Review: A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge

A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge

Published: 1999 (Tor Books)

Series: Book 2 of Zones of Thought

Awards Nominated: Arthur C. Clarke, Locus SF, and Nebula Awards

Awards Won: Campbell, Hugo, and Prometheus Awards

The Book:

“Representatives of two human civilizations have come to explore the system of the mysterious “OnOff star”, which rekindles for only 35 of every 250 years.  The first are the Qeng Ho, a far-flung and loose-knit starfaring society of traders. The second are the Emergents, an empire whose power rests on the backs of the “focused”, humans whose minds and bodies are enslaved to serve the higher castes.  They both see the planet orbiting the OnOff star as a source of potential wealth, so cooperation between two groups with such drastically different ideologies may be impossible.

The other players in this tale are the inhabitants of the planet--a sentient spider-like species that goes dormant for each long darkness of their sun.  Their society develops as the humans lurk out of sight, and what role they might play is the least predictable element in human schemes many decades in the making.” ~Allie

I chose to read this book because I generally like Vernor Vinge, it received many awards, and I also enjoyed A Shadow Upon the Deep (which I read before I began this blog).

My Thoughts:

It’s a really big coincidence that I ended up reading two books about sentient spider civilizations relatively close together (this one and Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time), especially given my strong aversion to spiders. However, the two books take very different approaches to spider civilization.  Tchaikovsky developed his spider civilization based on non-sentient spider behavior and the strengths and limitations of their biology.  Vinge, on the other hand, heavily anthropomorphized his spiders (explicitly so, through the translation of the human characters). The first approach highlights the differences and natural revulsion between humans and spiders, while the second approach aims to make the spiders seem approachable and familiar.  The one way this backfired for me was just that the spiders didn’t initially feel very alien--and I like societies that feel alien--so it didn’t catch my interest right away.  On the other hand, it also made it a lot easier to build emotional attachment to the spider characters.

As the story progresses, the reader sees more of the spider culture and how it is shaped by their environment.  The activity of the OnOff star makes for an unusual planet, where every living thing has to go dormant for hundreds of years on each off-cycle.  It was interesting to see the significance their culture attached to the cycles, and to see how the particular challenges of their world would influence the direction of their scientific progress.  I really like seeing fictional societies develop science, so this part of the story was a lot of fun. On the other side, there are also two unusual spacefaring human societies to learn about. This part played more or less like horror for me, since we were seeing a clash between a society that valued human rights, and one that was built on a foundation of slavery and mind control.

The spiders’ story seemed to move at a pretty rapid pace, but the human story was a tense and claustrophobic game of intrigue that played out slowly.  Both groups had a lot to gain and a lot to lose, and both were planning to get their way through careful manipulation. This long game also allowed for time to develop and explore the main characters and their histories, and I enjoyed learning about them and seeing parts of Qeng Ho history they’d lived through. There were some bits of the story that were really disturbing to read (violence, sexual violence, the idea of focus), but these parts were always portrayed as horrific.  All in all, it was a story with very clear good guys and bad guys, and I was satisfied with how everything came out in the end.

My Rating: 4.5/5

A Deepness in the Sky is an exciting far-future story of space-faring human civilizations as well as an interesting arachnid-like alien culture.  The story involves the technological development of the arachnid society on a planet that revolves a star which mysteriously turns on and off within a regular 250 cycle.   The represented human societies include one that values free trade, and another that values mind control and slavery, so it is always obvious which side is the ‘bad guys’. The spiders’ story was one of scientific discovery and adventure, while the human story was one of fear, careful schemes, and long-term manipulation.  Everything comes together very well in the end, making this yet another Vinge novel that I have enjoyed reading.

Review: Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Published: Tor, 2015

Awards Won: Arthur C. Clarke Award

The Book:

“At the technological height of human civilization, a great project was undertaken.  Planets were carefully terraformed and seeded with Earth-based life.  A virus was loosed on the animals, designed to aid in their rise to sentience, and humanity eagerly awaited contact with their newly-created sentient alien species.

Then, humanity fell.  The few surviving members of the species have left their poisoned, dying Earth behind and journeyed into the stars in a final, desperate voyage.  When they find a terraformed planet, it seems like a dream come true.  But that planet was never meant for them, and its new inhabitants--a civilization of massive sentient spiders--are far from the gentle uplifted monkeys their ancestors had hoped for.  The spiders’ planet also has a caretaker, the last remnants of a human mind wielding ancient, deadly technology.  Time will tell whether humanity will survive, or will ultimately be supplanted by its own creations.” ~Allie

This is the first novel I’ve read by Adrian Tchaikovsky, and I chose it because it won the Arthur C. Clarke Award.  I have a very strong revulsion to spiders, but somehow it did not destroy this book for me! It helped that the spiders’ civilization was so interesting.

My Thoughts:

Two stories make up the basis of the novel: the development of the spiders’ civilization, and a dying humanity’s final journey. The two sides made a satisfying balance, one story of birth and growth, and the other of decline and death.  The spiders’ story was told over many generations, linking each set of characters by common names and roles. I loved the creativity and careful thought that clearly went into imagining the spider culture.  Their artificial initial conditions were taken into account, and the impact was carefully woven into their growth in an organic way. There are many places where I could see a parallel to the development of human civilization, but the details of their world were often utterly different.  For example, their biology, methods of communication and resources sent their technological progressed in a completely different direction than ours. I may have a deep, irrational fear of spiders, but even I can admit that their world was fascinating.

The humans, on the other hand, were fleeing their dead and poisoned homeworld, so their side of the story was considerably more bleak and depressing.  It was also a little more familiar, as it incorporated a lot of common tropes of generation ship tales.  Their story took place within the lifetime of a single generation, but with many interludes of cold sleep.  The protagonist and a small group of human crew struggled to keep the ship working, to find a new world, and generally approached each setback with the knowledge that they were the last of their species.  I enjoyed their story, though the characters were not as memorable as some we meet in the generations of spiders.     

From the beginning, I did not think it would take long for the humans and spiders to begin interacting directly.  In the end, though, the two stories were kept largely separate for a large part of the novel. In retrospect, I think seeing them both separately helped to emphasize the validity of the needs and desires of each group.  Neither the spiders nor the humans were the ‘bad guys’. Conflict between them arose from finite resources, lack of ability to communicate, and naturally ingrained instincts--not from moral considerations. I also appreciated how believably the novel demonstrates the human tendency to violence in the face of otherness. The massive spiders are just familiar enough to humans to evoke a visceral panic response.  I was surprised by how the story eventually concluded, but it was a good surprise.  I can't think of a better way to have wrapped up this excellent novel.  

My Rating: 5/5

Children of Time tells two stories, one about the beginning of a species and one about the potential end.  I loved reading about the development of the sentient spiders’ creative and alien culture over many generations, even though spiders creep me out.  The human side was more standard, with the remainder of the human race facing a long space journey with an uncertain end.  I enjoyed both stories, though the spiders’ civilization was definitely the most impressive aspect of the book.  Overall, I found the book the be very entertaining, and the ending was surprising and satisfying.  I’m curious to see if Tchaikovsky plans to write more science fiction novels!

Review: Dark Eden by Chris Beckett

Dark Eden by Chris Beckett

Published: Corvus, 2012

Series: Book 1 of the Dark Eden series

Awards Nominated: BSFA Award

Awards Won: Arthur C. Clarke Award

The Book:

“You live in Eden. You are a member of the Family, one of 532 descendants of Angela and Tommy. You shelter beneath the light and warmth of the Forest's lantern trees, hunting woollybuck and harvesting tree candy. Beyond the forest lie the treeless mountains of the Snowy Dark and a cold so bitter and a night so profound that no man has ever crossed it. The Oldest among you recount legends of a world where light came from the sky, where men and women made boats that could cross between worlds. One day, the Oldest say, they will come back for you.

You live in Eden. You are a member of the Family, one of 532 descendants of two marooned explorers. You huddle, slowly starving, beneath the light and warmth of geothermal trees, confined to one barely habitable valley of a startlingly alien, sunless world. After 163 years and six generations of incestuous inbreeding, the Family is riddled with deformity and feeblemindedness. Your culture is a infantile stew of half-remembered fact and devolved ritual that stifles innovation and punishes independent thought. You are John Redlantern. You will break the laws of Eden, shatter the Family, and change history.” ~WWEnd.com

The Arthur C. Clarke award usually selects some interesting books, so I’ve been meaning to try this one since it was announced as a winner. This is the first book I’ve read by Chris Beckett, and it is the first of a trilogy.

My Thoughts:

The first thing I noticed when I began to read the book was the unusual narration.  The story was told through the eyes of a handful of members of the Family, and the writing style followed the speech patterns of their community. The language reflected their declining mental ability and distance from their Earthly origins, and it was characterized by a limited vocabulary, emphasis through repetition, and a kind of baby-talk for Earth-based words that had no clear meaning on Eden.  It was not difficult to read, but the simplicity of the language and frequent switching between viewpoints made it harder for me to feel invested in the characters.     

The simplicity of the language made the story feel initially like it is intended for a younger audience, but I think a lot of the content was more suitable for adults.  John Redlantern was a teenage protagonist, eager to come into his own and challenge the status quo. However, he lived in a culture that largely revolved around food, sex, and babies.  I think that this made sense for a slowly starving community that was descended from only two people.  As they waited for rescuers from Earth, most people didn’t think much beyond immediate survival and creating the next generation.  This means that there was an awful lot of casual sex, particularly between people that appeared to have good genes.  Even their language showed the preoccupation with sex, since most of their ‘curses’ were references to the sexual characteristics of the initial explorers.  While reading, I couldn’t help but wonder if some of Tommy and Angela’s sadness was from their realization of the hardships their descendants would endure, in the absence of rescue.

Despite the necessary focus on survival, I found it interesting how desperately the people of Eden clung to their stories.  Even after they gave up on the idea of education for the children, they insisted that everyone remember the stories of Earth and of the founders of their Family.  I think it was a way of maintaining their identity as a people, and of giving them hope (of rescue) for the future.  Given how small their Family was, though, I think that valuing these ritualized stories of people who had so recently lived also gave them a sense of the importance of individual actions on the course of their history.  John and his companions were keenly aware of their place in the history of Eden, and John made his decisions while consciously considering how their stories would be told by generations to come.  I can tell that the conclusion of this novel will have a major impact on the future of the humans of Eden, but I’m pretty satisfied with leaving the story here.

My Rating: 3.5/5

Dark Eden is the story of a small human community, descended from only two people, trying to survive on an alien planet.  The language of the novel is unusual and simplistic, reflecting the speech patterns of the community.  The protagonist is a teenage boy, coming of age and challenging the way his society works, and the novel’s perspective shifts between him, his companions, and several other people in the community.  There is a heavy emphasis on sex, since the community depends on having as many healthy babies as possible.  I found it to be an interesting alien world, and a bleak but believable human culture.  This first novel of the trilogy comes to a good stopping point, and I don’t think I will continue the series.

Review: Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson

Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson

Published: Orbit, 2015

Awards Nominated: Campbell & Locus SF Awards

The Book:

“Many years ago, a generation ship set out with the purpose of spreading humankind to the stars.  Their goal was the planet Aurora, which was expected to be both devoid of life and suitable for human habitation.  The original travellers are long gone, but their descendants--who were given no choice in the matter--now struggle to maintain the delicate balance of their ship’s ecosystem long enough to reach their destination.

The humans are aided by the ship’s AI, a sophisticated computer whose interactions with the brilliant engineer Devi have set it on a path toward self-awareness. Freya, the mildly developmentally-impaired daughter of Devi, will be in the generation that must attempt to colonize Aurora and handle whatever comes after.” ~Allie  

I like generation ship stories, and I have been a fan of Kim Stanley Robinson for years. Thus, Aurora was an obvious book for me to pick up.  I bought the audio version (narrated by Ali Ahn), and my husband and I listened to it while driving across Provence and then the eastern US.

My Thoughts:

Aurora is what I would consider characteristic of a Robinson novel, a story constructed with careful attention to scientific detail in its treatment of the future of the human race.  It can be dense sometimes, and there are occasional digressions on topics of interest. The story is told by the ship’s AI, who has been tasked with building a meaningful narrative account of the voyage, so it’s understandable that the narration sometimes focuses on technical aspects.  The development of the AI’s character was one part of the story I particularly enjoyed. She learns about the nature of self and life both through her attempt to create meaning out of events and through her connections to members of the crew.  I also appreciated her understated sense of humor.  The narrator of the audiobook did a pretty fantastic job with the voice and intonation of the AI.

I am a big fan of stories about building societies, so it must be no surprise that this aspect of a generation ship is one that appeals to me.  A lot of Aurora involves exploring how people can structure the ship to survive, both physically and socially.  Not only do the colonists need to deal with the very delicate balance of materials needed to support life, they also have to make sure the people stay happy and under control.  It was interesting to see the social forces that come into play, and to see the decisions people make about priorities.  The ship is large enough to have habitats with different biomes and cultures, and I enjoyed seeing how the various groups of people came to terms with their situation.  

The story takes a darker turn once they arrive at Aurora, and it was interesting to see what the stress from the crisis they face there would do to their fragile community.  There is so much that happens after their arrival that it seems like it could easily have been a series.  The novel has several notable narrative shifts, and by the end it felt a little like there was just too much packed in.  It also makes it a little difficult to talk about in review, since I try to avoid major spoilers. The story wraps up nicely in the end, but the final segment runs a little longer than I would have liked. As a planetary colonization story, the conclusion is pretty pessimistic regarding humanity’s prospects, but I think there is value in stressing that we shouldn’t be cavalier with the health of the one planet that we know will support human life.

My Rating: 4/5

Aurora is yet another novel by Kim Stanley Robinson that I have greatly enjoyed. It is a compelling and thoroughly-researched take on the idea of a generation ship. I loved seeing how people might manage to make their circumstances work generations down the line.  The AI made for an unusual narrator, and I appreciated her digressions about language, humanity and self. The story takes several unexpected turns, and it has a rather dim view of our chances of successful colonization.  After seeing all the difficulties the colonists encounter, I hope that our current planet remains viable for human life for many years to come.

Review: The Integral Trees by Larry Niven

The Integral Trees by Larry Niven

Published: Ballantine Del Rey, 1984

Series: Book 2 of The State

Awards Won: Locus SF Award

Awards Nominated: Nebula and Hugo Awards

The Book:

“When leaving Earth, the crew of the spaceship Discipline was prepared for a routine assignment. Dispatched by the all-powerful State on a mission of interstellar exploration and colonization, Discipline was aided (and secretly spied upon) by Sharls Davis Kendy, an emotionless computer intelligence programmed to monitor the loyalty and obedience of the crew.

But what they weren't prepared for was the smoke ring-an immense gaseous envelope that had formed around a neutron star directly in their path. The Smoke Ring was home to a variety of plant and animal life-forms evolved to thrive in conditions of continual free-fall. When Discipline encountered it, something went wrong. The crew abandoned ship and fled to the unlikely space oasis.

Five hundred years later, the descendants of the Discipline crew living on the Smoke Ring no longer remember their origins. Earth is more myth than memory, and no recollection of the State remains. But Kendy remembers. And just outside the Smoke Ring, Discipline waits patiently to make contact with its wayward children.” ~WWEnd.com

I chose The Integral Trees as the Locus SF award winner for my 2014 12 Awards in 12 Months Challenge. 

My Thoughts:

Above all, the setting in The Integral Trees was extremely cool. It’s a colonization story, but instead of settling on a planet, the humans settled in a gas torus around a neutron star, in a binary star system.  It was clear that a lot of thought went into what kind of environment this would create, what kinds of creatures would develop in that environment, and how humans would adapt to survive over time, with their planet-evolved biology. The origin of the system, the mechanics of how it persists, and the forces that would be exerted on lifeforms within the torus (especially the large integral trees) is also explored in a lot of detail.  This is definitely a story where the science is very fun, very thorough and very creative.

  

While the story begins 500 years after the colonization, their society still has lingering marks of their past as a part of a civilization of higher technology.  For instance, words have persisted through the years, though many have drifted in pronunciation or meaning.  They also still value science, and each community has their own Scientist, who is able to access information from ancient machines.  It’s not so long since I was a grad student myself, so I enjoyed that the scientist’s apprentice was known as the Grad. The adventures of the main group led them through many different communities in the Smoke Ring, and it was neat to see the differences and similarities between them. Some of these communities, though, show a pretty dark view of future-humanity, with respect to slavery and the sexual exploitation of women.

The main party is a group of community misfits, sent out from their home in search of food in a time of lasting famine. The party has some of the usual adventurer types—a scientist, an alpha male (and his small harem), and a promising young man—but it also includes some more unusual people, such as a bitter elderly man, and several people with physical handicaps.  They also meet up with others along the way, including a woman warrior. While the ‘promising young man’ Gavving is probably the main character, the story follows different party members at different points.  They were a pretty interesting group of people to follow, but I think that having so many of them limited the amount to which each could be developed.

In the end, I feel like this is almost a setting-driven story, where the plot and characters are primarily focused around showcasing and exploring different parts of the physical and human environments. The events of the story were very action-oriented and exciting, but it seemed mostly like a series of adventures designed to propel the characters through different parts of their world.  This, in addition to the way Kendy’s situation concluded, led to the ending being a little underwhelming. However, I still enjoyed cheering on the group of explorers as they struggled to stay together and survive through many different hardships.  

My Rating: 3.5/5

The Integral Trees is a basic party exploration adventure story, but with a really fascinating environment to explore.  Instead of colonizing a planet, humans colonized a kind of space ‘trees’ living in a gas torus within a binary star system.  I was really drawn in by the amount of thought and creativity behind the description of the physical setting and its extrapolation to how native life would develop and humans would adapt.  The characters were a little simple in comparison, but they made for a fun group to follow as they traveled through such an impressive world.

Review: Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny

Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny

Published: Doubleday 1967/ Gollancz 1999

Awards Won: Hugo Award

Awards Nominated: Nebula Award

The Book:

“A group of humans with impressive technology have colonized an alien planet.  With the ability to reincarnate into new bodies, the original colonists live long lives and populate the world with multitudes of their children. 

However, rather than raise these citizens of the new world to their standard of living, many of the powerful want to maintain their own dominance.  In the guise of shepherding an unready population, they impede the development of technology among their subjects, and tightly control the means of reincarnation.  They model themselves after the Hindu pantheon, and manipulate the population through their enforcement of a system of ‘karma’.

A threat to their control comes from one of the first colonists, a man named Sam.  To many, he is a great religious leader and a legend—the Buddha of this new world—though others see him for a fraud.  For all of those who wish to bring down the Lords of Karma, though, he may be the only hope.” ~Allie

It’s time for some more Zelazny!  I seem to have a bit of a theme with religious science fiction going on, and it will be continued with A Canticle for Leibowitz.

 My Thoughts:

Lord of Light continues many trends I’ve seen in other Zelazny works, though I think this one might be my favorite. As in This Immortal, Zelazny deliberately mixes the feel of science fiction and fantasy in the novel.  On the side of science fiction, there is some justification for the technology and abilities of Sam and the others, and the general setup is of a colonized alien planet.  On the fantasy side, almost none of the technology is explicitly described, and many details of the world and characters’ past adventures are left vague.  The technology is essentially like magic, and the world the humans inhabit has a rich, mostly unexplored history.  The prose and dialogue are also very stylistic, in a kind of archaic, mythological way. 

The style of writing seems to fit well with the focus on Buddhism and Hinduism.  I am not an expert in either religion, but I don’t think that was a barrier to understanding the story.  There is quite a lot of information included, though, so I expect that I missed some allusions or references. Each chapter begins with and excerpt from Hindu or Buddhist literature, along with an excerpt from the legend Sam had built as the Buddha of a new world. There are descriptions of many gods and goddesses, and the native creatures of the planet, energy beings called “Rakasha”, reflect the Hindu Rakshasas. I don’t know how the story would appear to a follower of either faith, but I felt Zelazny treated the religions with respect.  It is made very clear within the story that the Hindu pantheon and the new Buddha are not actually true gods or religious figures, but simply humans using the doctrines to achieve their ends.  In that sense, the story was less about the faiths than it was about how religion can be used as a tool to affect human society for good or evil.        

Many of the numerous characters were a little one-note, but I think that was deliberate.  The members of the pantheon were honing their personalities down to a major characteristic, in order to better personify their chosen deity.  Things could get a little confusing sometimes, as most characters had gathered a number of names over the years, and they occasionally even switched to different bodies.  I enjoyed the discussion about how access to reincarnation technology would affect identity and relationships, but it ran into a little too much gender essentialism for my taste at some points. The main character, Sam, is a pretty standard Zelazny hero.  He’s an intelligent, flawed, immortal super-human (he can control electromagnetic fields).  He also has a sense of humor, is a pretty decent person, and is instrumental to the fate of his world. In the case of Lord of Light, this involves his struggle to defeat the established pantheon and bring technology to the people.

The story begins near the end, but then cuts back to tell the story from the beginning of Sam’s long struggle against the self-appointed gods.  While there is a lot of interesting theological trappings, and entertaining debates on freedom of technology and the effects of reincarnation, I felt like the story was an adventure at heart. There are dramatic fights, battles, betrayals, some romance, and ill-fated gambling with Rakasha. As in several other of Zelazny’s novels, the individual adventures sometimes seemed episodic, but I found them entertaining in themselves as well as in the context of the larger story.

My Rating: 4/5

Lord of Light is pretty well representative of what I think of as Zelazny’s usual kind of story, with a combination of aspects of science fiction and fantasy, an immortal, super-human, but likeable hero, and plenty of exciting adventures. The hero, Sam, is the irreverent founder of Buddhism, a faith that he chose to oppose the self-styled Hindu pantheon that controlled the populace through their monopoly on reincarnation technology.  I enjoyed the focus on Hinduism and Buddhism within the story, though story was less about the religions themselves than about their use by humans.  Overall, Lord of Light is my favorite Zelazny novel so far, though I should warn that it was a little confusing to get into at first!       

Review: Infidel by Kameron Hurley

Infidel by Kameron Hurley

Published : Night Shade Books, 2011

Series : Book 2 of the Bel Dame Apocrypha

The Book :

“The only thing worse than war is revolution. Especially when you're already losing the war...

Nyx used to be a bel dame, a government-funded assassin with a talent for cutting off heads for cash. Now she's babysitting diplomats to make ends meet and longing for the days when killing was a lot more honorable.

When Nyx's former bel dame "sisters" lead a coup against the government that threatens to plunge the country into civil war, Nyx is tasked with bringing them in. The hunt takes Nyx and her inglorious team of mercenaries to one of the richest, most peaceful, and most contaminated places on the planet - a country wholly unprepared to host a battle waged by the world's deadliest assassins.

In a rotten nation of sweet-tongued politicians, giant bugs, and renegade shape shifters, Nyx will forge unlikely allies and rekindle old acquaintances. And the bodies she leaves scattered across the continent this time... may include her own. Because no matter where you go or how far you run in this world, one thing is certain: the bloody bel dames will find you.” ~WWEnd.com

This is the second novel in the Bel Dame Apocrypha, and it has taken me a ridiculously long time to get to writing my review of it. My only remaining long-overdue review is for Daniel Abraham's The Dragon's Path, and hopefully I'll be able to keep from ever getting this far behind again. At least, now that this review is complete, I can finally plan on reading the third novel of the trilogy, Rapture! While Infidel does have a complete plot in itself, I would strongly advise starting with the first book of the series.

My Thoughts:

One of the things I loved in God's War was the creativity of the alien world, with its diseases, bug-based technology, and the distinct religions and cultures that have developed in the differing colonial settlements. Infidel, which begins after the events of the first novel, expands upon the world that has already been established. Though the plot this time involves unrest within the Nasheenian government, most of the new information was about countries that had only a minor role in the first book. For instance, a good portion of the story takes place in the wealthy, peaceful, arms-dealing country of Tirhan, which has been profiting from the endless war between Chenja and Nasheen. I enjoyed learning more about this dangerous world, and I feel like there could be many more stories to tell in it.

The world of this series continues to be bug-filled and violent, with a fair amount of murder, some torture, and a lot of profanity. Nyx and her companions live in a very brutal world, and as not particularly high-class mercenaries, they are accustomed to casual violence. Nyx has established a new team, since her previous one abandoned her (for very legitimate reasons), and they have once again taken on a job that leaves Nyx in over her head. There are a couple of cracks in the plot for me, such as one instance where all the characters seem to briefly forget a couple of key pieces of information. The intrigue this time also seemed a bit too convoluted in some parts, but the plot moved forward quickly enough that it was enough to let the pieces fall into place.

As in the first book, the character interactions were far more fascinating to me than the political plot. I still love Nyx as a protagonist, though she seems even more of a nihilist this time around. Even so, I still felt like she was desperately searching for a way to give her life a sense of meaning. For instance, her team is composed of a former drug addict and a boy who would be shipped to the front to die in a few years. One could argue that she was only able to hire the bottom of the barrel, but it seemed like she also genuinely wanted to help them (even if she believed the effort would be ultimately meaningless). I think that she also sought meaning through Rhys and through the bel dames. Her feelings towards Rhys were more blatant this time around, and their (non)-relationship still inverts gender stereotypes. Another major character this time around is Inaya, an extremely conservative woman from the previous novel. It turns out she has plenty of secrets, and she seems to be a kind of foil to Nyx's character.

My Rating: 4/5

Infidel continues the story that began in God's War, following the assassin and mercenary Nyx as she tries to complete an even more deadly task than before. For me, the highlights of the novel are the creative alien world, the complex and deeply flawed protagonist, Nyx, and the complicated relationships between the characters. The political plot was interesting, but it had a few weak points for me. Infidel is a good sequel to God's War, and I'm looking forward to continuing the story in Rapture.

Review: The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge

The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge

Published : The Dial Press/Quantum, 1980

Series : Book 1 of the Snow Queen Cycle

Awards Won : Hugo, Locus SF Awards

Awards Nominated : Nebula Award

The Book :

“In the world of Tiamat, power changes hands every 150 years, due to the periodic opening and closing of a galactic stargate.  During the winter cycle, the Snow Queen reigns, and technophile ‘Winters’ live in a society supported by contact with people from the Hegemony, a government that spans a number of worlds.  At the end of this cycle, the Snow Queen and all the world’s technology are sacrificed as the offworlders leave through their closing stargate. Then begins the reign of the Summer Queen, and the primitive, superstitious Summers.

The current Snow Queen, Arienrhod, has no intention of relinquishing her power and watching her technological world collapse. Though she has many schemes to change the cycle, one involves her own clone, a young woman named Moon.  Raised as a Summer and in love with her cousin Sparks, Moon has her own ideas about what her life will hold.  She intends to be a sibyl, a wise woman of the Summers who can channel answers to nearly any question.  However, the fates of Moon, Sparks, and Arienrhod may not be theirs to control…” ~Allie   

 This is the first novel I’ve read by Joan D. Vinge, which makes it my 3^rd novel in the Women of Genre Fiction Reading Challenge.  The Snow Queen is from relatively early in her writing career, four years after her 1976 nomination for John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer for the novelette “Tin Soldier” (published in 1974).  The Snow Queen is the first book of the Snow Queen Cycle, but it stands alone as a novel.  I’m not sure whether or not I will continue the series, simply because the story does seem complete.

My Thoughts:

At its heart, The Snow Queen is a science-fictional retelling of the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen.  I thought it was a very interesting idea, moving the basic story of a fairy tale into an elaborate science fiction setting.  The feel of the story included kind of a clash of mysticism with science.  For one clear example, the Winters were a heavily science and technology focused people, while the Summers were more religious and had many mystical beliefs.  The cycles had both a pragmatic purpose for the Hegemony and a spiritual significance for the Tiamatans.  For another example, the purpose and identity of the sibyls had both a scientific and a more spiritual basis.  It was interesting to see how these different perspectives clashed and melded together.

The story was told through many viewpoint characters, each of which was complex and engaging.  Even though the Snow Queen Arienrhod was clearly an evil villain, she still had her own goals and justifications for her actions.  Moon and Sparks are cast in the roles of the main characters from the original fairy tale.  I felt that the story might have been a little too loyal in following the original tale, which gave Moon and Sparks a few personality characteristics that seemed a bit too exaggerated.  For instance, Moon’s innocence and purity of heart led nearly everyone she met to love her and want to help her, and Sparks was ridiculously impressionable. Other viewpoint characters I particularly enjoyed included the police inspector Jerusha PalaThion and the sketchy minor criminal Tor Starhiker.  They may have not always been directly involved with the main plot, but Jerusha’s story of being professionally sabotaged and Tor’s story of trying to make her way in the world were both engaging in their own right.  The cast of the story is enormous, even beyond the viewpoint characters.  While that may have made it a little difficult to get into initially, I ended up enjoying the wideness of the world and the many memorable people that populated it.

The pacing of the story sometimes seemed a little uneven, but I was equivalently interested in the daily politics of Jerusha’s police headquarters as I was in the fate of the Snow Queen and Tiamat.  My curiosity about the lives of each of the characters (event the minor ones) held my interest through the more mundane parts of the story.  I think that if one were singularly invested in the main story between Sparks, Moon and Arienrhod, there are parts that might seem to drag.  In that main story, there were parts of the conclusion that left me unconvinced.  Some things that are acceptable in a fairy tale seem extremely naïve and irresponsible when duplicated within more realistic interpersonal interactions.  All the same, I appreciated how all the viewpoint characters stories came together, and how each of them played a role in the final act of the tale.       

My Rating : 4/5

The Snow Queen moves the well-known Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale into a complicated science fiction setting.  With the combination of the two genres, there is also an interesting merging of atmospheres in the societies of Tiamat.  The story follows half a dozen viewpoint characters and many more interesting minor characters, in a world that seems large and clearly imagined.  For me, the stories of the more minor viewpoint characters sometimes outshone the central story of Sparks, Moon and the Snow Queen.  While I sometimes felt it was a little too loyal to the original fairy tale in terms of events and characterization, there was still plenty to enjoy in the many subplots and characters. 

Review: The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

Published : Black Swan, 1996

Series : There is a sequel, Children of God

Awards Won : British Science Fiction Association Award, Arthur C. Clarke Award

Awards Nominated : John W. Campbell Memorial Award

One kind-of spoiler follows, which is revealed at the beginning of the first chapter.

The Book:

“When the first alien society was discovered, it was not the government of any country that sent the first expedition. Instead, the first to react was the Society of Jesus, a religious order with a long history in the exploration and study of newly discovered foreign lands. The Jesuits quickly and privately mobilized a group of eight friends and experts to make the dangerous journey to a new world.

They went not to proselytize, but to learn and to meet God’s other children.  They went with the best of intentions.  When the next public expedition finally arrived, they found only one of the original expedition still alive. 

Emilio Sandoz—severely injured in body, mind, and soul—was unable to give any explanation for the squalor in which he was found.  How could such an well-meaning expedition have gone so horribly wrong?” ~Allie (with some phrases taken from the prologue)

I decided to read The Sparrow on a whim.  I remembered seeing it mentioned in a few reviews of Embassytown, as an example of a well-written book about a disastrous first contact.  The Sparrow is very different from Embassytown, but I am very glad that I allowed the recommendation to steer me towards this novel.  I was also surprised to learn that such a fantastic novel was actually Mary Doria Russell’s debut.  There is a sequel, Children of God, which I will probably read at some point, but I think that The Sparrow is satisfying as a complete story.

My Thoughts:

The story of The Sparrow is split into two timelines.  The first, the ‘past’ narrative, provides the background of the main players, and progresses through the expedition to the alien planet of Rakhat. The second timeline is the ‘present’ story, which begins after the spectacular failure of that mission. I think that the two stories, told in alternating chapters, complemented each other remarkably well. The shifting between the two storylines allowed well-employed foreshadowing and interesting alternate perspectives to enrich the experience of both. By telling the outcome of the mission from the beginning, it was clear that this was going to be more of a contemplative novel.   It felt like the novel was less focused on what was going to happen next, and more involved in exploring the causes and effects of the events of the story.

I was initially a little skeptical of split-timeline approach, since I thought that knowing the expedition was doomed from the start might suck out all of the story’s tension.  In practice, I found the opposite to be true, mostly because I found the cast so immensely likeable.  The members of the expedition were so good intentioned and full of life that I couldn’t help but feel an odd mixture of pity and dread about their eventual fate. While I liked that they were not perfect—each had their flaws and secrets—I also found it refreshing that they were generally decent people.  In the present timeline, also, I found most of the cast to be generally likeable, though a little less interesting.  I couldn’t help but worry about how they would react on learning the truth of Emilio’s experiences, and what they would eventually do with him. Emilio was certainly the star of the cast, though the lifelike characters around him never seemed extraneous.  Much of the story involves getting to know Emilio, his personality, and how his experiences in the novel (and before) have shaped his life and beliefs.

As a Jesuit priest, a lot of Emilio’s thoughts included considerations of faith and the society he had pledged his life to serve.  Overall, this was probably one of the more positive representations of religion I’ve seen in a science fiction book.  While the expedition members often discussed their faith among themselves, they were not going to Rakhat to convert ‘heathens’.  They hoped to eventually share their beliefs with their alien friends, but their original intention was simply to learn more about God’s universe.  Emilio’s eventual crisis of faith was one that is likely familiar, in broad outline, to any Christian.  There is no easy answer to his anguish, and I appreciated how Russell managed to give the end of the story a sense of closure without forcing an unrealistically happy ending.

The Sparrow is not a hard science fiction novel, so it is necessary to be able to accept some unrealistically optimistic science.  For instance, the Society of Jesus seemed to make a star-spanning asteroid-spaceship surprisingly easily, considering that their departure was less than a decade from now.  The alien planet could also conveniently support human life, and the aliens seemed very similar to the kinds of life forms to which we are accustomed.  However, though they were biologically familiar, there were many things about the inhabitants of Rakhat that were very alien.  Both humans and aliens made assumptions about the other that did not prove true, and these assumptions often led to disastrous consequences.  I was not overly concerned with the wishful science, perhaps in part because I was so engaged by the strength of the story, the ideas, and the memorable characters. 

My Rating: 5/5

The Sparrow is a thoughtful novel of first contact with an alien species and the disasters of misunderstanding that seem to commonly follow. It is also about Christian religious faith, and a familiar crisis of faith carried out on an alien planet. The novel follows the Jesuit priest Emilio Sandoz on his doomed mission to Rakhat, and simultaneously tells the story of his return. The characters in both timelines were well-drawn, complex, and generally decent people that I found easy to care about. The Sparrow has definitely earned a place as one of my favorite books of the year. Even though this novel does feel complete, I am going to have to put the sequel, Children of God, on my to-be-read list.