{"id":14044,"date":"2022-03-04T17:35:14","date_gmt":"2022-03-05T01:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/?p=14044"},"modified":"2022-03-04T19:31:50","modified_gmt":"2022-03-05T03:31:50","slug":"sf-impressions-chambers-kowal-mcguire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/2022\/03\/04\/sf-impressions-chambers-kowal-mcguire\/","title":{"rendered":"SF Impressions: Chambers, Kowal, McGuire"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I mentioned early last week, I think I\u2019ll start posting short reviews, or impressions, of recent SF novels I\u2019ve read, every month or two, in groups. This is supposedly a blog mostly about science fiction, after all! These won\u2019t be traditional reviews, nor will they be the annotated \u201cwalkthrough\u201d reviews I was doing for Black Gate for a while (see list here<\/a>). I\u2019ll talk about each book\u2019s context as much as its plot, and discuss what insights I can take from each book as much as evaluating whether I think it was a \u201cgood\u201d book or not. And I\u2019ll feel free to dismiss some books in a line or two.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\\\\<\/p>\n

(As I’ve finished this post, I’m only covering the three 21st century novels shown in the above pic — those in the title. I’ll cover the others in a later post.)<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the most recent book I\u2019ve read, or that I\u2019m part way through. Part of my intent for this year has been to begin reading more current SF, by which I mean SF novels published in the last decade or so. I had kept up with the SF field, both novels and especially short fiction, from the mid-1970s all the way until about 2001, when my living arrangements changed (and I gave up my Locus column). While I haven\u2019t entirely looked back to older books for these past 20 years, my reading of current SF, both novels and short fiction, has been haphazard. The turning point came in 2015, when I read Robinson\u2019s AURORA, VanderMeer\u2019s ANNIHILATION, King\u2019s REVIVAL, and a couple others, before stepping back and beginning an Asimov reread, then a Silverberg reread, then a Bradbury, and a Clarke, and a Heinlein, and so on.<\/p>\n

As it stands right now, I\u2019ve only read 3 of the past decade\u2019s Hugo Award winning novels, and 3 of the past decade\u2019s Nebula Award winning novels, and none of the World Fantasy Award winning novels since the 2010 winner. (Of course I tend toward SF, not fantasy.)<\/p>\n

This is sort of a marvelous situation. When I began reading SF in the late 1960s, everything was new, all the authors were new, and as I read somewhat randomly, I would follow the authors I liked to find all their books I could, and read them. Asimov Clarke Heinlein Bradbury, at first. Now, having not read many of the current authors who’ve emerged in the past 20 years, I’m in the position of discovering an entire new 21st century genre..! But let’s see how this goes.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Becky Chambers, THE LONG WAY TO A SMALL, ANGRY PLANET (2014\/2015)<\/p>\n

This is a Star Trek pastiche. It\u2019s overwritten. I\u2019ve read the first 100 pages, out of 400 some, and I\u2019m not sure I\u2019ll finish. the book is notable in that it was self-published by the author in 2014, then picked up by an actual publisher (Harper Voyager) in 2015, and it was successful enough that the author has gone on to write several sequels. And in fact, the series, called \u201cWayfarers,\u201d won a Hugo (see <a href=”http:\/\/www.sfadb.com\/Becky_Chambers”>here<\/a>) once three of the novels were published.<\/p>\n

A glance at her <a href=”https:\/\/sf-encyclopedia.com\/entry\/chambers_becky”>SFE entry<\/a> is revealing; she was a columnist for a website called The Mary Sue; Wikipedia explains that \u201cA Mary Sue is a type of fictional character, usually a young woman, who is portrayed as unrealistically free of weaknesses.\u201d My impression until now has been that a Mary Sue is a young women who is brought aboard a starship, say, and by her plucky nature is able to solve problems that all the senior officers cannot; that is, it\u2019s an adolescent girl\u2019s fantasy.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve not read enough of this book to tell if this is precisely a Mary Sue fantasy, but even if not, it\u2019s derivative. Of Star Trek, and of every other space opera that presumes easy passage around the universe, one filled by other intelligent species with whom humans can easily communicate with (and breathe each other\u2019s air).<\/p>\n

Further, the book is clich\u00e9-ridden. Early on the captain reads \u201ca newsfeed over a cup of mek\u201d (the clich\u00e9 is <a href=”https:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/CallARabbitASmeerp”>\u201ccall a rabbit a smeerp\u201d<\/a>, which I think derives from criticism by James Blish back in the 1950s, about superficial SF that creates phony words to replace ordinary concepts, to make it seem futuristic or otherworldly). Later the prose contains \u201csooner rather than later\u201d and \u201cmeasure twice and cut once\u201d. Far in the future, apparently, these phrases endure.<\/p>\n

Chambers\u2019 books are very popular. But I vacillate between feeling an obligation to keep up, however belatedly, with the current state of science fiction, and how I might otherwise spend another couple days than by finishing this book.<\/p>\n

\\\\<\/p>\n

The first recent Sf\/F novel I read in February was Seanan McGuire\u2019s EVERY HEART A DOORWAY (2016). Because it\u2019s short (a novella by current awards practices), despite its being a fantasy, and because it won both the Hugo and Nebula awards (and a Locus award) \u2013 see <a href=”http:\/\/www.sfadb.com\/Seanan_McGuire_Titles”>here<\/a>. And launched a series of similar short novels.<\/p>\n

As I mentioned in that earlier post, this is a fantasy about abused children who appear in an otherworldly manor, apparently to interact with each other and heal their emotional scars, even as they search for \u201cdoors\u201d to return home. The plot is a whodunit about a series of murders (the villain turns out to be a child who *really, really* wants to return home. Why, if these children came from abuse? I probably didn\u2019t pay close enough attention). The children are classified into one of four types. There is a big banquet scene at the beginning. What jarred me were the references to \u201cgender expression\u201d and being \u201casexual,\u201d perfectly reasonable concepts in 2022, or 2016, but rather jarring in a supposedly otherworldly land for the healing of children. Not my cuppa.<\/p>\n

\\\\<\/p>\n

And the third current novel I\u2019ve read is Mary Robinette Kowal\u2019s THE CALCULATING STARS (2018), the first book of yet another series, this one called \u201cLady Astronaut.\u201d (The book was preceded by a novelette about the main character, \u201cThe Lady Astronaut of Mars,\u201d which won a Hugo.) Again, this book won both the Hugo and the Nebula, and a Locus Award, and the series was nominated for the Best Series Hugo Award.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an alternate history about the space program. The key departure from our own timeline is an asteroid that strikes the Earth in 1952, just off the coast of Maryland, wiping out the US government in Washington DC. Early estimates are that the asteroid\u2019s effects will be a chilling of the planet, followed by a global warming that will wipe out all life. As the US recovers, the space program is thrown into high-gear for the purpose of getting humanity a foothold on another planet.<\/p>\n

The story follows a former WASP pilot, Elma York, who is instrumental in understanding these consequences, and then in trying to influence the space program (here, IAC, not NASA) to include women in its pool of potential astronauts, against typical male disdain. After many dramatic episodes (many effective emotional scenes, quite well told) she succeeds, and is on the first launch of astronauts to the moon. There the book ends \u2013 see sequels.<\/p>\n

Is this a \u201cwomen\u2019s novel\u201d? On the one hand, it\u2019s comparable to the film Hidden Figures<\/strong><\/em>, mentioned in a blurb on the front cover, in its focus on women (and black women) who actually participated in the space program, unacknowledged for decades. (The cover of this book evokes the movie\u2019s poster, very obviously.) At the same time, there\u2019s not a lot in the book outside of Elma\u2019s perspective and her particular concerns; if a similar novel focused on the male character this much, what would we think? I am probably wrong in thinking this; the men, obviously, take their roles and dominance for granted. The women struggled for recognition. So I think the perspective is justified.<\/p>\n

(The classic \u201cwomen\u2019s novel\u201d in science fiction I know of is Judith Merril\u2019s SHADOW ON THE HEART (1950), about the outbreak of a nuclear World War III, but told entirely from the perspective of a housewife wondering if her husband has survived.)<\/p>\n

Still\u2014here\u2019s another 400+ page novel that is the first of a series. Do I need to read further ones? Why am I reading science fiction\u2026?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I mentioned early last week, I think I\u2019ll start posting short reviews, or impressions, of recent SF novels I\u2019ve read, every month or two, in groups. This is supposedly a blog mostly about science fiction, after all! These won\u2019t … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-notes","category-science-fiction"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14044"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14053,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14044\/revisions\/14053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}