists do? Grigg’s effects are saddening.
“Episode Seven: Last Stand Against the Pack in the Kingdom of the Purple Flowers” is John Langan’s response to Dale Bailey’s giving up mentality in his story in this anthology. Langan’s protagonists fight desperately for their life, and seek the ability to find peace and solitude where they can rebuild. Unfortunately, they are being hunted, but ingenuity wins out in the end. This was a good story to wrap the anthology with, as it ends on a hopeful note, believing that man would strive on in the wake of apocalypse.
Wastelands is an exceptional anthology. In scope and vision it can only be compared to Harlan Ellison’s Dangerous Visions. Like that famed anthology, Wastelands collects some of the best stories of a genre, each with an introduction by the editor that sets the stage for the events that unfold. The stories are full of depth, but are also so well crafted that they are not preachy. None of the stories will disappoint the reader who picks up this anthology.
John Joseph Adams has also gone a step further to give the reader a listing of some of the post apocalyptic science fiction novels we should read, if we enjoy the genre. Coupled with his introduction and the pre-story intros, the reader finds a well-crafted argument for why this subgenre of science fiction is one of the best for exploring the human condition.
I highly recommend this anthology for anyone who enjoys reading anything. A lot of these authors I had not read before and I now want to seek out their novels at the bookstore. Each story is unique, and while all share the same basic frame, each writer has been able to pull a completely different conclusion about or assessment of humanity. Some are chilling while others are hopeful, but each will show the reader a facet of himself or herself if they are willing to see it. Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse is the best anthology of any kind I have read to date.
Read my interview with John Joseph Adams.