Pyre of New Day, by Catherine Asaro

Catherine Asaro is in a nearly unique space in speculative fiction--she writes SF action/romance from the female point of view.  I normally wouldn't go near it, but...

1. She gets nominated for major awards
2. Her last name begins with A

I am an obsessive reader, and for quite a long time read mostly from the beginning of the alphabet.  Fortunately there are a lot of good writers in that range (Asimov, Benford, Brin, Bradbury, Bova, I could go on and on).  Coincidence?  Why are there so many AAAA service companies?  I am sure this doesn't make as much difference as it used to.

But I ramble.  Asaro's latest award nominated effort is Pyre of New Day, a sample chapter from the Mammoth Book of SF Wars.  She's full force on both the action and romance fronts.  She's willing to get kinky as well, but doesn't do that here.  It's a fun read if you're into that sort of thing.  Something new here is that she paints a very vivid picture of life on a failing colony planet.  Read it if you are tired but don't want to sleep yet, you won't even be tempted.  3 stars.

Barry's Tale, by Lawrence M. Schoen

Barry's Tale is the other Nebula nominee currently available online--hopefully there will be a couple of others.  This is more of a standard SF story, with hypnosis as its central science theme and a "buffalito" - a small sort of buffalo, but enhanced - as a sidekick.  Schoen has written several stories and novels featuring the Amazing Conroy and his buffalitos, but I didn't feel compelled to seek out the series.  Though it would not hurt, I think the stories would in fact work better read in sequence.  Anyway, Conroy and Reggie the Buffalito bull their way through the plot with good humor, saving the girl and getting a fine reward, so it's a fun read.  I do wonder if Schoen is familiar with schmoos and gobbleglops from Al Capp.  I give it three stars--nice, but probably won't come out on top. 

Schoen's writing reminds me of Jack McDevitt.  I have reviewed a few of his books.  If you like McDevitt you may well like Schoen, at least the science fiction.

All the Flavors, by Ken Liu

I make a point of reading as much of the award nominated fiction cited on Free SF Online as possible.  The Nebula award nominees have been announced, and Ken Liu's story All the Flavors is my first read in the novella category.  And what a fine story it is.

This one is not particularly speculative--unless you count reader speculation about the identity of the lead character, in which case it is speculative enough.  Really, it's a writer's story.  The protagonist is a little girl living in Idaho City, Idaho in 1865.  A gold rush is under way, and some Chinese miners have come to cash in.  They also bring along a large helping of their culture.  The hero is Li Guan, or Logan, a large man from Northern China, who befriends the little girl.  They deal with cruelty and prejudice in the local population, even unto murder.  If it stopped there it would be formulaic.  But the story weaves this into a growing acceptance of the Chinese by the locals, particularly through the ambassadorship of Li Guan.  Some of the customs are hard to swallow.  While Liu clearly favors openness, the disruption the foreigners cause is dealt with forthrightly.  The historical references really sold me--the interactions are based in truth, on how the influx of Chinese influenced local culture in Idaho.  Really good stuff, I enjoyed it quite a lot.  4 stars from me.

Back After Hiatus

I'm back after a bit of time away to read some things that were not SF at all, so no need to go into them here.  A refresher of my point for doing this (mostly for myself, I do not pretend this is widely read)...

The purpose of this blog is to read and comment on SF literature that I find available without having to pay for it.  Most of it is online.  Now, I know a little about economics and know that nothing is truly free.  Most of the sites have ad content, and many ask for a donation.  If they do, you should consider it.  I read quite a lot of fiction from my public library, and that is taxpayer-supported.  Sometimes if my library does not have the title, I buy it, read it, then donate it.  I like the idea that authors are putting their materials out there to enrich the general reading environment, and want to encourage them with links, and positive comments where warranted.

Sure, I could put these comments on Amazon, or attach them to the sites that host the material.  But I like the idea of my own space.  So if you are doing a search and happen across this blog, and stay a moment to see what I like, good for you.

The Final Now, by Gregory Benford

Contrast the story in the previous post, Dark Sanctuary, with The Final Now.  Thirty years later Benford is confident enough to tackle an end of the universe story, and take a stab at defining the meaning of the Creation.  Talk about ambitious.  It's not as easy to read as Dark Sanctuary, but deeply interesting for what the author is undertaking. The necessity of finitude is built into Creation, and creation cannot happen without its limit.  Otherwise, you get the logical end point of the Many Worlds thesis--everything possible has happened, an infinite number of times.  That last sentence was mine, it's not part of Benford's point. Came from a Scientific American article on Hugh Everett's theory. 

In any case, this is a must to read if you appreciate religion, philosophy and science.  And a valiant attempt to get one's arms around the whole thing.  Three stars.

Dark Sanctuary, by Gregory Benford

Dark Sanctuary is one of Benford's early efforts, recently posted.  It's an alien contact story, based on the premise that they have been in our solar system for a long time.  An asteroid prospector discovers them by way of a disabling laser flash, then figures out what they are based on sorting out the implications of their behavior.  It's just a little awkward, especially contrasted with later work, but it's a good read.  I liked it.  Two stars, almost three but not quite.

The Nature Articles by Gregory Benford

Gregory Benford wrote several very short pieces for Nature a few years ago, and five of them are available on Free SF Online.  I am reviewing them as a group, as they go together well and it doesn't make sense to me to talk about them separately.  Here are the five:

• The Champaigne Award
• SETI for Profit
• Caveat Time Traveler
• Penumbra
• Gravity's Whispers

These are all one-pagers in Nature's Futures section. They explore pretty standard hard SF themes, but stand out as very good examples of short fiction that's interesting and makes its point well.  Benford is a professor of physics and astronomy himself, and knows what would appeal to Nature readers. But these are good for anyone, and are thought-provoking in what they explore.  They are kind of dystopian, but that's OK, lots of SF is like that.  I would recommend them for nice quick hits that will make you think a bit.  3 stars.