Acceptance concludes Jeff Vandermeer's Southern Reach trilogy, and does a good job of it. Though I wouldn't say "concludes", rather "rides off into the sunset". This volume rotates between four points of view--Control (current Southern Reach directory), Gloria the previous director (who, it turns out, lived in Area X as a child), Saul Evans the lighthouse keeper, and Ghost Bird, who is and is not the biologist from the last expedition. At the end of the previous volume Area X had expanded catastrophically, and desperation is in the air. Control and Ghost Bird have gone into Area X and are exploring.
The book brings out the story of each character while moving things forward. At the heart, there is no comprehending Area X--might be magic, might be an alien life form beyond our understanding (a favored theory), but none of the speculations seem to bring any sort of enlightenment. So the story proceeds with a sort of melancholy horror, a simple sadness. There are signs of resistance within Area X, and Control and Ghost Bird find familiar faces. But resistance appears to be futile.
This is a sort of existential horror/supernatural story, so if you like Camus or maybe semiotics (Vandermeer credits it for inspiration) then you'll fully enjoy this book. Otherwise it's mostly about the writing. Vandermeer is a master of describing the points of energy within a rotting system (rotting, as opposed to breaking or otherwise failing). If the second two books in the series had not been nominated for the World Fantasy Award I might not have picked them up, but in the end am not sorry I did. 3 stars from me.
Sunday, August 16, 2015
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Authority, by Jeff Vandermeer
Authority is the second book in the Southern Reach trilogy, and I'm reading it as part of the World Fantasy Awards for this year. Usually second books are kind of the weak point in a trilogy, but I would say this is not the case here. I liked this one better.
The first book, Annihilation, seemed pretty simply a horror story, told from one character's perspective and a dry character at that. The second book introduces John Rodriguez, aka Control (apparently a childhood nickname) as the successor to the previous director of the Southern Reach. This is something of a rehab assignment--Control has screwed up some previous ones, sometimes badly. He is a secret agent in a line of secret agents, and has been saved for this by his mother. Now he is thrown into the insane mess that is the Southern Reach's study of Area X. Even a high talent would be hard pressed to succeed, but he gives it a try.
And of course things get weirder and weirder, but I'll leave you to read about that part. My own opinion here is that Control struggles for control, as it were, because he is a bit too human to be a good agent. He recognizes his limitations. He loves his cat, which is a soft spot for me. He tries to be detached, as good agents seem to need to be, but it doesn't help him enough. He is utterly in over his head as he tries to get information out of the biologist from the last expedition.
I give this one a solid 3 stars and look forward to the last one. It's not the greatest thing I've ever read, but he has the weird factor going well.
The first book, Annihilation, seemed pretty simply a horror story, told from one character's perspective and a dry character at that. The second book introduces John Rodriguez, aka Control (apparently a childhood nickname) as the successor to the previous director of the Southern Reach. This is something of a rehab assignment--Control has screwed up some previous ones, sometimes badly. He is a secret agent in a line of secret agents, and has been saved for this by his mother. Now he is thrown into the insane mess that is the Southern Reach's study of Area X. Even a high talent would be hard pressed to succeed, but he gives it a try.
And of course things get weirder and weirder, but I'll leave you to read about that part. My own opinion here is that Control struggles for control, as it were, because he is a bit too human to be a good agent. He recognizes his limitations. He loves his cat, which is a soft spot for me. He tries to be detached, as good agents seem to need to be, but it doesn't help him enough. He is utterly in over his head as he tries to get information out of the biologist from the last expedition.
I give this one a solid 3 stars and look forward to the last one. It's not the greatest thing I've ever read, but he has the weird factor going well.
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Where the Trains Turn, by Pasi Ilmari Jaaskelainen
Where the Trains Turn is my first and last novella read strictly for the World Fantasy Award. And it's a pretty good one--the story was originally written in Finnish and has that very different sensibility one gets from authors from places that don't normally get attention. The trope, however, is standard enough--trains going off the rails to do their own thing--that I am thinking I've seen it before.
Our protagonist is the mother of a very imaginative boy, imaginative enough that it seems it might harm him. The mother tries various tactics to save him from the fate of this overactive inner life, and seems to succeed. But there are cracks--the boy spends significant time with his father (he and the mother are divorced) and picks up a somewhat supernatural love of trains from him.
The story unfolds somewhat predictably, up until the ending which is a very good twist so I won't spoil it for you. For that ending I make it a strong contender for the award, though I also like The Devil In America. Go for it as an entertaining read for a couple of hours. 3 stars.
Our protagonist is the mother of a very imaginative boy, imaginative enough that it seems it might harm him. The mother tries various tactics to save him from the fate of this overactive inner life, and seems to succeed. But there are cracks--the boy spends significant time with his father (he and the mother are divorced) and picks up a somewhat supernatural love of trains from him.
The story unfolds somewhat predictably, up until the ending which is a very good twist so I won't spoil it for you. For that ending I make it a strong contender for the award, though I also like The Devil In America. Go for it as an entertaining read for a couple of hours. 3 stars.
Friday, July 31, 2015
I Can See Right Through You, by Kelly Link
I've reviewed many Kelly Link stories since I started reading the award winners--she's a real stalwart here, it would be an unusual year for her not to have one. This year her entry for the World Fantasy Award is I Can See Right Through You, appearing in McSweeney's Internet Tendency.
Link specializes in slice-of-life stories. This is the story of the demon lover, who is described in semi-fantastic ways but is really a typecast vampire movie actor (really could be one of the Twilight cast, several years down the road). He's made a mint, had many marriages and flings, and behaved badly in various ways. He's even had an internet shaming involving a sex tape. But he's really only had one true love, his early costar Meggie.
The story is light and fun to read, all the way through. It's an accomplished piece by an accomplished writer. I give it 3 stars.
And that covers the short stories for the World Fantasy Award. I can only get at 3 of the 5 stories--Jackalope Wives, The Fisher Queen, and this one. Of the three, I would say this one is the most deserving of the award. We shall see.
Link specializes in slice-of-life stories. This is the story of the demon lover, who is described in semi-fantastic ways but is really a typecast vampire movie actor (really could be one of the Twilight cast, several years down the road). He's made a mint, had many marriages and flings, and behaved badly in various ways. He's even had an internet shaming involving a sex tape. But he's really only had one true love, his early costar Meggie.
The story is light and fun to read, all the way through. It's an accomplished piece by an accomplished writer. I give it 3 stars.
And that covers the short stories for the World Fantasy Award. I can only get at 3 of the 5 stories--Jackalope Wives, The Fisher Queen, and this one. Of the three, I would say this one is the most deserving of the award. We shall see.
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Annihilation, by Jeff Vandermeer
Annihilation is the last of the Nebula nominated novels I am reading this year, and the first of the World Fantasy Award nominees. Vandermeer also wrote Finch, which was nominated for an award for 2009.
What they have in common is a fascination with fungus. Finch features fungal aliens wielding fungus tech, something I had not seen before. Annihilation is more straightforward horror--fungus is always a good supporting cast member in a horror story. I would also say that Annihilation is a more accessible book than his earlier work.
Annihilation is the first book in the Southern Reach trilogy. The stage is set here for a fungal alien invasion--the Southern Reach is a governmental organization trying to cope with the issue of Area X, a place where civilization has been pushed out and some highly strange things are going on. A series of expeditions has been sent in to try to understand the place, with mixed success. The first expedition reported a preserved, beautiful wilderness. Subsequent ones ended with the deaths of all the members. The last expedition returned one by one without explanation. Now an expedition of women has been sent in.
The story is told from the perspective of the expedition's biologist. The specifics of the story are not so relevant here--this volume is mostly about setting up the rest of the series.
Only this volume was nominated for a Nebula, and if not for the World Fantasy Award I probably would not pursue it further. But all three books in the series were released in 2014, and the World Fantasy Award nominated the whole set. So I'll pursue the rest of the series. This one gets a weak three stars--I can't critique it too specifically, it just didn't really grab me. However, the descriptions of the next books are promising. We shall see.
Which novel do I like for the Nebula this year? In general, I don't think it was a great year for Nebula novels--the novellas were much better. I would say Ann Leckie's Ancillary Sword is worthy of the nod. It's a fine piece of writing. I'm thinking the next volume will get award nods too.
What they have in common is a fascination with fungus. Finch features fungal aliens wielding fungus tech, something I had not seen before. Annihilation is more straightforward horror--fungus is always a good supporting cast member in a horror story. I would also say that Annihilation is a more accessible book than his earlier work.
Annihilation is the first book in the Southern Reach trilogy. The stage is set here for a fungal alien invasion--the Southern Reach is a governmental organization trying to cope with the issue of Area X, a place where civilization has been pushed out and some highly strange things are going on. A series of expeditions has been sent in to try to understand the place, with mixed success. The first expedition reported a preserved, beautiful wilderness. Subsequent ones ended with the deaths of all the members. The last expedition returned one by one without explanation. Now an expedition of women has been sent in.
The story is told from the perspective of the expedition's biologist. The specifics of the story are not so relevant here--this volume is mostly about setting up the rest of the series.
Only this volume was nominated for a Nebula, and if not for the World Fantasy Award I probably would not pursue it further. But all three books in the series were released in 2014, and the World Fantasy Award nominated the whole set. So I'll pursue the rest of the series. This one gets a weak three stars--I can't critique it too specifically, it just didn't really grab me. However, the descriptions of the next books are promising. We shall see.
Which novel do I like for the Nebula this year? In general, I don't think it was a great year for Nebula novels--the novellas were much better. I would say Ann Leckie's Ancillary Sword is worthy of the nod. It's a fine piece of writing. I'm thinking the next volume will get award nods too.
Friday, July 17, 2015
The Goblin Emperor, by Katherine Addison
The Goblin Emperor is the fifth Nebula nominated novel I'm reading this year. Katherine Addison is a pseudonym for Sarah Monette, a prolific author but one I do not remember reading without looking it up.
The book itself is billed as a court intrigue novel, and that it is. Pretty much all it is. But perhaps some expectation setting is in order. Let's compare this with the Song of Ice and Fire series, though this one is not nearly so ambitious...
In Westeros, the rulers seem to pretty much have no rules, and blood runs freely. The weak and even not so weak get knocked off in gruesome fashion. The magic is rare but grandiose--there are dragons.
By contrast, Ethuveraz is a quiet country. The world is peopled with elves and goblins (the latter from Barzhin) but this is pretty much a cover--a way to talk about races with only as much of the freighting of black and white (goblins are black, elves white) as the author wishes. Worst case scenarios run to banishment--while there are scenes of violence and attempts on the protagonist's life, they just don't seem serious. While the central episode of the book is the assassination of the emperor and all his family but one--our protagonist Maia, banished at birth from the court--the blood and gore do not resonate in everyday life. Magic is present but just barely.
This is a tale of court intrigue in something close to the Great Britain of the 19th century. The technology is positioned there, with the inexplicable exception that airships have been invented but cars have not. Our protagonist is thrust totally unprepared into the emperor role, and spends most of the book regretting what he does not know. He is despised by many (his mother was a goblin princess) but seems to grow on all who meet him in spite of his awkwardness.
The intrigue of the story is undergirded by a sense of the stability of the country. Not much is really going to go wrong. So the story is mostly about a rather unassuming, caring person thrust into a role of power and making his way.
Not a lot of roiling excitement--it's hard to say how a peaceful and prosperous reign makes a story--but here we have one. And it seems to be well regarded--it's on the World Fantasy Award list as well. I give it 3 stars, solid but not that exciting.
The book itself is billed as a court intrigue novel, and that it is. Pretty much all it is. But perhaps some expectation setting is in order. Let's compare this with the Song of Ice and Fire series, though this one is not nearly so ambitious...
In Westeros, the rulers seem to pretty much have no rules, and blood runs freely. The weak and even not so weak get knocked off in gruesome fashion. The magic is rare but grandiose--there are dragons.
By contrast, Ethuveraz is a quiet country. The world is peopled with elves and goblins (the latter from Barzhin) but this is pretty much a cover--a way to talk about races with only as much of the freighting of black and white (goblins are black, elves white) as the author wishes. Worst case scenarios run to banishment--while there are scenes of violence and attempts on the protagonist's life, they just don't seem serious. While the central episode of the book is the assassination of the emperor and all his family but one--our protagonist Maia, banished at birth from the court--the blood and gore do not resonate in everyday life. Magic is present but just barely.
This is a tale of court intrigue in something close to the Great Britain of the 19th century. The technology is positioned there, with the inexplicable exception that airships have been invented but cars have not. Our protagonist is thrust totally unprepared into the emperor role, and spends most of the book regretting what he does not know. He is despised by many (his mother was a goblin princess) but seems to grow on all who meet him in spite of his awkwardness.
The intrigue of the story is undergirded by a sense of the stability of the country. Not much is really going to go wrong. So the story is mostly about a rather unassuming, caring person thrust into a role of power and making his way.
Not a lot of roiling excitement--it's hard to say how a peaceful and prosperous reign makes a story--but here we have one. And it seems to be well regarded--it's on the World Fantasy Award list as well. I give it 3 stars, solid but not that exciting.
Friday, June 26, 2015
Coming Home, by Jack McDevitt
Coming Home is the seventh novel in the Alex Benedict series, and next up in my reading of the Nebula nominees for this year. I'm struggling with whether to damn this novel with faint praise or be a bit more direct. I'll let you be the judge from here.
Alex Benedict is an antiquities dealer nine thousand years in the future. His Boswell (hence narrator of these stories) is Chase Kolpath, ace pilot and beautiful assistant. This installment has two story lines--Benedict's tracking of lost artifacts from the early space age, and the rescue of his uncle Gabe from a ship caught in a spacetime warp.
McDevitt is a solid speculator--we have some history on civilization's collapse, and a recap of encounters with the alien Mutes. But it still rings odd to have people basically not changing traditions over ten thousand years, and using technologies that aren't even current now.
My main issue here is that this work is just dry as dust. McDevitt always has that tendency, but sometimes the stories are fun anyway. This was more of a slog. Everyone is perfectly reasonable and speaks in the careful way office workers at major corporations speak. You can't tell men from women, good guys from bad ones. Makes it awfully hard to build dramatic tension, and this one doesn't. I'm going to have forgotten all about it in a week or so. The book is worthwhile if you are a fan of the series as it does advance the story. Not otherwise. Two stars from me.
Alex Benedict is an antiquities dealer nine thousand years in the future. His Boswell (hence narrator of these stories) is Chase Kolpath, ace pilot and beautiful assistant. This installment has two story lines--Benedict's tracking of lost artifacts from the early space age, and the rescue of his uncle Gabe from a ship caught in a spacetime warp.
McDevitt is a solid speculator--we have some history on civilization's collapse, and a recap of encounters with the alien Mutes. But it still rings odd to have people basically not changing traditions over ten thousand years, and using technologies that aren't even current now.
My main issue here is that this work is just dry as dust. McDevitt always has that tendency, but sometimes the stories are fun anyway. This was more of a slog. Everyone is perfectly reasonable and speaks in the careful way office workers at major corporations speak. You can't tell men from women, good guys from bad ones. Makes it awfully hard to build dramatic tension, and this one doesn't. I'm going to have forgotten all about it in a week or so. The book is worthwhile if you are a fan of the series as it does advance the story. Not otherwise. Two stars from me.
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