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OtherRealms Issue 20 Part 07
Electronic OtherRealms #20
Spring, 1988
Part 7
Pico Reviews, Part 1
The Alexandrian Ring Book One of the Gamester Wars
William R. Forstche [**]
Ballantine Books 295 Pg. $3.50
Despite the subtitle, the story is completed in this book with only a
vague hint as to the next story. The story, the background universe,
the culture and the characters are all very familiar. An experience
reader can even predict the ending. Betting on the outcome of wars is a
favorite past time of the Kohs (or nobles) of the Magellanic Cloud.
One, Corbin Gablona, plans the ultimate war. Alexander the Great will
be brought up from the past and set down on a ringworld populated by
retrograde Humans and Gavarians. Alexander's Gavarian equivalent, Kubar
Taug, will also be brought back from the past and set down on the
ringworld as well. The resulting war between the Humans and Gavarians
turns out to be very popular. Every Koh in the Cloud becomes involved
in the betting. Gablona, of course, has plans to rig the game.
Despite its unoriginality, this novel has several good points. The
story is well told. The description of the war between Alexander and
Kubar has a realistic appearance. The main strength of the story is the
characterization. The characters are stereotypical for the most part
but they are well drawn stereotypes. The character of Alexander is very
well drawn. One could feel the charisma of the man and believe this is
what the real Alexander was like. On the whole, this book could be
described as entertaining journeyman quality SF.
-- Danny Low
hpccc!dlow
The Architects of Hyperspace Thomas R. McDonough [*]
Avon Books 265 Pg. $2.95
The story is a journey of wonders. The wonders encountered are suitably
wonderful but everything else about this book is rather bad. The worst
is the characterization. The characters are all one dimensional cliches.
The love relationship is infantile. All the main characters act far too
stupid and childish to be believable. The most plausible characters are
the minor characters. They act like reasonable adults instead of spoiled
retarded children. Amazingly, even the motivation for the journey is
handled poorly. A journey of wonder story has a very simple plot. A
group goes to a strange place, wander around for a while and has many
glorious adventures while seeing many wonderful sights. The only thing
that the writer has to supply is a motivation for the characters to
want to do all this since the journey can also be very dangerous.
The main character, Ariadne Zepos, has a perfect motivation. She wants
to find her long lost father but the author does not use this very
valid motivation well. Instead, some flimsy excuse about scientific
exploration is given. Since the first expedition, which was far better
equipped, all died leaving almost no indication of what had happened,
the logical thing to do was come back with a full scale expedition that
is much better prepared than Ariadne's ragtag expedition.
Long past the point when the expedition should have stopped, she
continues on ranting about the scientific wonders that still need to be
explored. Eventually it is revealed that her desire to find her father
was her real motivation but that was the whole reason Ariadne undertook
the expedition in the first place and everyone knew it. This is very
bad handling of the motivation. The book does punch the right sense of
wonder buttons and if this were the 1930's, it would be a good book but
this is the 1980's and an SF book today must also meet minimum
standards of literature. This book does not do that.
-- Danny Low
Armor by John Steakley [**]
DAW #605, 1984, $3.95 426 pgs., 0-87997-979-8
John Steakley tries a difficult maneuver in Armor and only partially
succeeds in pulling it off. Steakley shifts from a point-of-view and
world in which he's invested 93 pages establishing to a completely new
group of characters and a new setting for the remainder of the novel.
It's a jarring transition for the reader, and seriously hurts what is
otherwise a good book. The initial plot deals with a mechanized suit of
combat armor and its user, who is up against an implacable, ant-like
enemy. Since this sounds evocative of Heinlein's classic Starship
Troopers, I'll note that Armor focuses much more than Heinlein's book
upon the effect which the "boredom punctuated with moments of total
fear" that is warfare has upon the psyche. The remainder of Armor
details the discovery of the suit - sans owner - on a colony planet.
The story stalls at this point and never really regains its feet. With
all its flaws, Armor is still worth picking up if you're interested in
"combat" science fiction. My thanks to OtherRealms columnist Alan
Wexelblat for sending me a copy of Armor.
-- Fred Bals
Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials
Wayne Barlowe, Ian Summers, Beth Meacham [****]
Workman Publishing, $10.95, 0-89480-324-7
Back in print at last, Wayne Barlowe's book of illustrations of classic
SF characters. If you've ever wondered what a Mesklinite or a Puppeteer
looked like (or how your view of it differs from other people's) this
book is for you. Well worth looking for.
-- chuq von rospach
A Baroque Fable by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro [**]
Berkley, 1986, 243pp, $3.50
This book was a disappointment. The idea is fun - a fantasy of a prince
capturing a dragon, a witch's enchantments and rival kingdoms,
presented as a musical comedy. Characters break into song, music
provided, at every opportunity. But where it should have been light and
spritely, the story plods along and seems to take forever to get
anywhere (though that may be my own fault, since I was reading it right
after finishing The Princess Bride). The lyrics are fine to read as
poetry, but don't rhythmically fit the music, strong syllables are
always falling on weak beats. This probably won't bother a
non-musician, but a main reason I picked up the book was because it
included the music to "sing along" with the songs.
-- Mary Anne Espenshade
mae@aplvax.jhuapl.edu
Crazy Time by Kate Wilhelm [****]
St. Martin's Press, 1988, $16.95 248 pgs., 0-312-01411-2
If you enjoy the great screwball comedies of Hollywood's Golden Age --
movies such as "Bringing Up Baby," "Here Comes Mr. Jordan," and
"Topper" -- you're going to love Crazy Time. In fact, Kate Wilhelm's
latest novel would make an excellent screenplay itself. Crazy Time has
all the right elements in just the right mix. There's the shy,
straightlaced, and career-oriented main character, Lauren Steele, a
psychologist working in Seattle. There's the male lead, "Corky"
Corcoran, who fixates on Lauren and disrupts her life after being
turned into a ghostly figure by the accidental misfiring of an
experimental laser. There's a frothy story that careens happily along
to a satisfying ending. And like all good screwball comedies, there's a
quirky group of supporting players in Crazy Time -- most notably Col.
T.H. "Trigger Happy" Musselman, a Cold War holdover who is convinced
that Lauren and Corky are "Commies." A welcome departure from the bleak
worlds and grim antiheros currently popular in science fiction, Crazy
Time is highly recommended. Don't wait for the paperback. Buy it now.
-- Fred Bals
The Crown Jewels Walter Jon Williams [**]
Tor Books 247Pg. $3.50
This book is intended to be a wry witty comedy of manners. While it
will not go down in history as a classic, it did invoke some chuckles
and outright laughs. Drake Majistral is an Allowed Burglar. He is
allowed to steal but only with style. In addition to the money he makes
from his thefts, Majistral also sells the videos of his exploits to the
media. While in Peleng City for a routine business trip, he takes a
commission to steal an object for someone. Like the Maltese Falcon, the
object is not what it appears and there are a lot of people who want it
very badly and are willing to kill for it. Complicating matters for
Majistral is the fact that his two assistants have bias towards the two
main contenders for the object. The only serious problem with the novel
is that Williams tries to present certain scenes using a cinemagraphic
technique that he does not translate well into words and as a result,
it is very difficult to keep track of what is going on. These are the
dance scenes. On the whole, I was amused.
-- Danny Low
The Doomsday Effect Thomas Wren [***]
Baen Books, $2.95, 288pp
This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but with a gurgle-
swoosh as a runaway micro-black-hole vacuums up Earth's interior until
the planet collapses. Such at least is the fateful prediction of Ariel
Ceram, UC Berkeley seismologist, and Grace Porter, chief troubleshooter
of a San Francisco robotics company, as they work back from a dramatic
aerial incident and a major quake. World ends in seven years: film at
eleven. In fact, they have difficulty convincing either the news media
or the government, who elect to play ostrich in the hope that time will
prove the boffins wrong. A mere problem without a solution has little
dramatic credibility, however, and so the two women head up a
self-appointed task force to brainstorm for an answer, however
difficult the execution might be.
Here is SF in the Campbell tradition: take a scientific fact or theory
and extrapolate an extreme situation. It seems to me I've seen this
basic idea before, but Write does a creditable job with it. Fans of
Clement should enjoy this book. The characters are reasonably well
done, though occasionally they do implausibly dumb things. The plotting
is as solid as one would expect of the hi-tech tradition, and the level
of writing is acceptable. Those who like their SF straight up will
probably find this book worth their time.
-- David M. Shea
Dragon's Gold by Piers Anthony and Robert E. Margroff [***]
Although perhaps not a major new fantasy event, as the cover claims,
this story is an amusing and entertaining journey into an extremely
simplified setting. Anthony and Margroff provide an easy to grasp
background by eliminating any extraneous detail. While this runs the
risk of supplying too little information, or detracting from realism,
the authors have, in this case, done an admirable job.
The story concerns the travails of Kelvin Knight Hackleberry and his
sister Jon. They strive to free their land from the personification of
evil, fulfilling their destiny in the process (Kelvin's in any case).
Characterization in this book is clear, if somewhat less than three
dimensional. While this falls short of the ideal, the authors have not
allowed the simplicity of the characters to prevent them from
undergoing growth and change as the story progresses.
The pace of the story is quite rapid. In fact, it is sufficiently rapid
that it obscures what would otherwise be significant flaws. There is a
prophecy so clear that a child could understand it. A magician of
obvious power who is strangely impotent until it's too late. There is a
healthy (unhealthy?) heaping of gratuitous coincidence (i.e. why, out
of all the people in the world does Jon run into old acquaintances and
their families just when she needs their help?). Fortunately, the plot
moves along fast enough that the reader probably won't care.
I recommend this book to younger readers particularly, and to anyone
not looking for deep philosophical content. An excellent way to kill an
afternoon.
-- Peter Rubenstein
ceo!WALLY!Peter_Rubinstein
Faces Leigh Kennedy [***]
Atlantic Monthly Press,, $15.95, ISBN 0-87113-140-4
It's hard to know what to say about Faces, a collection of short
stories by Leigh Kennedy. Some are fantasy, some are soft science
fiction, others are mainstream. In all of the stories, the focus is on
the writing and the characterization, rather than on the plot. Most of
the plots are, in fact, rather weak, sometimes leaving issues
unresolved and often (in the non- mainstream stories) leaving
mechanisms unexplained as well. As such, the stories are somewhat
unsatisfying to one who reads primarily science fiction.
It is not fair, though, to judge the stories only by this metric; they
were not intended to compete with, say, Pournelle's or Niven's works.
Instead, or in addition, we should ask how well Kennedy succeeds at her
chosen task. Here the answer is more positive. The stories are
carefully constructed, with artfully-drawn characters. Not that the
characters are admirable -- most aren't -- or even particularly normal;
still, they are realistic and believable. Kennedy takes us into the
heart of a child abuser, lets us follow a left-over hippie as he visits
old friends, and shows us a scientist who relates better to his work
than to his lover. All of these portrayals ring true. To be sure, the
writing isn't on a par with, say, Atwood's (I commend her recent book
The Handmaid's Tale to all, though the ending is a cop-out), but it's
still a cut above most genre fiction.
The stories in general are about love or failure to love. That is, the
actions of the protagonists turn on their love, or lack of love, for
others. This is especially apparent in a pair of linked stories, about
a child abuser and a childless couple.
Faces is generally worth reading if you care about art more than
artifacts; hard SF fans are likely to be disappointed. For those who
are concerned with her credentials, several of the stories originally
appeared in IASFM. One caveat -- the hard-cover price is rather steep
for 152 pages.
-- Steve Bellovin
ulysses!smb
Fever Dream Ray Bradbury [***-]
St. Martin's/Night Lights, 31pp, $6.95, 0-312-57285-9
This is one of the first books in a new childrens series of story books
that glow in the dark. This one contains an 1948 story by Bradbury
illustrated by Darrell Anderson. It'd make a great gift for a
youngster, although I think the material is too intense for the very
young (which I would view as the most likely to be interested in a glow
in the dark book).
-- chuq von rospach
First Flight by Chris Claremont [****]
Ace, December 1987, $2.95 243 pgs., 0-441-23584-0
An exceptional first novel by the writer of the X-Men comic book
(Claremont notes his various mutant characters as "paying the rent" in
his acknowledgments and makes a continuing in-joke reference to the
comic in First Flight). A strong "coming-of-age" plot, a remarkably
real female protagonist and very well-handled attention to
technological detail makes the early half of First Flight reminiscent
of early Heinlein. Unfortunately, the deus ex machina introduction of
aliens in the latter section side-tracks First Flight into a weak
conclusion. Still, First Flight is one hell of a first flight into
science fiction by anyone's standards, and should be a Hugo contender.
I'm eagerly looking forward to Claremont's next book. Recommended.
-- Fred Bals
bals@nutmeg.dec.com
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes [*****]
1966 Gollancz Classic SF $7.95 Australian
Flowers for Algernon is a poignantly beautiful book about Charlie
Gordon, a mentally retarded adult who desperately wants to be smart.
Algernon is a mouse which has had its intelligence tripled by an
operation which the doctors try on Charlie. The book consists of the
"progris reperts" that Charlie makes during his transition from the
subnormal to the exceptionally gifted and then his terrifying descent
back to his original state.
In Flowers for Algernon, Keyes highlights the cruelty and ignorance in
the way society deals with the mentally retarded and the callousness of
the scientific community towards its experimental subjects. He makes
the reader view the world from a completely different perspective. The
way in which Charlie's writing style changes with his intelligence
absorbs the reader, His simple desire to become smart, his bewilderment
with the world around him; "And the other ten times we did it [the
maze] over Algernon won evry time becuse I coudnt find the right rows
to get to where it says FINISH. ... I dint know mice were so smart"
After finishing Flowers for Algernon I locked myself in the bathroom
and wept for 15 minutes. It left me feeling incredibly sad, yet it gave
me a sense of hope and faith in humanity, that in spite of everything
there are still people who dedicate themselves to those who have less.
In many ways this book is similar to Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men in its
gentle handling of the retarded and its moving portrayal of mankind.
-- Sue McPherson
sue@murdu.mu.oz
Frame of Reference Jerry Oltion [**]
Questar, $3.50
It's going to be difficult to review this book without blowing its
simple plot wide open but lets take a shot. The author has begun by
taking two old chestnuts of plots, and by melding them together has
produces a curious by viable hybrid which avoids the worst features of
both; though by no stretch of the imagination could this book be called
original.the models seemed to have been the Heinlein juveniles strongly
leavened with V and a dash of David Palmer's Emergence, though the book
of which it most reminded me was Tom Monteleone's The Time Connection.
LeAnne and Donivan, a couple of troublemaking kids, get exiled from the
Starchile, which has been their people's home for many generations; the
phrase "a thousand years" gets bandied about rather often. Instead of
remaining crew, they are set by the ships computer to explore a world
unknown to anyone on the ship. To this task they bring considerable
enthusiasm, if a lamentable lack of talent; their attempting to light a
campfire, and their eventual solution make for hilarious reading. In
due course, however, they find that the world they wish to colonize has
already been settled by an alien race. from that point on the author
spins a routine but moderately lively first contact,
good-alien/bad-alien story. There are the usual clangingly obvious
coincidences needed to resolve the plot which one expects in a first
novel, but on the whole the author succeeds well enough to justify a
modest pat on the back. This book will not challenge your imagination,
but it's sufficiently engaging as to be worth reading for a few hours
light entertainment.
-- David M. Shea
A Hidden Place Robert Charles Wilson [**]
Bantam/Spectra, $2.95, 212pp
This book made the final ballot for the Comton Crook award, given for
the best first novel in SF. It's not surprising that some people might
like the book very much. As a piece of writing, it is excellently done.
The author's evocation of a Thirties/Midwest/Depression small town is
lovingly, painstakingly hand-crafted in exquisite detail. Though the
style is not at all reminiscent of Delany, one gets that same feeling
of each individual word having been carefully selected and delicately
fitted into place. On those few occasions where word choices are
obviously incorrect it stands out conspicuously.
The problems with the book are subtle but real. In the first place, the
solitary SF/Fantasy element which is its only claim to being a genre
book is an old and familiar one; "cliche" is a harsh but not unfair
term. Once one pins down this element, which is fairly early on, it is
apparent that there is only one possible direction in which the story
can go. It is also a very small story, in terms of content: basically
this is just not a novel-length idea The net result is an exquisitely
crafted, baroque little miniature, swaddled in an excess of superbly
chosen but essentially superfluous detail. This would have made a very
nice novella, or possibly a decent mundane historical; as a Science
Fiction novel it struggles against, and ultimately fails by means of,
its essential smallness.
-- David M Shea
The Ice King of Oz Eric Shanower [****]
A First Graphic Novel, $7.95, 0-915419-25-4
Shanower has taken on an impressive task. To put together new Oz
stories and draw them into a graphic novel format; to be true to the
original Oz stories while keeping the stories fresh and interesting.
He's doing a wonderful job at it, too, writing what are to me the best
Oz stories since Baum's originals. The Ice King of Oz is no exception.
A few glitches in the plot don't matter (besides, the originals were
full of them, and it didn't stop us from enjoying them....) -- this is
pure, wonderful Oz. These are original graphic novels, not collections
of comics; and this series, more than anything else being published in
the GN format, shows what you can do with the format when you really
care about your material. Highly recommended.
-- chuq von rospach
Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories #17 (1955) [****]
edited by Isaac Asimov & Martin H. Greenberg
DAW, January, 1988, 349pp, $3.95, 0-88677-256-7
The latest in the series of anthologies that prints the classic works
of yesteryear. For someone looking for older, hard to find stories,
these are gems. This collection is especially strong and includes two
of my favorite stories of all time, Walter Miller's 'The Darfsteller'
and Cordwainer Smith's 'The Game of Rat and Dragon'.
-- chuq von rospach
Killashandra by Anne McCaffrey [*****]
Del Rey, 1985, 373pp, $4.50
Once I started reading this novel, I couldn't put it down. Sent to
install white crystal to replace part of a damaged organ in time for
the Summer Music Festival on Optheria, Killashandra Ree, Crystal
Singer, lands in another adventure. What is the Optherian government
hiding, why do they discourage all music other than their great organs
and why doesn't any native ever leave their 'natural' world? The
unofficial reason for Killashandra's visit is to find the answers. SF
with music and mystery thrown in.
-- Mary Anne Espenshade
Lord of the Crooked Paths Patrick H. Adkins [*]
Ace Fantasy Special, 1987, $2.95, 216pp
It is a Fantasy writer's perogative to draw on the classical
mythologies for source material. The best known, lying as they do at
the heart of our cultural heritage, are the Greek Myths, mined for
3,000 years of poets, storytellers and scholars. Charles Sheffield has
rightly remarked that the first and greatest of these was wise enough
to write the Oddysey only once.
Possibly there is room for another re-telling of the myth of Cronos (or
as Adkins would have it, Kronos). However, I'd frankly prefer to see it
in more secure hands. It is obvious the author is familiar with the
source material, and I'm not rabid purist enough to quibble over some
of the modifications he's introduced. The problem here is that Mr
Adkins is, to put it kindly, no Homer. His prose tends to the "and then
he did this and then she said that" school; and when he puts into the
mouths of the gods such leaden American dialogue as "I guess so", "Are
you just going to sit there?", and "I didn't sleep half the night", the
mind croggles. Unfortunately, this is not quite consistent enough to
render the book readable as a camp farce; the author is earnestly, nay
deadly, serious. Alas, Adkins' good intentions overrun his narrative
skills. Unless you're a Greek myth completist, I suggest you give this
book a pass.
-- David M Shea
Mage: The Hero Discovered, Volume 2 Matt Wagner [****]
Starblaze Graphic Novel, $12.95, 0-89865-560-9
Wagner and Starblaze continue the collection of the classic comic book
Mage (to be completed later this year in Volume 3). It's a great story,
the biggest gripe I have is that the volumes break at issue endings, so
they aren't standalone -- you better plan on buying all three volumes
if you want any of this to make sense. Fortunately, this is a story
that you'll want to have, so plan on buying the third volume when it
comes out.
-- chuq von rospach
Marlborough Street by Richard Bowker [***]
Bantam Spectra, March 1988, $3.95, 232 pgs., 0-553-27167-9
The first paperback release of a novel originally published in early
1987, Marlborough Street is a well-handled crossover between the
science fiction and mystery genres. Fans of either will find it an
enjoyable read, fans of both will find it an excellent example of this
rapidly growing cross- genre. Billed as a "novel of psychic detection,"
Marlborough Street concerns itself with Alan Simpson, a psychic who is
also something of a nebbish. In coming to terms with his "gift,"
Simpson has erected barricades around his life and emotions, neutral to
almost everything happening in his world except the travails of the
Boston Red Sox. Asked to locate the kidnapped son of Boston's mayor,
Simpson is shocked out of his complacency by his involvement with a
woman under the control of a person whose psychic talents may exceed
Simpson's own. Bowker has a strong talent for creating characters and a
sense of place. The scenes taking place in Boston's Back Bay are
especially striking - comparable to mystery author Robert Parker's
Spenser series. And readers who have lived on both Coasts will also
find Bowker's comparison of the Los Angeles and Boston lifestyles
amusing and right on target. Recommended.
-- Fred Bals
OtherRealms #20
Spring, 1988
Copyright 1988 by Chuq Von Rospach
All Rights Reserved
One time rights have been
acquired from the contributors.
All rights are hereby assigned
to the contributors.
OtherRealms may not be reproduced in any form without written
permission of Chuq Von Rospach.
The electronic edition may be distributed or reproduced in its entirety
as long as all copyrights, author and publication information remain
intact. No individual article may be reprinted, reproduced or
republished in any way without the express permission of the author.
OtherRealms is published quarterly (March, June, September and December) by:
Chuq Von Rospach
35111-F Newark Blvd.
Suite 255
Newark, CA 94560.
Usenet: chuq@sun.COM
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