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OtherRealms Issue 23 Part 10
Electronic OtherRealms #23
Winter, 1989
Part 10
Copyright 1989 by Chuq Von Rospach
All Rights Reserved.
OtherRealms may not be reproduced without written
permission from Chuq Von Rospach. The electronic
edition may be distributed only if the return address,
copyrights and author credits remain intact.
No article may be reprinted or re-used in any way
without the permission of the author.
All rights to material published in OtherRealms
hereby revert to the original author.
Lots and Lots of Reviews
by Lots and Lots of People
Anachronisms [****]
Christopher Hinz
St. Martin's Press $17.95 304 pg.
The crew of the starship Alchemon is sent to the planet Sycamore after
a probe revealed bacteria life on what should have been a lifeless
planet. The study of the bacteria leads to the discovery of what may be
an intelligent creature. The crew decides to take it back to Earth.
Almost from the beginning of the voyage home, one disaster after
another occurs. The crew must not only prevent the ship from being
destroyed but also find the source of the disaster. Is it the creature
from Sycamore? Is it one of the crew? Is it the company, Pannis? Is it
space pirates?
The story is a very original rendering of a familiar SF plot. One point
of originality is to write the story as a true mystery instead of a
puzzle story. It is not a given that there is a hostile alien loose on
the ship. The crew is a collection of misfits, and it is made clear
from the beginning that this is deliberate. Why this mismatched crew
was allowed to ship out is not revealed until the end. The solution to
the mystery is eventually revealed, but only after the reader has had
an opportunity to figure it out and doing so is not easy.
The characterization is uneven. About half the characters are fairly
distinctive personalities and the rest are rather vague. It is no
coincident that all the survivors are the more distinctive characters.
None of the characters are very likable, although by the end of the
story, certain of them develop into people for whom the reader can feel
some empathy.
Hinz has created an interesting technology for his FTL drive and it
plays an important role in the story. The ship is also a very
interesting artifact of its own. The story universe appears to be
unrelated to that in Hinz' first book, Liege-Killer. While the story
does not have the epic tone of Liege-Killer, it is as good and is
highly recommended.
--Danny Low
Anachronisms
The science fiction ghost story, the haunted space ship, the mixing of
horror and space opera--this half-breed genre offers rich possibilities
that few have explored. Christopher Hinz adds to the sub-genre with his
second novel, Anachronisms.
I was excited when I picked up this novel. Since I've always been a
sucker for this type of story, I really wanted to like it.
Unfortunately, Hinz borrows too heavily and too obviously from the few
other similar stories and doesn't do enough of his own work. Surely all
the ideas in the hybrid SF/horror sub-genre haven't been played out
already? A research vessel from the Pannis corporation goes to a
storm-swept blasted world and finds a mysterious supposedly dead alien
organism, which they bring aboard the ship (does it already sound like
Alien or It: The Terror from Beyond Space?). On their way back to
Earth, the alien comes alive again and starts messing with the mind of
a psychic crew member, causing all sorts of funky haunted-house things
to take place (now it feels like we're reading Nightflyers...). The
alien begins to take over the master computer, but the computer has its
own orders and its own defense mechanisms, the Sentinels, who will
fight off the intruder, no matter what these defenses might do to the
crew members (gee, now it sounds like 2001: A Space Odyssey or Frank
Herbert's Destination: Void).
The characters seem to be lifted right out of Star Trek or Alien. I
found myself baffled at why Hinz had taken the easy way out so many
times, as if he thought he had a good idea but didn't have the interest
to keep going. Much of the writing is clumsy lecturing, inept
introduction of background material and clunky explanations over and
over again. Some of the plot threads are weak links and don't hold
together well.
On the good side, several of the spooky scenes are vivid and very
effective, such as when some of the ship's defenses awaken and the crew
try to fight back, or when the alien takes over the biological gardens
and begins to terraform them into its own long-lost alien world. These
are chilling and cinematic, and they show the true talent Hinz
holds--but he doesn't let it shine through often enough. The brilliant
scenes are so good they are worth reading the book for, but
unfortunately the pieces don't fit together into a solid whole.
--Kevin J. Anderson
The Ascension Factor [***]
Frank Herbert and Bill Ransom
Ace/Putnam $18.95 381pp
This is the third book of a series, preceded by The Jesus Incident and
The Lazarus Effect. While there is a definite sense that there are
previous books, the story in this book is sufficiently self-contained
that it can be read by itself. Much of the richness of the tale is
lost, but the story still comes across as a well written
action/adventure story.
Raja Flattery has gained control of Pandora and is about to complete
his Voidship. His plan is to abandon the planet and its people. To
build his Voidship, Flattery has altered Pandoran society to the point
that the society and the planet will certainly fall into chaos along
with the physical destruction of the planet when he leaves.
There are several groups with various motives working against Flattery.
The story revolves around the conclusion to all their plotting as well
as Flattery's. The groups have little or no idea of each other's
existence. When they finally meet, their plans fall apart convincingly.
The story is told as a series of parallel story lines that converge in
the end. There are also some independent vignettes whose purpose is to
convey a sense of the society. Everything is suitably chaotic. The
characters are well done, with a lot of action.
Read by itself, this is a good fast paced action story. When read as
part of the series, it is a well done story that advances the series.
The ending is a suitable one not only for the book but for the series
as well.
--Danny Low
Bloodthirst [Star Trek #37] [***]
J. M. Dillard
Pocket, 1987, $3.95, 264pp.
Perfect Halloween reading--a Star Trek vampire story. Yet another
vampirism as a disease tale, plus bio-weapons, Starfleet conspiracies,
and the threat of Romulan attack. Dillard tends to use Kirk, Spock and
McCoy and her own characters with only token mention of the rest of the
regulars and lots of "gee, how many episodes can I refer back to," a
trait that annoys me when it isn't relevant to the plot. Still, it
works up to a tense conclusion with lots of action in a reasonable
episode-like plot, especially since for once they just save themselves
instead of the universe.
--Mary Anne Espenshade
The Chantry Guild [*]
Gordon Dickson
Ace Books $17.95 428 pg.
I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is this book is the
long awaited continuation of The Final Encyclopedia. The bad news is
that this book is also long, repetitious and never comes to an ending.
The Final Encyclopedia stopped after Hal Mayne and Bleys Ahrens meet as
adults and agree that their differences are irreconcilable except by
the Final Battle. The Chantry Guild starts with Mayne stymied in his
attempt to develop the weapon that will insure victory in the Final
Battle. He leaves The Final Encyclopedia for a solution. The story
parallels his quest in the first book. It is shorter because Mayne only
has to go to one planet this time instead of three for enlightenment.
Both books could be reduced by a third without any effect on the story
by simply eliminating the endless reiteration of events and
philosophies. Hal Mayne suffers from a lack of personality. In the
first book, as a youngster developing into a man, this was not a
problem. As an adult, his lack of personality makes him an
uninteresting character. The secondary characters, such as Rukh, have
more personality, and they are nothing more than personification of
archetypes. Despite his lack of "on stage" time, Bleys Ahrens is the
most interesting character in the story.
The book finally stops with Mayne finding the breakthrough he was
looking for. The confrontation between Mayne and Ahrens is still to
come. This book is of interest only to true fans of Dickson's Childe
Cycle and completist collectors. It cannot be regarded as an
independent book but rather as volume 2 of an excessively long novel.
--Danny Low
Cradle
Arthur C. Clarke & Gentry Lee
Warner Books, 1988, 0-446-51379-2, 293 pp., $18.95
The late Mr. Heinlein never allowed contemporary marketing forces to
create his novels, but the other two at the top of every SF readership
poll, Asimov and Clarke, seem less resistant to such manipulations.
With Cradle, we see yet another variant of the shared-world concept,
where apparently the old master has an idea and the young turk fills in
the outline, for no one familiar with Clarke's impressive body of work
would confuse it with this novel's prose style. Lee strives mightily to
overcome the NASAese in which he toils daily at JPL--and fails. At
times, the narrative reads like an incomplete outline.
Something is missing, too, from the story, a tale of first contact
beneath the warm Gulf waters off Key West. Girl reporter in brass
brassiere, Carol Dawson, leaves her dull lover at his Miami
Oceanographic Institute, and reluctantly teams up with dropout
misanthrope Nick Williams. Williams and his buddy, computer whiz Troy
Jefferson, run the charter boat "Florida Queen," when they're not
diving for sunken treasure. Carol hires them to blow the lid off the
U.S. Navy's loss of a newly tested cruise missile. Only the Keystone
Kops of the Navy and a robot crew aboard a stranded alien seedship have
other plans. Lt. Todd, the kneejerk idiot of the story, is convinced
that the pesky Russians stole the missile, and tries to convince
Commander Winters that Carol, Nick, and Troy are spies. The Commander,
meanwhile, lusts after the teenage lead in his amateur theater troupe,
and is haunted by memories and a cold wife. And just to add a pirate
flair, Capt. Ashford and his menage a trois splash across the stage
with some very convenient gold bullion.
Sadly, this collection of Hollywood cliches just doesn't gel. The love
story is loveless; the lust ends in a cold shower; the mystery scales
down to red herrings; and the whales simply wander off. Even if you
wait for the paperback, you're going to wonder if this wasn't the
other, alcoholic "Arthur" at work. Give this one a pass.
--Dean R. Lambe
Crown of Stars [****]
James Tiptree, Jr.
Tor Books, 0-312-93105-0
A volume of Tiptree stories that were uncollected (and in some cases
unpublished) at the time of her death. In general, everything you
expect from Tiptree stories: well-crafted prose, beautiful imagery,
wonderful characters. The themes range all over the map: aliens, love
and sex, life and death, heaven and hell, even adoption and abortion.
All the individual stories are good; many can be called great. This
collection shows how much the science fiction community lost with
Tiptree's death.
--Chuck Koelbel
Deep Quarry
John E. Stith
Ace Books, 1989, 0-441-14276-1, 140 pp., $3.50.
Stith appears to have specialized in that difficult earthquake zone,
the area between murder mystery and science fiction. With his third
novel, he moves to a alien setting, a planet distant in both time and
space where humans are but one of four sapient species.
In the hot and dusty constant daylight of Tankur, a planet whose
astrophysics conflicts with its habitability, Ben Takent, an equally
tired and dusty wisecracking private eye, wishes he could afford a
secretary while he battles with the air conditioning repair company.
While Ben sweats it out, he almost loses a paying customer in the
lovely form of Kate Dunlet, resident egghead and archaeologist at the
alien dig up the road. Kate and her fellow potsherd pickers hire
gumshoe Ben because artifacts from their 10,000 year old Womper village
are drifting past supposedly tight security into the local black
market. While quickly puzzling out the crime--which doesn't much stump
the reader either--Ben shows what a real detective mind can do with the
greater mystery of Tankur, the ancient Wompers, and the resident Ayers
Rock. Kate, Dr. Foster and the other scientists aren't too happy with
the deductions of an amateur, but they follow him into the huge alien
structure anyway. Wompers, ancient and modern, as well as the obligatory
guy named Sam, then radically change the direction of the story, and Ben
and friends wend through the maze and leave no turn unstoned.
If the above seems a bit lackluster, a retread of the Bat Durston type,
well it's not--quite. There is a solid SF gimmick here that is crucial
to the plot, and save for the bar scenes that were tired when George
Lucas used them, the story delivers solid entertainment. Expect even
better from his next one, Redshift Rendevous.
--Dean R. Lambe
Dracula's Brood [****]
Richard Dalby
Crucible, 1987, 348pp.
I don't often read horror--at least not the gore that passes itself off
as horror fiction these days--but I do like gothic horror and this
collection of short stories is in just that vein (sorry). Subtitled
"Rare Vampire Stories by Friends and Contemporaries of Bram Stoker,"
the 24 stories in this collection date from 1867 to 1940. Some of the
authors are familiar names from other works, such as Arthur Conan
Doyle, others, most of the rest to me anyway, are obscure authors whose
works have never been reprinted. Doyle's story, "The Parasite" (1894),
is about a psychic vampire, drawing soul and vitality from the victim
rather than blood. There are several of these in the collection. There
are also traditional vampires in "Ken's Mystery" (1888) by Julian
Hawthorne and "The Last Lords of Gardonal" (1867) by William Gilbert
and some very unusual "vampire" objects in "The Living Stone" (1939) by
E. R. Punshon and "The Feather Pillow" (1907) by Horacio Quiroga.
--Mary Anne Espenshade
Final Circuit
Melinda M. Snodgrass
Ace Books, 1988, 0-441-22876-3, 244 pp., $3.50.
Snodgrass did not disappoint with the end of her trilogy about Judge
Cabot Huntington and his Jenny, off in the asteroids with the new
American Revolutionaries. It's every bit as bad as I expected. This new
writer showed some potential in her first novel, for she aped classic
Heinlein, but by the end, she had copied her own ignorance and created
a tsunami of disbelief.
As Cab Huntington jumps from frying pan to the fire, first in Earth
orbit, then on Mars, and finally on the curiously-located Ceres (both
200 and 700 million miles from Earth in the same week), his law
partner, Jenny McBride, becomes such a sex object that she loses her
last name and is knocked up and sent to bed so the "boys" can talk.
Meanwhile, the new American President is a doormat for his female Chief
of Staff, and an odd band of Kenyan terrorists hijacks an antimatter
drive spaceship, which gives the Russians an excuse to nuke American
asteroid habitats. Forced into deep thought and backed into rebellion,
the judge and all his friends sit down in micro-gravity and zilch
partial pressure of oxygen to have a smoke with all the cigars, pipes
and cigarettes available to the American Tobacco Institute. Back on the
home world, the President's chief bitch takes a Valium. Then the
technology and politics get really stupid.
Even those who visit Africa via used books should know that it's not
"secretary of the treasury," but the Honorable Minister of Finance &
Planning who handles Kenya's money. Those who throw around concepts
like "artificial gravity" and "anti-hydrogen" might make some effort to
understand what they're talking about from one page to the next.
Of late, Mesdames Brandewyne and Taylor have complained that the SF
community has been unkind to their spaced-out romance novels. Never
mind aphorisms about heat and kitchens, ladies, if you don't understand
the rules, don't play the game. You too, Melinda. Should any care to
learn, hundreds of SF writers-- women writers if that's the only
language you speak--can show you how.
--Dean R. Lambe
Full Spectrum [***+]
Lou Aronica & Shawna McCarthy, editors
Bantam-Spectra, 0-553-27482-1
An anthology of short stories that the editors describe as "on the
leading edge of science fiction." As you might expect, the quality does
vary from author to author, but even the worst of these stories rate a
[***-] in my opinion and the best are probably around [****+]. I expect
to see some award winners out of this collection, and recommend it to
anyone interested in SF.
--Chuck Koelbel
Ghosts Have No Feelings [****]
Barbryn Press, 1988, 116pp.
This anthology contains the 18 best stories from a short story
competition to write about the ghosts of Warwick Castle. I picked this
up when I visited England this summer. I didn't meet any of these
ghosts personally at Warwick but some seem quite nice, like the Phantom
Jogger in "The Wall" by Paul D. Wapshott or the talkative title
character in "A Friend of Walt's" by Audrey Elizabeth Roberts, a comic
piece. Others are real horror story ghosts, setting traps for unwary
visitors and out for revenge. Some don't even know they are ghosts,
like the sad little girl in "Run to Mama" by Sandra Gourlay. I go to
medieval banquets in costume myself, but after the experiences of the
narrator of "The Banquet" by F. B. Atkin, who attends one at Warwick
castle, I'll be more wary of them.
--Mary Anne Espenshade
Here Be Demons [***-]
Esther Friesner
Ace, 1988, $2.95, 233pp, 0-441-32797-4
A group of demons have been banned from Hell and exiled to one of the
more dismal corners of the Egyptian desert. Their offense: being
insufficiently evil. Their ticket home: one genuinely damned human
soul. After centuries of boredom, a golden opportunity presents itself:
several archeology students and their inept professor on an amateur
"dig." You would think that five demons could get at one American
college student to commit a mortal sin.
Janet Morris takes Hell seriously. Esther Friesner does not. Of the
two, I am inclined to favor Friesner's choice. The author has a finely
honed sense of the absurd; though what is absurd is not always funny.
This book violates rather outrageously Mr. Twain's dictum of "one
miracle per story"; and frankly, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
It might have worked better had the author maintained one focus, rather
than simply letting everything run hog-wild. However, I found the book
at least mildly amusing. Some might find it hilarious. It depends on
your sense of humor.
--David M. Shea
The IDIC Epidemic [Star Trek #38] [*****]
Jean Lorrah
Pocket, 1988, $3.95, 278pp.
This book is a sequel to The Vulcan Academy Murders, featuring the same
characters responding to a plague on the Federation research colony
Nisus. Much of the action takes place on Nisus rather than the
Enterprise, as Dr. McCoy, Dr. Corrigan and Sorel join the medical
teams combatting a fast-mutating virus that seems to attack nearly all
Federation races equally. Klingons turn out to be immune, and there is
one Klingon scientist on Nisus.... Lorrah uses the view of Klingon
society from The Final Reflection and the two Klingon races from the
films. This story is as much a mystery as Lorrah's previous book--but a
medical one this time instead of a murder mystery, a race to find cures
and vaccines for multiple races as the disease becomes more virulent
with each mutation.
--Mary Anne Espenshade
