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Stalwart reviewer Duncan Lawie contributed this review of Susan Solomon's The Coldest March, the epic tale of an early and tragic polar expedition, not long after returning from an Antarctic trip of his own. (Imagine spending New Year's en route to the southern ice.) Duncan's been cooking up some other things lately, too -- like an interview with Science Fiction writer Ken Macleod and a review of the LotR movie from a "bookist" perspective. The Coldest March: Scott's Fatal Antarctic Expedition author Susan Solomon pages ~400 publisher Yale University Press (Australasia: Melbourne University Press) rating 8.5 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0-300-08967-8 summary "Cold equations" throw a new light on significant events of the Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration. Susan Solomon is a senior scientist at NOAA , and an acclaimed one. In 1986 she led a scientific expedition to Antarctica to investigate the causes of the ozone hole; she subsequently received the USA's National Medal of Science for her insights. Whilst working from such locations as McMurdo Station, Solomon had the opportunity to see the bases and places discovered in the early years of the twentieth century. This led her to a new "hobby." Solomon became interested in the history of Antarctic exploration and in the disjunction between the common belief in Scott's incompetence and the apparent perceptiveness of his and his party's own writing. As an atmospheric scientist, Solomon decided to embark upon the exercise of tracking down the weather data of the era and testing it against data subsequently collected.

The Coldest March is the outcome of Solomon's interest in her hobby. It is, in essence, a history of Captain Scott's voyages to the Antarctic, a story which has been told many times in the decades since Scott's death. Yet, never before has the history been focused through the lens of true science. Science was held in high esteem by these Edwardian explorers and is the continuing basis for human occupation of the Antarctic. Solomon's close attention to the meteorological record becomes genuinely interesting as it is possible to make an intelligent comparison between the historical data and the automated data collection of recent decades. The modern route to the Pole from McMurdo Sound is close to that used by the British explorers 90 to 100 years ago. Whilst few attempt the journey on the ground, automated weather stations are vital for US Antarctic Research Program flights in the region. This data, collected every ten minutes since 1984, provides a statistically significant basis for investigation.

The technical substance of what Solomon has to say in this book first reached publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, in a paper co-authored with Charles R. Stearns. Those few dense pages form a scientific data quality check and comparison, with the conclusion that the March of 1912 was significantly colder than the average, that Scott's weather forecasters had collected sufficient data to have a good idea of what that average was and that the unexpected cold was a primary factor in the deaths of the party returning from the Pole. These cold facts have been expanded into a solidly researched history of Scott's Antarctic career, with a strong focus on the collection and interpretation of weather data.

The basic point of this book should prove within the grasp of anyone capable of interpreting a graph. The historical issues, however, require a larger context. The book approaches the debate on Scott through the clever technique of "the visitor". At the start of each chapter, there is a vignette offering a view of the modern Antarctic experience which parallels the main subject of the chapter. In this space, Solomon can provide informal commentary and bind the historical discussion with description of the achievements and misunderstandings that are still possible after over 40 years of continuous human occupation of the continent. The visitor provides an access for the modern reader to a well known story. Scott's Pole party arrived at the South Pole in January 1912, five weeks after Amundsen. He and his four companions died on the return journey, Scott, Wilson and Bowers only 11 miles from a supply depot. At the time this tragedy quickly became a heroic example; some modern writers have considered Scott's whole Antarctic experience closer to farce. The heritage of the expedition often turns on the perceived reputation of Scott himself; this book reflects positively on Scott and his colleagues, principally because of the primacy of doing good science in their work. Nevertheless, it acknowledges the mistakes made by both Scott and his rival and recognises the strengths of each party. It is a decent account of the so-called "Race to the Pole", providing a setting in which the relevance of the weather thesis to Scott's death can be fully developed and strongly argued. By dredging bare facts to the surface, The Coldest March has rendered almost every published history of the period out of date.

Each generation seems to find its own vision of Scott. Solomon sees him as a frustrated scientist and, at its centre, this book is a celebration of scientific method. It is tempting to think that the author has seen most strongly the elements of Scott that a modern scientific mindset might wish to find -- as earlier generations have praised him as a heroic exemplar of the British Empire or damned him as a middle class bumbler. Countering this are the words of members of Scott's own scientific party, many of whom relished his ability to ask the right question. Coming from such an original perspective, and providing genuinely new information, this is as significant a book as Apsley Cherry-Garrard's The Worst Journey in the World, published 80 years ago. The Coldest March is a wonderful (re-)introduction to the Matter of Scott.

You can The Coldest March at Fatbrain. If this review interests you, perhaps you'll enjoy the Coldest March website. More information, incuding sample chapters from the book, are available at Yale University Press.

Duncan Lawie returns from the wilderness with another review drawn from the world of classic science fiction. Probably a romp through a good used bookstore (or a good library) may be a more satisfying way to find some of Le Guin's works than ordering online, but it is available in reissue (linked below). The Left Hand of Darkness author Ursula K Le Guin pages 250 publisher Little, Brown rating 8 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0441478123 summary A classic of science fiction's New Wave which stands up to scrutiny 30 years later.

Ursula K. Le Guin is probably the best known woman in science fiction. She made her reputation in the late 1960s and early 1970s and is certainly one of the few working 30 years ago to still be an active and instantly recognised name today. The Hainish novels she wrote in the late 1960s and early 1970s brought her early renown and awards. The science fiction universe she created is sometimes buried by the success of her Earthsea books and the different directions of her later years but Le Guin has recently revisited and extended this family of books. In the course of her career she has written over 30 novels and short story collections which have, between them, earned her every significant award that SF has to offer, often more than once. Yet, some commentators have become uncomfortable with Le Guin's ideology, allowing their view of her best science fiction to be clouded by her subsequent academic reputation

The Left Hand of Darkness was the first great book written by Le Guin, winning both the Hugo and Nebula awards. It built on her journeyman novels set in the same Hainish universe but they pale beside this book, in which Le Guin fully found both her voice and her subject. The plot is, in barest outline, a standard trope of science fiction -- a visitor from an advanced civilisation brings a message to a non-space-age people. The essential twist seems simple in hindsight but it is an indicator of the new winds blowing through science fiction at the time. The people of the planet Winter are a variant human population, neuter five sixths of the time but who become either male or female when they become sexually active in the remaining part of the month. Every normal adult can -- and most do -- both bear and sire children. The result is a society where sexual inequality is simply impossible. This thought experiment is fascinating reading yet the book does not preach. These people have much in common with the wider community of humanity and the framework of the plot is strong enough for the discursive elements of the text.

Most of the story is told from the perspective of Genly Ai, the solo Earth visitor who holds the role of "First Mobile" to Winter from the League of Worlds. His mission is to bring news of the existence of other inhabited worlds and to encourage Winter's peoples to allow contact. He is, intentionally, a virtually unsupported ambassador, bringing a message of peace and technology; attempting to convince through his words and the presence of his space ship. They seem to find it difficult to believe (or acknowledge) that he is from another planet and consider his fixed sexuality a perversion. Despite his training, it is almost impossible for Ai to understand the personal or political values of the people he deals with. As a result, he is caught up in intrigue within and between governments. The neighbouring nations with which Ai is involved are broadly painted as a stratified, feudal country and a modern but bureaucratised nation. Given the different nature of these humans, the way such societies actually work is interesting through both the similarities and the contrasts with the expectations of first impressions.

Alongside Ai's reminisences, the book includes myths and stories as well as extracts from the journal of one of the inhabitants (which reads very much like an Antarctic sledging diary from a century ago, with its distance travelled and descriptions of ice and weather conditions). These give the book greater depth as an artifact and provide further explanation of the culture without filtering through Ai's understanding. Ai himself undergoes considerable physical and emotional suffering in the course of his mission; the book's ending tells as much about how he has changed as it does of the fate of his mission.

Le Guin's explanation of how Winter and its inhabitants came about is not hard science but the development of her ideas is fascinating. She builds up Winter's human and natural environments without falling into a lecturing style, offering plenty of food for thought by leaving as many questions open as she answers. The book also packs an emotional punch. Throw away any preconceptions and enjoy The Left Hand of Darkness.

You can purchase this book at Fatbrain. You may also be interested in checking out a Le Guin site that Duncan recommends. Would you like to see you review in this space? Check out our book review submission guidelines first :)

Duncan Lawie brings to the stage another dark-and-creepy sounding Science Fiction work: this time it's Bruce Sterling's latest, Zeitgeist, which may mark a departure for someone looking for "just another Bruce Sterling book." Hint: it's set in the past, not the future.

Zeitgeist author Bruce Sterling pages 304 publisher Bantam rating 8 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0553104934 summary Strange, possibly great, probably not SF; a remarkable new book from

"Bruce Sterling" and "seminal" never seem to be too far apart. His name is one of the great peaks of cyberpunk, not least as the editor of Mirrorshades, and he is renowned in the online world for his work in writing The Hacker Crackdown. Neither can Sterling be accused of standing still, having initiated the Viridian movement. An effect of this may yet be to repeat H.G.Wells, where his fiction becomes a servant of his increasing interest in adjusting the social fabric.

Sterling's latest novel, Zeitgeist, is set in a recognisable 1999 and filled with recognisable twentieth-century character types: the hobo, the drug smuggler, the secret agent, the enforcer. In fact, its twentieth-century characteristics are at the heart of this novel. Sterling has written a requiem for a dirty, rotten century; a description of a planet gorging on its own filth, stumbling from the bizarre, to crisis, to senselessness. It is a portrait of a world in turmoil told from the perspective of Leggy Starlitz, a latter-day man of a thousand faces.

Starlitz previously appeared as a rather opaque figure in the short stories such as 'The Littlest Jackal.' He slips through the edges of an increasingly regulated world, "rewriting his own narrative" to suit the circumstances. At the start of the book, he manages G-7, an all-girl marketing troupe. The satire of a band created solely to move merchandise -- and this is no synonym for records -- could easily be lost when the pop charts seem to be full of such arrangements, but Starlitz is there as part of a bet. This doesn't work terribly well as a plot driver, but Starlitz's involvement with a Turkish pop promoter who wants to control the group lights the touchpaper, and the appearance of Starlitz's family breaks open the storyline. Involvement with his daughter deepens Starlitz's character and pushes him into much greater connection with the ordinary world.

The book is a whirlwind tour through the dominant images of late twentieth-century society and a slingshot into the potential of the twenty-first. A central idea is that after Y2K everything must change -- the new century will have different characteristics and we must adapt to survive. Starlitz's own close identification with the twentieth century seems destined to hold him back, whilst he sees his daughter as a natural denizen of the next era. To an extent, this is a reflection of Sterling's own Viridian manifesto, contrasting the dark heart of the Atomic age with the new, clear era in front of us, which will be populated by people for whom 1999 will only ever be history. His message of hope is that we can transform ourselves, but his use of a literal interpretation results in a centrepiece for the book which sounds very much as if Sokal's application of pseudo-science is accepted as reality. This is as close as the book comes to science fiction -- it is more likely to find itself marked "magic realism," or possibly even "literature."

Though slow to start, Zeitgeist has a lot to offer -- locations from Cyprus to Hawaii and Istanbul to Colorado, a glancing blow from (at?) ECHELON, and discussions on the nature of pop and the malleability of reality. Setting the book in our own world and time gives it a curious edge for an SF reader reading an SF writer -- it is framed by events recognisable from news broadcasts but already part of history. The transformations in this book must be personal, or located at the edges of consensus reality, rather than a complete inversion of society. The message floats at or near the surface and the book concentrates significantly on its own style. It is sometimes overly clever but remains taut, interesting and, occasionally, amazing. As such, Zeitgeist catches the ghost of that remarkable century we have just escaped from.

You can purchase this book at Fatbrain.

Duncan Lawie wrote this review of a book (a collection, really, but in a single volume) that's been more than 50 years in the making -- A good reminder that good fiction can transcend its time of origin. Maybe it helps that time of origin plays an important role in the stories collected here.

Tales of the Dying Earth author Jack Vance pages 752 publisher St. Martin's Press rating 8.5 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0312874561 summary One of the ur-books of SF and of fantasy, and a delight to read.

Jack Vance, like most of his generation, is a veteran of the second world war, during which he started to write. He has continued to be published for over half a century, garnering a worthy collection of awards along the way, including one for his detective fiction. However, his most significant contribution has been to science fiction concepts of the far future and its tropes of planetary romance. In fact, his Tales of the Dying Earth largely defined a subgenre of the distant future. Even Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun, produced over 30 years later, has an apparent debt to Vance.

Tales of the Dying Earth is a recently released omnibus which begins with Vance's first published book -- The Dying Earth from 1950 -- and runs through to his last collection of stories from that setting, published in 1984. Over the extensive period in which the stories were produced, the definition of science fiction has changed, so that this omnibus is published in the UK as a "Fantasy Masterwork". However, it is apparent from the American cover that his work is still marketed within the SF mainstream there.

With the weight of opinion supporting Vance and the age of the early parts of this tome, it might seem that actually reading it would be a duty rather than a delight. Thankfully, this is not the case -- Vance has a light but sure touch. To an extent, he is making a virtue of his early inability to produce a complex plot, but the collection of vignettes and episodic stories allows a truly broad canvas.

In any case, the Dying Earth is not a place for great epics. When the bloated red sun may go out at any moment, heroics or malevolence each seem destined to go without reward. The world is a palimpsest and the rich breadth of history, whilst mostly lost or jumbled, is sufficient to ensure that few people of the last days expect to rank with the figures of the past. Nevertheless, the follies and foibles of human nature are inescapable and much of the verbiage is concerned with its wry investigation. Verbiage is used advisedly, as Vance clearly enjoys the richness of the English language and takes pleasure in the opportunity to add to what he finds. Some of his artful extensions have reached out of the book and into our usage -- the dying Earth is the native home of the grue , for example.

The first book, The Dying Earth, is a series of short stories, laying the foundations of a vast and ancient world. The next two, The Eyes of the Overworld and Cugel's Saga make up the bulk of the volume, describing Cugel's accidental journeys across the face of the planet. The final book, Rhialto the Marvellous, focuses on a coterie of magicians. The protagonists are flawed yet have a high opinion of themselves. Cugel often appears unlikely to get away with more than his life but faces both riches and poverty with equanimity. He is almost an archetypal trickster/thief and yet he is a very distinct individual. Rhialto also shows how influential Vance was in defining the idea of the magician, being both intelligent and cunning.

The magic within the book is vast and vague, allowing a reasoned approach to come to any conclusion it chooses -- perhaps deciding that the daemons have an extraterrestrial rather than a supernatural origin. Some of the stories offer the picaresque of a travelogue. Many offer a puzzle of some sort. On occasion, the narration reveals the solution before the character -- usually Cugel -- even notices the problem, allowing the reader to join in the amusement at the players' expense.

In other stories, mostly in the last book, only close reading will uncover something which the central figure considers almost too obvious to even mention. The Dying Earth has such depth and variety that both writer and reader are happy to return time and again to settings old and new. This compleat Tales of the Dying Earth is the essence of reading for pleasure.

You can purchase this book at FatBrain.

Duncan Lawie wrote this review of a book (a collection, really, but in a single volume) that's been more than 50 years in the making -- A good reminder that good fiction can transcend its time of origin. Maybe it helps that time of origin plays an important role in the stories collected here.

Tales of the Dying Earth author Jack Vance pages 752 publisher St. Martin's Press rating 8.5 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0312874561 summary One of the ur-books of SF and of fantasy, and a delight to read.

Jack Vance, like most of his generation, is a veteran of the second world war, during which he started to write. He has continued to be published for over half a century, garnering a worthy collection of awards along the way, including one for his detective fiction. However, his most significant contribution has been to science fiction concepts of the far future and its tropes of planetary romance. In fact, his Tales of the Dying Earth largely defined a subgenre of the distant future. Even Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun, produced over 30 years later, has an apparent debt to Vance.

Tales of the Dying Earth is a recently released omnibus which begins with Vance's first published book -- The Dying Earth from 1950 -- and runs through to his last collection of stories from that setting, published in 1984. Over the extensive period in which the stories were produced, the definition of science fiction has changed, so that this omnibus is published in the UK as a "Fantasy Masterwork". However, it is apparent from the American cover that his work is still marketed within the SF mainstream there.

With the weight of opinion supporting Vance and the age of the early parts of this tome, it might seem that actually reading it would be a duty rather than a delight. Thankfully, this is not the case -- Vance has a light but sure touch. To an extent, he is making a virtue of his early inability to produce a complex plot, but the collection of vignettes and episodic stories allows a truly broad canvas.

In any case, the Dying Earth is not a place for great epics. When the bloated red sun may go out at any moment, heroics or malevolence each seem destined to go without reward. The world is a palimpsest and the rich breadth of history, whilst mostly lost or jumbled, is sufficient to ensure that few people of the last days expect to rank with the figures of the past. Nevertheless, the follies and foibles of human nature are inescapable and much of the verbiage is concerned with its wry investigation. Verbiage is used advisedly, as Vance clearly enjoys the richness of the English language and takes pleasure in the opportunity to add to what he finds. Some of his artful extensions have reached out of the book and into our usage -- the dying Earth is the native home of the grue , for example.

The first book, The Dying Earth, is a series of short stories, laying the foundations of a vast and ancient world. The next two, The Eyes of the Overworld and Cugel's Saga make up the bulk of the volume, describing Cugel's accidental journeys across the face of the planet. The final book, Rhialto the Marvellous, focuses on a coterie of magicians. The protagonists are flawed yet have a high opinion of themselves. Cugel often appears unlikely to get away with more than his life but faces both riches and poverty with equanimity. He is almost an archetypal trickster/thief and yet he is a very distinct individual. Rhialto also shows how influential Vance was in defining the idea of the magician, being both intelligent and cunning.

The magic within the book is vast and vague, allowing a reasoned approach to come to any conclusion it chooses -- perhaps deciding that the daemons have an extraterrestrial rather than a supernatural origin. Some of the stories offer the picaresque of a travelogue. Many offer a puzzle of some sort. On occasion, the narration reveals the solution before the character -- usually Cugel -- even notices the problem, allowing the reader to join in the amusement at the players' expense.

In other stories, mostly in the last book, only close reading will uncover something which the central figure considers almost too obvious to even mention. The Dying Earth has such depth and variety that both writer and reader are happy to return time and again to settings old and new. This compleat Tales of the Dying Earth is the essence of reading for pleasure.

You can purchase this book at FatBrain.

Adventurous reader Duncan Lawie, throwing himself in the way of the books being hurled at you by well-meaning bookstores, wrote this review of Mission of Gravity. If your taste in Science Fiction runs to the adventurous and thoughtful, Duncan may just turn you on to a work he says is "elegant and simple."

Mission of Gravity author Hal Clement pages 200 publisher UK: Gollancz USA: NESFA Press rating 9.5 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 1-886778-08-6 summary Summary: Low tech aliens on a high-pressure trek impossible for humans -- brilliantly simple, simply brilliant. Hal Clement is a writer of the golden age of science fiction, having been first published in Astounding SF in the early 1940s. As well as painting, he spent many years as a high school science teacher and his love of science is apparent in his writing. His ability to communicate this passion and the display of ideas in his work makes him one of the architects of hard science fiction. Mission of Gravity is the work which defined Clement's reputation, at least in part through the concurrent publication of an article in which he explained the world building behind the novel, which is included in a new NESFA Press publication.

The blueprint for Mission of Gravity is so simple that the tale might almost be expected to tell itself. It is a further grace of the book that it often feels as if this is exactly what is happening. A human exploration mission has lost a valuable probe on the planet Mesklin. This massive planet spins at such a rate that there is a extreme gravity gradient from the poles to the distorted equatorial bulge. The story opens near the equator where native "Mesklinites," exploring north, have made friends with the strange human visitors. Clement is not interested in the potential confusion of first contact so the lead alien -- Barlennan, captain of the trader ship Bree -- has already learned English and has agreed to undertake a further long journey to the polar regions to recover the probe. He and his crew are from a high gravity zone and professional travellers, so such an adventure holds the promise of profit for both human and Mesklinite.

The subsequent adventure is so absorbing because the planetary science is integral and integrated into both the setting and the mental characteristics of the alien protagonists. Barlennan -- alongside at least some of his shipmates -- has a raw intelligence equal to that of his human mentors, but it is informed by their wholly different environment. They are hard-shelled, many-legged crawlers, with eyes low to the ground and an almost irrational fear of anything falling; evolved for and adapted to living in over 700 gravities. The sail-powered ship in which they cross oceans is a series of flat rafts tied together, the concept of a "hollow boat" being wholly unknown to them. In common with many heroes of this era of science fiction, they display a love for knowledge and a wiry resilience. Though they change as they learn, these aliens retain a character and approach which ensures they are not mistaken for humans in disguise. The novel's transit of the planet is aided by radio contact with the human base on the planet's moon, allowing much interchange of information. As this territory is unknown to Barlennan's society, the reader can share the "newness" from the Mesklinite perspective as well as the human. The protagonists show a clear joy in learning about the world around them, both through exploration on their own world and through the new concepts of science they gain from their human confederates.

While Clement is clearly of the view that a rounded grounding in science is essential for the modern citizen, he doesn't grind this into either the reader or the players. Explanations are brief yet sufficient to intrigue those not already familiar with the underlying science, offering a trigger for independent research and a key with which to unlock the potentially dry tomes of pure science. The book is so deeply embedded in a positive scientific worldview that it can communicate the desirability of learning almost without noticing it is doing so. Mission of Gravity is elegant and simple, fun, filled with wonder and a joy to read.

You can purchase this book at Fatbrain

Duncan Lawie, stalwart science fiction reviewer, this time steps up to the plate with what you might call a meta-science fiction book, Thomas Disch's The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of: How Science Fiction Conquered the World. Considering that SF has been around as such for far shorter than many other types of literature, a book like this sounds like it may be useful in explaining its disproportionate hold on the public imagination. (Personally, I'd like to read the stuff on Heinlein.)

The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of author Thomas M. Disch pages 255 publisher Touchstone rating 8.5 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0684859785 summary Pyrotechnics and solid research build a thoroughly readable and opinionated book.

Thomas M. Disch was raised in Minnesota and started publishing science fiction in the early 1960s. His close involvement with the New Wave meant much of his early work was more closely associated with the UK than with the country of his birth. From the mid-1970s, he has been as well known for his poetry. Though he has not ceased to write, his increasingly large sphere of interest has reduced his science fictional output considerably, though he clearly remains in close contact with the authors and trends of the genre. His literate, intelligent approach is apparent in all he does.

The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of sets out to present a critical history of science fiction but is perhaps more interesting instead as a critical view of the American psyche. Disch's thesis is built on twin foundations -- that science fiction is an American form and that Americans believe they have a "right to lie." The first pillar is not thoroughly investigated -- at least, the argument is unlikely to convince non-Americans. The second idea is approached from almost every angle; its corollary -- and the reason for Disch's subtitle -- is that people want to believe. Disch's exploration of science fiction can decide that Edgar Allen Poe is "our embarrassing ancestor" because he has already reached the decision that SF is itself an American form. He dismisses Mary Shelley's Frankenstein as a progenitor because her science is "fast talking and stage props" which serves to set the stage for classic melodrama, rather than as the real core of the book. Against this, Poe is set up as a prototypical American hoaxer and that his 'science fiction' is defined by a genuine desire to convince readers that what he writes is not mere fiction. It is thanks to this root stock that Disch feels able to discuss science fiction beyond its existence as a literary and visual form.

The book is primarily structured as a series of thematic essays, without much emphasis on timeline. Disch assumes a reasonably well-read audience, while making considerable room for those unfamiliar with his more obscure subjects. This is, of course, a necessary approach as it is often through early authors (with works unavailable to the general public) that Disch builds his background. Nevertheless, he does not rely on them to provide him with sacrificial victims; he would far rather tear pieces off the big names we are already familiar with. There is no shortage of diatribe in these pages. The invective is principally concentrated on those who have come to use the form for their own propaganda and those who present their fictions as fact. In the first camp, his principle targets are famous names who have spent the latter parts of their career attempting to reshape their work or the history of the field itself. Heinlein is an obvious target; Disch provides a good serving on this author's long march from Radical Socialist to Radical Libertarian. He has even less good to say for the "military strategist" members of Heinlein's circle and very little to the benefit of Ursula Le Guin. His concerns with Le Guin are based on her apparent attempt to mould not just science fictional histories and futures to her own ends but the history and future of science fiction. According to Disch, Le Guin has gained vertiginous regard in academic circles and is using this position to influence the manner in which SF is taught academically. A particularly tasty element of his case against Le Guin involves his Aunt Cecilia's recipe for lemon pudding -- you too can cook a footnote.

Disch prefers to see the blemishes of the field he loves than to remake it in his own image but he retains his greatest scorn for those who attempt to remake the world in the image of their own fictions. This is where SF is indeed in danger of conquering the world. The principal natures of this particular megalomania are the UFOlogists and the home-made religions. Readers familiar with Disch will know of his long-standing disgust at Whitley Strieber and can enjoy the thorough dismantling of Strieber's alien encounters. Disch returns again and again to the UFOlogists and their increasing hold on the American mind: he compares the nature of these tales with the stories of science fiction itself, he discusses the increasing complexity of the scam which constitutes the average abduction tale, he considers the place of such beliefs alongside other modern manias for recovered memory. The ability of the human mind to "entertain" belief is a vital element for the success of these alien tales. The desire to actually believe is essential to the success of the 'science fiction religions' and, Disch suggests, the most successful of these in the late twentieth century is Scientology. Like Strieber, he recalls, L. Ron Hubbard started out as a science fiction writer. Like Strieber, Hubbard wanted more. Unlike Strieber, though, Hubbard was supported -- at first -- by the SF community from which he came. His first public presentation of Dianetics was in Astounding Science Fiction, after Hubbard had apparently already suggested that "if a man really wanted to make a million dollars, the best way to do it would be start his own religion." Disch's final position is that, amongst the many deluded minds, there are those who have realized that the best way to make money from fiction is to present it as fact, and the fiction that people most want to believe in our era are fictions of a better future -- science fiction.

The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of offers hugely entertaining detail and such incisive insight that it earns forgiveness for its inevitable moments of contrariness.

You can purchase this book at ThinkGeek, and you may want to check out Thomas M. Disch's website as well. Me:

Unstoppable reviewer Duncan Lawie is back through the gate this time with his review of a legitimate science fiction classic (though one that may be hard to find at your local MegaStore), Brian Aldiss' Non-Stop. I wonder my local oddball bookstore has a used copy in stock ...

Non-Stop author Brian Aldiss pages 260 publisher USA: Carrol & Graf; UK: Millennium rating 7.5 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0881844926 summary One of the Old Books of Power in science fiction - still in print

Brian Aldiss started writing in the 1950s and is still going strong. His publications include several autobiographical works and a number of mainstream novels from which he is quoted in the Oxford English Dictionary over 100 times. Nevertheless, he is most widely known as an author of science fiction. In this field, he was an important contributor to the British New Wave of the late 1960s and has written influential works on the history of SF -- being credited with originating the now widely held view that Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is one of the progenitors of the genre. Despite the quantity and quality of his science fiction, his genre-crossing approach and an aversion to repeating himself make it difficult to view his work as a cohesive body.

Non-Stop was Aldiss' first science fiction novel. Like much 1950s SF it was first published as a magazine serial. The partwork structure shapes the novel and the exploration of the world which the characters inhabit. The first section describes life in the Greene Tribe, a society which has decayed from our own with a religion derived from Freud and Jung. The primary viewpoint character is a typical disaffected youth who runs away yet finds himself forced to take on great responsibility. He is one of a mismatched group which escapes the tribe's territory in search of fame and power in mythical places far from the corridors of their birth. Such a template has been a part of story telling since at least the time of Homer, yet here the central characters are far from heroic and learn almost everything the hard way. Each subsequent section broadens the scope and adjusts the focus of the story, gradually revealing the true nature and effect of the claustrophobic environs.

One potential problem with the book is the way in which much of the back story is recounted. The central characters find a diary and the reader is simply given a huge data dump. Many questions of history are answered, explaining for the reader's benefit how this world came to be, as the diary's author has a viewpoint much like our own. Rather than offering closure, the additional historical perspective generates new resonances in the plot. The information cannot be easily digested by the novel's protagonists. Neither can it solve the crises of the present; the satisfaction of intellectual understanding does not end mortal danger. The final portion of the book demonstrates the the use of this rediscovered knowledge but shows a world about to be remade as much by fire as order.

Non-Stop has a fearsome reputation and the setting must be familiar to many with a passing knowledge of science fiction. Some of the ideas within it have been reused in so many different ways that it is difficult to imagine in advance that this ancient text could be worth reading for any reason other than genre archaeology. However, it retains its place in many lists of great SF novels for better reason than nostalgia for the youth of the genre or author -- or reader. It is the extent to which the occupants have lost their context and the effects of regaining awareness of their history which gives this novel its lasting power. The book's revelations are not dulled by their apparent familiarity. There is much more to it than the clever use of what was then an original setting. The lasting strengths of Non-Stop are its awareness of the universal themes of human nature and its sharp writing.

You can purchase this book at Fatbrain.

Duncan Lawie wrote this review of Candle, which portrays a frightening but not-so-unbelieveable future, when today's notion of a digital divide is turned precisely on its head: it's a world where not being connected is not only unheard of, but criminal. Read this summary to decide whether it belongs on your "to-read" list, but it's just landed on mine. Candle author John Barnes pages 230 publisher Tor Books rating 7 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 031289077 summary An original approach to the augmentation of human nature with technology, thoughtfully told.

John Barnes has written 11 novels and 2 trilogies since his first publication in the mid 1980s, often delving into the political science (in which he earned his MA) and themes of social engineering, whether set on alien planets or our own. These "soft" ideas are combined with hard science fiction to realise credible environments and compelling stories. The variety of narrative style and subject matter across his career has kept his work fresh while his inventiveness and the quality of his writing continues to draw in readers.

The framing story of Candle opens with the narrator, Currie, being called out of retirement. He lives in a world where those who do not run the client software of the omnipresent meme are unacceptable outlaws. Currie, whose final career was to hunt down such renegades, is reactivated to capture what might be the last "cowboy" and is soon tramping and skiing in the Rocky Mountains. The calm, glowing descriptions of the mountains in winter provide a spectacular vision of a world in the process of renewal. At the same time, the unemphasised detail of how Currie lives his life and the high-tech tools and equipment which he uses shows that the human world has changed. Having piqued the readers curiosity, the story maintains the gentle flow of the narrator's voice as he pursues his search. Despite the potential danger, this almost slips into longeur before the story changes pace. With an adjustment to the narrative focus, Barnes uses the Arabian Nights technique to reveal the underpinnings of Currie's world. The book is subsequently woven around the tales of two old soldiers who ended up on opposite sides in the Meme Wars, generating a patina of inevitability in the world changing events and softening the horror which permeated their early lives.

Barnes' concept of the Memes originates with the computer viruses of our own time, combined with the idea that ideas have an existence of their own. In Candle, Memes have jumped the sentience gap from hardware to wetware, allowing them to run within the human brain, placing beliefs directly and absolutely in the mind, incontrovertible except by the destruction or replacement of the meme itself.

The grim days of the early 21st century decay into the horror of the Meme Wars as the competing belief systems make a promiscuous advance across the minds of the planet until they come into open conflict, using humans as puppets or mercenaries. Beyond human life and death, the memes themselves evolve, becoming their own entity. The mind-viruses, the unfolding war and the effects of final victory on Earth for a single meme are all well developed and ably related.

Even so, Candle is more a novel of ideas. Perhaps it is inevitable that humanity will inflict itself with pain and horror; it may be that an ultimately rational overseer can lead each individual life to cause less pain and align fully to the greater good of humanity and the natural world. The book suggests that a governor inside the mind which could override and overwrite, "clearing" the psyche of its stains might allow us to be the best we can be. Such a position calls into question the value of free will and the meaning of human nature. The resulting debate between the logical and the visceral in which rational propositions are countered with emotional responses, produces an unbalanced and incomplete discussion. Nevertheless, Barnes is a good enough author that he shows the final outcomes of the arguments through their effect on society.

Candle has sufficient structure and purpose to carry the weight of its reflective elements, displaying originality in its approach to ideas as old as philosophy itself.

Purchase this book at FatBrain. It's out of stock at the moment, but they have been able to obtain out-of-stock books before, given enough interest.

More information below -- for your edification and amusement -- on black holes (if they exist), Napster (a happy outcome for once), comparitive computer languages (after Chris Rijk's Java / C comparison) and more. Even a (gasp) positive statement about Microsoft. Hope you enjoy it.

What goes up must go SPLOOSH. Detritus writes: "The BBC is reporting that GRO has reentered the atmosphere and splashed down in the Pacific ocean, as predicted." So just what is the space equivalent of Davy Jones' Locker?

Serbo-Croatian, Swahili, Esperanto. After many spirited comments regarding Chris Rijk's Java / C shootout, Nilsson writes: "John Pierce has done some interesting language performance tests. Instead of benchmarking how a problem can be solved in the fastest possible way he tries to benchmark how an average programmer would have solved the problem in various languages. C, Awk, Java, Perl, Pike and Tcl are tested. You can probably start religious wars with this document." Tools for the job, tools for the job ...

Just like an after-school special. Landaras writes "NYC pointed out in a thread that The Offspring and Napster have reached a very amicable settlement over the whole t-shirt issue link Since you clarified that Napster wasn't suing (it was a cease and decist) you might want to again clarify that the cease and decist has been dropped. In fact, Napster is now helping The Offspring create new products." Writing in with more detail, mishaco pointed out this link to an NME story noting that " Napster have now backed down, allowing the band to sell the material, but only if the proceeds are donated to charity."

If it exists, it blows. Which doesn't suck, necessarily. dthor writes: "The Hubble Space Telescope finds more freaks of space: a black hole that's been switched from suck to blow. Apparently, a black hole in the Virgo cluster has begun to emit largish bubbles of colourful nebula gas (or rather...began to emit hundreds of years ago, but CNN is just now catching up). Read the article, complete with an "interactive" Anatomy of a Black Hole (the regular sucking kind). Neato." [Updated 8 June 12:05GMT by timothy] Note that, as readers like daVinci1980 point out below, this is entirely consistent with current black hole theory and observations. There's not really a "suck / blow" switch on black holes' control panels. That we know of.

How the suits saw it. Duncan Lawie penned -- err, "tapped" -- his account of the UK Linux Expo 2000 in London, and it was at least partly about code, distributions and drinking beer. On the other side of the aisle, meanwhile ... Xolution writes "There's a small article on CNN.com about Linux starting to come into the mainstream."

Out of the goodness of their 8-chambered hearts? Kaufmann writes: "Bruce reports: they've received email from a MS product manager, promising to fix the Interix GPL violation (recently reported on Slashdot as well). That's a relief." Nice to hear; thanks for Bruce and company for the sharp eye and persistence.

Maureen F. McHugh grew up in Ohio and has lived in both New York and China. She returned to her home state to write science fiction which has received a multitude of nominations and awards. Her fourth novel is due out shortly. China Mountain Zhang was McHugh's first novel and seems to epitomize the idea of writing about what you know. It is an expansion of two previously published short stories, one becoming the primary narrative and the other being used in counterpoint. Thanks to Duncan Lawie for reviewing this fine book. China Mountain Zhang author Maureen F. McHugh pages 310 publisher Tom Doherty Associates (Tor) (1993) rating 7.5 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0312860986 summary Solid world building and a Chinese perspective combined into an original and interesting work.

The future Earth of China Mountain Zhang is dominated by Chinese communism. Nations in the communist sphere -- including the former USA -- are subject to a hierarchy which puts Chinese citizens, and China itself, ahead of all else. Even those who look Chinese get preferential treatment. The protagonist, Zhang, looks fully Chinese but this is partly a result of genetic adjustment. He takes advantage of this lie, but fears the revelation of his impure bloodline. He is also homosexual, and this is an additional source of paranoia on his part. In mainland China, homosexuality is a capital offense but, like the free market economy, it is tolerated in the United States.

Zhang is a negative character, inherently ill at ease with himself, reactive and self destructive. His story is a search for self belief. The opening chapters have a grey outlook on New York under the communist regime, imbued with the gloom of Zhang's self denial. The following section, set in Northern Canada, transforms the novel into a book with hope. The key point is a powerful, elegiac passage in which Zhang is confronted by the Arctic Winter. Here in the blank wastes and the long night he must also face himself. The rest of the book explores the repercussions on Zhang's life of these events.

This primary narrative is intercut with the counterpoint of other perspectives. At first, these apparently unconnected threads make the shape of the novel more difficult to determine, though they are loosely tied into the main story as the novel progresses. These "sidebars," set in New York and on Mars, offer additional context, helping to create a more rounded picture of the world in which the story takes place. It is here that the shape of America's future history is outlined: global warming and a new great depression signalled the end for the capitalist state, while integration into the communist perspective recapitulated the early brutalities of Communist China.

Too often the feeling of impending doom collapses into the most likely unpleasant reality. This fits with the underlying study of a depressive episode, but the story of Zhang's coming to terms with himself and the resulting changes in his character is neatly told. McHugh has an excellent command of mood and of language. The conflation of the original short stories is a little uneasy, though not so much that the twin sources are obvious. The inclusion of Chinese and Spanish effectively reinforces the non-Anglo background of most of the novel. This complex context seems more fully realized than many other science fiction attempts in recent years. By comparison, she colours the tropes of Martian colonisation and global warming with a light brush, allowing the echoes to be heard from many other novels without conscious borrowing. The unusual perspectives can make this a difficult work to access but China Mountain Zhang is well worth that effort.

purchase this book at fatbrain.

Maureen F. McHugh grew up in Ohio and has lived in both New York and China. She returned to her home state to write science fiction which has received a multitude of nominations and awards. Her fourth novel is due out shortly. China Mountain Zhang was McHugh's first novel and seems to epitomize the idea of writing about what you know. It is an expansion of two previously published short stories, one becoming the primary narrative and the other being used in counterpoint. Thanks to Duncan Lawie for reviewing this fine book. China Mountain Zhang author Maureen F. McHugh pages 310 publisher Tom Doherty Associates (Tor) (1993) rating 7.5 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0312860986 summary Solid world building and a Chinese perspective combined into an original and interesting work.

The future Earth of China Mountain Zhang is dominated by Chinese communism. Nations in the communist sphere -- including the former USA -- are subject to a hierarchy which puts Chinese citizens, and China itself, ahead of all else. Even those who look Chinese get preferential treatment. The protagonist, Zhang, looks fully Chinese but this is partly a result of genetic adjustment. He takes advantage of this lie, but fears the revelation of his impure bloodline. He is also homosexual, and this is an additional source of paranoia on his part. In mainland China, homosexuality is a capital offense but, like the free market economy, it is tolerated in the United States.

Zhang is a negative character, inherently ill at ease with himself, reactive and self destructive. His story is a search for self belief. The opening chapters have a grey outlook on New York under the communist regime, imbued with the gloom of Zhang's self denial. The following section, set in Northern Canada, transforms the novel into a book with hope. The key point is a powerful, elegiac passage in which Zhang is confronted by the Arctic Winter. Here in the blank wastes and the long night he must also face himself. The rest of the book explores the repercussions on Zhang's life of these events.

This primary narrative is intercut with the counterpoint of other perspectives. At first, these apparently unconnected threads make the shape of the novel more difficult to determine, though they are loosely tied into the main story as the novel progresses. These "sidebars," set in New York and on Mars, offer additional context, helping to create a more rounded picture of the world in which the story takes place. It is here that the shape of America's future history is outlined: global warming and a new great depression signalled the end for the capitalist state, while integration into the communist perspective recapitulated the early brutalities of Communist China.

Too often the feeling of impending doom collapses into the most likely unpleasant reality. This fits with the underlying study of a depressive episode, but the story of Zhang's coming to terms with himself and the resulting changes in his character is neatly told. McHugh has an excellent command of mood and of language. The conflation of the original short stories is a little uneasy, though not so much that the twin sources are obvious. The inclusion of Chinese and Spanish effectively reinforces the non-Anglo background of most of the novel. This complex context seems more fully realized than many other science fiction attempts in recent years. By comparison, she colours the tropes of Martian colonisation and global warming with a light brush, allowing the echoes to be heard from many other novels without conscious borrowing. The unusual perspectives can make this a difficult work to access but China Mountain Zhang is well worth that effort.

purchase this book at fatbrain.

Duncan Lawie has returned with a review of Star Maker, a science fiction novel written by Olaf Stapledon. Part science fiction, part philosphical text, it's worth checking out. Originally published in 1968, it was re-printed last summer, making it available again for the first time in a long time. Star Maker author Olaf Stapledon pages 270 publisher Peter Smith Publishing (06/1999, orig. 1968) rating 8/10 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0844629952 summary A complex philosophical novel filled with enduring images spiralling from the human to the universal scale.

Olaf Stapledon was a British writer and philosopher whose first science fiction was published in 1930. Much of his writing concerns the concept of "true community" and his belief that humanity, as it currently exists, has no real capacity for a genuine understanding of truth. This places him far outside of the pulp mainstream of science fiction in his period. His emphasis on social comment rather than action and his use of science fictional processes to advance philosophical discourse instead continues the strand of "scientific romance" by then established in the British literary tradition.

Star Maker, first published in 1937, is generally considered Stapledon's best work. From the first the book displays its lyricism despite the mundane early subject of the suburbs after sunset. In these quiet homes, the possible existence of a genuine relationship between two people is explored in a first attempt to illuminate the concept of true community. Placed in conflict with such an ideal is the immensity of the world and the apparent impossibility of any human having a true relationship with all people. From these eminently recognizable circumstances the narrator quickly extends his viewpoint to consider the world and its multitudes before coming to the suggestion that all this is insignificant in the face of the universe.

Having touched upon his main themes, Stapledon expands his focus. The next section is a clearly written account of an alien race with which the narrator comes into contact. The successes and failures of that alien society become an implicit counterpoint to human experience, though the narrator cannot help rounding this out with a number of more explicit comparisons before moving on to describe countless further societies. These descriptive passages are powerful examples of the richness of Stapledon's imagination. Many of the ideas summed up in a few brief pages could have been developed into full chapters or novels of their own. In fact, the narrator repeatedly states that he "has not space to describe" details of many of the events he witnesses. The text also contains repeated comments on how little the narrator has retained of the events and situations experienced. Whilst this is at times frustrating, it is clear that Stapledon has greater things in mind than simple description of the fantastic diversity of the universe.

As each level of his story becomes clear, the themes of community, hope and futility are played out in a grand spiral of ever escalating scales of action. After several iterations, the process seems clear and the book looks likely to become tedious. Instead the very rate of magnification is itself transformed to a whole new scale. As the book reaches universal immensity, early heights become trivialities against the ineffable activities of increasingly sane, immortal beings, though hope and failure are still a vital impetus. The end point of intelligent life is approached and revelation - of sorts - is achieved in a final ecstasy.

The resultant novel is rather dry, infinitely high minded and focused on a philosophy which requires the best from each of us without necessarily offering any reward. However, the ideas are endlessly fascinating and many of the passages are profoundly satisfying reading. The book's use of repetition in theme and punctuated revelation allow complex ideas to be absorbed without conscious effort. Star Maker is a novel which deserves savouring and rewards careful reading.

Purchase this book from fatbrain.

Duncan Lawie, resident science fiction reviewer and world traveler has sent a review of Iain (M) Banks' Inversions. The book itself is a good story, but also has a very interesting writing style. Form and function - what a novel idea. *grin* Inversions author Iain M Banks pages ~400 publisher Pocket Books, 02/2000 rating 8/10 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0671036688 summary A novel of interlocking narratives which combines formal methods and informal prose into a strong story.

Iain (M.) Banks is one of the more famous split personalities in recent publishing history. He has written ten non-genre novels as Ian Banks and produced eight books of science fiction as Iain M. Banks. His first novel was published in 1984. Reviews of his "literary" works have occasionally suggested a merging of the two streams of his career but this ignores the significant fantastic and science fiction elements present even in his early "mainstream" novels. His "science fiction" has been more clearly defined, with the majority of these works being shaped by the galaxy-spanning civilization known as the Culture.

Inversions, the latest novel by Iain M. Banks, is set in a post medieval world. It is a time after the end of empire, with a new model of devolved power emerging from the chaos. There are two narratives, intercut chapter by chapter and covering the same period but set in the capitals of different countries. The main subjects of the narratives are strangers to the society in which they live but have each made themselves indispensable to the leaders of their nations. One has become the personal bodyguard of the Protector, the leader of a revolution which has overthrown a hereditary monarchy and brought new power to the merchant classes. The other is the king's personal doctor, who has reached that position through her inordinate skill despite being both a foreigner and a woman. This has given each stranger the potential to influence without political office, and their stories reflect the story of their chosen country.

This novel could have been published in the black and white cover of a "mainstream" Ian Banks novel and would still have retained much of its value. However, as a work by Iain M. Banks there are significant resonances with the rest of his science fiction oeuvre. In this light the major inversion of the novel is that the tale of external interference with a developing civilisation is told from the viewpoint of the affected society rather than from the technological standpoint of Banks' previous novels. It does this by using narrators indigenous to the world and limited in their understanding of events. The book is largely successful in this use of fallible narrators and viewed from this angle the tales of mythical lands quickly decode to everyday life in a more advanced society.

Inversions is equally successful in the exposition of its themes. It is a book about change, catching societies at the cusp of advance and displaying alternative approaches. The story of nations is counterpointed by that of individuals and it is the telling of their stories which provides an avenue for understanding the lessons Banks is offering in this book. The resultant novel has a very formal format, being balanced between personal and national viewpoints and with each of the two stories providing a partial key to the other. This produces a roman a clef with the option of further keys through familiarity with Banks' other science fiction. In this context, the mapping of personal development to that of a culture is striking. There is a full involvement with the lives and emotions of the central characters which gives a rounded understanding of these protagonists. Their interests and struggles offer sufficient insight into the larger story of nations to be able to infer a long span of the history of this world from the events of a short period. The combination of formalized style for the novel and the writer's informality work well together. The writing flows easily and the story rapidly draws the reader in. Inversions is an interesting alternate in Banks' science fiction, both for its viewpoint and its formal framework, and as such has much to offer.

Purchase this book at fatbrain.

Our science fiction reviewer in residence, Duncan Lawie has reviewed Ian McDonald's Sacrifice of Fools. This book balances an incisive look at human nature to a backdrop of alien settlement. Click below to learn more. Sacrifice of Fools author Ian McDonald pages 280 publisher Gollancz, 1996 rating 9/10 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN summary A strongly written novel balancing an excellent understanding of humannature with a well-paced investigation of alien settlers. Ian McDonald was born in England but has lived in Northern Ireland since he was a small child. His first short story was published in the early 1980s and he has been a full time writer for over a decade. He has published eight novels, a graphic novel, a novella and numerous short stories. His work has tended to be dark, sincere material, gripping in it's complexity and understanding of the world, even when his characters seem to be wholly alien.

His work has often been so lyrical and remote that it is interesting to see him tackle a near future subject set in his home territory. It is even more interesting that he succeeds in doing this without the barest usage of the devices of cyberpunk though there is no shortage of violence in this projected vision of Northern Ireland. The Joint Authority, which was entering the news as Sacrifice of Fools was being written, has become a reality. The arrival of aliens has seemed more likely at times than reaching this political settlement in the Province. Of course, in this novel, the aliens have arrived, migrating across 80 light years to find our planet as inhabited as it is habitable. The governments of Earth have come to an agreement with the Shian, making a place for their communities around the planet, including a large group in Northern Ireland. In a society polarised from birth the appearance of this new third force is seen as a threat by both Protestants and Catholics manoeuvring for political power in the new peacetime.

Andy Gillespie, a former protestant enforcer who has learned the alien's language in prison, is an immediate suspect when a group of Shian is brutally murdered. Historical tensions feeding into the new politics place the police under immense pressure to resolve the crime. Their investigation suggests that the method is impossible for aliens but that the weapon is alien technology. Gillespie's reaction to being tailed by the police is an attempt to find his own answers. His initial efforts are baffled by the Shian and put him in increasing danger from his own kind. The police investigation is hampered by their inability to accept the Shian as being truly alien, whilst Gillespie finds himself going deep into the Shian mindset.

The strength of characterisation underpins the credibility of the novel. The humans are ordinary people who have lived lives under the shadow of the troubles in Northern Ireland. The Shian seem almost human at first and the increasing development of their different nature is underscored by the surface similarities, giving them an almost palpable reality. Gillespie is a magnificently developed primary character and the surrounding cast of police and paramilitary also shine through as real people, genuine individuals, unpleasant as they often are. It is also creditable that the police investigation maintains momentum despite the potential for this to trail away amidst the continued revelations. It is a driving force throughout the novel, paralleling Gillespie's own travails.

Central themes of this book include self worth and the need for acceptance. Sometimes it seems that the two are virtually incompatible which can place intense pressures on the individual. This is displayed in the Northern Irish setting without the need for recourse to the third force. However, when aliens are stirred into the mix some find their allegiance wholly transferred and this process is beautifully realised. The working out of Shian society is just as thorough, reflecting humanity's desire to think it understands the other and demonstrating how futile this belief often is. Sacrifice of Fools is a book of deep truths worked through a mature plot.

Ian McDonald: http://www.sfsite.com/lists/ianmc.htm

It's an import from zShops.

Our master reviewer of science fiction and fantasy fare, Duncan Lawie has returned. His choice of topic is a favorite book of mine, A Canticle for Leibowitz, a post-Apocalyptical book by Walter M. Miller, Jr. If you've read, join in the discussion, and if you haven't consider this a must-read. A Canticle for Leibowitz author Walter M. Miller, Jr. pages ? publisher Bantam rating 9/10 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0553379267 summary A powerful and thought provoking study of human nature in a wellconstructed future history.

Walter M. Miller, Jr wrote most of his science fiction in the 1950s. His work was influential in its treatment of character and for the complexity of his approach to standard science fiction themes. He converted to Catholicism in the 1940s and his faith had a direct bearing on much of his output. His short stories have been collected into a number of volumes but he is remembered principally today for the one novel published in his lifetime, A Canticle for Leibowitz, and, to a lesser extent, its sequel, Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman.

It is indicative of the nature of science fiction in the 1950s that so much of what was published in novel form had a previous life in the monthly magazines. A Canticle for Leibowitz is no exception to this, being a collation of three separately published novellas covering a long period in the future of humanity. This results in a book that could be described as a condensed trilogy. It is perhaps best read in that manner, with a pause for contemplation between sections separated in original publication by a couple of years and in setting by six centuries. Such a reading is aided by the lyrical drawing away from detail as each part concludes.

The story is of the slow rise of a new civilisation from the ashes of our own, which was ended by the Flame Deluge and the Age of Simplification. Leibowitz was a "booklegger" from this time who was martyred as he attempted to save knowledge from the mob which believed that all learning led to the hubris of Mutually Assured Destruction. The plot is centred on the abbey of a monastic order which honours Leibowitz and treasures the material he and his accomplices saved. As the story opens, this material is more religious relic than literal knowledge. Too much of the foundation of twentieth century culture has been ripped away for the remnant to be understood in a superstitious age. Despite this the Order believes that a time will come again for such work to be understood and so it keeps the holy duty of preservation. The later parts of the story carry through the grand historical process of building a new civilisation.

However, this is not so much a dynastic saga as the illumination of history through a series of vignettes. The characters spring fully formed into print. Their past lives are barely sketched but their hopes and fears are individual and realistic. As the world around them changes, the monks must each confront in their own lives the nature and execution of their duty to God and its relationship with duty to man. The central theme of pride and humility is played out repeatedly but in such different ways that new insight is gained on each iteration.

Whilst the monks of the abbey are restricted to a normal span of years, Miller manages a powerful continuity of presence in the abbey itself. It is filled with the words and ideas of centuries of Christianity. It evokes the belief in eternity of the medieval church builders and echoes the timeless feeling often experienced in any truly old building. Miller also recalls characters from earlier periods in the story through the artefacts and ideas they leave behind them. Partly as a product of this, the tone darkens through the course of the book. The weight of history increases with the rate of progress, along with an increasing fear that humanity may not have learned the lessons of its past.

For most modern readers the book itself almost becomes its own metaphor. It is littered with learning which has lost much of its currency in recent generations. As a result, it tends to represent the books sealed in barrels by the bookleggers of the next age - many of us could use a guide to interpret the Hebrew lettering or Church Latin. Despite this flavour of the arcane, it addresses fundamental questions of our relationship with knowledge and technology. A Canticle for Lebowitz is a well rounded and thought provoking book. Its concepts and conclusions are as relevant today as when it was written.

Purchase this book at fatbrain.

Duncan Lawie continues his voyage through science fiction worth reading, reviewing this week James Blish's Cites in Flight. The book itself is a compilation of: They Shall Have Stars, A Life for the Stars, Earthman, Come Home and A Clash of Cymbals (aka The Triumph of Time), all stories by Blish. Click below to read more about the good, and the not-so good in this collection. Cities in Flight author James Blish pages ? publisher Baen Books, 1991 rating 8/10 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0671720708 summary Thoughtful and intelligent themes combined with classic "sense of wonder" science fiction on a grand scale. The name of James Blish may be familiar to some readers from his Star Trek novelisations in the sixties and seventies. These are a minor part of the late work of a writer important in the development of science fiction out of the pulp era. Blish was an early science fiction critic and the author of a number of significant novels. Much of his work considers religious, moral and metaphysical questions.

Cities in Flight is an important part of science fiction's increase in breadth and complexity through the 1950s. Much of the plotting, particularly in the parts first published, displays the pulp antecedent but the ideas are grand and fully worked through. The glorious central image of Manhattan lifting from the Earth and sailing through the stars is backed by sufficient technological breakthrough and human history to be as convincing as it is wonderful.

The work is episodic and occasionally contrary as a result of its publication history. Much was originally published as short stories and the internal chronology does not closely relate to the order of book publication. Its final publication as a single work - an omnibus, strictly - occurred twenty years after the first publication of the initial short story. Despite, or perhaps because of, this, Cities in Flight manages to cover the next two thousand years of human history in a complex patchwork.

The first book, They Shall Have Stars, is a prologue. It is a short, sharp look at the development of the technology necessary for the society present in the later books. Set early in the next century, this book develops directly from the world of the 1950s. It is a powerful manifesto for the space movement and a convincing, well written, coherent novel.

A Life for the Stars, the second book, steps forward over a thousand years to a time when the exodus of cities from the solar system is almost complete. Aimed at a younger audience, it details the struggles of an Earth boy for acceptance in Manhattan. Many cities have reached a position equivalent to itinerant workers, travelling from planet to planet and taking jobs such as mining or complex manufacturing in exchange for supplies, repairs or money. These cities are referred to as "Okies", reflecting the effects of the dustbowl years of the 1930s on the Midwestern USA. While this is a central plot device it also reflects Blish's interest in the cyclical nature of history.

The next book, Earthman, Come Home, was the first to be published. It is the hub of the saga, covering the height of the freedom of the flying cities and the nature of the end of that lifestyle. In its episodic nature and action-oriented adventures the book displays its origin in science fiction magazines of the early fifties. In its overarching plot and philosophy, Earthman, Come Home shows considerable depth. This book returns to consideration of the importance of the greater good over the individual first discussed in They Shall Have Stars. Other abiding themes of the series are also present - the passage of time and the obtaining of (or failing to reach for) wisdom.

The final book in the internal chronology, A Clash of Cymbals, is more directly concerned with these philosophical questions. It continues the story of Manhattan and its inhabitants, though the city has come to the end of its journey through space. This new circumstance affects the characters as does the inevitability of the triumph of time. The book has little action and much thought but is a tense, and intense, farewell to an amazing universe.

Cities in Flight forms part of the texture of science fiction, both in standing apart from earlier works and through becoming part of the canon, influencing much of what followed. It is filled with the classic science fiction "sense of wonder". There are powerful images and ideas, many of which have been used time and again in subsequent decades; the "spindizzy", the engine of the Flying Cities, may sound almost antiquated but the concept of confusing atomic particles to do the impossible is a standard in many novels using faster than light travel; longevity as a method of carrying a single group of protagonists through an extensive history is another example. Blish uses this immunity to age to explore the nature of history. He appears to believe that only the best of humanity is capable of learning from the past and that as a result we are destined to repeat our own mistakes. The heroes are brave, strong, clever and prepared to do whatever is necessary for good to triumph. Yet, they develop. They become more rounded people, more prepared to defend their territory than their ideals and are barely able to admit the mistakes they are forced to live with. This imparts great depth to an adventure as large as the galaxy.

Duncan Lawie

Purchase this book at fatbrain

Some information on Blish.

Duncan Lawie continues his voyage through science fiction worth reading, reviewing this week James Blish's Cites in Flight. The book itself is a compilation of: They Shall Have Stars, A Life for the Stars, Earthman, Come Home and A Clash of Cymbals (aka The Triumph of Time), all stories by Blish. Click below to read more about the good, and the not-so good in this collection. Cities in Flight author James Blish pages ? publisher Baen Books, 1991 rating 8/10 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0671720708 summary Thoughtful and intelligent themes combined with classic "sense of wonder" science fiction on a grand scale. The name of James Blish may be familiar to some readers from his Star Trek novelisations in the sixties and seventies. These are a minor part of the late work of a writer important in the development of science fiction out of the pulp era. Blish was an early science fiction critic and the author of a number of significant novels. Much of his work considers religious, moral and metaphysical questions.

Cities in Flight is an important part of science fiction's increase in breadth and complexity through the 1950s. Much of the plotting, particularly in the parts first published, displays the pulp antecedent but the ideas are grand and fully worked through. The glorious central image of Manhattan lifting from the Earth and sailing through the stars is backed by sufficient technological breakthrough and human history to be as convincing as it is wonderful.

The work is episodic and occasionally contrary as a result of its publication history. Much was originally published as short stories and the internal chronology does not closely relate to the order of book publication. Its final publication as a single work - an omnibus, strictly - occurred twenty years after the first publication of the initial short story. Despite, or perhaps because of, this, Cities in Flight manages to cover the next two thousand years of human history in a complex patchwork.

The first book, They Shall Have Stars, is a prologue. It is a short, sharp look at the development of the technology necessary for the society present in the later books. Set early in the next century, this book develops directly from the world of the 1950s. It is a powerful manifesto for the space movement and a convincing, well written, coherent novel.

A Life for the Stars, the second book, steps forward over a thousand years to a time when the exodus of cities from the solar system is almost complete. Aimed at a younger audience, it details the struggles of an Earth boy for acceptance in Manhattan. Many cities have reached a position equivalent to itinerant workers, travelling from planet to planet and taking jobs such as mining or complex manufacturing in exchange for supplies, repairs or money. These cities are referred to as "Okies", reflecting the effects of the dustbowl years of the 1930s on the Midwestern USA. While this is a central plot device it also reflects Blish's interest in the cyclical nature of history.

The next book, Earthman, Come Home, was the first to be published. It is the hub of the saga, covering the height of the freedom of the flying cities and the nature of the end of that lifestyle. In its episodic nature and action-oriented adventures the book displays its origin in science fiction magazines of the early fifties. In its overarching plot and philosophy, Earthman, Come Home shows considerable depth. This book returns to consideration of the importance of the greater good over the individual first discussed in They Shall Have Stars. Other abiding themes of the series are also present - the passage of time and the obtaining of (or failing to reach for) wisdom.

The final book in the internal chronology, A Clash of Cymbals, is more directly concerned with these philosophical questions. It continues the story of Manhattan and its inhabitants, though the city has come to the end of its journey through space. This new circumstance affects the characters as does the inevitability of the triumph of time. The book has little action and much thought but is a tense, and intense, farewell to an amazing universe.

Cities in Flight forms part of the texture of science fiction, both in standing apart from earlier works and through becoming part of the canon, influencing much of what followed. It is filled with the classic science fiction "sense of wonder". There are powerful images and ideas, many of which have been used time and again in subsequent decades; the "spindizzy", the engine of the Flying Cities, may sound almost antiquated but the concept of confusing atomic particles to do the impossible is a standard in many novels using faster than light travel; longevity as a method of carrying a single group of protagonists through an extensive history is another example. Blish uses this immunity to age to explore the nature of history. He appears to believe that only the best of humanity is capable of learning from the past and that as a result we are destined to repeat our own mistakes. The heroes are brave, strong, clever and prepared to do whatever is necessary for good to triumph. Yet, they develop. They become more rounded people, more prepared to defend their territory than their ideals and are barely able to admit the mistakes they are forced to live with. This imparts great depth to an adventure as large as the galaxy.

Duncan Lawie

Purchase this book at fatbrain

Some information on Blish.

Duncan Lawie continues his voyage through science fiction worth reading, reviewing this week James Blish's Cites in Flight. The book itself is a compilation of: They Shall Have Stars, A Life for the Stars, Earthman, Come Home and A Clash of Cymbals (aka The Triumph of Time), all stories by Blish. Click below to read more about the good, and the not-so good in this collection. Cities in Flight author James Blish pages ? publisher Baen Books, 1991 rating 8/10 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0671720708 summary Thoughtful and intelligent themes combined with classic "sense of wonder" science fiction on a grand scale. The name of James Blish may be familiar to some readers from his Star Trek novelisations in the sixties and seventies. These are a minor part of the late work of a writer important in the development of science fiction out of the pulp era. Blish was an early science fiction critic and the author of a number of significant novels. Much of his work considers religious, moral and metaphysical questions.

Cities in Flight is an important part of science fiction's increase in breadth and complexity through the 1950s. Much of the plotting, particularly in the parts first published, displays the pulp antecedent but the ideas are grand and fully worked through. The glorious central image of Manhattan lifting from the Earth and sailing through the stars is backed by sufficient technological breakthrough and human history to be as convincing as it is wonderful.

The work is episodic and occasionally contrary as a result of its publication history. Much was originally published as short stories and the internal chronology does not closely relate to the order of book publication. Its final publication as a single work - an omnibus, strictly - occurred twenty years after the first publication of the initial short story. Despite, or perhaps because of, this, Cities in Flight manages to cover the next two thousand years of human history in a complex patchwork.

The first book, They Shall Have Stars, is a prologue. It is a short, sharp look at the development of the technology necessary for the society present in the later books. Set early in the next century, this book develops directly from the world of the 1950s. It is a powerful manifesto for the space movement and a convincing, well written, coherent novel.

A Life for the Stars, the second book, steps forward over a thousand years to a time when the exodus of cities from the solar system is almost complete. Aimed at a younger audience, it details the struggles of an Earth boy for acceptance in Manhattan. Many cities have reached a position equivalent to itinerant workers, travelling from planet to planet and taking jobs such as mining or complex manufacturing in exchange for supplies, repairs or money. These cities are referred to as "Okies", reflecting the effects of the dustbowl years of the 1930s on the Midwestern USA. While this is a central plot device it also reflects Blish's interest in the cyclical nature of history.

The next book, Earthman, Come Home, was the first to be published. It is the hub of the saga, covering the height of the freedom of the flying cities and the nature of the end of that lifestyle. In its episodic nature and action-oriented adventures the book displays its origin in science fiction magazines of the early fifties. In its overarching plot and philosophy, Earthman, Come Home shows considerable depth. This book returns to consideration of the importance of the greater good over the individual first discussed in They Shall Have Stars. Other abiding themes of the series are also present - the passage of time and the obtaining of (or failing to reach for) wisdom.

The final book in the internal chronology, A Clash of Cymbals, is more directly concerned with these philosophical questions. It continues the story of Manhattan and its inhabitants, though the city has come to the end of its journey through space. This new circumstance affects the characters as does the inevitability of the triumph of time. The book has little action and much thought but is a tense, and intense, farewell to an amazing universe.

Cities in Flight forms part of the texture of science fiction, both in standing apart from earlier works and through becoming part of the canon, influencing much of what followed. It is filled with the classic science fiction "sense of wonder". There are powerful images and ideas, many of which have been used time and again in subsequent decades; the "spindizzy", the engine of the Flying Cities, may sound almost antiquated but the concept of confusing atomic particles to do the impossible is a standard in many novels using faster than light travel; longevity as a method of carrying a single group of protagonists through an extensive history is another example. Blish uses this immunity to age to explore the nature of history. He appears to believe that only the best of humanity is capable of learning from the past and that as a result we are destined to repeat our own mistakes. The heroes are brave, strong, clever and prepared to do whatever is necessary for good to triumph. Yet, they develop. They become more rounded people, more prepared to defend their territory than their ideals and are barely able to admit the mistakes they are forced to live with. This imparts great depth to an adventure as large as the galaxy.

Duncan Lawie

Purchase this book at fatbrain

Some information on Blish.

Duncan Lawie, our premier reviewer of fiction has sent us his take on William Gibson's latest effort All Tomorrow's Parties. There was a lot of press surrounding the release of this book - click below to find out more about it, or dicuss your impressions of it. All Tomorrow's Parties author William Gibson pages 277 publisher Putnam Publishing Group rating 7/10 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0399145796 summary A stylish novel, so highly polished that the surface is almost impossible to see through. William Gibson is surely an author who needs no introduction in this forum but he may need some context. Neuromancer was the first science fiction novel I ever read which had the word 'fuck' in it. This may seem insignificant but it was one tiny element of what made cyberpunk such a revelation. Whilst cyberspace, Gibson's gift to science fiction, was compiled on a typewriter, it is still the dominant public image of what the wired world is like or will become as it matures. His subsequent expansion of that world, with Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive, was affected by the incredible advances in the world of computers through the intervening years. With this rate of change it is hardly surprising that Gibson chose to step back from the sharp near-future edge where even the wildest speculation can be overtaken in the time it takes to bring a book to publication. This withdrawal resulted, in Virtual Light, in the presentation of a society where computers are part of the backdrop rather than being of direct interest in the same way that atomic power underlies the science fiction of an earlier age. In Idoru, new technologies come to the fore again and were presented in a more global context.

Gibson's new book, All Tomorrow's Parties, is a capstone to both Idoru and Virtual Light, forming a trilogy of sorts out of books not explicitly tied together beforehand. The process of re-introducing characters who had reached reasonably satisfying closure feels a little forced though the minor characters from the previous two books who are brought back slip in easily and are played a little differently. There are a number of new characters but, as a whole, the cast seems older and wiser. They have dreamed and had their dreams broken or, perhaps worse, had their dreams come true.

There is a soundtrack to this novel and, to my mind, it is by Nick Cave - with an emphasis on his more recent material. There is a similar feeling of having come out of youth, where all nightmares and delights are still possible, into a maturity where having one breath followed by another is a kind of victory and where hope is balanced by experience. Nick Cave's mental landscape has changed over the years, as has Gibson's. This novelist no longer writes cyberpunk but this novel could not exist without its pure cyberpunk antecedents. The shock of the new is largely replaced by a nostalgia for the past. Whilst there are phases of sharp action these are seen as deadly interruptions to normality rather than desirable states. Death is the end, not a means.

Superficially there is very little actual plot in this book. Both character and idea are at the service of a fascinating surface rather than the constructors of genuine depth. It is a novel of style, which is not a common mode in science fiction. Gibson is often criticised for this approach but it is a natural development of the New Wave emphasis on pure literary values in science fiction. As a novel of style it is a great success: the phrasing and terminology glows, particularly in chapter titles - such as "Mariachi Static" - and the way these are incorporated into the text of the chapter; location and action are minimally but completely defined; some characters are kept as shadowy ciphers whilst others are clearly delineated through glimpses of their mental states.

What may underlie the polished surface of Gibson's writing is very difficult to determine. This has often been the case and it may be easier to simply accept that what would be central in most science fiction simply is not so important in this writer's work. In All Tomorrow's Parties however, it is plausible to suggest that Gibson is displaying how unlikely it is that anyone recognises the world-changing event even if they see it. The most significant moment of the novel is observed by an exceedingly minor character. He has no idea what it means and all the characters who might recognise it are too busy attempting to survive catastrophe elsewhere. This is a cool book (in more ways than one) verging on bleakness but saved by it's human values.

Purchase this book at fatbrain.

Nick Cave
All Tomorrow's Parties Website
William Gibson - too many to mention!

Duncan Lawie, our premier reviewer of fiction has sent us his take on William Gibson's latest effort All Tomorrow's Parties. There was a lot of press surrounding the release of this book - click below to find out more about it, or dicuss your impressions of it. All Tomorrow's Parties author William Gibson pages 277 publisher Putnam Publishing Group rating 7/10 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0399145796 summary A stylish novel, so highly polished that the surface is almost impossible to see through. William Gibson is surely an author who needs no introduction in this forum but he may need some context. Neuromancer was the first science fiction novel I ever read which had the word 'fuck' in it. This may seem insignificant but it was one tiny element of what made cyberpunk such a revelation. Whilst cyberspace, Gibson's gift to science fiction, was compiled on a typewriter, it is still the dominant public image of what the wired world is like or will become as it matures. His subsequent expansion of that world, with Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive, was affected by the incredible advances in the world of computers through the intervening years. With this rate of change it is hardly surprising that Gibson chose to step back from the sharp near-future edge where even the wildest speculation can be overtaken in the time it takes to bring a book to publication. This withdrawal resulted, in Virtual Light, in the presentation of a society where computers are part of the backdrop rather than being of direct interest in the same way that atomic power underlies the science fiction of an earlier age. In Idoru, new technologies come to the fore again and were presented in a more global context.

Gibson's new book, All Tomorrow's Parties, is a capstone to both Idoru and Virtual Light, forming a trilogy of sorts out of books not explicitly tied together beforehand. The process of re-introducing characters who had reached reasonably satisfying closure feels a little forced though the minor characters from the previous two books who are brought back slip in easily and are played a little differently. There are a number of new characters but, as a whole, the cast seems older and wiser. They have dreamed and had their dreams broken or, perhaps worse, had their dreams come true.

There is a soundtrack to this novel and, to my mind, it is by Nick Cave - with an emphasis on his more recent material. There is a similar feeling of having come out of youth, where all nightmares and delights are still possible, into a maturity where having one breath followed by another is a kind of victory and where hope is balanced by experience. Nick Cave's mental landscape has changed over the years, as has Gibson's. This novelist no longer writes cyberpunk but this novel could not exist without its pure cyberpunk antecedents. The shock of the new is largely replaced by a nostalgia for the past. Whilst there are phases of sharp action these are seen as deadly interruptions to normality rather than desirable states. Death is the end, not a means.

Superficially there is very little actual plot in this book. Both character and idea are at the service of a fascinating surface rather than the constructors of genuine depth. It is a novel of style, which is not a common mode in science fiction. Gibson is often criticised for this approach but it is a natural development of the New Wave emphasis on pure literary values in science fiction. As a novel of style it is a great success: the phrasing and terminology glows, particularly in chapter titles - such as "Mariachi Static" - and the way these are incorporated into the text of the chapter; location and action are minimally but completely defined; some characters are kept as shadowy ciphers whilst others are clearly delineated through glimpses of their mental states.

What may underlie the polished surface of Gibson's writing is very difficult to determine. This has often been the case and it may be easier to simply accept that what would be central in most science fiction simply is not so important in this writer's work. In All Tomorrow's Parties however, it is plausible to suggest that Gibson is displaying how unlikely it is that anyone recognises the world-changing event even if they see it. The most significant moment of the novel is observed by an exceedingly minor character. He has no idea what it means and all the characters who might recognise it are too busy attempting to survive catastrophe elsewhere. This is a cool book (in more ways than one) verging on bleakness but saved by it's human values.

Purchase this book at fatbrain.

Nick Cave
All Tomorrow's Parties Website
William Gibson - too many to mention!

Duncan Lawie has returned with a review of Greg Egan's Teranesia, which continues his string of reviews regarding well-written science fiction. This novel, a near future adventure, is in Egan's own words, "about evolution, the Indian Rationalists Association, the break-up of Indonesia, quantum mechanics and sex". Click below to read more - and look for next week's review of Cities in Flight. Teranesia author Greg Egan pages 320 publisher London: Gollancz Aug 99; New York: HarperPrism Nov 99 rating 8.5/10 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 006105092X summary A stunning near future adventure in the lush biosphere of South East Asia.

Greg Egan has been programming computers since the 1970s and writing science fiction since the 1980s. The latter has become his primary activity in the 1990s. He lives in Western Australia though the bulk of his professional sales have been made overseas. His books have been hard-edged analyses, with principal themes including consideration of many-worlds theory and the integration of technology into human evolution. Consciousness is often treated as the subject of technical manipulation in futures underpinned by the effects of increasingly sophisticated technology.

From this viewpoint the astounding clarity of the opening chapter of Egan's latest book made me wonder whether the setting was, once again, a virtual environment. In fact, Teranesia is, in Egan's own words, "about evolution, the Indian Rationalists Association, the break-up of Indonesia, quantum mechanics and sex". It is set in the early part of the next century. Indonesia continues to convulse in the throes of faction fighting while new creatures are appearing in the island chain. This is a source of considerable interest for biologists prepared to brave the dangers of potential civil war.

Egan's decision to move the focus of his writing from technology into biology provides a new range of signifiers for him to work with. The protagonist, Prabir, is typical of the author's work - highly intelligent and at ease with computers - but in this story his primary motivation is neither technical nor technological but emotional. Prabir is fully formed, well meaning but humanly flawed. In the development of this character Egan is highly successful. Prabir's traits are the natural outcome of the life story we are shown and his actions, whilst frustrating to the observer, are inevitable for Prabir himself. At least one of these observers, Prabir's sister Mahdusree, bursts from the page. In her more positive attitude she provides an effective foil to Prabir. His boyfriend also seems to share Mahdusree's opinion more than Prabir's, though in this case it seems to be a result of coming to terms with himself. Prabir's homosexuality sharpens the drama rather than being any concession to political correctness. In fact, there is a glorious series of extended jokes on political correctness. These involve Prabir's cousin and her academic environment, which are so skilfully drawn as to border on caricature. A hint of this is the cousin's belief that computers are reinforcing patriarchy due to the sexist nature of the ones and zeros which make up binary numbers.

The theme of biological research is riddled with complexity. The bulk of the science occurs outside of Prabir's speciality, allowing the writing to concentrate on time spent in the field. Egan has always been a precise writer, his clarity of description is to be awed. After a long day in the field the accumulated facts are rapidly tied together into new ideas. Scientific method is displayed as theories combine and recombine though Egan's vision of such a degree of co-operation between scientists seems somewhat optimistic. Successive ideas are thrown at the reader so fast that the progress towards a final theory feels like a game. Perhaps this is the point. Perhaps it could also be taken as an indication of how difficult it is to combine a novel of ideas with a character-led story line while retaining the fallibility of these characters.

The tale is well paced. The development of Prabir's story slows whilst scientific progress advances the plot. This leads to a sense of foreboding until the plot regathers, reaching alarming speed in the final pages and hurtling headlong into the back cover. Egan has also managed to pull together the novels themes, recapitulating the story to drive the urgency of the ending. He has taken a brave step into new territory and this is a distinctly visceral, emotional work. At the same time Egan has retained command of clear writing and profound scientific ideas.

Purchase this book from FatBrain.

---------------------------------

• Greg Egan's Site
• Eidolon SF
• Duncan Lawie

Duncan Lawie has returned with a review of Greg Egan's Teranesia, which continues his string of reviews regarding well-written science fiction. This novel, a near future adventure, is in Egan's own words, "about evolution, the Indian Rationalists Association, the break-up of Indonesia, quantum mechanics and sex". Click below to read more - and look for next week's review of Cities in Flight. Teranesia author Greg Egan pages 320 publisher London: Gollancz Aug 99; New York: HarperPrism Nov 99 rating 8.5/10 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 006105092X summary A stunning near future adventure in the lush biosphere of South East Asia.

Greg Egan has been programming computers since the 1970s and writing science fiction since the 1980s. The latter has become his primary activity in the 1990s. He lives in Western Australia though the bulk of his professional sales have been made overseas. His books have been hard-edged analyses, with principal themes including consideration of many-worlds theory and the integration of technology into human evolution. Consciousness is often treated as the subject of technical manipulation in futures underpinned by the effects of increasingly sophisticated technology.

From this viewpoint the astounding clarity of the opening chapter of Egan's latest book made me wonder whether the setting was, once again, a virtual environment. In fact, Teranesia is, in Egan's own words, "about evolution, the Indian Rationalists Association, the break-up of Indonesia, quantum mechanics and sex". It is set in the early part of the next century. Indonesia continues to convulse in the throes of faction fighting while new creatures are appearing in the island chain. This is a source of considerable interest for biologists prepared to brave the dangers of potential civil war.

Egan's decision to move the focus of his writing from technology into biology provides a new range of signifiers for him to work with. The protagonist, Prabir, is typical of the author's work - highly intelligent and at ease with computers - but in this story his primary motivation is neither technical nor technological but emotional. Prabir is fully formed, well meaning but humanly flawed. In the development of this character Egan is highly successful. Prabir's traits are the natural outcome of the life story we are shown and his actions, whilst frustrating to the observer, are inevitable for Prabir himself. At least one of these observers, Prabir's sister Mahdusree, bursts from the page. In her more positive attitude she provides an effective foil to Prabir. His boyfriend also seems to share Mahdusree's opinion more than Prabir's, though in this case it seems to be a result of coming to terms with himself. Prabir's homosexuality sharpens the drama rather than being any concession to political correctness. In fact, there is a glorious series of extended jokes on political correctness. These involve Prabir's cousin and her academic environment, which are so skilfully drawn as to border on caricature. A hint of this is the cousin's belief that computers are reinforcing patriarchy due to the sexist nature of the ones and zeros which make up binary numbers.

The theme of biological research is riddled with complexity. The bulk of the science occurs outside of Prabir's speciality, allowing the writing to concentrate on time spent in the field. Egan has always been a precise writer, his clarity of description is to be awed. After a long day in the field the accumulated facts are rapidly tied together into new ideas. Scientific method is displayed as theories combine and recombine though Egan's vision of such a degree of co-operation between scientists seems somewhat optimistic. Successive ideas are thrown at the reader so fast that the progress towards a final theory feels like a game. Perhaps this is the point. Perhaps it could also be taken as an indication of how difficult it is to combine a novel of ideas with a character-led story line while retaining the fallibility of these characters.

The tale is well paced. The development of Prabir's story slows whilst scientific progress advances the plot. This leads to a sense of foreboding until the plot regathers, reaching alarming speed in the final pages and hurtling headlong into the back cover. Egan has also managed to pull together the novels themes, recapitulating the story to drive the urgency of the ending. He has taken a brave step into new territory and this is a distinctly visceral, emotional work. At the same time Egan has retained command of clear writing and profound scientific ideas.

Purchase this book from FatBrain.

---------------------------------

• Greg Egan's Site
• Eidolon SF
• Duncan Lawie

Duncan Lawie has returned with a review of Greg Egan's Teranesia, which continues his string of reviews regarding well-written science fiction. This novel, a near future adventure, is in Egan's own words, "about evolution, the Indian Rationalists Association, the break-up of Indonesia, quantum mechanics and sex". Click below to read more - and look for next week's review of Cities in Flight. Teranesia author Greg Egan pages 320 publisher London: Gollancz Aug 99; New York: HarperPrism Nov 99 rating 8.5/10 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 006105092X summary A stunning near future adventure in the lush biosphere of South East Asia.

Greg Egan has been programming computers since the 1970s and writing science fiction since the 1980s. The latter has become his primary activity in the 1990s. He lives in Western Australia though the bulk of his professional sales have been made overseas. His books have been hard-edged analyses, with principal themes including consideration of many-worlds theory and the integration of technology into human evolution. Consciousness is often treated as the subject of technical manipulation in futures underpinned by the effects of increasingly sophisticated technology.

From this viewpoint the astounding clarity of the opening chapter of Egan's latest book made me wonder whether the setting was, once again, a virtual environment. In fact, Teranesia is, in Egan's own words, "about evolution, the Indian Rationalists Association, the break-up of Indonesia, quantum mechanics and sex". It is set in the early part of the next century. Indonesia continues to convulse in the throes of faction fighting while new creatures are appearing in the island chain. This is a source of considerable interest for biologists prepared to brave the dangers of potential civil war.

Egan's decision to move the focus of his writing from technology into biology provides a new range of signifiers for him to work with. The protagonist, Prabir, is typical of the author's work - highly intelligent and at ease with computers - but in this story his primary motivation is neither technical nor technological but emotional. Prabir is fully formed, well meaning but humanly flawed. In the development of this character Egan is highly successful. Prabir's traits are the natural outcome of the life story we are shown and his actions, whilst frustrating to the observer, are inevitable for Prabir himself. At least one of these observers, Prabir's sister Mahdusree, bursts from the page. In her more positive attitude she provides an effective foil to Prabir. His boyfriend also seems to share Mahdusree's opinion more than Prabir's, though in this case it seems to be a result of coming to terms with himself. Prabir's homosexuality sharpens the drama rather than being any concession to political correctness. In fact, there is a glorious series of extended jokes on political correctness. These involve Prabir's cousin and her academic environment, which are so skilfully drawn as to border on caricature. A hint of this is the cousin's belief that computers are reinforcing patriarchy due to the sexist nature of the ones and zeros which make up binary numbers.

The theme of biological research is riddled with complexity. The bulk of the science occurs outside of Prabir's speciality, allowing the writing to concentrate on time spent in the field. Egan has always been a precise writer, his clarity of description is to be awed. After a long day in the field the accumulated facts are rapidly tied together into new ideas. Scientific method is displayed as theories combine and recombine though Egan's vision of such a degree of co-operation between scientists seems somewhat optimistic. Successive ideas are thrown at the reader so fast that the progress towards a final theory feels like a game. Perhaps this is the point. Perhaps it could also be taken as an indication of how difficult it is to combine a novel of ideas with a character-led story line while retaining the fallibility of these characters.

The tale is well paced. The development of Prabir's story slows whilst scientific progress advances the plot. This leads to a sense of foreboding until the plot regathers, reaching alarming speed in the final pages and hurtling headlong into the back cover. Egan has also managed to pull together the novels themes, recapitulating the story to drive the urgency of the ending. He has taken a brave step into new territory and this is a distinctly visceral, emotional work. At the same time Egan has retained command of clear writing and profound scientific ideas.

Purchase this book from FatBrain.

---------------------------------

• Greg Egan's Site
• Eidolon SF
• Duncan Lawie

Do you enjoy the notion of alternative history, and the question of "What if?" Pasquale's Angel is a deftly written book by Paul J. McAuley, with a setting of renaissance Italy. Character development is strong, and the story is well told - both the reviewer, D.C. Lawie and I agree on this. Click below to learn more about the book. Pasquale's Angel author Paul J. McAuley pages 374 publisher AvoNova rating 7.5/10 reviewer D.C. Lawie ISBN 0380778203 summary Pasquale's Angel could be slipped into the lists of "steam punk" butit easily surpasses many alternate histories with its free flowing plot andeasy humour. Paul J. McAuley apparently made his first short story sale in the mid seventies to a magazine which immediately folded. He has been writing published science fiction for the last fifteen years, including many short stories and eight novels alongside regular reviews for magazines such as Interzone and Foundation. His success, including awards for three of his novels, has allowed him to switch from an academic career to full time writing. The scope and strength of his writing has been displayed through variation in subject matter and tone across his work.

In Pasquale's Angel, his fifth novel, McAuley's ability is such that he can carry off an alternate history of renaissance Italy with a light, sure touch. Like most "counterfactuals" he makes use of historical figures - Machiavelli is an investigative journalist, Lisa Giocondo is the lover of the painter Raphael. These are fully realised characters rather than the cheap name checks too common in alternate history. In fact, closer study of the historical period shows how well the author used the characters available and how accurately they have been drawn. Another distinction from many attempts at alternate history is the strength of the plotting, which has no reliance on comparison with our own history. Descriptive passages make no assumptions of the reader's knowledge either. It is made clear Michelangelo and Raphael are great artists and great rivals. In the course of the story, the reader learns about the mechanisms of renaissance art as well as achronic newspaper production.

The catalyst which leads to a changed reality is Leonardo da Vinci's decision to dedicate himself to engineering rather than art. The result is industrial revolution being folded into the already rich mixture of politics and machinations in the city state of Florence. This produces an environment where tossing a spent match leads naturally to a discussion on the fall of Lucifer and the possibility of Man's redemption, an environment which has room enough for action and for moments of contemplation.

The great Raphael is of Venice and arrives in Florence shortly before the Pope is due to resolve Rome's differences with the city. Pasquale is a country boy and a painter's apprentice, desirous of getting close to the famous painter when he is caught up in murder and intrigue. It is almost impossible to avoid describing the plot as Machiavellian, involving magicians, priests, riots and philosophy but the story also includes gunfights, stakeouts and chases in steam powered vehicles. At times there is a danger of losing track of who is doing what to whom and why but the ride is always enjoyable and the tangles mostly untie themselves.

Pasquale's Angel avoids the usual traps in alternate histories - pointlessly mixing periods and easy moralising by implicit or explicit comparison with our world. The premise leads plausibly to the technology available within the story. The characters, historically, were born into the dawn of a new age, so it seems reasonable that they should cope with change even on the scale presented. They are, generally, more interested in money and politics, in turning the new technology to their own advantage, than in the technology for itself. There may be a moral in this, but it is applicable to all human nature.

The storyline developed may seem thoroughly over the top but it is a large part of what makes the book work. McAuley makes excellent use of historical sources (from the age when the modern biography was invented) and mercilessly plunders technology from every page of da Vinci. This is a novel where entertainment is built up in layers of provocative ideas.

e-mail me.

• An Interview with McAuley
• PJM's Homepage
• Interzone
• Foundation

Purchase this book at Amazon.

Do you enjoy the notion of alternative history, and the question of "What if?" Pasquale's Angel is a deftly written book by Paul J. McAuley, with a setting of renaissance Italy. Character development is strong, and the story is well told - both the reviewer, D.C. Lawie and I agree on this. Click below to learn more about the book. Pasquale's Angel author Paul J. McAuley pages 374 publisher AvoNova rating 7.5/10 reviewer D.C. Lawie ISBN 0380778203 summary Pasquale's Angel could be slipped into the lists of "steam punk" butit easily surpasses many alternate histories with its free flowing plot andeasy humour. Paul J. McAuley apparently made his first short story sale in the mid seventies to a magazine which immediately folded. He has been writing published science fiction for the last fifteen years, including many short stories and eight novels alongside regular reviews for magazines such as Interzone and Foundation. His success, including awards for three of his novels, has allowed him to switch from an academic career to full time writing. The scope and strength of his writing has been displayed through variation in subject matter and tone across his work.

In Pasquale's Angel, his fifth novel, McAuley's ability is such that he can carry off an alternate history of renaissance Italy with a light, sure touch. Like most "counterfactuals" he makes use of historical figures - Machiavelli is an investigative journalist, Lisa Giocondo is the lover of the painter Raphael. These are fully realised characters rather than the cheap name checks too common in alternate history. In fact, closer study of the historical period shows how well the author used the characters available and how accurately they have been drawn. Another distinction from many attempts at alternate history is the strength of the plotting, which has no reliance on comparison with our own history. Descriptive passages make no assumptions of the reader's knowledge either. It is made clear Michelangelo and Raphael are great artists and great rivals. In the course of the story, the reader learns about the mechanisms of renaissance art as well as achronic newspaper production.

The catalyst which leads to a changed reality is Leonardo da Vinci's decision to dedicate himself to engineering rather than art. The result is industrial revolution being folded into the already rich mixture of politics and machinations in the city state of Florence. This produces an environment where tossing a spent match leads naturally to a discussion on the fall of Lucifer and the possibility of Man's redemption, an environment which has room enough for action and for moments of contemplation.

The great Raphael is of Venice and arrives in Florence shortly before the Pope is due to resolve Rome's differences with the city. Pasquale is a country boy and a painter's apprentice, desirous of getting close to the famous painter when he is caught up in murder and intrigue. It is almost impossible to avoid describing the plot as Machiavellian, involving magicians, priests, riots and philosophy but the story also includes gunfights, stakeouts and chases in steam powered vehicles. At times there is a danger of losing track of who is doing what to whom and why but the ride is always enjoyable and the tangles mostly untie themselves.

Pasquale's Angel avoids the usual traps in alternate histories - pointlessly mixing periods and easy moralising by implicit or explicit comparison with our world. The premise leads plausibly to the technology available within the story. The characters, historically, were born into the dawn of a new age, so it seems reasonable that they should cope with change even on the scale presented. They are, generally, more interested in money and politics, in turning the new technology to their own advantage, than in the technology for itself. There may be a moral in this, but it is applicable to all human nature.

The storyline developed may seem thoroughly over the top but it is a large part of what makes the book work. McAuley makes excellent use of historical sources (from the age when the modern biography was invented) and mercilessly plunders technology from every page of da Vinci. This is a novel where entertainment is built up in layers of provocative ideas.

e-mail me.

• An Interview with McAuley
• PJM's Homepage
• Interzone
• Foundation

Purchase this book at Amazon.

Do you enjoy the notion of alternative history, and the question of "What if?" Pasquale's Angel is a deftly written book by Paul J. McAuley, with a setting of renaissance Italy. Character development is strong, and the story is well told - both the reviewer, D.C. Lawie and I agree on this. Click below to learn more about the book. Pasquale's Angel author Paul J. McAuley pages 374 publisher AvoNova rating 7.5/10 reviewer D.C. Lawie ISBN 0380778203 summary Pasquale's Angel could be slipped into the lists of "steam punk" butit easily surpasses many alternate histories with its free flowing plot andeasy humour. Paul J. McAuley apparently made his first short story sale in the mid seventies to a magazine which immediately folded. He has been writing published science fiction for the last fifteen years, including many short stories and eight novels alongside regular reviews for magazines such as Interzone and Foundation. His success, including awards for three of his novels, has allowed him to switch from an academic career to full time writing. The scope and strength of his writing has been displayed through variation in subject matter and tone across his work.

In Pasquale's Angel, his fifth novel, McAuley's ability is such that he can carry off an alternate history of renaissance Italy with a light, sure touch. Like most "counterfactuals" he makes use of historical figures - Machiavelli is an investigative journalist, Lisa Giocondo is the lover of the painter Raphael. These are fully realised characters rather than the cheap name checks too common in alternate history. In fact, closer study of the historical period shows how well the author used the characters available and how accurately they have been drawn. Another distinction from many attempts at alternate history is the strength of the plotting, which has no reliance on comparison with our own history. Descriptive passages make no assumptions of the reader's knowledge either. It is made clear Michelangelo and Raphael are great artists and great rivals. In the course of the story, the reader learns about the mechanisms of renaissance art as well as achronic newspaper production.

The catalyst which leads to a changed reality is Leonardo da Vinci's decision to dedicate himself to engineering rather than art. The result is industrial revolution being folded into the already rich mixture of politics and machinations in the city state of Florence. This produces an environment where tossing a spent match leads naturally to a discussion on the fall of Lucifer and the possibility of Man's redemption, an environment which has room enough for action and for moments of contemplation.

The great Raphael is of Venice and arrives in Florence shortly before the Pope is due to resolve Rome's differences with the city. Pasquale is a country boy and a painter's apprentice, desirous of getting close to the famous painter when he is caught up in murder and intrigue. It is almost impossible to avoid describing the plot as Machiavellian, involving magicians, priests, riots and philosophy but the story also includes gunfights, stakeouts and chases in steam powered vehicles. At times there is a danger of losing track of who is doing what to whom and why but the ride is always enjoyable and the tangles mostly untie themselves.

Pasquale's Angel avoids the usual traps in alternate histories - pointlessly mixing periods and easy moralising by implicit or explicit comparison with our world. The premise leads plausibly to the technology available within the story. The characters, historically, were born into the dawn of a new age, so it seems reasonable that they should cope with change even on the scale presented. They are, generally, more interested in money and politics, in turning the new technology to their own advantage, than in the technology for itself. There may be a moral in this, but it is applicable to all human nature.

The storyline developed may seem thoroughly over the top but it is a large part of what makes the book work. McAuley makes excellent use of historical sources (from the age when the modern biography was invented) and mercilessly plunders technology from every page of da Vinci. This is a novel where entertainment is built up in layers of provocative ideas.

e-mail me.

• An Interview with McAuley
• PJM's Homepage
• Interzone
• Foundation

Purchase this book at Amazon.

Duncan Lawie recently reviewed Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination. This time around, he's taken a look at Kim Stanley Robinson's Antarctica. Click below to read more. Antarctica author Kim Stanley Robinson pages 672 publisher Bantam Books rating 7/10 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0553574027 summary Compelling description in a slow moving work from the master of hyper-real science fiction. Kim Stanley Robinson is a standard bearer of what has become known as 'Californian science fiction'. The tag seems overly obvious given his early Orange County trilogy but more usefully describes a kind of modestly utopian S.F. which has an awareness of politics and human nature. He is best known for his Mars trilogy.

The situation described at the outset of Antarctica, set a few decades into the future, is a natural progression from the current day. Antarctica is already a home to scientific communities and is becoming a playground for adventurers and the rich. The most remote continent is attracting increasing interest as money and technology bring it within reach. The nature of the Antarctic environment is being affected by human activity in the rest of the world. This, in turn, may also affect us profoundly. These topics are as relevant in Michigan and Melbourne as at McMurdo Station. From these present realities the author attempts to build a gentle plot of science, tourism, ecoterrorism and the value of the last continent to the future of our planet.

KSR seems more interested, however, in the continent itself and its effects on those who spend time there. The novel exhibits in all its characters the profound effect that Antarctica has on those who fall into it's grasp. Wherever else in the world they might go, they are drawn back. Whether they wish to exploit it's wealth or preserve it's austere beauty they are under a spell where simply being in Antarctica makes life more real. Whether shepherding idiot tourists or measuring the compass orienation of random pebbles, these are merely the price paid to be truly alive.

Much of the novel is a travelogue. Sweeping descriptions - the view from above what is now McMurdo Station, the arrival at the South Pole - are reminiscent of Sara Wheeler's travel book Terra Incognita. There are parallels between one protagonist's activities in the Dry Valleys and KSR's own visit as part of the US Antarctic Program's Artists and Writers Program. It is the descriptive aspect of his writing which makes the book worth reading. In fact, KSR writes so convincingly that it can be difficult determine whether what is described is literally true, literally fiction or simply has not yet occurred. Like the Mars trilogy, the writing is such that, looking back, much of what has been read feels like profound personal experience. This is the greatest success of KSR's 'maximalist' style of writing. However, at times the plot slows visibly in order to accommodate the detail. The plot is a servant of exposition and discussion rather than an animator.

An example of this is lengthy discussion of early explorers, principally Scott, Shackleton, and Amundsen who, KSR suggests, form the only shared culture of the continent. It is hardly surprising that this is so: many of the familiar Antarctic places are named by them or for them; they managed several of the final big 'firsts' possible on this planet; they are from the last age of heroes and their stories, though debated and rewritten, are powerful. One protaganist's journey across the ice is a metaphor for coming to terms with both the myth and the reality of the "old boys".

There is a temptation to attempt to fit KSR's works into a single future history. Antarctic science is used in the Mars program. This is as true in the real world as it is in KSR's writing. Antarctica is thematically in accord with the Mars trilogy: there is the intense interest in science and concern for ecological questions; there is a warm, human perspective; there is a cold and unforgiving world. However, this need only mean that this is the work of the same man. He didn't actually visit Antarctica until after the Mars trilogy was virtually finished but, like many of his characters, he wants to go back. This may explain why the novel fits better into the genre of Antarctic writing than into the science fiction genre. There is a danger in this book that the reader may be similarly mesmerised by the ice. Antarctica is a continent that almost no-one initially experiences first-hand and this taste is as honest as any. In a certain sense the novel has been a success if it leads the reader on to Apsley Cherry-Garrard's The Worst Journey in the World and the many books, good and bad, lined up behind that masterpiece.

Pick this book up at Amazon.

Duncan Lawie recently reviewed Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination. This time around, he's taken a look at Kim Stanley Robinson's Antarctica. Click below to read more. Antarctica author Kim Stanley Robinson pages 672 publisher Bantam Books rating 7/10 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0553574027 summary Compelling description in a slow moving work from the master of hyper-real science fiction. Kim Stanley Robinson is a standard bearer of what has become known as 'Californian science fiction'. The tag seems overly obvious given his early Orange County trilogy but more usefully describes a kind of modestly utopian S.F. which has an awareness of politics and human nature. He is best known for his Mars trilogy.

The situation described at the outset of Antarctica, set a few decades into the future, is a natural progression from the current day. Antarctica is already a home to scientific communities and is becoming a playground for adventurers and the rich. The most remote continent is attracting increasing interest as money and technology bring it within reach. The nature of the Antarctic environment is being affected by human activity in the rest of the world. This, in turn, may also affect us profoundly. These topics are as relevant in Michigan and Melbourne as at McMurdo Station. From these present realities the author attempts to build a gentle plot of science, tourism, ecoterrorism and the value of the last continent to the future of our planet.

KSR seems more interested, however, in the continent itself and its effects on those who spend time there. The novel exhibits in all its characters the profound effect that Antarctica has on those who fall into it's grasp. Wherever else in the world they might go, they are drawn back. Whether they wish to exploit it's wealth or preserve it's austere beauty they are under a spell where simply being in Antarctica makes life more real. Whether shepherding idiot tourists or measuring the compass orienation of random pebbles, these are merely the price paid to be truly alive.

Much of the novel is a travelogue. Sweeping descriptions - the view from above what is now McMurdo Station, the arrival at the South Pole - are reminiscent of Sara Wheeler's travel book Terra Incognita. There are parallels between one protagonist's activities in the Dry Valleys and KSR's own visit as part of the US Antarctic Program's Artists and Writers Program. It is the descriptive aspect of his writing which makes the book worth reading. In fact, KSR writes so convincingly that it can be difficult determine whether what is described is literally true, literally fiction or simply has not yet occurred. Like the Mars trilogy, the writing is such that, looking back, much of what has been read feels like profound personal experience. This is the greatest success of KSR's 'maximalist' style of writing. However, at times the plot slows visibly in order to accommodate the detail. The plot is a servant of exposition and discussion rather than an animator.

An example of this is lengthy discussion of early explorers, principally Scott, Shackleton, and Amundsen who, KSR suggests, form the only shared culture of the continent. It is hardly surprising that this is so: many of the familiar Antarctic places are named by them or for them; they managed several of the final big 'firsts' possible on this planet; they are from the last age of heroes and their stories, though debated and rewritten, are powerful. One protaganist's journey across the ice is a metaphor for coming to terms with both the myth and the reality of the "old boys".

There is a temptation to attempt to fit KSR's works into a single future history. Antarctic science is used in the Mars program. This is as true in the real world as it is in KSR's writing. Antarctica is thematically in accord with the Mars trilogy: there is the intense interest in science and concern for ecological questions; there is a warm, human perspective; there is a cold and unforgiving world. However, this need only mean that this is the work of the same man. He didn't actually visit Antarctica until after the Mars trilogy was virtually finished but, like many of his characters, he wants to go back. This may explain why the novel fits better into the genre of Antarctic writing than into the science fiction genre. There is a danger in this book that the reader may be similarly mesmerised by the ice. Antarctica is a continent that almost no-one initially experiences first-hand and this taste is as honest as any. In a certain sense the novel has been a success if it leads the reader on to Apsley Cherry-Garrard's The Worst Journey in the World and the many books, good and bad, lined up behind that masterpiece.

Pick this book up at Amazon.