Charles Stross
"Antibodies" © Interzone, Jul 2000 --short story : 2001 Locus Poll --shortlist : 2001 Sturgeon --/ cool sf story --/ idea award "A Colder War" © Spectrum SF # 3, Sum 2000 "Halo" (Lobsters series) © IASFM, Jun 2002 --novellette: 2003 Hugo Award --shortlist: 2003 Sturgeon Award --novellette: 2003 Locus /5 --novellette: 2003 Asimov's /6 --/ cool sf story "Lobsters" (Lobsters series) © IASFM, Jun 2001 --novelette : 2002 Hugo --second place : 2002 Sturgeon /2 --novelette : 2002 Locus /7 --novelette : 2002 Asimov's Reader Poll /7 --novelette : 2003 Nebula --/ third place sf novella --/ wonder award --/ idea award --/ style award --------------------------------------------- Charles Stross "Missile Gap" © Subterranean Press, 2006 --novella : 2007 Locus award --/ third place time sf novel --/ wonder award --/ idea award: Cold War exploration in an infinite world --/ awesome scale There is a deep primal fear in all of us - of a totalitarian state, waging perpetual inhuman war. We've seen other great treatments of this theme, such as the third part "Cannon Fodder" of the "Memories" anime masterpiece, various dark dystopias of brothers Arkady & Boris Strugatski, and Cold War paranoias of Phillip K. Dick. It has become a marketable fictional environment, almost a sub-genre. Make our skin crawl with subliminal intimations of a "low-flying heavy bomber" kind, or invoke our deeply-ingrained dread of totalitarian shabby lifestyle - and we are hooked to consume another slice of commercialized paranoia. In this case, though, the writer is Stross (in his cool-hat mode), so we are bound to expect some surprises. And we are not disappointed. Stross goes beyond simple Cold War extrapolation into a deep, dark and cosmologically mysterious territory. (one of the concept drawings for "Cannon Fodder") Even though I classified "Missile Gap" as a "time-themed" novella, technically it's not about time-travel, or alternate histories. The concept is significantly more twisted, almost as wild as "The Inverted World" by Christopher Priest - a bizarre piece of world-building that cries out to be animated by Hayao Miyazaki. The story is far from complete, however, and the novella is just too short to give justice to Stross' brave world-building: it reads like a rough script, a promotional piece for some movie producer, it lacks depth, emotional and character muscle, perhaps it even lacks SOUL. As such, it might've been relegated to the comic or manga pile, but still... still... the idea of that story speaks to me on so many levels that all other shortcomings are forgotten. Besides, as someone noted in the comments on Stross' site: "No! No sequels! A sequel implies a future, and a future implies hope, and hope is not consistent with the Missile Gap message." "It's 1976 again. Abba are on the charts, the Cold War is in full swing β and the Earth is flat. Itβs been flat ever since the eve of the Cuban war of 1962; and the constellations overhead are all wrong. Beyond the Boreal ocean, strange new continents loom above tropical seas, offering a new start to colonists like newly-weds Maddy and Bob, and the hope of further glory to explorers like ex-cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin: but nobody knows why they exist, and outside the circle of exploration the universe is inexplicably warped." I am surprised that this mind-trip did not win any major awards the moment critics sunk their teeth into it. It's somehow unthinkable that any work of Stross or Gibson would languish without awards. I mean they must mint these awards in advance with "Charles Stross" already engraved on them. (OK, it's just wishful thinking, the Universe can not be that spontaneously cool, yet). Get that book just for the pleasure of reading how the first cosmonaut Yury Gagarin sets to explore the infinite ocean (every planet in the Universe turned flat, you see) inside a giant "ekranoplan" ground-effect vehicle. (a larger version of this) Note: Beyond the obvious value of mind-bending fiction from the mind-bendingest master of them all, this little "chapbook" edition also contains some neat (fittingly soviet-style cheesy) drawings, and makes overall a nice package. Strongly recommended to own in this edition, even though it's a small-run, numbered and probably distributed only to libraries. You can also read the whole novella online here ---------------------------------------------- "Rogue Farm" © Live Without a Net, ed. L. Anders, 2003 --short story : 2004 Locus /9 (tie) --/ third place sf story --/ wonder award --/ idea award "Singularity Sky" (nv) (Singularity 1) © 2003, Ace Books --novel : 2004 Hugo --sf novel : 2004 Locus /7 "Tourists" (Lobsters series) © 2002, IASFM --novelette : 2003 Locus /9 --/ fourth place sf story --/ wonder award --/ style award ---------------------------------------------- |
Click to go to "Dark Roasted Blend" site
Collecting Pulp Magazines Ephemera Interview with Avi Abrams |
|
Enchanting Victorian Fairy Tale Art "Then world behind and home ahead..." |
|
Exceptional British Scifi Artwork from the 1950s Space Pulp Art by Ron Turner and other British artists |
|
Pulp Pleasures: Eando Binder Great space adventure fiction from the 1930s "Where Eternity Ends" and other rare gems |
Also read recent posts:
Author's Pen Names - Most Complete List Ever
The Wonder Timeline: SF&F Restrospective
Space Adventure Article
"SF&F Reading Experience" is part of "Dark Roasted Blend / Thrilling Wonder" family of sites. We try to highlight the most entertaining and rewarding science fiction and fantasy, with emphasis on memorable reader experience, not necessarily general acceptance by the critics. Have fun, and delve into our extensive ratings and reviews! Most reviews are written by Avi Abrams, unless otherwise noted. Reviews also appear on our unique historical retrospective page Wonder Timeline of Science Fiction. Feel free to submit your own review, if a particular story is not listed here. All major OFFICIAL AWARDS are highlighted in BLUE ("winner" has a letter "W" by it, otherwise it is a runner-up only) Our PERSONAL AWARDS (ratings) are highlighted in RED and PURPLE: --/ first place : --/ second place : --/ third place : --/ fourth place : --/ cool : (equal to fifth place) ALL "BEST OF" LISTS ARE LOCATED HERE These awards are given in the following categories: - novel : - series : - novella : - story : - collection : Also, there are our personal STYLE / GENRE SPECIFIC AWARDS. These reflect the story's content and the lasting impression on the reader: --/ wonder award sense-of-wonder, "visual intensity" and inventiveness --/ idea award originality of idea / concept --/ adventure award exhilarating plot, excitement / action --/ style award outstanding literary qualities, inimitable style --/ romance award intense and beautiful love / relationships --/ humour award funny and cool --/ emotion award touching, lasting impression, sensitivity --/ shock value altogether wild --/ awesome scale mind-boggling; further enhances sense-of-wonder --/ rare find very hard to locate, mostly from old pulps, never reprinted, etc. Again, please feel free to leave your own review or comment under every writer's entry; also recommend us other stories you liked. |
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home