Salman Rushdie's take on the epic Indian saga, flavored with magical realism but firmly rooted in his birth country's history. Pampa Kampana, orphanedSalman Rushdie's take on the epic Indian saga, flavored with magical realism but firmly rooted in his birth country's history. Pampa Kampana, orphaned by war, powerless, vulnerable, victimized is touched by a goddess in order to create a place where such things won't happen. With her bag of magic seeds, she calls into being Bisnaga, the ironically misnamed 'Victory City'. It's a story about the pointlessness of political power, prejudice and especially war. It's also about how ideals and noble principles are corrupted over time, a timely message when tolerance and inclusion seem under attack on many fronts. In the end Pampa/Rushdie argues, it's the story that matters. "Words are the only victors," the book concludes. The book can be read as a feminist and anti-colonialist work, a satire on contemporary society, an adventure/fantasy, or all of the above. My first book by Rushdie but certainly not the last. -30-...more
3.7 ⭐ Apart from "Firewatch" and "A Letter From The Clearys" I personally wouldn't rate the rest of these stories as Willis' best although they're all3.7 ⭐ Apart from "Firewatch" and "A Letter From The Clearys" I personally wouldn't rate the rest of these stories as Willis' best although they're all good, if not superior, short science fiction. I think "Daisy in the Sun" was a major omission, in my totally subjective opinion, from any collection purporting to be this author's "best." The remaining stories, while as always imaginative and well written, didn't strike me as 'peak' Willis, despite the numerous awards they have racked up. Again, totally subjective.
I'll admit I got a politically incorrect chuckle from "Even the Queen" and Willis' wicked take on 'Liberation' and the 'Cyclists' ( who are not bicycle enthusiasts). I've never been enamored of her Christmas/romance obsession though, represented here by "All Seated on the Ground." I found her take on the horror genre, "Death on the Nile" slightly eerie at best.. but then again I am not a fan.
When this author is on, she can hit it out of the park. Even the merely good stories are two and three base hits. So while maybe not the mythical "best" it is still a collection of above average science fiction. -30-...more
3.7⭐ Creative, imaginative, thoughtful, well written but often depressing short stories, by an author previously unknown to me. Saunders writes about r3.7⭐ Creative, imaginative, thoughtful, well written but often depressing short stories, by an author previously unknown to me. Saunders writes about relationships and power: power over each other and over ourselves; our relationships to each other and to power. It took me a long time to read this (4 months). I stalled at the story 'Sparrow' because I feared it would be as gloomy as some of the previous ones. Ironically, when I finally finished this tale of ordinary, flawed human beings falling into a kind of love, it turned out to be the most hopeful of the bunch. Just goes to show me. The eponymous 'Liberation Day' is a metaphor for the domination of the 1%, wherein vulnerable persons become property and are mounted on walls in a bizarre art installation. My favorite is "Love Letter," which sees a grandfather advising his grandson how to respond to the imprisonment of friends in a failed democracy ( ours). It's also an apology from one generation to another for failing to prevent the rise of an authoritarian state, which I found both pointed and poignant. While some of the stories contain elements of speculative fiction (fancy way of saying sci-fi), that's not really what it is. Saunders uses sf techniques to comment on the here and now ( like Vonnegut, Atwood, Orwell, etc.). I'm going to have to read more of his books, to get a better idea of his range and inclinations. I look forward to it, despite the risk of falling into a deep depression. -30-...more
3.5⭐ Japanese folk tales from translations by Lafcaido Hearne and Yei Theodora Ozaki, told in a clear and evocative style. Following the pattern of fol3.5⭐ Japanese folk tales from translations by Lafcaido Hearne and Yei Theodora Ozaki, told in a clear and evocative style. Following the pattern of folk stories from around the world, some are morality tales like Aesop's Fables. Others are pure ghost stories. Some reminded me of Mi'maq legends where the hero outwits demons or evil spirits. Each story is relatively short and self contained so you can pick the book up or put it down at your leisure ( over many months, in my case). The book is greatly enhanced by the illustrations of Kotaro Chiba....more
3.9⭐ A fine, hopeful ending to the Xenogenesis series. One of Octavia Butler's major themes is metamorphosis, changing to become something else, somethi3.9⭐ A fine, hopeful ending to the Xenogenesis series. One of Octavia Butler's major themes is metamorphosis, changing to become something else, something better. Butler believes humanity must change in order to survive and in her series she uses the metaphor of interbreeding with an alien species to stand in for intercultural understanding and acceptance.
I won't attempt to summarize the complicated, hybrid society the author has created other than to say she brings her story to what I thought was a satisfying conclusion, offering both aliens and humans renewal and salvation. Some of major characters from the previous books are present but the main focus is on the newly introduced Jordahs, who represents the culmination of Butler's exchange program.
Butler's writing style is clean, clear and compelling. The pacing of the novel (and the series) is brisk but not rushed or confusing. She relies heavily on what are, in essence, alien superpowers to move the plot along but at least she does so convincingly. I liked this trilogy a bit better than the melancholy ( but well written) Patternist series. I look forward to reading more of the author's books. -30-...more
4.8⭐ It's been awhile since I've liked a book this much. It's weird, funny and thought-provoking. Our narrator and protagonist, Keiko Furukura, has bee4.8⭐ It's been awhile since I've liked a book this much. It's weird, funny and thought-provoking. Our narrator and protagonist, Keiko Furukura, has been working in the same convenience store since the day it opened, 18 years previously. She stays there because it's the only place she feels a part of society. Interactions with other people are spelled out in the store manual. Otherwise she has trouble figuring out what's expected and what's acceptable. Such as when she hit a classmate over the head with a shovel in order to break up a fight. Or when she suggested eating a dead budgie, found in a park, because they eat chicken don't they? Or when she's tempted to kill her baby nephew to stop him from crying. While she's in the convenience store, however, she knows exactly what to do and when to do it. She feels like she's been absorbed by the store at a cellular level and can hear it's voice. Of course, such purpose and contentment cannot be allowed to exist without interference from Keiko's "normal" friends and family members.
I found myself trying to figure out what was wrong with Keiko ( "must be something on the autism spectrum" ) when I finally realized it's totally irrelevant. She is what she is and that's the point of the book. The only attempt at therapy ends badly, with Keiko being pressured to admit to being abused-because that's got to be the answer, right?
The book is about the tyranny of conformity and the struggle for selfhood. It's witty and subtle and unsubtle all at once. I highly recommend this novella and look forward to reading more by this author....more
* Updated- Corrects Hal's number* 3.8⭐ Rounded Up Another excellent, imaginative tale by Walter Tevis, who wrote The Man Who Fell To Earth and The Queen* Updated- Corrects Hal's number* 3.8⭐ Rounded Up Another excellent, imaginative tale by Walter Tevis, who wrote The Man Who Fell To Earth and The Queen's Gambit. This one's a parable about a society stupifying itself with technology, drugs and television. Sound familiar? It's told from three perspectives: Paul Bently, the last man on Earth who can read; Mary Lou, the rebel Bently teaches to read and Robert Spofforth, the last remaining 'Make 9' high intelligence robot.
A few similarities to other books occur to me: the clueless, drugged humans and the robots who (supposedly) serve them bring to mind the Eloi and the Morlocks from Wells' The Time Machine. Also Spofforth reminds me of Hal 9000 from Clarke's 2001: A Space Oddessy, who in his technologically driven madness was more human than the humans he served.
Well written with well developed characters and very well paced, it's another example of the idea heavy science fiction Tevis excels at. Required suspension of disbelief: mild to moderate. Highly recommended.-30-...more
I read this so long ago that trying to assign a meaningful rating would be pure speculation. I remember exactly two things about this book: that it inI read this so long ago that trying to assign a meaningful rating would be pure speculation. I remember exactly two things about this book: that it included the Edna St. Vincent Millay poem 'Prayer to Persephone' which I never forgot; and that the teacher/hero's nemesis was an officious bureaucrat who signed his memo's Adm. Asst., which the teacher translated as Admiral Ass. For those two things alone it's probably rates 3 stars. But I'll wait for a reread, whenever that might be....more
3.0⭐ An interesting and original take on the generation ship story. It's not about the adventures along the journey or the settling of a new world but3.0⭐ An interesting and original take on the generation ship story. It's not about the adventures along the journey or the settling of a new world but about the society created by several thousand people packed closely together for almost two centuries.
It's an insular, inbred culture where practically everyone is related to everyone else and is up in everybody's business. These people are judgmental, gossipy and prone to mockery and chastisement. I found that part to be highly belivable. It's also a society largely without violence, crime or hierarchies, where decisions are made by consensus.
Gloss has peopled her spaceship with Quakers. Amidst a destroyed and dying Earth the Society of Friends bought and equipped a space habitat ( something like an O'Neil cylinder) to be its ark. Most of the story takes place as the ship is about to reach its destination and the passengers are traumatized by the thought of leaving the only home they've ever known.
Since Gloss' starship is essentially a big family, it's not surprising the story is essentially a family drama, in space. Most of it revolves around the relationships of the main characters with each other and how everything's changing with the imminent landing. It's plodding and talky but it's saved by Gloss' fine prose and well drawn setting and characters ( who are not always likable).
So if you're expecting Heinlein's "Orphans of the Sky" or Delaney's "Ballad of Beta 2," you'd best seek elsewhere. The only story that approaches this in style and intent that I can think of is Ursula LeGuin's short work "Paradises Lost" ( not that comparisons are particularly useful).
But it is a very well written and thought provoking ( if slow moving) story. -30-...more
Originally posted December 30/ 22. Updated Jan. 6/23 3.4⭐ This is an unusual and interesting feminist science fiction novel, written in 1962. The narraOriginally posted December 30/ 22. Updated Jan. 6/23 3.4⭐ This is an unusual and interesting feminist science fiction novel, written in 1962. The narrator, Mary, (the eponymous Spacewoman) is one of an elite class of interstellar explorers from a far future Earth. Humanity has been divided into two groups, the explorers, who through the agency of time dilation, or "time black out" age very slowly. It must be said that Mitchison's science (the physics, anyway) is pretty fuzzy throughout the book - but no more so than say, an average episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The rest of humanity lives its mundane lives stuck on the planet and bound by "clock time," in the opinion of the somewhat snobbish explorers.
The society Mitchison creates is an enlightened one: men and women are apparently completely equal, although Mitchison curiously maintains there are a few highly technical and esoteric occupations women don't seem to have an inclination towards. Furthermore, women can have sex with anyone or anything they want and Mary certainly does, from African and European human men, to hermaphroditic Martians, to alien tissue "grafts." The object of much of this activity is procreation, with parents able to choose the gender and appearance of their offspring in advance, although the mechanics of this aren't explained. Having kids doesn't slow down these future Spacewomen, however: after a couple of years during which the children are "stabilized" Mary continues on happily exploring the universe. It's sort of the future as envisioned by Helen Gurley Brown, whose "Sex and the Single Girl" was published the same year as this book.
Mary's job is that of Communicator ( or "communications girl" ) responsible for understanding alien species and determining their level of intelligence. This is mainly done through a form of advanced empathy. This same ability has enabled humanity to also reach a new level of understanding with animal species; for example animals are still used in scientific research but only with their own consent, like human subjects.
The book is a series of connected episodes, with Mary trying to unlock the nature of each new species while at the same time avoiding "interference" with the aliens, prohibited by a kind of pre-Star Trek prime directive. Mitchison's descriptions of these alien worlds are vivid and brought to my mind the imagery and tone of the animated classic science fiction film "Fantastic Planet."
Now that I've read the book I'll go back and finish the introduction, by academic Isobel Murray, which I abandoned as I found it spoiler-heavy (Done. It was pretty good, explaining some of Mitchison's background and influences. Murray dissected some of the analogies the author used- in one instance when I thought Mitchison was making a point about human biology, she was actually on about theology. I liked this book and it made me curious about the rest of Mitchison's work, most of which is not science fiction. -30-...more
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