Science Fiction

SF Book Review, Part 8: Vorkosigan Edition

4 Comments / Arts & Letters, Science Fiction / /

I’ve read the first few books in Lois McMaster Bujold’s long-running Vorkosigan Saga and reviewed them in the the last couple SF Book reviews. In short, I’ve really enjoyed them, and now I’ve read five more books in the series.

At this point, it’s hard to talk about the series without giving a little background info to start with. This, by necessity, means some spoilers, which I’ll try to keep at a minimum (if you’re sold on the series and want to get started, just skip to the last paragraph of this post). Here goes: In Shards of Honor, Cordelia Naismith of Beta Colony meets Aral Vorkosigan of Barrayar, and they get married around the time Aral becomes the Regent of Barrayar (the planet is ruled by a military class called the Vor, which consists of an Emperor and a bunch of Counts. A Regent is appointed when the current Emperor is not yet old enough to take the throne). Barrayar is a largely feudal society, so there’s lots of Machiavellian scheming going on, and thus Aral’s Regency was not unchallenged. An assassination attempt exposed the pregnant Cordelia to a teratogenic gas. All survived, including the fetus, but the baby was born with several birth defects, including most notably brittle bones.

That covers the first two books in the series (in a really frighteningly abrupt manner that leaves a ton of important stuff out!), and in The Warrior’s Apprentice we are introduced to Miles Vorkosigan, who has grown up in a world that hates and fears “mutants” like himself. Unable to depend on physical prowess, Miles instead relies on his powers of observation and quick-thinking wit. He doesn’t give in to the urge for self-pity, but he isn’t one-dimensional caricature of a man driven by demons either. Bujold tends to write his stories from his perspective, so we get lots of visibility to what’s going on in his head, and he’s always thinking ten steps ahead (as is required of him). In The Warrior’s Apprentice, he fails to get into the Barrayaran Military Academy due to his physical infirmities, after which he stumbles into a military conflict involving mercenaries, eventually improvising a mercenary fleet of his own (called the Dendarii Free Mercenaries) and foiling a political plot against his father. His mercenary fleet only knows him as Miles Naismith and does not know of his connections to Barrayar, which is a good thing, because Miles and his father propose making them Barrayar’s secret army. Impressed, but given few options, the young Emperor pulls strings to get Miles accepted into the Barrayaran Military academy. Whew. That took longer and was probably more spoilery than I intended, but it gives you the appropriate background (I assure you, Bujold is much better at explaining all this! Read the first three books!)

  • The Vor Game – The novel opens with Miles Vorkosigan graduation, followed by his assignment to the Barrayaran equivalent of an arctic outpost (i.e. not a very desirable position). It turns out that the commander there (General Metzov) is rather insane, and a confrontation leads to a career wrecking scandal for Miles. His only option at that point is to work for Barrayaran intelligence, but of course, his first mission there goes belly up as well, forcing him to take command of the Dendarii Mercenaries (again) in order to help save his Emperor. Oh, and there’s a Cetagandan invasion fleet on its way to Barrayar too. Yes, it’s difficult to describe this plot, but it’s an excellent novel, and Bujold deftly maneuvers around various pitfalls and tropes.

    Bujold does a particularly good job with the initial confrontation with the mad General Metzov. Miles has been ordered to participate in a massacre that is most probably illegal. However, disobeying orders isn’t exactly a good option either. Miles isn’t just a newly minted soldier. He’s a Vor Lord, a member of the military caste, son of the Prime Minister (and former Regent) and cousin of the current Emperor. And he’s faced with an impossible choice here. Participate in an atrocity, or potentially ruin his life, maybe even taking his father with him and soiling the family name. What do you do when all the available options are bad? It’s a recurring theme in these books – and Miles can’t just make decisions for himself, he has to constantly consider the political, social and cultural ramifications of his actions.

    Later in the book, he runs across the errant Emperor, where Bujold has steadfastly declined to give in to cliche. Emperor Gregor has been in the series since he was a little boy, protected by Miles’ parents during an attempted coup. Miles and Gregor grew up as playmates (inasmuch as the Emperor-to-be could have playmates) and in the hands of a lesser writer, Gregor would have grown into a tyrant that would be the flip-side of Miles’s honor. Or something. But Bujold avoids that temptation without going too far in the opposite direction. Gregor is, in himself, a most interesting character. He’s got his flaws and some major problems, which we see in this novel, but he’s not a tyrant either.

    In the end, it’s easy to see why this got the Hugo award for best novel. I don’t think it’s Bujold’s best, but it’s definitely a great novel and well worth a read.

  • Cetaganda – One of the great things about this series of novels is that Bujuld doesn’t stick to one type of story for all the books. The series is primarily comprised of Space Opera stories, but there are a number of books that stray from the path, and this is one of them. Miles and his cousin Ivan (who is Miles’s cousin and something of a foil, usually referred to by Miles as “That idiot Ivan.”) are sent to represent Barrayar at the Imperial funeral of the dowager Empress, mother of the current Cetagandan Emperor. The Cetagandans are generally the villains of the Vorkosigan universe, so you can imagine that when Miles gets into trouble (which happens almost immediately upon arrival), things get hairy pretty quickly. In essence, this novel takes the form of a murder mystery, with some espionage and political wrangling thrown in for effect. The Cetagandan empire has a multi-tiered aristocracy, along with numerous castes and an almost inconceivable list of customs, traditions, and ceremonies. Like the best SF, Bujold keeps the info-dumps to a minimum, letting us infer the details of all this from the context of the story. Of course, Miles is in-over-his-head almost immediately, yet he manages to pull it out (that’s not really a spoiler, right?). Indeed, given his earlier career (as discussed above, along with the fact that his exploits with the Dendarii Mercenaries can’t be trumpeted), his success on Cetaganda proves almost politically embarrassing! This is actually the most recently written book of the ones listed in this post, though it is placed rather early in the actual chronology. I guess this is getting a bit repetitive, but it’s a good, fun read, handled with wit and care, like all of Bujold’s work.
  • Ethan of Athos – Perhaps the most unusual of the novels in the series in that it does not feature Miles (or anyone from his family) at all, instead focusing on Dr. Ethan Urquhart, from the planet Athos – a planet entirely populated by men. It’s an isolated and reclusive planet that does not seek any real outside contact. They reproduce using uterine replicators (something mentioned often in the series, actually), basically technological wombs where children can be grown. However, they do require certain genetic materials, which means that someone has to go out into the big bad galaxy and secure some new biological samples. Ethan is their man, but he’s quickly embroiled in a galactic conspiracy. He is helped in his task by Commander Elli Quinn of the Dendarii Free Mercenaries (which is one of the ways in which this book connects with the rest of the series). When we last saw Quinn, she had her face blown off during a battle in The Warrior’s Apprentice, but she has since had reconstructive surgery, and is now quite the beauty. Given that Ethan has never had contact with women, this makes for a somewhat interesting dynamic. The bulk of the action takes place on a space station and it takes the form of an espionage thriller. This was actually among the first books of the series to be published, and I think you can see that, but once again, it’s a really good story, and provides you with some background information on an important character (Elli Quinn) and obliquely connects with a couple other books in the series. Another good read.
  • Borders of Infinity – Ah, this is the book that causes a great deal of confusion for those of us seeking to read the series in chronological order. It’s basically a collection of three 100 page (or so) novellas, with some connective tissue provided in the form of an interview conducted by Simon Illyan, who is the head of the dreaded Barrayaran Imperial Security Service (basically an intelligence organization). However, the confusion comes in because each story takes place between other books in the series. I tried to read them in the appropriate order, but kinda messed up because the connective tissue takes place after Brothers in Arms (which is the next book below). No matter, because these are three of the best stories in the series.

    The first story, entitled “The Mountains of Mourning” is particularly effective, and it even earned Bujold a (well-earned) Hugo award for best novella. It’s another of the murder/mysteries, but it takes place in the backwoods of Barrayar, allowing Bujold to explore certain Barrayaran prejudices – especially for their intolerance to birth defects or “mutants”. This is particularly impactful because Miles is, himself, something of a mutant, and he has a lot of political considerations to make during this investigation.

    In “Labyrinth”, Bujold tells a somewhat less plausible tale, but it is one which connects with Ethan of Athos and Cetaganda a bit, and it is quite an enjoyable read. I’m kinda curious as to whether or not the character Taura will make another appearance in the series (it would certainly be a welcome development!) The third and final story, “The Borders of Infinity” starts a little strangely, but it quickly escalates, and Bujold manages a few interesting twists in what basically amounts to a prison-break story. It ends on a bit of a tragic note, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit.

    Like a lot of short story collections, this one doesn’t quite work as a whole as much as a single novel would, but that’s to be expected, and each individual story is truly excellent. Indeed, I would put “The Mountains of Mourning” up as one of the best stories in the series, and the other two aren’t too shabby either. If you’re looking at reading the series and think it’s ok to skip these because they’re “only novellas”, think again – these are really fantastic and should not be skipped. I believe they’re better integrated into the omnibus editions that are now in print, but that’s probably a topic for another post someday.

  • Brothers in Arms – One of the things I’ve always found somewhat improbably about this series was that Miles would be able to lead an entire fleet of mercenaries without anyone noticing that he was one of the most famous Barrayaran noblemen in the galaxy. In this book, Bujold solves that problem rather handily. If I tell you how she did so, well, it will sound ridiculous. And it kinda is. In the hands of a lesser writer, it might have fallen flat, but Bujold does an excellent job executing her solution here. It’s almost comedic, though she never quite goes that far (if you just accept the premise and go with it, you’ll find yourself laughing). However, by the time of the time you reach this novel, she’s laid all the groundwork, and it actually fits rather well. The story itself is more of a political espionage tale, and quite a good one at that. Elli Quinn makes another appearance here, and the story ends at a point that leads into the whole connective tissue parts of Borders of Infinity. I expect to see more of a few of these characters in later books as well.

Yes, I’m completely hooked by this series. The only reason I haven’t devoured the 8 remaining books is that I’m deliberately trying to prolong the experience, as I will no doubt experience a bit of withdrawal when I finish the series. Of course, the most recent installment was just published last year, so more books are not out of the question.

I heartily recommend the series. If you’re interested, I would start with Shards of Honor (or the omnibus edition called Cordelia’s Honor, which features Shards of Honor and the hugo-award winning Barrayar) which primarily deals with Miles’s parents, or The Warrior’s Apprentice (which is probably easier found as part of the omnibus called Young Miles, which features The Warrior’s Apprentice, “The Mountains of Mourning” from Borders of Infinity (another Hugo winner), and The Vor Game (yet another Hugo award winner)). Actually, I think those two omnibus editions are an excellent deal, and will give you a significant amount of the series with just two purchases… Well worth it, if you ask me.

The Book Queue

Arts & Letters, Science Fiction / /

So the last book queue I posted at the beginning of this year had 12 books on it, and I’ve made great strides against that list. Only 4 remain, and I’m halfway through one of those. I’ve also read at least 7 other books that weren’t on that list (mostly Bujold’s Vorkosigan Saga books, of which only the first was on the original list). With only 3 books remaining, I’m looking to fill up the immediate queue again.

Holdovers

The four remaining books from my last queue…

  • Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond: It’s been a bit of a slog. Two weeks of reading, and I’m still only about halfway through it. However, it’s gotten better as I’ve read. It still hasn’t quite overcome the bad first impression, but there is at least some interesting stuff going on now. I plan to nail it down this week.
  • Perdido Street Station, by China Miéville: I admit, this is getting ridiculous. This has been in the queue, even sitting on my shelf, for years. I will definitely get to this one this year.
  • Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter: I’m making such good progress this year, but I have a feeling that if I start this, even if I’m reading every day, it will take me a long time to finish it off. It’s a 900+ page book, with small type and dense material that I’m sure I’ll really enjoy, but which will totally break the momentum I’ve built up this year. Definitely in 2012 though!
  • Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon: Trashy noir novel by Pynchon? Sounds awesome (also apparently being adapted by Paul Thomas Anderson for the screen, so I want to read this before that movie comes out). This one hasn’t even been on the list that long though, so it’s not a big deal that it’s a holdover. Will definitely get to it this year.

Vorkosigan Saga

I started Lois McMaster Bujold’s long-running series of science fiction novels mostly (but not solely) chronicling the adventures of the physically diminutive but mentally gifted Miles Vorkosigan. So far this year, I’ve read 7 novels in the (loosely connected) series. I’ve got a whole stack of other books just waiting on my shelf now too… and Bujold just released a new one last year, so there’s always the chance of more books in the future! I don’t know if these are the nerdiest books I’ve ever read, but referring to them as the Vorkosigan Saga certainly makes it seem so… In any case, this is what I’ve got left in the series. I’m trying not to read too many of these in a row – I can already sense that I’ll be a bit bummed when I finish the series because I very much enjoy spending time with these characters:

New Stuff

Pretty self explanatory:

  • Readme by Neal Stephenson: I’ve already posted about this several times. Stephenson is probably my favorite author, so of course a new novel will immediately jump to the top of the queue (even though it’s a 900+ page behemoth). Comes out in September.
  • The Children of the Sky by Vernor Vinge: I’ve also posted about how much I’m looking forward to this one, another book in Vinge’s Zones of Thought universe (not really a series, though maybe, kinda, sorta). This one comes out in October and will probably jump to the top of the queue after I finish Reamde.
  • The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi: A science fiction heist story. I am so there.
  • Savage Season by Joe R. Lansdale: The first in a series of crime novels by Lansdale, whom you may know from his work on Bubba Ho-Tep (a book/movie where a black JFK and an old Elvis fight a mummy in a modern-day Texas retirement home). I’m not anticipating a book that’s quite that crazy, but this series seems to get some good reviews, so I’ll check it out…

So that’s 15 books right there, which should keep me busy through the end of the year. Of course, new books will undoubtedly be added (especially since I’ve just noticed that there’s no new non-fiction on the list) and so on, but that is the way of the book queue.

Tasting Notes – Part 4

2 Comments / Arts & Letters, Beer, Movies, Music, Science Fiction / /

Another edition of Tasting Notes, a series of quick hits on a variety of topics that don’t really warrant a full post. So here’s what I’ve been watching/playing/reading/drinking lately:

Television

  • Game of Thrones – The season finale aired last week, and I have to say, I’m impressed. My usual approach to stuff like this is to let it run for a couple of seasons to make sure it’s both good and that it’s actually heading somewhere. At this point, the book series isn’t even finished, but friends who’ve read it think it’s great and they say the books get better, so I gave the series a shot – and I’m really glad I did. It’s a fantastic series, much more along the lines of swords-and-sandals (a la Spartacus or Gladiator) than outright fantasy (a la Lord of the Rings). People talk about magic and dragons and whatnot, but most of that seems to be in the distant past (though there are hints of a return to that sort of thing throughout the series and especially in the last minutes of the season). Most of the season consists of dialogue, politics, Machiavellian scheming, and action. Oh, and sex. And incest. Yeah, it’s a fun show. The last episode of the season doesn’t do much to resolve the various plotlines, and hints at an even more epic scale. Interestingly, though, I don’t find this sort of open-endedness that frustrating. Unlike a show like Lost, the open threads don’t seem like red-herrings or even mysteries at all. It’s just good, old fashioned storytelling. The worst thing about it is that I’m all caught up and will have to wait for the next season! Prediction: Geoffrey will die horribly, and I will love it. But not too quickly. He’s such a fantastic, sniveling little bastard. I want to keep hating him for a while before someone takes him down.
  • Netflix Watch Instantly Pick of the Week: Doctor Who – Most of the semi-recently rebooted series is available on watch instantly, and I’ve only just begun to pick my way through the series again. I vaguely remember watching a few of Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor episodes, but I never finished that first season. I’m not very far in right now – just saw the first appearance of the Daleks, which should be interesting.

Movies

  • 13 Assassins – Takashi Miike tends to be a hit-or-miss filmmaker for me. Fortunately for him, he is ridiculously prolific. His most recent effort is a pretty straightforward Samurai tale about a suicide mission to assassinate a cruel and ruthless evil lord. Seven Samurai, it is not, but it is still quite engaging and entertaining to watch. It starts a bit slow, but it finishes with an amazing 45 minute setpiece as our 13 heroes spring their trap on 200 enemies. Along the way, we get some insight into Japanese culture as the days of the Samurai and Shogunate faded, though I don’t think I’d call this a rigorously accurate film or anything. Still, there’s more going on here than just bloody action, of which there is a lot. An excellent film, among the top films I’ve seen so far this year.
  • HBO has a pretty great lineup right now. In the past couple weeks, I’ve revisited Inception, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and How to Train Your Dragon. All of these films have improved upon rewatching them, a subject I’ve always found interesting. Scott Pilgrim, in particular, has improved it’s standing in my mind. I still think it’s got some problems in the final act, but I also think it’s a dreadfully underappreciated film.
  • Netflix Watch Instantly Pick of the Week: Transcendent Man – I mentioned this a couple weeks ago, but it’s an interesting profile of Ray Kurtzweil, a futurist and singularity proponent. I don’t really buy into his schtick, but he’s an interesting guy and the documentary is worth a watch for that.

Video Games

  • I’m still playing Mass Effect 2, but I have not progressed all that far in the game. I’ve found this is common with RPGs lately – it takes a long time to get anything accomplished in an RPG, so I sometimes find it hard to get started. Still, I have liked what I’ve seen of this game so far. It’s far from perfect, but it’s got some interesting elements.
  • Since I had to hook up my Wii to get Netflix working during the great PSN outage of ’11, I actually did start playing Goldeneye again. I even got a Wii classic controller, and that made the game approximately 10 times more fun (but I have to say, plugging the Wiimote into the classic controller to get it to work? That’s just stupidly obtuse, though I guess it keeps the cost down). Since I could play it in short 30 minute chunks, I actually did manage to finish this one off in pretty short order. It’s a pretty simple FPS game, which I always enjoy, but there’s nothing particularly special about it, except for some muted nostalgia from the original.

Music

Books

  • I’ve been cranking my way through Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan Saga novels, of which there are many (and I’m actually quite glad, as they’re all great fun). I’ve covered the first few novels in SF Book Reviews, and will probably have finished enough other books to do a Bujold-only edition in the near future. I’m currently reading Ethan of Athos, which seems to me to be a kinda spinoff/standalone novel, but an interesting one nonetheless (and we get to catch up with a character from one of the other books).
  • I also started Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond, but have found myself quickly bogging down (it doesn’t help that I have, like, 10 Bujold novels sitting around, begging me to read them) almost from the start. It’s not bad, per say, but there’s something about the style and scope of the book that bothers me. There are some interesting ideas, and Diamond admits that his methods are, by necessity, not that rigorous, but it’s still seems extremely speculative to me. I would normally be fine with that sorta approach, but I’m finding something about this grating and I haven’t figured it out just yet…
  • If you count the aforementioned Guns, Germs, and Steel, I’m down to just 4 unread books from my last Book Queue, which is pretty good! And I’ve only really added the Bujold books and Fuzzy Nation since then. I’m actually at a point where I should start seeking out new stuff. Of course, it probably won’t take long to fill the queue back up, but still. Progress!

The Finer Things…

  • I’ve managed to have some pretty exceptional beers of late. First up is Ola Dubh Special Reserve 40, an imperial porter aged in 40 year old Highland Park casks. It’s an amazing beer, though also outrageously priced. Still, if you can get your hands on some and don’t mind paying the premium, it’s great.
  • Another exceptional beer, the legendary Pliny the Elder (currently ranked #3 on Beer Advocates Best Beers on Planet Earth list). It’s a fantastic double IPA. Not sure if it’s really #3 beer in the world fantastic, but fantastic nonetheless.
  • One more great beer, and a total surprise, was Sierra Nevada Boot Camp ExPortation. Basically, Sierra Nevada has this event every year where fans get to go to “Beer Camp” and collaborate on new beers with Sierra Nevada brewers and whatnot. My understanding is that the batches are extremely limited. Indeed, I never expected to see these, but apparently there were a few on tap at a local bar, sorta leftover from Philly Beer Week. The beer is basically a porter with Brettanomyces added and aged in Pinot Noir barrels. This is all beer-nerd-talk for a sour (in a good way) beer. I’m not normally big into the style or Brett, but I’ll be damned if this isn’t a fantastic beer. I loved it and unfortunately, I’ll probably never see it again. If you see it, try it. At the very least, it will be an interesting experience!

And that’s all for now.

Fuzzy Nation

Science Fiction / /

In recent years, Hollywood has been remaking or rebooting nearly every property it could get its hands on – including franchises that are only a few years old. Some have speculated an unhealthy obsession with branding and marketing, others just call it a result of Hollywood’s creative bankruptcy. This sort of thing happens frequently in other forms of art as well. Indeed, it’s a hallmark of Theater – every night, a new remake! You don’t hear people complaining about yet another production of Macbeth, do you? And covering songs is quite common as well. In both of those realms, the remakes are outnumbered by original works (well, maybe not in theater), though, which is probably a good thing.

One area that doesn’t seem to see too much in the way of remakes is literature. Enter John Scalzi’s Fuzzy Nation. He calls this novel a “reimagining of the story and events in Little Fuzzy, the 1962 Hugo-nominated novel by H. Beam Piper.” Not having read the original, I can’t speak to the fidelity or necessity of the remake, but I am confident in calling it a fun, entertaining take on several common SF tropes.

Our tale begins with Jack Holloway, an independent contractor working for ZaraCorp, prospecting and surveying the planet Zara XXIII. ZaraCorp is apparently a company that basically strips down planets for all of their useful materials – metal ores, oil, and a rare mineral called sunstones. Not much time is spent mentioning how planets are discovered, but once they are, a team of specialists attempts to determine if there’s any sentient life on those planets, and if there isn’t, then ZaraCorp (and/or its competitors) are given a license to “exploit” the planet. Holloway, a former lawyer, has just found a huge cache of valuable sunstones. It will take years to exploit and even Holloway’s measly 0.25% share will garner him millions, if not billions of credits.

Not long after that, Holloway goes home and discovers that a small, catlike creature has snuck into his house. These ridiculously cute creatures begin to act suspiciously intelligent (incidentally, while I like the cover art, I have to say that the Fuzzy pictured there does not seem as cute as they do in the book). And from here, I’m guessing you can figure out several of the central conflicts in the book.

I burned through the book in about two sittings, and probably could have read it in one big session if I timed it right. I’m not sure if that’s simply to do with the length of the book (it’s about 300 pages with relatively large type and spacing) or if it’s Scalzi’s knack for page-turning storytelling (something I’ve talked about before). As previously hinted at, there are several common SF tropes at work here (Big mean corporations! Planetary exploitation! Is it sentient?!), and while Scalzi isn’t often breaking new ground or even exploring various ideas very deeply, I think there’s something to be said for a very well executed trope. There are several times when you can easily predict what will happen next, though Scalzi does manage some genuine twists and turns later in the story. It’s clear he’s working in pure storytelling mode here, which is perhaps why the pages seemed to turn themselves so quickly.

I do want to single out one aspect of the story that I think is particularly well done, and that’s the character of Jack Holloway. The story is told mostly from his perspective, and he’s got a certain charisma that makes him a good protagonist, but he’s also kind of a selfish prick. I don’t want to give anything away, nor do I want to give the wrong impression – he’s certainly not an anti-hero or anything, he’s just a fully fleshed out character who makes mistakes with the best of us. Flawed characters can be difficult and often present stumbling blocks to otherwise good stories, but I think Scalzi manages to pull this one off well.

Again, I have not read the original Little Fuzzy novel, but I suspect that Scalzi has done it proud. I’m not particularly looking forward to other reimaginings of classic SF, but I think in this case, it worked well, and I actually think that Scalzi’s choice, while not totally obscure, was old enough that he may be introducing lots of folks to Piper’s original works (I believe there are a few other Fuzzy novels as well). Among Scalzi’s novels that I’ve read, this one is towards the top of the list, though I don’t think it’s his best work. I do think that most of his novels would make good introductions to the SF genre though, and would recommend them. While Scalzi may be best known for taping bacon to his cat, I would argue that he should be better known for his novels! Fuzzy Nation would be a good place to start.

SF Book Review, Part 7

Science Fiction / /

Continuing to make some progress through my book queue… and, of course, adding new books to the queue as I go along. This time, it’s Lois McMaster Bujold’s fault, as I enjoyed Shards of Honor so much that I went out and read the next two books in the (apparently long running and loosely connected) series. I’ve now got about 10 more of her books in the queue. If the first three are any indication, I’ll probably move through them pretty quickly… but I’m getting ahead of myself.

I’m going to start with one from the actual queue though: Timothy Zahn’s Cobra Trilogy. I’ve been listing it as one book, but it’s technically an omnibus edition of Zahn’s first three Cobra novels, and I’ll review each separately below. As a side note, Zahn is currently in the process of writing another trilogy set in the same universe (the second novel was published this year, with a third tentatively planned for January 2012) and plans a third trilogy at some point in the unspecified future.

  • Cobra by Timothy Zahn – Though this is not Zahn’s first novel, it is among his first, and it shows. It is certainly not bad and you can see flashes of what he would grow into, but it is quite unusual. The pace of the novel, in particular, is rather strange. It starts off in rather standard military SF fashion, with a youth signing up for a war against an invading alien race. Of course, young Jonny Moreau gets assigned to a new, elite force of guerilla super-soldiers, packed to the gills with concealed weaponry. You get the standard training section, then you’re off to war. But the war lasts approximately one chapter, and we’re back in civilian life, but Jonny’s powers (which cannot be removed) are causing problems. He’s having trouble fitting back into civilian life, an interesting perspective, to be sure, though something that’s been covered a lot, even in military SF. But then, even that section of the novel doesn’t last, and Jonny is sent off on other adventures. The conflicts that arise are reasonably well done, but the solutions often leave a poor taste in your mouth… but then, that seems to be the point of a lot of it. This is an interesting approach, but Zahn hadn’t quite reached the height of his storytelling powers just yet, so it reads a bit stilted. I think if Zahn had attempted something similar later in his career, it may have been a bigger success. It’s a fine read, but nothing particularly special, except insofar as it gets you to the later books in the series.
  • Cobra Strike by Timothy Zahn – This book picks up about 20 years after the first, and follows the next generation of Moreaus (though Jonny also plays a big supporting role) as they attempt to cope with living in an isolated trio of worlds. A new threat appears, and the Cobras are sent to investigate. I won’t go into too much detail here, as this book is a little more cohesive, telling one story from start to finish. I’m not entirely convinced about the conflict or the ultimate solution, but it’s definitely an easier read, and you definitely see more commonality with Zahn’s later works. A worthy sequel and indeed, an improvement on the original.
  • Cobra Bargain by Timothy Zahn – The last book in the series, and probably the book that most resembles Zahn’s later success. It’s not quite as accomplished as his later work, but it’s up there, and it’s the one book in the series that really had me turning the pages. This one jumps us forward another 20 years. Jonny has passed away, but his sons have established themselves in planetary politics and the third generation of Moreaus are becoming Cobras. This time around, we follow Jasmine “Jin” Moreau, the first female Cobra, and one of the more engaging protagonists in the series. Of course, things never go as planned and Jin is quickly caught alone in enemy territory. Things have changed there over the last 20 years, but it’s still a dangerous place, and she finds herself in an uneasy alliance with certain members of the enemy. Quite entertaining, and the pages turned themselves more in this final novel than in either of the previous two. Indeed, I read the last 150-200 pages in one sitting. Is it worth reading the first two novels to get to this point? Maybe for fans of Zahn, but it’s certainly not something I’d recommend folks start with. I enjoyed it, but I wouldn’t count it as one of my favorites, even amongst Zahn’s other work.
  • Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold – This book picks up right after the end of Shards of Honor, with Cordelia Naismith marrying Lord Aral Vorkosigan. And as it turns out, Aral has taken up a rather important position in the Barrayaran government – one that involves lots of behind-the-scenes politics and intrigue, betrayals and conspiracies. The book starts out a bit on the slow side, establishing all the players in the coming civil war. Things come to a head in the second act, and our protagonists take the initiative in the final act. The mixture of high technology with old-school Machiavellian duplicity is an intriguing one, and Bujold masterfully weaves a web of cunning and deception throughout the plot. Cordelia is a wonderful protagonist, and her outsider’s perspective provides the perfect lens through which the readers can get a look at Barrayar and it’s odd mish-mash of traditions and ceremony. Near as I can tell, this is the last book in which Cordelia is the main character, and if you’re interested in reading these, I recommend starting with the omnibus edition, called Cordelia’s Honor (which contains Shards of Honor and Barrayar). Highly recommended.
  • The Warrior’s Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold – With this novel, Bujold shifts the protagonist from Cordelia to her son, Miles Vorkosigan. Without getting into too much detail about the previous books, Miles was born with various physical impairments – in particular, his bones don’t develop normally. So physically, he’s somewhat frail (and very diminutive), but he more than makes up for that with his mental acuity and cunning. This book starts with Miles’ failure to gain entrance into the Barrayaran military academy (he couldn’t pass the obstacle course without breaking his leg), after which he must find something to do with himself. The rest of the novel plays out like an old “Adventure on the High Seas” type of story (but in space!) Indeed, Bujold has mentioned that her series is modeled after the Horatio Hornblower novels, which partially explains the mixture of past and future present in the books. Miles makes for a great protagonist, and I love the way his predicament escalates so quickly… and how he somehow manages to hold things together. I read most of this book on my way to (and returning from) Las Vegas, and very much enjoyed it. I was a little hesitant at first, and at first I was a little worried that Bujold was taking too obvious a path, but she manages several twists on the formula later in the novel that really turned things around for me. Indeed, the novel ends very much on a political bent along the lines of Barrayar. Very entertaining novel, and I can see why this is a popular starting place for the series (apparently most of the novels in the series are about Miles). I’m very much looking forward to exploring more of this series (and I have about 10 new books on my shelf now).

Well that just about covers it. I’ve got some non-fiction to catch up on right now, and while I’m at it, I might as well finish off a couple other non-SF novels that have been sitting around for a while as well, so it may be a while before the next SF book review. Unless I get hooked into the Vorkosigan saga again. Which is probably likely.

Tasting Notes – Part 3

Arts & Letters, Beer, Movies, Science Fiction, Video Games / /

Another edition of Tasting Notes, a series of quick hits on a variety of topics that don’t really warrant a full post. So here’s what I’ve been watching/playing/reading/drinking lately:

Television

  • Community is actually a pretty fun show. In a lot of ways, it’s standard sitcom fodder, but the inclusion of the character of Abed redeems most of the potentially overused cliches. Abed is a pop-culture obsessed film student who appears to be aware that he’s a part of a sitcom, and thus his self-referential observations are often quite prescient. The cast is actually pretty fantastic and there are lots of traditionally funny jokes along the way. Honestly, I think my favorite part of the episode are the post-credits sequences in which Abed and Troy are typically engaging in something silly in a hysterically funny way. I’ve only seen the first season, but I’m greatly looking forward to the second season (which is almost complete now, and probably available in some form, but I haven’t looked into it too closely).
  • Netflix Watch Instantly Pick of the Week: The X-Files – It looks like the entire series is available. I watched the series frequently when it was on, but I never realized just how many episodes I missed. I was never a fan of the alien conspiracy episodes (in part because it was difficult to watch them in the right order and I never knew what was going on), but I’ve always loved the “freak of the week” style episode, and now that all of them are at my fingertips, I’m seeing a bunch that I never knew even existed. The show holds up reasonably well, though it’s a little too on-the-nose at times (especially in the early seasons). In the context in which the shows were being produced, though, it’s fantastic. From a production quality perspective, it’s more cinematic than what was on TV at the time (and a lot of what’s on today), and it was one of the early attempts at multi-season plot arcs and continuity (technology at the time wasn’t quite right, so I don’t think it flourished quite as much as it could have if it had started 10 years later).

Video Games

  • Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction is a lot of fun, though you can sorta tell that it was a near launch game. I actually mentioned this a while back, and because it was my first Ratchet & Clank game, I didn’t suffer from most of the repetitive and derivative elements (which I gather is what disappointed old fans). Some minor usability issues (constantly changing weapons/tools is a pain), but otherwise great fun. I particularly enjoyed the Pirate themed enemies, who were very funny. I enjoyed this enough that I’ll probably check out the more recent A Crack in Time, which I hear is pretty good.
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops – It’s another CoD game, so I got pretty much exactly what I expected. The single player game actually has a semi-interesting story, though the animators fell in love with the overly-hyper cutting and shaky-cam style that is already overused in film, and which is mostly unnecessary in video games. Don’t get me wrong, the story is kinda hokey, but it’s entertaining in its own way. And, of course, the combat is very well balanced and fun (as every game I’ve played in the series is…) The game ends with one of the most gleefully manic sequences I’ve ever played (much better than, for example, the airline thing at the end of CoD4). The multi-player is not particularly noob-friendly, but I got a few hours out of it and even managed to win a round one time. The kills come so quickly that it’s pretty rare that you’ll escape anyone once they start shooting (the way you can in some other games). This is both good and bad though. All in all, it’s a good FPS for console.
  • I’ve started playing Mass Effect 2 for the PS3. I have no idea what’s going on with the story (I thought there was supposed to be some sort of PS3 intro thingy, but I didn’t see it when I started the game), but I’m having fun so far. It’s not something I’ve been playing a lot though, perhaps because I don’t have a ton of time to dedicate to it…
  • Remember when i said I would play more Goldeneye for the Wii? Yeah, I still haven’t unpacked the Wii from that trip, which is a pretty good expression of how I generally feel about the Wii these days. I guess it’s a good thing Nintendo is announcing their next console soon (though I have to admit, the rumors I’m hearing aren’t particularly encouraging).

Movies

  • James Gunn’s comic book spoof Super continues the trend towards deconstruction of superheroes that’s been going on recently in comic book cinema (though things look like they’re about to revert a bit this summer). As such, it’s semi-derivative at times, but it sticks to its guns (or should I say, Gunns!) and never flinches at its target. It’s also not afraid to embrace the weird (such as, for instance, tentacle rape). It’s extremely graphic and violent, and some of it is played for laughs, but there’s at least one unforgivable moment in the film. One thing I have to note is that there’s going to be a lot of teenage nerds falling in love with Ellen Page because of her enthusiastic performance in this movie. She’s awesome. The critical reception seems mixed, but I think I enjoyed it more than most. I wouldn’t call it one of the year’s best, but it’s worth watching for superhero fans who can stomach gore.
  • Hobo with a Shotgun does not fare quite as well as Super, though fans of Grindhouse and ultra-violence will probably get a kick out of it. If Super represents a bit of a depraved outlook on life, Hobo makes it look like the Muppets. A few years ago, when Grindhouse was coming out, there was a contest for folks to create fake grindhouse-style trailers, and one of the winners was this fantastically titled Hobo With a Shotgun. Unfortunately what works in the short form of a fake trailer doesn’t really extend well to a full-length feature. There are some interesting things about the film. Rutger Hauer is great as the hobo (look for an awesome monologue about a bear), the atmosphere is genuinely retro, it actually feels like a grindhouse movie (as opposed to Tarantino and Rodriguez’s efforts, which are great, but you can also kinda tell they have a decent budget, whereas Hobo clearly has a low budget), and the armored villains known as the Plague are entertaining, if a bit out of place. Ultimately the film doesn’t really earn its bullshit. Like last year’s Machete (another film built off of the popularity of a “fake” trailer), I’m not convinced that this film really should have been made. Again, devotees to the weird and disgusting might enjoy this, but it’s a hard film to recommend.
  • Netflix Watch Instantly Pick of the Week: The Good, the Bad, the Weird – Kim Jee-woon’s take on the spaghetti western is actually quite entertaining, if a bit too long and maybe even a bit too derivative. Still, there are some fantastic sequences in the film, and it’s a lot of fun. Jee-woon is one of the more interesting filmmakers that’s making a name for Korean cinema on an international scale. I’m greatly looking forward to his latest effort, I Saw the Devil.

Books

  • In my last SF book post, I mentioned Lois McMaster Bujold’s Shards of Honor. I really enjoyed that book, which was apparently the first in a long series of books, of which I’ve recently finished two: Barrayar and The Warrior’s Apprentice. I’ll save the details for the next SF book review post, but let’s just say that I’m fully onboard the Bujold train to awesome. I put in an order for the next several books in the series, which seems to be quite long and varied.
  • Timothy Zahn’s Cobra Trilogy is what I’m reading right now. I’m enjoying them, but it’s clear that Zahn was still growing as a storyteller when writing these. Interestingly, you can see a lot of ideas that he would feature in later works (and he would do so more seamlessly too). I’m about halfway through the trilogy, and should be finishing it off in the next couple weeks, after which, you can expect another SF book review post…
  • I’ve also started Fred Brooks’ The Design of Design, though I haven’t gotten very far just yet. I was traveling for a while, and I find that trashy SF like Zahn and Bujold makes for much better plane material than non-fiction. Still, I’m finding Brooks’ latest work interesting, though perhaps not as much as his classic Mythical Man Month.

The Finer Things…

  • The best beer I’ve had in the past few months has been the BrewDog/Mikkeller collaboration Devine Rebel. It’s pricey as hell, but if you can find a bottle of the 2009 version and if you like English Barleywines (i.e. really strong and sweet beer), it’s worth every penny. I got a bottle of the 2010 version (which is apparently about 2% ABV stronger than the already strong 2009 batch) recently, but I haven’t popped it open just yet.
  • My next homebrew kit, a Bavarian Hefeweizen from Northern Brewer, just came in the mail, so expect a brew-day post soon – probably next week, if all goes well. I was hoping to get that batch going a little earlier, but travel plans got in the way. Still, if this goes as planned, the beer should be hitting maturity right in the dead of summer, which is perfect for a wheat beer like this…
  • With the nice weather this weekend, I found myself craving a cigar. Not something I do very often and I really have no idea what makes for a good cigar, but I’ll probably end up purchasing a few for Springtime consumption… Recommendations welcome!

That’s all for now. Sorry about all the link dumps and general posting of late, but things have been busy around chez Kaedrin, so time has been pretty short. Hopefully some more substantial posting to come in the next few weeks…

Upcoming SF

Science Fiction / /

Because my book queue is not long enough*, it seems some of my favorite SF authors are releasing new novels in 2011. Yay**. Here are the three most exciting ones, in order of anticipated publication:

  • Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi – It’s actually been a few years since Scalzi wrote a full SF novel (and that book, Zoe’s Tale, was a sorta rehash of an earlier book), so I’m greatly looking forward to this. I have not read any of the original Fuzzy series by H. Beam Piper, but apparently this novel is Scalzi’s attempt at rebooting or reimagining the series. At some point, I considered going back to read the originals, but I’m confident that Scalzi’s novel will be good as a standalone story, and I’ve really enjoyed all his SF novels. This one is set to be released on May 10, so I’ll probably be picking it up soon…
  • Readme by Neal Stephenson – This should be unsurprising to readers of this blog, as this has long been an anticipated novel here at Kaedrin, even back when it was known as Reamde (still no explanation of that – I don’t really buy that it was a typo…) Details about the novel are still scarce (not even a cover yet, and the publication date seems to have moved back a week), but seeing as though Stephenson is my favorite author and all, I don’t really need much to get in line for this one. Currently set to be released on September 20th, I’m very much looking forward to this one.
  • The Children of the Sky by Vernor Vinge – The long-anticipated third novel in Vinge’s loosely connected Zones of Thought series. I really loved the first two books in the series (A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky) and both of them have won major SF awards like the Hugo and Nebula. As such, expectations are high. Again, I’ve been avoiding details about the plot here, but my assumption is that it will only have a passing reference to the previous two novels (both of which only share one character and take place thousands of years apart). This one is set for October 11, so it looks like I’ll have a busy fall, once again.

That covers the major releases that I’m looking forward to. There are, of course, some other books coming out that I might be interested in, but for now, I think the queue is full enough!

Also, just a quick administrative note, I’ll be traveling this week, so probably no entry on Wednesday. I shall return next Sunday. Have a good week!

* Sarcasm!

** Not sarcasm!

SF Book Review, Part 6

Arts & Letters, Science Fiction / /

It’s been a while since I followed up on my book queues (and some of the books on here weren’t even on the queue, they just jumped to the top of the queue – which is probably why the queue is so long).

  • Doomsday Book by Connie Willis – This is one of a notable few SF novels to have won both the Hugo and Nebula awards for best novel (technically this book tied with another Kaedrin favorite, Vernor Vinge’s A Fire Upon the Deep, for the Hugo). Indeed, Willis has apparently written a few other novels in the same universe, and they seem to have racked up the awards as well. This particular installment is about time-traveling historians. Young Kivrin is travelling back to the 14th century to observe daily life. Her mentor and father-figure, Dunworthy, is against the trip from the start, as it’s a dangerous era and the further back in time you travel, the less precise the technology becomes. The novel proceeds on two main timelines – One at a futuristic Oxford University, the other at a small 14th century town. This is clearly not a predictive novel – the future Oxford is quite absurd at times (in particular, the lack of communication infrastructure is ridiculous – they don’t even have much in the way of telephones, let alone cell phones or the internets). I don’t know enough about history to say whether or not the 14th century bits are more realistic, but they seem more appropriate. Of course, it doesn’t really matter. The story is effective on its own merits, and it operates according to its own internal logic, which is quite sound. One thing I found refreshing for a time-travel story is that there is no real consideration or recursive examination of paradoxes and the like. There are some off-hand references to the fact that the time travel mechanism won’t let you change the past, but there isn’t much in the way of circular causality events or anything resembling that sort of time-travel pyrotechnics that you see so frequently. Indeed, Kivrin might as well have been traveling to a dangerous alien planet. That being said, the historical section plays out in an interesting fashion. I won’t get into too much detail here, but I will say that diseases are involved (in both timelines) and that Willis is brutally unforgiving. Her style is prosaic, more like classical hard SF, which kinda gave me a false sense of security. But Willis managed to pull the rug out from underneath me – several times. It might not seem like it at the beginning of the novel, but this isn’t a book for the faint of heart. That being said, there is a hint of redemption and hope at the very end of the novel. I enjoyed this and may someday get around to the others in the series, but I’m not exactly in a hurry to do so.
  • The Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth – Widely considered to be the best SF novel produced by the Futurians – a group of SF fans who eventually turned into editors and authors themselves, often focusing less on hard science and more on sociology and politics. This book is basically a satirical look at advertising and consumerism, and as such, it’s actually still pretty relevant today (even if the specifics of technology are a bit odd at this point). The story follows an advertising copywriter, Mitch Courtenay, who gets ahold of a big new account (Venus!), and all the inter-office intrigue that he has to deal with. It goes some cliched places, but this book probably helped shape some cliches in itself. Stylistically, there’s nothing special going on here, though the pages seem to turn themselves pretty quickly. It’s a short book and a very easy, fun read.
  • Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold – Bujold is one of the authors that seemed to pick up the pieces after the whole Cyberpunk thing happened, returning SF to its Cambellian origins. This is a pretty straightforward space opera, though a very well executed one that I probably enjoyed more than any of the other books in this post. The story concerns a Betan scientist named Cordelia and her encounter with Lord Vorkosigan, of the Barrayarans. At first, they are enemies, but they quickly develop into more. And of course, they are surrounded by war and conflict between their two peoples, and during the course of the story, we’re treated to all sorts of deceptions and treachery. This probably makes it sound trashy, and maybe it is, but it’s still great fun. This book is apparently part of a large, wide-ranging series of books. Opinions differ as to which way to read them – in order of publication, or in order of internal chronology. Either way, Shards of Honor is the start of the series (i.e. it’s the first published and the first in the chronology). I’ve already purchased the next two internal chronology books though, and am greatly looking forward to reading them.
  • Time’s Eye – A Christmas gift from my brother, and apparently also the first in a series of novels, this particular book starts out with a premise similar to Clarke’s 2001. One day, a bunch of Spherical objects (i.e. objects similar in concept to the Monolith) appear on the planet, and suddenly, the planet is a jumble of times. It seems that each region of the planet (the size of the regions appear to be small, though no definites are given) has been replaced with an earlier version of itself, sometimes stretching back millions of years. As such, most of the planet is now devoid of humanity. This story concerns itself with 5 main groups of people. Two are modern (a 3-person UN Peacekeeping team and a 3-person crew of Astronauts who were orbiting the planet at the time of the event), one relatively contemporary contingent (a British regiment, circa late 19th century, stationed in India), and two ancient powers (Alexander the Great’s Macedonian army, and Ghengis Khan’s Mongolian hoards). If you like the concept of modern folks mixing with historical folks (i.e. what would happen if modern astronauts met up with some Mongolians? And so on…), this would be a lot of fun, and I managed to have a pretty good time with it. Ultimately, there isn’t much in the way of answers here, and I’ve read enough Arthur C. Clarke series to know that it probably won’t be completely satisfying by the end of the series, but it was an enjoyable enough read, and there is an internal struggle between the Macedonians and the Mongols that is pretty compelling. It just doesn’t seem that interested in resolving the various mysteries it set up. Perhaps the future books will delve into that a bit, but I have to admit that I’m unlikely to pursue this any further.
  • The Picture of Dorian Gray – I’ve always known that Oscar Wilde was famous for his wit, but I do believe this is the first thing of his that I’ve read (I suppose he’s more notable as a playwright, and you can see that sort of talent in this novel), and I was surprised at the density of witty remarks within the book. It seems like you can’t go a page without getting some wondrous monologue, usually spoken by Lord Henry (a quasi-villain? The book certainly doesn’t have a traditional conflict). You also get a long series of fantastic one-liners, such as “Nowadays people know the price of everything, and the value of nothing.” and “Dorian is far to wise not to do foolish things now and then,” and “There is a luxury in self-reproach. When we blame ourselves we feel that no one else has a right to blame us.” and “Nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul.” Much of this is oxymoronic or nonsensical in nature, but oddly compelling nonetheless. The story is a bit on the thin side, and is really just an excuse for Wilde to run, well, wild, with his witty imagination. I suppose you could say that this isn’t science fiction – it’s pretty firmly in the realm of fantasy – but I’ll make an exception here. It’s not a particularly heartwarming tale, but there’s a lot of thematic depth and as I’ve already mentioned, lots of witty repartee that keeps the pages turning. I wouldn’t call it a favorite, but I’m really glad I read it.

And there you have it! Coming up in the queue are some more Bujold novels, perhaps some Timothy Zahn, and even though it’s probably not SF, some Thomas Pynchon for good measure. I may also need to do a Non-Fiction book review soon, as I’ve been reading a lot of that lately too…

More SF Pet Peeves

2 Comments / Science Fiction / /

Sunday’s post on the Unquestioned Assumptions of SF was a little strange as the post I was referencing was really more about pet peeves than unquestioned assumptions, so I figured that I should rename this post to add my own pet peeves to Matt Johnsons’s list. So without further ado:

  • Aliens That Aren’t Really Alien: Most alien species you see in SF are basically humans with weird ears or bumps on their forehead. In other words, they’re just humans with superficial differences. Sure many of them will have strange customs or psychological ticks, but most of the time, such differences aren’t even as severe as cultural differences here on earth. The most egregious violator of this is Star Trek. Klingons, Vulcans, Romulans… they’re all just humans with various traits magnified (impatient aggression, steadfast logic, and passionate cunning, respectively). One notable exception in the world of film is Alien (though sequels tend to diminish the more alien qualities). In the world of literature, the big exception is Vernor Vinge’s Zones of Thought books, A Fire Upon The Deep (reviewed on this blog a while back) and A Deepness in the Sky (which I also wrote about once). Fire‘s wolflike aliens, in particular, were great examples of what is possible, but rarely even attempted in SF. Regardless, examples of human-like alien races far outweigh the truly alien aliens in SF, and that’s always bothered me. To be sure, this does present something of a challenge to authors, as it requires them to think in ways unaccustomed to humans.
  • Monolithic Planet Ecologies: Star Wars is particularly bad in this respect – the ice moon of Hoth, the desert planet of Tatooine, the forest moon Endor, etc… The thought of an entire planet with only one type of climate almost boggles the mind. I’m sure there are some planets like this, but if Star Wars was any indication, every planet has one and only one dominant climate. Sometimes this sort of conceit can be used to good effect, as in Ursula K. Le Guin’s excellent The Left Hand of Darkness, but it’s still a pet peeve of mine.
  • Language: Rarely is language used as anything more than simple flavor in a story with alien species. Most of the time there is some sort of unexplained technology, typically called the “Universal Translator” or something, that will automatically translate alien languages. Rarely does the translation aspect receive any scrutiny. At best, we get some sort of throwaway reference to the universal translator, then the story moves on to other things. If you think of the way all the various human languages interact with one another and the inadequacies of translations, it seems really unlikely that alien species would even come close to being easily understood. For instance, human translators working to convert a text from one human language to another aren’t working in a vacuum – they bring their own cultural and historical context into the picture when translating that text. Take a Greek word like pathos; there isn’t really a single English word that corresponds with what Pathos represents. You rarely get that sort of depth in SF. One notable exception to this is Mary Doria Russell’s exceptional novel, The Sparrow. The novel has many themes, but the way it uses language to precipitate a tragic outcome is unsurpassed. Interestingly, Neal Stephenson’s novel Snow Crash has a more thorough exploration of the nature of language than most stories with alien species (and Snow Crash doesn’t even feature any aliens!)
  • Artificial Gravity: Another concept often relegated to a throwaway reference, there exists a lot of potential here that goes untapped. It’s not so much that it’s impossible to control gravity as that if we had that ability, the applications would extend far beyond being able to stand on the floor of a spaceship. Implications for weaponry are enormous, and energy manipulation in general seems ripe for this sort of technology. But no, we’ll just use it to simulate earth level gravity, thanks. I guess tractor beams could be explained in such a way, and a lot of SF does at least attempt to account for this by explaining that the spaceship is spinning in such a way as to simulate earth gravity, but it’s still a bothersome trope.

I think that’s all for now. I was going to write one for manned interstellar travel, but that topic is just too large (for example, it encompasses FTL travel, which is, in itself, a rather large subject) for a quick paragraph (Nevertheless, the way interstellar travel is depicted in SF is often tiresome and thoroughly unrealistic – one notable exception, Greg Egan’s Diaspora). One interesting thing about writing this post that I didn’t really expect were the number of exceptions to each of the above pet peeves. It turns out that there are a lot of books that really do address these issues (perhaps another reason why the phrase “Unquestioned Assumptions” is not appropriate for this discussion).