Science Fiction

In geek parlance, “red shirt” is a reference to red-uniformed Star Trek officers who frequently die during episodes¹. They basically represent the writer’s ploy to allow Kirk and McCoy to display grandstanding emotions (and Spock to show a lack thereof). I don’t know who coined the notion or where (or if the the show intentionally employed this strategy), but 5 minutes of comprehensive research on the internets reveals a 1985 Star Trek novel called Killing Time, in which a character opines “you don’t want to wear a red shirt on landing-party duty” (so sez Wikipedia²). That’s the earliest reference I could find, but I’m sure this is something that the show’s obsessive fanbase has been remarking on since the 1970s. It’s a meme that has been frequently referenced and parodied throughout the years. The most obvious is in the movie Galaxy Quest, where the character of Guy Fleegman, “Crewman Number Six”, fears for his life due to his character’s expendable nature (fortunately, this parody inverts the meme, allowing him to survive). There is even a grand tradition amongst some SF authors to “reward” fans of their work by naming a character after them, then killing them (for example: David Weber).

All of which is to say that the concept behind John Scalzi’s latest novel Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas isn’t exactly a new one. It is, perhaps, the most thorough deconstruction of the trope – most others are mere references, homages, or simple skits on the matter – but I’m not entirely sure how I feel about that. Fortunately, Scalzi is a talented author who knows how to turn the page. Indeed, I finished the book in a mere two sittings. Not quite a record, but close. And it’s a solid story, filled with typical Scalzian characters and their snappy dialogue, with a some clever ideas thrown in for good measure. It didn’t take me long to become attached to the characters, at which point my over-analysis of the title faded away and I devoured the rest of the book.

The general premise of the novel is that a bunch of characters on a Star-Trek-like ship recognize that people who get roped into away-missions with high profile members of the crew tend to end up dead. Essentially, the redshirts recognize their role in the show, and try to fight back. This stuff manifests itself in a number of ways. One of my favorites being “the box”, a magical device used whenever the characters run into an impossible problem. They simply feed the problem into the box, and then when it’s dramatically appropriate, it spits out an answer. It’s a pretty funny take on Star Trek writers’ tendency to tech the tech.

It’s a fun book, perhaps more comedy than SF, though fans of Star Trek will probably enjoy it. I’m not entirely sure how well executed some of the mechanics of this whole premise is… For instance, it’s not entirely clear when the characters are “on screen” as it were. One of our redshirts speculates that there’s a “narrative”, you see, and that if you can avoid the narrative, you can avoid an untimely death. There’s even a funny sequences meant to illustrate how ridiculous commercial breaks are, but again, the mechanics of this aren’t entirely clear. Of course, in an exercise that is so self-aware and meta, that’s sorta the point. The TV show these characters are stuck in is clearly pretty bad, so of course a lot of this stuff doesn’t make sense… and that’s part of the fun of it all… but you could also argue that it’s a bit of a cop out. Personally, I feel like such things are worthwhile if they’re done well, and for the most part, everything here works even if it doesn’t precisely fit.

The story proper is quite entertaining and fun, but it should be noted that it pretty much ends about 2/3 of the way through the novel. The remaining 100 pages or so consist of the sub-titular Three Codas. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of this at first. It wasn’t really surprising to see the story end when it did, except insofar as I already knew there was still 100 pages or so left. Scalzi even manages to extend the self-referential meta elements beyond the simple redshirt notion, though it’s exactly what you’d think when you think about the premise. Anyway, the three short stories are all related to the main narrative, touching on side characters or concepts here and there. The first coda comes off as a little slight, but it ends up being pretty effective. The second coda is actually pretty meaningful and interesting, adding a depth and seriousness the rest of the novel was missing. The third coda builds on that heft while still managing to end on a clever but positive note. There’s something a little gimmicky about the codas – they’re written in first, second, and third person, for instance – and I can see how some folks wouldn’t appreciate them in general, but I thought they were well done and meaningful.

It’s strange. I find that the things I don’t like about this book, like the title and the structure, are superficial. These meta aspects (not to be confused with the meta nature of the story itself) trouble me more than the actual contents of the book. I don’t quite know what to make of this. The title “Redshirts” does perfectly encapsulate what you’re in for, but there’s something corny about using a decades-old meme as the title for your book³. Fortunately, the actual contents of the book don’t strike me that way, so I ultimately enjoyed the book heartily. I don’t know that I would entirely agree with Justin’s (very funny and entertaining in itself) review that this is “Spoof Trekkie Fiction: The Lowest Difficulty Setting There is” (an oblique reference to Scalzi’s recent controversial and ill-fitting metaphor for life as a video game), but there is a distinct Saturday Night Live skit feeling to the premise of the book. But it’s a really well done skit, if that’s the case, and I’m generally of the mind that such exercises can be fun if executed well, which this is. In the end, I really enjoyed the book, despite any reservations I may have about the title and structure, and would recommend it to just about anyone.

¹ – This appears to impact mostly the original Star Trek series and it should be noted that plenty of blue or gold shirted crewmen die on the series as well. Star Trek: The Next Generation (and later shows) tried to invert the meme by placing its main characters mostly into red shirts themselves. Deaths seem less frequent as well, though there is still the occasional unfortunate mishap, and the poor character is sometimes wearing a red shirt. Star Trek is definitely a show in which The Main Characters Do Everything, so when you see some random dude on the away team, chances are that he’s in trouble.

² – Scalzi actually makes a pretty funny, but obvious, dig at Wikipedia in the book. I don’t know why I needed to put this in a footnote, but I always find references to Wikipedia and the internet interesting in works of art.

³ – There appears to be a rash⁴ of this sort of title. Consider another example: Rule 34 by Charlie Stross (Rule 34 of the internet is: If it exists, there is porn of it. No exceptions. Its awesome, but kinda lame when you name your book after it).

⁴ – I have recently established that only two examples are needed in order to qualify as a “rash”. Which, since I’ve identified two different rashes in the past week, means that I’m experiencing a rash of rashes. Gross.

So I’m finished. I love the series and highly recommend checking it out. The problem is that there’s a lot of churn in terms of how to read the series. It’s a long series consisting of 13 novels, 3 novellas, and 1 short story (plus a few other outliers), and there’s a lot of discussion on ye olde internets about the ideal order to read them. Like the recently discussed Star Wars, there are two obvious orders: internal chronology and in order of publication.

There are some complicating factors that can lead to different (or streamlined) sequences though. First, most of the books center around a character named Miles Vorkosigan, but the first two are told from the perspective of Miles’ mother, Cordelia Naismith. Second, the initial installments of the series were written and published out of chronological order, so there are plenty of folks out there who’ve read the series that way. Third, Borders of freakin’ Infinity (more on this below, but it’s a collection of novellas that can confuse the order). Fourth, most of the books have been collected together in omnibus editions, which complicates things a bit, but if you want to read the series chronologically, they’re actually pretty well organized. Fifth, and the reason I struggle with the whole reading order thing, is that the height of the series starts about 8 or 9 books in… This is not to say that those first 8 books aren’t good, just that the series got better than I ever expected around that time with an amazing four book run starting with Mirror Dance and concluding with A Civil Campaign.

Every book in the series tells a discrete story. There are no cliff-hangers, but there are a bunch of character-centric multi-book arcs. Interestingly, the series could be read almost as a series of pairs, and the omnibus editions are mostly built around that notion, with the novellas from Borders of Infinity thrown in for good measure. Aside from attempting to read the second of a pair first, I suspect you could try to get into the series almost anywhere along the way. Before I go further, it might be useful to list out the series, publication dates, and omnibus editions:

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Story	Published	Omnibus	Notes
Falling Free	1988	N/A	Independent novel set 200 years before main series.
Shards of Honor	1986	Cordelia’s Honor	Told from Cordelia’s perspective. Kaedrin Reviews: Shards of Honor, Barrayar
Barrayar	1991
The Warrior’s Apprentice	1986	Young Miles	Kaedrin Reviews: The Warrior’s Apprentice, Mountains of Morning, and The Vor Game
“Mountains of Morning” from Borders of Infinity	1989
The Vor Game	1990
Cetaganda	1995	Miles, Mystery & Mayhem	Ethan of Athos is an independent story. Kaedrin Reviews
Ethan of Athos	1986
“Labyrinth” from Borders of Infinity	1989
“Borders of Infinity” from Borders of Infinity	1989	Miles Errant	Kaedrin Reviews: Borders of Infinity, Brothers in Arms, Mirror Dance
Brothers in Arms	1989
Mirror Dance	1994
Memory	1996	N/A	Kaedrin Review
Komarr	1998	Miles in Love	Kaedrin Reviews
A Civil Campaign	1999
“Winterfair Gifts”	2004
Diplomatic Immunity	2002	N/A	Kaedrin Review
Cryoburn	2010	N/A	Kaedrin Review
Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance	2012	N/A	Told from Ivan’s perspective. Kaedrin Review

So the first thing to note is that Falling Free, while technically part of the series, is an extreme prequel and doesn’t really involve any of the characters (it’s set 200 years before the rest of the series). As such, it’s almost completely independent of the rest of the series. I say “almost” because I’ve heard it would be good to catch up with this one before Diplomatic Immunity. Also, I neglected to mention a short story called “Dreamweaver’s Dilemma” which is apparently also an extreme prequel that’s not closely coupled with the rest of the series. Of course, I haven’t read either of these, so I can’t say for sure (Update: I’ve since read both, and they are indeed not closely coupled with the rest of the series, I would skip them and come back later). I do plan to catch up with them at some point, but the real meat of the Vorkosigan Saga starts with Shards of Honor.

Shards of Honor is where I started the series, though it appears that many people bypass Shards of Honor and Barrayar, and start directly with The Warrior’s Apprentice, which is when Miles first shows up (well, there is a short scene in Barrayar where you see him as a young child, but that’s from his mother’s perspective…) There are pros and cons to each approach. Starting with Shards of Honor and Barrayar gives you a lot of background on the universe and characters, while The Warrior’s Apprentice will get you into the series quicker. Personally, I opted to start with the Cordelia books. I’m something of a completist, but it worked really well for me. The other option is to read the books in order of publication, which will have you ping-ponging from Cordelia stories to Miles stories and back again a few times, as well as being all over the internal chronology… but I’m sure it would work too.

The most confusing thing I encountered in the series, though, is Borders of Infinity. This is a collection of three novellas (including one called “Borders of Infinity”, just for added confusion), which in a lot of other arenas, means that you can probably skip them… but I would strongly advise against that, actually. “Mountains of Mourning” is quite possibly the best story in the entire series. “Borders of Infinity” is a really clever prison story, and the events in that story – some of which rubbed me the wrong way at the time – pay off huge in Komarr (I have no idea if that was always Bujold’s intention, or if she just thought of it later, but it was a fantastic revelation in any case). “Labyrinth” is the most unusual of the bunch, but it also introduces one of my favorite side characters from the series, Taura. Now, these stories were originally published as part of one collection, but the three stories all take place at varying points of the chronology. The omnibus editions do an admirable job mixing the novellas into the series though, which lessens the confusion quite a bit. The only thing lost, then, is the narrative glue between the stories, but that’s only about 5 pages or so (even still, it takes place between Brothers in Arms and Mirror Dance, making it a difficult thing to fit in – you won’t really miss it). Anyways, there are a bunch of options for Borders of Infinity… it might even make an interesting introduction to the series, though it’s always hard for me to judge (I’d still recommend starting with Shards or Warrior’s).

Ethan of Athos is another book that is noteworthy for its independence from the rest of the series. Indeed, Miles is barely even mentioned, though one of the series’ recurring characters, Elli Quinn, plays a prominent role. It’s an interesting story, probably one of the least mainstream of the entire series, but it’s also very independent. There are some small references to it in later stories, but nothing big enough to say this needs to be read in order (though, completist as I am, I did). If you’re looking to get to the amazing four book run starting at Mirror Dance, you can probably skip this one.

So I think that covers all of the exceptions and divisive parts of the series. There are a lot of books that pair together well, and I think the omnibus editions do an excellent job latching them together. Incidentally, just because something isn’t part of an omnibus doesn’t mean it’s not worthwhile. I think my second favorite story in the series is Memory. Also, just because something is a novella or a short story doesn’t mean that it’s not worth reading. I’ve already mentioned that, but it bears repeating. Even “Winterfair Gifts” was a great story (which, I believe, is only really available as part of the omnibus).

This series has probably been my favorite recent discovery. It’s a tricky thing, and I think there’s an interesting discussion to be had about series like this. I have to wonder how good something like Memory or A Civil Campaign would appear to an outsider who didn’t have so much background on the characters or the universe. It certainly worked wonders for me, but it’s hard to express that because in order for anyone else to get that feeling, they have to read several books into the series to get there… Tricky. But that’s a discussion for another day.

Update: Added Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance, some additional notes.

The last time I wrote about the Vorkosigan Saga books, a commenter noted that the best books were ahead of me, and indeed, I think they were. In fact, the run of books starting with Mirror Dance and concluding with A Civil Campaign is as good as any series I’ve ever read, and the series as a whole represents quite a feat. It is not so bogged down with continuity that you have to read all of them – most of the novels are complete stories in and of themselves. But on the other hand, when you read them in order (as I have done), a lot of value is added. This makes some of these later books in the series difficult to judge. Memory might be my favorite novel in the series, but is that because of what happens in the novel by itself, or is it reliant on previous installments for that heft? And is that a bad thing? Personally, I don’t think so… but it may make an interesting topic for another post.

Below are short reviews of the last five novels of the series (with a bonus short story thrown in for good measure). I’ve tried to avoid any real talk about the plots of each, but there might be some minor spoilers on a macro level. That being said, I knew a lot of this stuff was coming before I read it, and it did not diminish anything. Half the fun is Bujold’s style, which is not ornate or flowery, not showy, but perhaps deceptively effective and downright compelling. These are page turners, but ones of unusual sophistication. While I have finished the series, I don’t think this will be the last I blog of it. Indeed, I already have a few ideas for other posts, but they will have to wait for another day. In the meantime, here’s some mixed thoughts on the last five books of the series:

• Memory – I think this may be my favorite novel of the series. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have nearly the same impact if you started here. This book is a culmination, a real turning point for both the character of Miles and the series as a whole. Up until now, Miles has led a dual life, and for the most part, he’s gotten away with it. But the chickens come home to roost in this novel, and Miles has to make some hard choices. Like all the best Vorkosigan novels, seemingly nothing goes right in the first portion of the story. I keep thinking to myself: This is wrong! Or No, you idiot! Fortunately, Bujold knows what she’s doing. Miles falters in the beginning, but starts to pick himself back up, and watching him grow, watching him finally accept and acknowledge his identity, his true identity, makes for a wonderful story (this is primarily why new readers might not wholly get it). Oh sure, there’s lots of intrigue and conspiracy and of course Miles is in the center of it all, but that’s the norm for him. What’s new is that he doesn’t retreat to his normal crutches (er, not after the beginning anyway), and instead forges a new path for himself.

  Also notable here is the setting of Barrayar, which becomes more complex and real to me every time I see it. Sometimes it seems like every science fiction planet has their own monoculture (or monoclimate), but Barrayar is fully realized, with distinct differences between rural and city areas, and multiple political factions, etc… It helps that the planet is populated with a veritable plethora of familiar and likeable side characters (another reason the book probably wouldn’t resonate with new readers). In particular, it’s fun to see a different side of Illyan, who up until now has been something of an inscrutable spymaster (though we do see him when he’s much younger too). There’s even a callback to my other favorite Vorkosigan story, The Mountains of Morning – Miles visits Silvy Vale again, to find that things have changed there, in no small part because of his previous efforts. It’s a turning point for Miles in this story, and thus a turning point for the whole series.

• Komarr – In this book, Miles and one of the Emperor’s other Imperial Auditors visits one of the other two planets in the Barrayaran Imperium to investigate an engineering disaster. It looks pretty straightforward at first, but seeing as though Miles is involved, things get hairy pretty quickly. There are a few things that really set this book apart, and one is that half the book is written from Ekaterin Vorsoisson’s perspective. She’s the niece of Miles’ Imperial Auditor colleague, and she’s married to a minor Vor lord and administrator on the planet. This is a relatively new direction for the series, which has often relied on Miles as detective, but this time, it’s his official role. I won’t say much about the mystery in question, except that it’s pretty well plotted and interesting. The real strength of this book is Ekaterin, who’s in a pretty rough situation, and things get worse for her as time goes on. Miles and Ekaterin actually develop an interesting relationship here, and there’s a moment about halfway through the book where they have a minor adventure when shopping, and it forces Miles to have flashback to his Dendarii days – it’s actually a callback to one of the novellas from Borders of Infinity, and it totally explains something that I never quite got when I was reading that story. It’s one of those moments when all the pieces unexpectedly come together… for something you never even realized was an issue. It makes me wonder about the degree to which Bujold had planned out the series. In any case, this is an interesting book. I wouldn’t say that it’s better than Memory, but it’s solid in its own right, and it’s an interesting direction for the series. Miles is still growing into his new role, and finding that his Impsec habits die hard (and that’s a good thing, too, as his many varied experiences serve him well in his new job).
• A Civil Campaign – You wouldn’t think a book whose centerpiece is a (disastrous) dinner party would have very high stakes, but, well, here we are. Oh, and the conclusion of the story hinges off of… a democratic vote. Yeah, from the outside, this doesn’t seem like much, especially in a series that has previously centered on military action and espionage, but it’s actually quite involving because it’s a big character piece. The points of view in this book expand from Miles and Ekaterin to also include Mark Vorkosigan, Kareen Koudelka, and even Ivan Vorpatril. Like Memory, we’re on Barrayar here, so there’s a huge cast of well established side characters making appearances, along with a bevy of new ones, including even some folk of the Vorrutyer clan who have been villains in previous books, but this time around, there are a couple that are, uh, maybe not good guys, but certainly better than the alternatives! It’s another change of pace for the series, and the Romantic angle which has been building since Memory seems to have picked up a lot of steam. The books starts a bit on the slow side, but once you get to that ill-fated dinner party, which is hysterically funny by the way, things pick up considerably, making this among my favorite of the books in the series. Actually, the grand majority of the book is funny, probably making this more of a comedy than previous books in the series. Where Memory was all about Miles, this book seems more about Ekaterin. Her character underwent a lot of changes in Komarr too, but she’s really the one that is driving everything this time around. This book really does a lot, but Bujold manages to juggle all the various storylines well, and make it all seem natural and balanced. Excellent book.
• Winterfair Gifts – This is a short story that depicts Miles’ wedding on Barrayar. The Dendarii mercenaries (sans Elli Quinn, for obvious reasons) have arrived for the wedding, but Lady Ekaterin has mysteriously fallen ill… The story is told entirely from Armsman Roic’s POV, which is a neat touch. We’ve seen him a bit in the previous novel, but he really gets a chance to shine here. Indeed, there’s even something of a romantic subplot with him and Taura, the 8 foot tall, genetically modified Dendarii mercenary with fierce, catlike features. Roic, being a Barrayaran, has a prejudice against women soldiers and “mutants”, of which Taura certainly qualifies. But he quickly reverses position. It’s not really the focus of the story, and it was pretty clear that nothing much would come of this because of Taura’s unnaturally short lifespan, but it was a nice touch. The mystery the two of them solve is pretty neato too. All in all, it’s a really pleasant story, and it was really nice to get updates on the Dendarii folk, who had been pretty absent from the recent books. If you’re reading the series, don’t skip this one because it’s “just” a short story. It’s a lot of fun.
• Diplomatic Immunity – As I tweeted when I was reading this, I tried really hard to resist the “urge to constantly scream the title like the South African guy from Lethal Weapon 2“. Of course, I failed miserably, and yes, I just kinda screamed it right now. Anywho, after the previous four books in the series, which were all superb, I think this one probably represents a bit of step backwards. Not bad at all, just not quite at the level of the previous few books. It does take a little while to get started, but once the nature of the conflict starts to become clear, it becomes incredibly tense and thrilling. Unfortunately, a fair amount of the conclusion happens “off screen” as it were, and we find out that Ekaterin saves the day in Miles’ stead (I’d like to have seem more from Ekaterin’s perspective in this one). On the other hand, we do get to hang out with Bel Thorne again, which is awesome, and Bujold’s writing is still wonderful and absurdly funny at times. I don’t want to talk much about the plot here, as it is interesting (you’ll probably have to have read Cetaganda before this one for the ending to really have a good impact) and despite not being my favorite Vorkosigan book, it’s still better than average SF mystery! It’s one of those weird things. Miles manages to foil a galaxy-wide conspiracy plot that could have potentially lead to war… yet it seems like there is less at stake here than in A Civil Campaign!
• Cryoburn – Like Diplomatic Immunity, this one suffers a bit from reduced stakes. Bujold manages to work around this by adding the POV of Jin, an 11 year old kid at the heart of the conspiracy that Miles is uncovering. But the book takes place on Kibou-daini, a planet that we’ve never heard of before (most of the other planets in Bujold’s universe are mentioned and foreshadowed in other books before a story gets set there), and the only familiar face we run into is Armsman Roic (who is indeed awesome!) A few others show up later in the story, and we see some communiques from Ekaterin and Gregor and the like, and we hear a little about Miles’ kids, but for the most part, it’s all new characters. Fortunately, the new folks are pretty great in their own right, and the story here is also rather interesting, which I think elevates this above Diplomatic Immunity, even if it doesn’t quite reach the heights of some other installments. Ironically, despite being the latest novel published (and the latest in terms of the chronology), this might make a decent entry into the series, which is rather strange, and of course, everything you’d read after this would be prequel, so I wouldn’t recommend it, but I suspect that’s why this managed to garner a Hugo nomination… Anyway, I had a ton of fun with this, but there was something about it that felt strange. Not bad, but it’s like Miles has become so powerful in his old age. He’s done all the growth he’s needed to do. It’s like he’s maxed out his levels in an RPG and so most enemies don’t really represent a threat to him… so while I enjoyed the story, I never quite feared that he wouldn’t manage to pull it all off in style, which, of course, he does. There’s nothing really wrong with that, and again, I really had a lot of fun with the book, it’s just another that isn’t really top tier stuff (though Bujold’s writing is tight as ever). The very end of Cryoburn, after the story proper has been resolved, seems a bit rushed for what it represents. There’s a bit of a tragedy there, but not an unexpected one, and indeed, Bujold laid the hints on pretty thickly in the preceding chapters, though I didn’t quite recognize that for what it was. It makes for a fitting end to the series, though I’m sure there are plenty other stories that could be told as well (and indeed, Bujold has written a tale centering around Ivan that will be out later this year).

Whew. There are only two books in the series that remain for me, one that takes place a couple hundred years in the past and is mostly unrelated (Falling Free) and one that is forthcoming (Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance, which can’t get here soon enough – I think withdrawal pains are starting to set in already).

While I’ve done my fair share of Science Fiction reading over the past few years, Fantasy has been relatively absent… I don’t really have much against Fantasy or anything, I just tend to prefer Science Fiction, which tends to be more grounded. That being said, I’ve recently mixed a few fantasy books into my schedule, including some longtime residents of the queue, and I think you can expect to see a little more fantasy appearing soon as well…

• Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury – Hard to believe this is the first Bradbury I’ve ever read. I actually picked this up a while ago, reading it during Halloween season last year (after being reminded/shamed into it while posting about NPR’s top 100 SF/F books). For the most part, I enjoyed this book, and there are some really tense sequences (I particularly loved the chase scene in the library), but I ultimately found the book a bit lacking. I can see why it’s beloved, and there are certainly some great characters (the Illustrated Man is a wonderful villain) and eery overtones – carnivals are naturally scare places – but it didn’t quite connect with me the way other classics of science fiction or fantasy have in the past. This is partly due to Bradbury’s style, which I found a bit stilted, but it’s probably more due to the fantastical nature of the plot. I wonder if I’d have liked this better if I read it when I was younger. I’m glad to have read it, and I enjoyed it well enough, but I was never blown away by it.
• Perdido Street Station, by China Miéville – Ah, finally. This book has been on my book queue (and indeed, even on my shelf) for several years (I first mentioned it on the blog in 2009, but I’d already had it for at least a year at that point). So what’s the deal with this thing? Miéville is one of the primary examples of The New Weird, a literary subgenre harkening back to the Weird fiction of yore, exemplified by the likes of H.P. Lovecraft. The notion of “Weird” being distinct from horror or fantasy is mostly due to the fact that a lot of that stuff was written before genre fiction achieved such a strict taxonomy. The “new” weird probably fits into that line too. There are elements of fantasy, horror, and even a little science fiction here, though I will say that the SF elements are little more than window dressing. Our main character, Isaac, is ostensibly a “scientist”, but Miéville’s conception of what a scientist does is… not very vigorous. For instance, Isaac’s main breakthrough in the world of science? Crisis energy… a vague form of power derived by… placing things in danger? It’s unclear, and it’s ridiculous. Fortunately, Miéville’s got a lot more going for him than against him. He’s created a wonderfully detailed setting (though I will say he tends to go overboard in his verbose descriptions of such) and some evocative, fun characters. I was a particularly big fan of the Weaver, a sorta multi-dimensional being that takes the form of a spider, regards the universe as a work of art, and speaks in an unending stream of consciousness and free verse poetry. The villains of the piece, called slake-moths (which are huge, monstrous beasts with hypnotic powers and an appetite for consciousness), are also compelling. Lots of other interesting ideas populate the world, like the Construct Council and countless other races of beings. Again, I think Miéville gets a little carried away in his description of the world, and this wankery can get a bit tiresome at times, but it’s a dense setting and I’d hope that future installments would perhaps be a little less exposition-heavy. Also, the main character of Isaac is a bit of a sad-sack, and while Miéville sets the stakes very high and manages to come up with a solid solution, there is a bit of an (intentional) downer ending. I’d call this a very good book, though it doesn’t quite strike all of my chords. There are things I love about it, and things I don’t particularly care for. Miéville has written a number of books set in this universe, and it may be something I return to at some point, but I can’t say as though I’m rushing to do so at this point.
• The Quantum Thief, by Hannu Rajaniemi – This debut novel from Finnish author (and string theorist) Hannu Rajaniemi has garnered a lot of praise, and it is indeed crammed with a lot of interesting ideas. I’m not entirely sure they all coalesce into a great narrative, but then, this is also apparently the first in a trilogy (*groan*). Unlike every other book in this post, and indeed, most of my SF book posts, this book is the hardest of hard SF. Not quite Greg Egan hard SF, but close. Rajaniemi thrusts you into this unfamiliar world with no real hand-holding, forcing you to infer a lot of the concepts and ideas from minimal exposure. Most of the characters are of the post-human sort, digital beings stuck in human body shaped shells, sometimes more machine than biological. Complex interrelationships and privacy controls, augmented reality, brain-machine interfaces and the like. If you’ve read other stories along these lines, you may be comfortable, but the casual reader of SF might be a bit overwhelmed. I came down somewhere in the middle of that mixture. I was never totally lost, but I wasn’t particularly comfortable with everything either. The story itself is a little obtuse. Our main character is Jean le Flambeur (John the Gambler?), an infamous thief playing the traditional role of a trickster. He’s reasonably likeable, though he isn’t given a ton of space to shine. As the book opens, his mind is imprisoned in a weird state where it is forced to play endless variations of the prisoner’s dilemma against copies of itself and millions of others. One copy of himself is freed by a woman named Mieli, who seeks his criminal expertise. Her motivations are vague, as is her plan. There is a bit of a heist involved here, but it is again rather obtuse and difficult to piece together exactly what Mieli (or rather, the person pulling her strings) is after. There’s also a detective named Isidore Beautrelet, who is trying to piece it all together, and then there’s the tzaddik, a sorta vigilante group that is nevertheless tolerated by the authorities. The story takes place on Mars, where society has attempted to limit the endless copying of minds by instituting radical control over your personal technology stack, including even your appearance. It’s all very complicated and very interesting. Again, much of this is inferred during the course of events, and things can get a little dicey as you figure them out. Like I said, it never fully coalesced for me, but I still found it interesting enough, and I’d be curious how the sequels will read now that I’m familiar with the various concepts…
• The Witch Watch, by Shamus Young – I’ve already mentioned this a few times on the blog, and I suppose it’s impossible for me to be unbiased as I’ve been… internet friends?… with Shamus for a while now, but I had a ton of fun with this book. Oddly, it doesn’t seem like it would be my kinda book. It’s a fantasy set in the Victorian era of England, with a little steampunk thrown in for good measure. The main character of Gilbert is a sorta zombie who doesn’t really remember how he died (though he still retains his wits). Most of these elements are not really in my wheelhouse, and yet Shamus is able to ground everything in enough reality that it all works much better than I would have expected (I will say that I bought the book without knowing anything about the plot or characters or anything). Shamus is a programmer, and so even the fantastical elements of his story operate with a certain logic and internal consistency. For instance, I often find the way magic is portrayed in fantasy as a major problem. It’s often used and abused, with little or no limitations, leading to an improbable escalation of powers that quickly grates on me. But in this novel, magic is limited by both social and natural forces. First, magic is feared and abhorred by nearly everyone. It is controlled by two main forces: the “Church” and the titular “Witch Watch” (a sorta magic-specific British detective agency). The Church is absurdly ignorant in its treatment of the problem, simply killing those it suspects of magic, with no due process. The Witch Watch take a more balanced approach, preferring to actually study what makes magic work. These social limitations on magic make for a nice buffer, and they allow Shamus to avoid getting into too many details with how magic actually works. But when he does, it’s still interesting and well considered. There are physical limitations on magic as well. There are some spells that can be cast without much preparation, but they take a great deal of energy out of the person casting the spell. So you can conjure up a big fireball, but after you do so, you’ll be pretty tired (and unable to continue). Of course, limitations are a great literary tool, as there are always ways to get around them, and that sort of contortion is always entertaining. Now, the book isn’t perfect. In particular, I found the flashbacks and epistolary sections a little distracting. Some of them serve a good purpose, though I’m not sure they required quite as prominent a placement as they received… But that is a minor problem in an otherwise entertaining and tight story. The characters are quite likeable and have a nice chemistry together. Shamus’ dry wit is in evidence here, especially when Gilbert and Alice get to trading barbs, and the book is quite easy to read. Give it a shot, if it sounds like your thing…
• The Tale of the Wicked, by John Scalzi – Ok, so this is a bit of a cheat, as this is a short story I read in a single (short) sitting, but it was a fun space opera tale and a nice precursor to Scalzi’s forthcoming Redshirts novel. The story has to do with an AI unit stretching beyond it’s normal capabilities and is a little reminiscent of those great, paranoid old SF movies like Colossus: The Forbin Project or Demon Seed (though things never quite run as amok in Scalzi’s tale). Still, it’s a fun little story. Only available online in kindle format, it’s still just 99 cents, and was one of those impulse purchases Amazon makes so easy…

So there you have it. Next up on the reviewing front will probably be finishing off the Vorkosigan saga… I’m trying to delay that as long as possible (only 1.5 books left!), so it may be a bit, but I’m sure I won’t be able to resist (also, apparently a new one is coming in November)…

So last year, someone noticed that the SF Masterworks, a series of books highlighting the classic science fiction novels, was somewhat lacking in female author representation. I’m not a big fan of identity politics and I don’t want to take this post in that direction, but one of the good things that came out of the whole meme was a site highlighting people’s favorite SF books by female authors called SF Mistressworks. I’m always on the lookout for interesting SF, so I picked a few books from their list and added a few of my own, and so here are the last five female-authored books I’ve read:

• A Matter of Oaths, by Helen S. Wright – In the distant future, humans have spread out into space, establishing two major empires and a Guild of Webbers that run the spaceships and thus control travel and trade between the two empires. Rafe is a talented Webber (basically someone who can interface with the computers who run spaceships) who is suffering from amnesia… but this isn’t just a cliche, it’s actually an indication that Rafe is an “oath-breaker”, basically someone who has betreayed his respective empire and had their memory wiped as punishment. But, as it turns out, Rafe is more important than anyone realizes, and the two empires fight to retain him. His new crew gets caught in the middle of the fight. Wright has crafted a surprisingly dense universe here and populated it with traditional SF competent men and women that are generally a likable bunch. The worldbuilding is done mostly in the background – you pick things up as you go, rather than wading through long chapters of exposition. Sure, there are some info-dumps, but you have to put a lot of things together for yourself as well, and Wright strikes a good balance. The story itself isn’t really exceptional, but it’s a well executed space opera and well worth reading (unless you’re a homophobe, in which case you’ll be freaked out by some of the relationships in the book). The ending does feature a deus ex machina, but it fits well enough with the story, and Wright manages to wring enough suspense out of the finale. It’s not really in print anymore, but you can pick up a used copy on Amazon for a penny (alas, no kindle version either). As far as I can tell, this was Wright’s only fiction novel, which is a shame, as I’d certainly be interested in more from her…
• Polar City Blues, by Katharine Kerr – Basically a traditional murder/mystery thriller story with a science fictional setting. Some of this setting doesn’t really work for me. Kerr’s characters all speak in a weirdly constructed version of English (for instance, a character will say something like “I no get it” instead of “I don’t get it”) that only really serves to be distracting without providing any real depth or flavor to the story. Fortunately, Kerr has crafted a complex, twisty little mystery for us, so I can give the linguistic stuff a pass. Polar City Police Chief Al Bates has a nasty problem brewing, with a psyionic killer on the loose and a trail of dead bodies in his wake. He teams up with connected smuggler Bobbie Lacey to investigate and quickly becomes enmeshed in a complicated tale of assassination, mysterious alien artifacts, and a new, unknown disease spreading throughout the city. Solidly constructed mystery with some added flavor from the science fictional elements and some neat role reversal in the book’s romantic subplot. It took a bit to get going for me, but I ended up enjoying this enough to recommend it. Unfortunately, this is another book that’s currently out of print, but again, Amazon has lots of cheap used copies. Kerr is probably more known for her Fantasy works, but this was an interesting effort.
• Foreigner, by C. J. Cherryh – My least favorite book in this post, I found this one a bit of a slog. It starts off promisingly enough. Twice, even. But the two thrilling prologues prove to be a tease. After those exciting false starts, the story proper almost immediately bogs down. Lots of repetitive whining and miscommunication for the sake of plot (which isn’t very complicated, but it’s played that way due to the fact that everyone only says cryptic things). A user on Goodreads hit the nail on the head with his “brief fantasia that illustrates” Cherryh’s style in this book:
  

  Bren was extremely worried about the assassination attempt and was quite annoyed that his freedom of movement had been compromised. A worrisome Bren couldn’t believe he had to suffer an escort everywhere! “I really am awfully worried that I can’t phone home”, said Bren, as he huffily realized that his ability to buy canned meat alone was no longer possible. “This really bothers me, I can’t even leave my apartment without an escort!” notes Bren, as he paces his apartment in frustration. It was driving him crazy with annoyance and worry that not only had an assassin tried to kill him, now he couldn’t travel alone anymore. He could not leave his apartment alone. After all, an assassin had just attempted to murder him. An actual assassin! Trying to murder him! It was all so worrisome. And as if the assassination attempt wasn’t enough, now he couldn’t even leave his apartment unaccompanied. “This is really very annoying and I feel awfully compromised, so much so that I am genuinely worried,” reflected Bren.

  Which is all well and good, but the book goes on like this for a solid 200-300 pages of nothing but Bren’s whining incompetence. Things pick up towards the end of the novel, and Cherryh can craft some exciting sequences when she wants to, but she seems more interested in detailing the confusion of alien communication or politics. Which, again, would be fine, except that it’s astoundingly repetitive and boring. And I’m a guy that’s normally fascinated by this sort of thing, but Cherryh seems determined to stamp out anything interesting in the premise. Perhaps if any of her characters were likable or interesting in any way? Maybe if they didn’t spend all their time petulantly whining about their lot in life? Which is all rather weird, since Cherryh certainly has a way with words. Unfortunately, she doesn’t seem to have directed them towards any real purpose. A most frustrating novel. This is apparently the first in a long series of popular novels, and from what I gather, they’re better than this book, which does set up the setting which is actually rather well thought out. Unfortunately, Cherryh explores this by way of long sequences of exposition and info-dumps that don’t ever really seem relevant and are always interspersed with whining. I guess I just hate books where people whine a lot. It’s fine to whine for a while – Lois Bujold’s Miles Vorkosigan frequently gets depressed or whiny – but you can’t make that the entire focus of the book. Miles always parlays his whining into action and usually success, which makes for a good story arc. The characters in Cherryh’s book just whine and whine, interesting things happen to them, then the story ends. Most disappointing.

• The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins – I got a Kindle for Christmas and wanted to read something, and this book was free to download, so I figured I’d check out what all the fuss is about. I have to admit that the premise held little interest for me. Not only is it quite derivative (see Battle Royale, The Running Man, and a few other stories with similar premises), but it’s also set in something of a dystopia, which never excites me (and for the record, that’s my least favorite part of the other stories of this nature as well). Indeed, the worldbuilding here is distinctly lackluster. The whole purpose of “The Hunger Games” themselves makes no real sense to me, nor does the structure of the setting. On the other hand, the plot is reasonably well executed and rockets along at a fast pace. Once you get into the actual battle, the setting ceases to matter all that much, and you get a thrilling tale of survival and cat-and-mouse stalking. The action is well staged and executed, and I found myself reading at a rather fast pace. There’s a sorta romantic subplot, though it’s never really clear if it was just a ploy or not (I predict Katniss will develop a nasty case of trust issues in the sequels). It’s ultimately a fun book, though I didn’t find much depth here. I was kinda “meh” about this book in the end, and while I don’t really have any desire to read the sequels, I’ll probably watch the movies. I will say that I read it in 3 sittings, so it’s certainly not a difficult book to get through, I just had a lot of nagging questions that bothered me about the book.
• Mirror Dance, by Lois McMaster Bujold – Of course, there has to be some Bujold on the list, and this one is the ninth book in the long running Vorkosigan Saga. This installment is notable in that it’s the longest of the books I’ve read yet (clocking in at a solid 560 pages) and it’s told mostly from the perspective of a character other than Miles Vorkosigan. I won’t say who, as it’s a bit of a spoiler for the series as a whole, but this new character starts off the book as a pretty unlikeable guy. He’s even whiny. And he screws lots of things up towards the beginning of the book. But his heart’s in the right place, and unlike the characters in Foreigner, our protagonist here actually has an arc in this book, eventually even redeeming himself (reading Mirror Dance and Foreigner back-to-back really puts the latter’s issues in specific relief). I have to admit that I was surprised by a number of plot twists throughout the novel, and while the absence of Miles was a bit grating at first, I quickly became intrigued by the story as it progressed. Bujold seems to do this in a lot of her books. I often find myself thinking This can’t be right!? The story shouldn’t be going this way!, only to be consumed by what follows. I don’t know how she does it, but Bujold sure can craft a wonderful story. As the series progresses, she’s managed to make excellent use of her universe and supporting cast, which is large and diverse. You’re always happy to see certain characters pop up, and after 8 books, Bujold has a lot of background to draw from. The story of this book has to do with a botched rescue of clones, though things quickly escalate (into spoiler territory). It’s a great book, maybe in the top tier of the series, though I’d worry about reading this without the background from the previous books. At the very least, you’d have to read Brothers in Arms before this one (a lot of the books in this series have a sorta companion book, making it a series of pairs – a subject for another post, perhaps). I’ve already read the next few books in the series and with only two or so books left, I’m dreading the hole it will leave in my reading schedule…

And there you have it. I’ll probably need to do some non-SF book reviews coming up, but the SF always returns. I may end up finishing off the Vorkosigan Saga in the near future anyway…