Review: The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin

The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin

Published: Orbit, 2017

Series: Book 3 in the Broken Earth Trilogy

Awards Won: Hugo, Nebula, and Locus SF Awards

The Book:

“The Moon will soon return. Whether this heralds the destruction of humankind or something worse will depend on two women.

Essun has inherited the power of Alabaster Tenring. With it, she hopes to find her daughter Nassun and forge a world in which every orogene child can grow up safe.

For Nassun, her mother's mastery of the Obelisk Gate comes too late. She has seen the evil of the world, and accepted what her mother will not admit: that sometimes what is corrupt cannot be cleansed, only destroyed.” ~Goodreads.com

It has taken a lot of time to figure out what to say about this book, because it was really amazing. I’m still not doing it justice, but here goes...  

Short Review: 5/5

The Broken Earth Trilogy as a whole tells a brutal, emotionally powerful story. The life of Essun, under her variety of names, is at the heart of it, but she shares this final novel with her daughter Nassun and the Stone Eater Hoa.  The Fifth Season sees Essun as she grows up in a society that dehumanizes her and repeatedly destroys her life, and The Obelisk Gate follows her and her daughter as they go through different journeys and grow in different directions.  The Stone Sky is the culmination of both of their arcs, when the two most powerful orogenes must decide what is to be done with the returning moon--change the world, or destroy it?  At the same time, we finally get a glimpse back to the original shattering of the world, through Hoa’s history. It was very interesting to see back into this ancient civilization, to see the fault lines of greed and oppression that led to the destruction of their world.

I feel like another reason this series is so popular lately (aside from it being awesome), is that it addresses the fears and anxieties of my generation.  We, too, live in an energy-greedy society that is facing the reality of environmental decline, and we, too, live in a world where oppression is and has been the norm on many axes.  While The Stone Sky does not shy away from the violence and emotional damage inflicted by these problems, it also does not show us a world without hope.  Despite all of the suffering, there is still hope that the world can change, and that we can find a better way to live.

Review: Terminal World by Alastair Reynolds

I’ve joined Sci-fi month, which is hosted this year by Over the Effing Rainbow and There’s Always Room for One More!  This is my first post of the month, and I’m going to try to keep up a steady stream of sci-fi reviews for November.  This review of Terminal World kicks off the month, and the continuing read-along of The Expanse, with Babylon’s Ashes, will also be a weekly feature.

Terminal World by Alastair Reynolds

Published: Ace Books/Gollancz (2010)

The Book:

“The world has been broken for longer than human memory.  Many humans live in Spearpoint, a vertical city that is striated by zones that restrict the level of functioning technology.  People are limited by these boundaries, as well, and cannot survive in zones much different from their original homes.  Quillon is an exception.  He was an ‘angel’, an advanced human that could only exist in the highest reaches of the city.  An infiltration research project gone wrong has left him living as an ordinary human in a lower zone.  

It was inevitable that his former countrymen would one day find him, and on that day he must go on the run in earnest.  His journey out of Spearpoint and through the dying wastes of the planet will introduce him to both horrors and revelations, with unexpected friends along the way.  The key to his future, and the future of his world, may lie in its past.” ~Allie

I really enjoy Alastair Reynolds’s stories, and I listened to this one on audiobook.  The narrator, John Lee, was excellent. He gave a lot of life and individuality to the various characters.

My Thoughts:

Terminal World is a departure from the usual far-future space opera that I expect from Reynolds.  Instead, it is a dying-Earth adventure story, with something of a steampunk/Mad Max aesthetic. As in these types of stories, there is not a particularly strong throughline, and the protagonist wanders through a series of encounters with different creatures and communities.  I really liked the characters, particularly the protagonist Quillon.  As a doctor and a disguised angel, he was less physically capable and more compassionate than most heroes that grace these kinds of stories.  He was balanced by his guide, a tough, pragmatic, foul-mouthed woman named Meroka.  Along the way they meet a number of other interesting people, including airship pilots, scientists, and a ‘magic child’ that surprisingly did not annoy me.

The most notable communities Quillon encounters are his home of Spearpoint and a large airship community called Swarm.  I enjoyed seeing the differences in the character of these two groups.  For instance, Spearpoint is full of webs of organized crime, secrets and dark tunnels, while Swarm has a constant focus on movement and forward momentum.  It’s not surprising that Swarm is where we see one of my favorite things--rediscovering science in a fictional world.  One of the airship leaders, Ricasso, is intent on reviving science, both for progress and to understand the origins of their world.  It was fun reading discussions on these topics, and slowly seeing how the different clues scattered through the story fit together.  Ricasso and the others are working with very limited information, though, so there’s still plenty left to speculation. These were some of my favorite parts of the book.

As much as I liked the parts about studying the past and developing science, I also enjoyed all the action and excitement that seemed to constantly find Quillon. He fled from pursuing angels into a waste filled with violent “skull boys” and organic-mechanical “carnivorgs”.  His path  wanders from one crisis to another, with intense airship battles and betrayals along the way. I felt that ending came a bit abruptly, and it did not resolve everything in a way I expected.  There is enough resolution to allow you to speculate what the future holds for Quillon and the others, so I was pretty satisfied.  It is a rather open ending, though, and it doesn’t appear that Reynolds has any plans to write a sequel.  Overall, this was an interesting world, and I would be happy if he ever decided to return to it.

My Rating: 4.5/5

Terminal World is different from the kind of story I expect from Alastair Reynolds.  Rather than space opera, this one is a dying-Earth (though not literally set on Earth) adventure.  I found the cast to be varied and interesting, and I liked the atypical hero we follow in the doctor Quillon.  The story had plenty of excitement and action, and I especially enjoyed seeing the characters attempt to methodically understand the origins and prospects for their world.  The ending was rather abrupt, but sufficient to conclude the story.  After such an entertaining book, I’m even more eager to catch up with other books of Reynolds’s that I have missed!

Review: Citadel of the Autarch by Gene Wolfe

Citadel of the Autarch by Gene Wolfe

Published: Timescape Books, 1983

Series: Book 4 of the Book of the New Sun

Awards Nominated: BSFA, Locus Fantasy, and Nebula Awards

Awards Won: John W. Campbell Memorial Award

The below may contain spoilers for the series.

The Book:

“Severian continues his journey, and now it leads him into war.  He still searches for the Pellerines, in order to return the sacred artifact called the Claw of the Conciliator.  Severian will have to face who he is and who he must become, if there is to be any hope for the future of Urth and its dying star.” ~Alli

This is another audiobook that I listened to during my commute. Reviews of the previous three books in the series can be found here, here, and here.

My Thoughts:

The Citadel of the Autarch seems pretty much the same as the previous three volumes, with Severian wandering around, having experiences, and listening to stories.  This time he comes into an area at war, which is somewhat less exciting to me than when he was traveling in Nessus or in the mountains. One of the highlights of this section for me was a storytelling competition that he oversees among fellow patients in a sickroom. The competition provided an interesting chance to see the values of a variety of different cultures on the planet, including the Ascians, who can only speak in discrete set phrases (perhaps a pun on ASCII). As the series comes to a close, many of the mysteries from throughout the story are cleared up, and there are some interesting thoughts on identity and time travel.

I’d been delaying writing this review for a while now, both because I’ve been very busy and because the overall completed series has left me unenthused.  I can tell that this is a very carefully constructed tetraology, and I can understand how many people have probably had a lot of fun analyzing it. The world is also complex, and I have enjoyed uncovering different aspects of it slowly through Severian’s experiences.  Ultimately, though, there are no characters that I particularly care about, and I didn’t find the plot particularly engaging.  Severian wanders from encounter to encounter, and he is surprisingly passive through it all.  I was hoping there would be something more to his being made into the autarch than fate, but that doesn't seem to be the case. The series has certainly had its moments, but in the end I think I have to admit that it just doesn’t speak to me.

My Rating: 2.5 / 5

I had a hard time getting into this classic series, and ultimately I think it is just not for me.  I think the first novel is a pretty good indicator for whether or not you will enjoy the series as a whole, since it continues in much the same manner.  This last installment was less interesting for me, since it largely featured a war I never managed to care about, and since I was underwhelmed by the conclusion of Severian’s personal story.  I have never been especially engaged by the characters or the plot, and my main joy from these novels has been from reading experiences of Severian’s that are either creepily atmospheric, point out creative aspects of the world of Urth, or both. I know a lot of people love these books, and I gave it my best shot.  In the end,  I probably should have accepted earlier that this just wasn’t going to be my kind of series.

Review: The Sword of the Lictor by Gene Wolfe

The Sword of the Lictor by Gene Wolfe

Published: Timescape Books, 1981

Series: Book 3 of the Book of the New Sun

Awards Won: BFS and Locus F Awards

Awards Nominated: BSFA, Nebula, Hugo, World Fantasy Awards

Warning: This is the third book of a series, so there are some spoilers of the first two books in the following text.

The Book:

“The exiled torturer Severian has finally reached his post at the city of Thrax, where it appears he will be able to settle into a regular career and position in society.  However, when Severian finds that he is unable to carry out a sentence without question, he must flee Thrax and head into the wilderness.

Severian follows the trail of the Pelerines, the religious order from whom he accidentally received the Claw of the Conciliator, while he was in Nessus.  Along his path lie many familiar and unfamiliar dangers, and he will face many experiences that are both wondrous and horrifying.” ~Allie

For the third book of the series, I listened to the novel on audiobook during my daily commute.  I plan to also listen to the final installment of the series through audiobook, after I finish my ongoing listen of Greg Egan’s Permutation City.

My Thoughts:

After three books, I think that this series is starting to grow on me. I was a little frustrated that the first half of the series finished without Severian ever reaching Thrax, since his inability to reach his destination left me with the sense that he was wandering around with no purpose.  I was delighted to see that this novel opened with him already settled in Thrax, even though he didn’t stay there for long. The format of this installment of Severian’s memoir was similar to the previous ones; he spent most of the book wandering around having adventures and occasionally recounting in-universe stories.  Even so, I felt that his journey was a little more focused on his eventual goal than it was before, and I appreciated that small sense of forward momentum.

The highlights of previous books have been, for me, the creative details of Severian’s various encounters.  The Sword of the Lictor is no different in this respect, and I especially enjoyed the creepy and oppressive atmosphere of several of his more horror-themed experiences.  For instance, one scene takes place in the traditional horror locale of an isolated cabin, and involves a very creative kind of monster.  Another takes place up in the mountains, and involves a monster of the human variety.  In addition to enjoying the stories on their own merit, I was also pleased to see some of the mysteries from previous novels finally explained.   I enjoyed seeing more of the dying ‘Urth’, and hearing more about how various people lived on it.    

One of my largest complaints about the earlier books was the character of Severian, and I felt like this was the first book that took steps towards making him a little sympathetic.  Several acts that contributed to this involved him caring for children in need, with no expectation of repayment.  The act that caused him to flee Thrax also helped me see him in a slightly kinder light.  I think it also helped that a long stretch of this novel did not involve Severian sleeping with women, since his perspective on women is problematic at best.  I appreciated seeing a bit more about the rationalizations he had been given as a child for his career as a torturer, since this made it a little easier to see where he was coming from. I still wouldn’t say Severian is a good person-- not by a long shot-- but I am starting to see him as a person that is perhaps in transition into becoming someone better.  I’m looking forward to seeing how he might grow in the final fourth of the story!

My Rating: 3.5/5

I’ve been having a hard time getting into this classic of science fiction, but The Sword of the Lictor is my favorite of the series so far.  Though it still features Severian wandering around and encountering various situations, the overall story felt a little bit more focused.  Some of the individual encounters are especially chilling, and I was happy to see some long-standing questions answered at last.  I’ve never been particularly fond of the main character, the torturer Severian, but I felt like he took some steps toward becoming a better person in this fourth of the story.  I’m looking forward to seeing what will happen next!

Review: The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe

The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe

Published: Timescape Books, 1981

Series: Book 2 of the Book of the New Sun

Awards Won: Nebula, Locus Fantasy

Awards Nominated: World Fantasy, Hugo, Mythopoeic

Warning: This is the second book of a series, so there are some spoilers of the first book in the following text.

The Book:

“Armed with the gem known as “The Claw of the Conciliator” and the sword Terminus Est, Severian continues his journey to become the new carnifex of Thrax.  On the way, his journey is temporarily derailed by his devotion to the revolutionary Vodalus, who sends him to deliver a message to a servant in the House Absolute.  His path will cross with many former friends and acquaintances, and many strange and surreal experiences await him.”~Allie

Since this is a continuation of the story from the first novel, I would strongly recommend for prospective readers to begin the series with The Shadow of the Torturer. Also, the review of The Golem and the Jinni is coming soon; I just got a little out of order!

My Thoughts:

The Claw of the Conciliator is the second fourth of Severian’s story, and most of the things I liked and disliked from the first novel are present here, as well. I enjoyed the far future, dying earth setting, with a decayed society living alongside high technology from days gone by. I read once that high fantasy often tended to describe a world declining from past greatness, while science fiction often tended to describe a world progressing towards greatness. I enjoyed how Wolfe wrote his science fictional world with this kind of fantasy-esque atmosphere.  It was always interesting to see how the characters would interact with modern or future technology, and I felt like I was also starting to get a better sense of the myths and legends Wolfe was drawing from for particular events or characters.  I’m sure I’m still missing a lot of the allusions and references, but it’s fun to try to pick them out as I go.

However, while I enjoyed the setting, I found it much harder to drum up sympathy for the main cast of characters. I think that Severian might have been an easier character to like if I were privy to less of his thoughts. For instance, Severian carefully described the bodies of all the women he met, and pondered the subtle nuances between the different kinds of lust he felt for each of them.  I did not find these considerations as fascinating as teenage Severian must have, and I found many of his views on women and other topics to be pretty appalling.  Some of the other characters, such as Dorcas, Jolenta, Dr. Talos and Baldanders, had pretty interesting histories or circumstances, but none of them were particularly easy to like.  I was curious about the source of Dorcas's dreams, and the nature of the connection between Dr. Talos and Baldanders, but only in a detached sort of way. Of course, not all novels necessarily need to have a cast of likeable characters, but as it was, it was hard to feel emotionally invested in their personal stories.  

I was less surprised by the plot structure this time around, since the second novel is much like the first.  Severian is technically still on his way to Thrax, as ordered near the beginning of the first novel, but he is still incredibly easy to distract from that goal.  Instead of following a direct path, he wanders through a variety of surreal, improbably connected events.  His meandering experiences are also interrupted by several stories within the story: one written tale and one play that the group with Dr. Talos is performing. I suspect they contain clues for the nature of the story to come, but I admit that I am not yet clear on what many of those clues might be. I found it to be easier to appreciate the story once I let go of the expectation that the plot would proceed in any particular direction, and simply enjoyed the scenes as they passed.

My Rating: 3 /5

The Claw of the Conciliator is similar in style to The Shadow of the Torturer, with the same wandering plot structure and series of surreal experiences.  As Severian wanders, though, more of the nature of the world and of the story in which he is living is beginning to be revealed. While the second novel provided more insight into the structure of the world, it also managed to destroy most of my remaining sympathy for the characters, particularly the protagonist.  While I am still interested in considering the tetralogy as a complete work, having to experience the story from Severian's point of view can be very wearing.  I will probably finish the rest of the series, but maybe not until I've caught up with my 2014 challenges.

Review: The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe

The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe

Published: Simon & Schuster/Sidgwick & Jackson (1980)

Series: Book 1 of the Book of the New Sun

Awards Won: World Fantasy and BSFA

Awards Nominated: Nebula, Campbell, and Locus F

The Book:

“The Shadow of the Torturer begins the 4-volume story of Severian, who we meet as an apprentice torturer on a decaying world called Urth.  His orderly life takes its first unexpected turn when he has a chance encounter with the revolutionary Vodalus.  It is changed forever when a small act of mercy towards a ‘client’ causes him to be exiled from the Citadel that was his home.

Severian begins his journey to become the local carnifex (executioner) of the distant city of Thrax.  As it turns out, he is able to follow his path only to the city outside the Citadel, Nessus, where many encounters and complications delay his passing.” ~Allie

This is the first Gene Wolfe novel I’ve read, and I plan to at least finish this tetralogy.  I’ll likely read more of Wolfe’s work, depending on how I enjoy the complete series.  I’ve heard a lot of praise for these novels, so my expectations are high!

My Thoughts:

The Shadow of the Torturer is the first novel of a tetralogy, and it definitely feels like the first quarter of a larger work.  The novel is described as a document translated from a future language into current English, and it tells the story of Severian, who lives in a far-future dying ‘Urth’. Since the story is set far from modern-day, the narrator’s vocabulary includes a number of unusual words, some of which are taken from non-English languages and other which are derived from words in currently existing languages. I thought this was a neat touch, and it made it easier to work out the meanings of many of the words. The story is a memoir told by an older Severian, so it is shaped around events that he wants to relay, skipping over ‘unimportant’ events.  Severian also occasionally digresses a little from the story to discuss particular topics in more detail. My idea of what events were important did not always seem to match up with Severian’s, but I’m guessing that some seemingly minor events in the story will grow in importance as I gain more information throughout the series.

Severian’s world feels mostly like a feudal fantasy scenario, but there are also occasional pieces of advanced technology, as well as references to or relics of a technological past. At this point in the story, the distinction between fantastical and science fictional doesn’t seem to make that much difference, but I’ll be interested to see if and how this changes in the future volumes.  This atmosphere does allow for some really creative scenes, which are probably technology-based, but sometimes seem magical. For instance, Severian is at one point challenged to a duel—to be fought using poisonous flowers that are collected from the banks of a lake that preserves the bodies of the dead. For this and many other interesting scenes, no explicit explanation is given, so it rests in an ambiguous place between science and magic.   

The way the story drifts from one of these strange events to the next gives the feeling of wandering through a dream.  Severian’s response to the things that happen around him intensifies this feeling, since he approaches everything with a very passive, detached, and incurious attitude.  Like a dreamer, he seems to just accept everything that happens to and around him with little question. At first I found the way the story was progressing to be frustrating, since Severian didn’t really seem to be getting anywhere in terms of his stated goals (such as going to Thrax).  Once I got used to the style, though, I was better able to appreciate the interesting aspects of each event as it occurred. I expect that many of the events of this novel, and characters introduced, will play some greater role in the novels to come.

Though Severian’s detached personality helped set the tone of the story, I really disliked him as a character. He was raised to be a torturer, and he takes great pride in the proper execution of his craft.  He does not care for the guilt or innocence of his ‘clients’, but only that the proscribed sentences are carried out smoothly.  Given his upbringing, I think his amorality and lack of compassion make a lot of sense, but understanding the origin of these traits doesn’t make him any easier to like.  He also has an unfortunate view of women, which colors how the female characters are treated and act in the novel.  Some of his musings betray that he has some pretty disturbing opinions on sexual violence.  I don’t get the impression that any of these character traits are likely to change, or even to be treated negatively in the text.  Given this, I think I can just accept that I will never approve of Severian, and continue to enjoy the creative story.  

The novel ends abruptly, and it seems clear that the novel is meant to be read as the first quarter of a larger work. In the end, Severian’s adventures in Nessus seemed more like a string of events than a single cohesive story.  A few of the subplots are resolved, in a way, before the end of the novel, but most of them leave many lingering questions. I have actually already started reading the second novel in the tetralogy, because I think I really need to continue while all the details are fresh in my mind.  Based on my experience so far with the second book, I feel pretty sure my opinion of the first novel will be changing as I progress through the series.

My Rating: 3.5/5

The Shadow of the Torturer is the first quarter of the Book of the New Sun, and it definitely feels like a piece of a larger work.  Very little is resolved by the time one reaches the abrupt end of the novel, and I’m sure many of the subplots will play a larger role in the future novels.  The story seemed to wander from scene to scene in a dreamlike fashion, which was intensified by the detached, musing style of the narrator and protagonist, Severian of the guild of torturers.  The individual scenes were often delightfully strange, leaving me more interested in the world than in the story’s amoral main character.  I’m curious to see how this series will turn out, and how my opinion of it might change as I learn more about the world and larger story!

Review: The Highest Frontier by Joan Slonczewski

The Highest Frontier by Joan Slonczewski

Published : Tor 2011

Awards Won : John W. Campbell Memorial Award

The Book :

”Jennifer Ramos Kennedy, a girl from a rich and politically influential family (a distant relation descended from the famous Kennedy clan), whose twin brother has died in an accident and left her bereft, is about to enter her freshman year at Frontera College.

Frontera is an exciting school built with media money, and a bit from tribal casinos too, dedicated to educating the best and brightest of this future world. We accompany Jenny as she proceeds through her early days at school, encountering surprises and wonders and some unpleasant problems. The Earth is altered by global warming, and an invasive alien species called ultraphytes threatens the surviving ecosystem. Jenny is being raised for great things, but while she's in school she just wants to do her homework, go on a few dates, and get by.” ~WWEnd.com

This is my 8^th novel for the Women of Genre Fiction Reading Challenge over at World's Without End, which means that I've never read anything by Joan Slonczewski before.

My Thoughts:

The Highest Frontier is basically a story of daily life, focusing on the activities of a freshman college student and the school's president. The timescale is roughly the first semester of Jenny's college career. She spends her days involved with schoolwork, research, social activities, volunteer work, local and national politics, and slanball, a zero-gravity sport where the ball is handled by thought power. President Dylan Chase, on the other hand, primarily deals with administrative problems and his relationship with his partner, who is the local pastor. There are tons of interesting scenes and subplots, but I kept expecting the story to build up into something more. While there was something of a climactic event near the end of the book, I didn't feel like it tied everything together. I'm left wondering if this is going to be the first of a series, and the more intriguing issues will be further explored in future installments.

A lot has gone into building Jenny and Dylan's world, far more than I can possibly discuss in detail here. Some aspects seemed spot on as an extrapolation from the present, such as the obsession with social media and constant connectivity (to Toynet, the next generation internet), as well as the weakening of academic curricula. Other things seemed a bit strange, like that a primary divide between political parties was the religious point of whether or not space existed beyond Earth's moon. I also found the cultural obsession with Marilyn Monroe and Paul Newman a little odd, considering that their heyday is already roughly half a century in the past. The environmental degradation of the Earth is pretty scary, as is the precariousness of life in space habitats, despite their Star-Trek-replicator-like amyloid technology.

There are many characters in the story, but many seemed to have a certain childish quality. I think that this might be an aspect of the future culture, with its Toynet escapism and coddling academics. Despite the dangerous decline of Earth, technology seemed to allow most of the rich to hide safely in their fantasies. Most of the students of Frontera, like Jenny, come from extremely wealthy and well-connected families, but we see some of them come out of their sheltered bubbles as they get to know the poor settlers in the nearby farming colony. I initially found Jenny to be an irritating heroine, mostly due to her extremely privileged life and her condescension towards others. As time went on, though, I think she showed herself to be a genuinely good kid, who just needed to learn more about the world and other people. Even if the story ultimately felt like just a series of events, it was fun to watch Jenny slowing maturing.

My Rating: 3.5/5

The science-fiction-daily-life story of The Highest Frontier follows Jenny's first semester of college, as well as the college president's life in the same time period. The world was very detailed, and while some aspects seemed a little farfetched, others were a disenheartening extrapolation of current trends. There are tons of subplots that are interesting in their own rights, but I never felt like they gelled into a complete story. I am wondering if there is a sequel planned, which might include a continuation of topics such as Earth's deteriorating environment, the difficulties of life in orbit, and the developing situation concerning the alien ultraphytes.   

Review: This Immortal by Roger Zelazny

This Immortal by Roger Zelazny

Published: Ace Books 1966

Awards Won: Hugo Award

The Book:

“Radiation has ravaged the Earth, and the surviving humans live on islands, away from the hot spots of the mainland.  Mutants and monstrous creatures roam the wilds, making travel even more dangerous.  In humanity’s darkest hour, an alien civilization from Vega came to their rescue.  Humans moved in droves to the worlds of the Vegans, willing to live as second-class citizens in exchange for a home in a comfortable and highly advanced society.  Those who remained on the Earth saw their home slowly turned into an exotic Vegan vacation spot, despite their violent efforts to stop the process. 

Conrad Nomikos, Earth’s Commissioner of Arts, Monuments and Archives, is a mysterious, close-lipped figure with a long history.  He is not especially happy to find himself impressed into the service of a visiting Vegan, Cort Myshtigo, especially when he finds the alien insisted on him personally.  Myshtigo plans to tour the remains of the Earth, ostensibly for a book he intends to write.  Some humans believe there’s more to his trip than meets the eye, and they are not willing to watch more of their home slip into the hands of aliens.  Conrad may be the only thing that can stand between Myshtigo and an untimely death, but should he?” ~Allie

Zelazny is an author I’m rather familiar with, as I have read his Amber novels.  I believe this was actually Zelazny’s first published novel, though I wouldn’t have guessed it from reading.  It’s pretty impressive that he was able to win a Hugo Award with a debut novel, and tied with Frank Herbert’s Dune, no less!

My Thoughts:

 This Immortal or …And Call Me Conrad, as Zelazny preferred the novel to be titled, is a book that works on several different levels.  The intrigue surrounding Myshtigo’s presence provides an undercurrent of tension throughout the story.  There’s very little evidence along the way about Myshtigo’s true intentions, but speculation on them illuminates parts of Conrad’s history and the continuing political situation of the remaining humans.  It also provides an interesting moral dilemma for Conrad, who is hired to protect Myshtigo but driven to protect the Earth.   On top of this mystery, the basic plot concerns the adventure of the journey Conrad and the others undertake.   There’s plenty of well-written action to move the story along, as they encounter mutants and dangerous creatures.  The action segments seemed episodic to me, but I appreciated how they were used to highlight information about the world, the characters, and the situation with Myshtigo.

Of the characters, Conrad is the most memorable.  He seemed somewhat similar to Corwin, from the later Amber books—both of them are flawed, (probably) immortal super-humans, who have a wry sense of humor and seem like fundamentally decent people. Conrad also appears to be instrumental in the fate of his world, shown both through his role as commissioner and Myshtigo’s guide, and through his comparison to the Greek kallikanzaros.  I am not usually a fan of main characters that are vastly more powerful than everyone around them, but Conrad’s down-to-earth personality made this story work for me.  While he is undeniably physically strong and long-lived, he is not untouchable.  Conrad is also very invested in the future of Earth and the lives of his friends, and even his superhuman abilities cannot assure positive outcomes for either of them.

Aside from the surface plot and characters, I also enjoyed the confluence of science fiction and fantasy atmosphere in the story.  One can see this clearly in the case of Conrad, who can be seen as either a kind of god (or kallikanzaros), or as simply an extraordinarily long-lived mutant.  In a similar vein, the monstrous and mutated animals of the irradiated Earth are often compared to mythological creatures, as if the ruined planet was sinking back into times of myth and legend. There are actually quite a lot of Greek mythological references throughout the story, which were pretty fun to pick out.  On the science fiction side of the story, I enjoyed piecing together the future history that led to the current situation for humanity and their home planet. The future history was also quite interesting, and I enjoyed piecing together the events that led to the current Earth.       

My Rating: 4/5

This Immortal (or ….And Call Me Conrad) is a highly entertaining novel from early in Zelazny’s writing career.  The superhuman Conrad is rather similar to future Zelazny heroes, such as Corwin of Amber.  The story features a ruined future Earth, where many mutated creatures seem almost mythological.  The references to Greek mythology and the nature of Conrad’s identity also give the story an atmosphere that seems like a mix of fantasy and science fiction influences. Conrad’s task of escorting the alien Myshtigo around the Earth is full of conflict and action, but the story is also underpinned by the tension surrounding Myshtigo’s true purpose.  I think the novel has stood up well to the test of time, and will undoubtedly be enjoyed by many more readers in the future.   

Review: Spin by Robert Charles Wilson

Spin by Robert Charles Wilson

Published: Tor, 2005

Series: Book 1 of the Spin Sequence

Awards Won: Hugo Award

Awards Nominated: John W. Campbell  Memorial Award, Locus SF Award

The Book:

“One night, three young friends—Diane and Jason Lawton, and their housekeeper’s son, Tyler Dupree—witnessed an event that would shape the future of humanity.  With no warning, the stars blinked out of the sky.

Before long, there was at least a minimal explanation of what had happened.  The stars were still there, but a mysterious shield was blocking the Earth’s view of them.  Outside of this shield, the universe was aging rapidly, at a rate of around 100 million years to each year on Earth.  Humanity only continued to exist by the grace of whatever created this shield, and there was no telling when that period of grace might be over.

Despite this world-changing event, society continued to plod on as usual.  As they grew up, Jason, Diane, and Tyler found different ways to cope with this incomprehensible event.  Jason, a brilliant young man who was being groomed for success by his wealthy father, threw himself into science.  He was determined to find the truth behind the shield before the end times.  His sister Diane, who had always been an extra child, threw herself into religion.  She hoped to find some meaning for her life through the religious sects that had sprung up in response to the slow-motion apocalypse.       

Tyler wandered through his life filled with a kind of numbness.  He tried to keep up with both Lawtons, through conversations with Diane and a career at Jason’s side.  Jason was coming ever closer to the answers he sought, through technology that would not be usable on a human time scale without the effects of the shield.  But would these answers bring hope, or only more despair?” ~Allie

This is the first novel I’ve read by Robert Charles Wilson, and it came highly recommended by various book blogs.  While it is the first novel of a series, it is definitely a complete story on its own.  In fact, I believe the second novel, Axis, does not feature the same set of characters, but is rather another story set at a later time in the same universe. 

My Thoughts:

In some ways, Spin reminds me of Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End.  In both stories, something is being done to the Earth, with no real explanation, by powers outside of humanity’s control. Both novels also seem to be a sort of strangely passive coming-of-age story for the human race, though this maturation occurs through different means and reaches very different ends. Another major difference between the two novels is that Clarke focused on the many rippling changes in humanity and human society as a result of the external meddling, while Wilson focuses mostly on the personal lives of his three main characters.  While there is some scientific and societal speculation in Spin, it always takes place in the context of the private lives of Tyler, Jason, and Diane.

The story is framed by a future arc, which is an account of Tyler undergoing a harrowing transformative procedure. In this framing arc, Tyler is frantically attempting to get his life story recorded, since he fears that the procedure may damage his memory. The main bulk of the novel is made up of Tyler’s chronological description of his life, starting from his childhood with Jason and Diane.  For me, the future arc seemed much more compelling than Tyler’s life story.  While most of Tyler’s life seemed to exist in a tense holding pattern, the future arc seems as though it is moving rapidly forward into an enticingly uncertain future.

For the most part, I thought that Tyler seemed like a passive observer. Most of his narration consisted of reporting on the lives of his two closest friends. His character is mostly understood through his relationship to Diane, for whom he carried a life-long crush, and Jason, who he essentially hero-worshipped.  Jason and Diane were kind of examples of two extremes people might drift towards in the face of an incomprehensible apocalypse.  Diane made religious faith the single most important thing in her life, and Jason chose science to fill that role for him.  Neither of them had much of a life outside of their respective obsessions.  I was more interested in Jason, mostly because he is the conduit through which the reader learns about the ‘Spin’ barrier and the creative ways humanity exploits the time differential to do things that would be impossible in today’s world.   

The characters were pretty well developed, but I didn’t personally find them very compelling.   As a result, I became much more interested towards the end of the novel, when more information about the ‘Spin’ barrier and the fate of humanity began to appear.  I wasn’t completely satisfied with the ultimate explanation for the barrier, but there are still two novels left in the trilogy to further develop the motivation behind it.  I think the end of the novel sets up a really intriguing situation, and I am very curious to see how Wilson will use the universe he’s created in the rest of the trilogy. 

My Rating: 3.5/5

Spin is a story of how people cope with the sudden appearance of a mysterious barrier around the Earth, a barrier that may doom the entire human species.  Most of the novel focused on the lives and relationships of Tyler Dupree, his eternal crush Diane Lawton, and her genius brother Jason Lawton.  The characters were pretty well developed, but I just wasn’t very drawn in by them.  Tyler, the narrator, was essentially an observer, and he was defined by his relationships with Jason and Diane.  Jason and Diane were defined by their respective obsessions, science and religion.  I became more interested later in the book, when the science-fictional explanations began to appear.  I think Wilson has created an interesting universe in Spin, and I’m looking forward to see what further stories he has to tell within it!