Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
SF/F Books: Chapter Two - What Are You Reading?
- Thread starter Neroon
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I'd forgotten a (serious?) request as to how Gardens of the Sun turned out.
Without spoiling too much, essentially the decisive action takes place back on Earth, except, given the established characters being in place in the outer system, there is a limted viewpoint. Also, much of the Earthside action is exposited, not shown by any viewpoint character.
The Quiet War/Gardens of the Sun is basically a two volume novel, with a plot caesura (to repurpose a literary term.) It is actually a military SF novel, except that it doesn't have the standard conservative sociopolitical subtext. Most of the David Weber/David Drake/John Ringo fans wouldn't be much interested. Eric Flint fans would be a little less likely to feel alienated, I think, but only in the US would Eric Flint come across as leftish in any fashion whatsoever. McAuley has the gore and sensationalism but there is a covert humane-ness that makes this atypical military SF.
There are two basic perceptual problems. For one, and it's a biggy for me personally, outer space is equated with the rich and free frontier, birthplace of democracy. The Earth, the original biosphere is associated with sterility, poverty and tyranny. I've never quite figured out why no authors ever bother to consider the Cossack experience when daydreaming about the manly freedom of the frontier. On the other hand, needing air, water and heat delivered by a complex technology strikes me as equivalent to a hand constantly at your throat. Outer space doesn't equate to independence for me.
The other is encapsulated in the phrase "gene wizard." There is an exaltation of the individual completely antithetical to the collective nature of science and technology. Worse, there is an inadvertent denial of the basic humanity of the two "gene wizards" in the book. They are the worst, most cliche characters in the book.
McAuley has a solid background in biology I gather, and researched his astronomy, which makes the novel very interesting. Don't worry, it may be "hard" but it isn't a text. Nor does he let quotidian reality clip the wings of his fancy. It is written in full, not basic, English.
Recommended. Personally my reservations keep me from thinking of it as destined to be a classic.
Without spoiling too much, essentially the decisive action takes place back on Earth, except, given the established characters being in place in the outer system, there is a limted viewpoint. Also, much of the Earthside action is exposited, not shown by any viewpoint character.
The Quiet War/Gardens of the Sun is basically a two volume novel, with a plot caesura (to repurpose a literary term.) It is actually a military SF novel, except that it doesn't have the standard conservative sociopolitical subtext. Most of the David Weber/David Drake/John Ringo fans wouldn't be much interested. Eric Flint fans would be a little less likely to feel alienated, I think, but only in the US would Eric Flint come across as leftish in any fashion whatsoever. McAuley has the gore and sensationalism but there is a covert humane-ness that makes this atypical military SF.
There are two basic perceptual problems. For one, and it's a biggy for me personally, outer space is equated with the rich and free frontier, birthplace of democracy. The Earth, the original biosphere is associated with sterility, poverty and tyranny. I've never quite figured out why no authors ever bother to consider the Cossack experience when daydreaming about the manly freedom of the frontier. On the other hand, needing air, water and heat delivered by a complex technology strikes me as equivalent to a hand constantly at your throat. Outer space doesn't equate to independence for me.
The other is encapsulated in the phrase "gene wizard." There is an exaltation of the individual completely antithetical to the collective nature of science and technology. Worse, there is an inadvertent denial of the basic humanity of the two "gene wizards" in the book. They are the worst, most cliche characters in the book.
McAuley has a solid background in biology I gather, and researched his astronomy, which makes the novel very interesting. Don't worry, it may be "hard" but it isn't a text. Nor does he let quotidian reality clip the wings of his fancy. It is written in full, not basic, English.
Recommended. Personally my reservations keep me from thinking of it as destined to be a classic.
I think this is the central political question that needs to be faced by Outer Solar System s/f, and I think there is room for both viewpoints.
People dependent on complex technology for basic survival could in fact become slaves of a "water empire". But that complex technology would also be highly vulnerable to sabotage, and the rulers [on their on-site representatives] would die without it, too - so that brings back in "consent of the governed". The problems of maintaining control over a widely dispersed population are huge when you start talking about travel times of months and years, so I think there is at least a good case to be made that the second possibility is more likely than the first.
I think McAuley is pretty good at showing a range of political variations, and also acknowledges that basic conflict between freedom and control by making it the focus of the entire story.
Frankly, this basic question is right there at the core of a lot of the technological advances we can currently anticipate. Genetic engineering is the same way. Genetic engineering might lead to post-humans wildly experimenting with altered modes of life based on their individual preferences - or it could lead to entire populations bred for slavery. There's no way to definitively know in advance how it will turn out, so there's room for people to write about both possibilities.
Finished reading Honor in the CoE: Out of the Cocoon anthology, great stuff. I enjoyed the Prime Directive issue and thought that both Corsi and Pattie did a good job in their respective positions. The B plot was just kind of there but it was all right, nothing special.
Now reading Blackout.
Now reading Blackout.
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Been on a bit of a comic book kick the last couple of weeks. I just read:
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic: Demon (the series' final storyline
)
Star Wars: Legacy: Monster (the second-to-last storyline
)
Jack of Fables: The New Adventures of Jack and Jack (Bill Willingham rules
)
And now I'm currently reading Green Lantern: Rebirth. I've never really read much GL before, and this is my first story by Geoff Johns, so it should be interesting.
I'll get around to In the Courts of the Crimson Kings soon, but I've got a couple other things I want to get through, first.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic: Demon (the series' final storyline
)Star Wars: Legacy: Monster (the second-to-last storyline
)Jack of Fables: The New Adventures of Jack and Jack (Bill Willingham rules
)And now I'm currently reading Green Lantern: Rebirth. I've never really read much GL before, and this is my first story by Geoff Johns, so it should be interesting.
I liked it. It took a little while to get going, and once the story did get to the part the back cover spends most of its time describing, the book was already more than halfway done. I suspect Stirling was more interested in getting to the Martian novel. But the adventure aspects were fairly solid, and the lead character was decent, if a bit bland. I loved the reference to the Wing Commander games--one of the lead characters was a British RAF officer called Wing Commander Christopher Blair.
I'll get around to In the Courts of the Crimson Kings soon, but I've got a couple other things I want to get through, first.
Started with The City and the Stars by Arthur C. Clarke
Just finished Stan Brin's Wall of Grass. He's David Brin's brother, and its his as yet unpublished novel. He let me beta read it. Fantastic story. You can go to :
http://www.changingthetimes.net/index.html
or actually here:
http://www.changingthetimes.net/samples.htm (his name is misspelled as Stan Brim)
http://www.changingthetimes.net/index.html
or actually here:
http://www.changingthetimes.net/samples.htm (his name is misspelled as Stan Brim)
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Night's Dawn: The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F. Hamilton
I've owned the whole series for several years, but finally got past the difficult first chapter (in my opinion), I'm really enjoying this. It's very ambitious.
I've owned the whole series for several years, but finally got past the difficult first chapter (in my opinion), I'm really enjoying this. It's very ambitious.
Just finishing Storm from the Shadows by David Weber.
Next up, it's The Sacred Vault by Andy Mcdermott which I've just got today
Next up, it's The Sacred Vault by Andy Mcdermott which I've just got today
I just started reading "Without Warning" by John Birmingham a couple days ago and am really fascinated by this. The majority of America and Canada is wiped out by some kind of weird energy Wave on the day before the Iraq invasion. It's an alternate reality book and really good so far.
Sequel is s'posed to be out as of last Tues. Can't wait!
Star Trek Children of the King
Just finished The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke. Pretty good stuff, the execution of the hard sci-fi element of the space elevator and the mixing in of the two other subplots made for good reading.
I'm reading ST: Seven Deadly Sins, and then I'll be reading Children of Kings before getting back to Novik's Victory of Eagles.
After that, there are several novels I want to read and need to get hold of somehow, (including the latest novels by McDermott, Novik, Canavan, Star Trek, and possibly McCaffrey), plus getting through some that I already own.
After that, there are several novels I want to read and need to get hold of somehow, (including the latest novels by McDermott, Novik, Canavan, Star Trek, and possibly McCaffrey), plus getting through some that I already own.
ST: Deep Space Nine - Fallen Heroes by Dafydd ab Hugh
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