1967 - Year in SF&F: Reviews

THE WONDER TIMELINE: SF&F RETROSPECTIVE Read other issues here ---------------------------------------------- J. G. Ballard "Notes Towards a Mental Breakdown" (also as "The Death Module") (part of "The Atrocity Expedition") >© New Worlds, July 1967 Bananas, Jul 1976 War Fever, 1991 --/ style award --/ emotion award Here Ballard clinically observes the breakdown of the modern psyche, no less. This story subsequently been incorporated into "The Atrocity Exhibition", fix-up novel. The whole story consists of a single sentence... with a footnote written for every word; these footnotes make up the narrative. In 1992, Murry C. Christensen created one of the first "hyperbooks" from this story by combining its text with illustrations from Max Ernst's Une Semaine de Bont? (1934), see illustration above. review by AA: 09-Jul-06 (read in 1992) ---------------------------------------------- Samuel R. Delany "The Einstein Intersection" (nv) © 1967, Ace Books --novel : 1968 Hugo --novel : 1968 Nebula W --overseas novel : 1997 Seiun --/ fourth place sf novel --/ wonder award --/ style award As with all truly great science fiction novels, The Einstein Intersection is less about science and more about fiction – in this case, fiction told by one of the greats not just of science fiction but modern literature as well. Surreal doesn't begin to describe the setting and characters of The Einstein Intersection. Ostensibly about aliens exploring and trying to understand human culture after mankind has either left the planet or died off, the book is much more about some of the more powerful human archetypes. From Lo Lobey himself, a goat herder based on the myth of Orpheus, to the subject of his quest, Billy The Kid (AKA death), the book is a literary stage, allowing Delany to explore the world of our myths, fables, legends and fantasies. It's unfortunate that people often pick up the book only to be frustrated and confused by Delany's psychedelic style. But for those with imagination and patience, reading The Einstein Intersection can swing open a brand new universe of style, language, and story: it's a wonderful book by a magnificent writer, first, and a great science fiction author, second. (review by M. Christian) ---------------------------------------------- Frank Herbert "The Santaroga Barrier" (nv) © Amazing Stories, Oct 1967 Berkley Medallion, 1968 Something’s odd about Santaroga: sure, on the surface it might appear to be like any other community full of normal-looking people, but look a little closer – like psychologist Gilbert Dasein is hired to do – and Santaroga begins to look anything but average. For one thing the town is far from accepting of anyone who isn’t a local. They aren’t hostile, at least not openly, but if you weren’t born in their valley they won’t buy from you, trade with you, or accept you in any way: it’s the Santaroga barrier – and what’s beyond it makes for a totally original novel and a fantastic read. Everyone knows Herbert for his Dune books but what a lot of people, unfortunately, don’t know about this Grand Master of science fiction is that he’s written, in my mind at least, even better novels – and the Santaroga Barrier is one of them. It’s also unfortunate that many people think science fiction has to have aliens, time travel, robots, and all those kinds of flashy, shiny, and far too-often grandiose concepts. What Herbert does in The Santaroga Barrier is show that science fiction can be based on a very simple idea, an idea that – when handled by a superb writer – can be more powerful and fascinating than anything flashy or shiny or grandiose. Without spoiling too much of the plot, Dr. Gilbert Dasein slams headfirst into the Santaroga Barrier, propelled by duty to his employers, his professional curiosity and by his own interests: a girl named Jenny who left him in Berkley, where she as a student and he a professor, to return to Santaroga. One of the best elements of the story is a hauntingly slippery word that Dasein keeps hearing among the locals in relation to their lives and, especially, to their food: Jaspers. It takes him some time but eventually Dasein gets to see through the barrier, at the societal wall the Santarogans have put up around their town. What he sees is what makes the book to entrancing: Jaspers is a ‘consciousness fuel’ additive the locals have been culturing and using for generations. What it does, though, is create a unity among the citizens: a form of collective will. But that’s not all: there’s something else beyond the barrier – a something else that’s killed everyone else who has tried investigating the town. Oh, sure, they might look like accidents but Dasein comes to realize that there’s nothing accidental about them, and if he doesn’t figure the puzzle out he might be next. Okay, that’s a teaser of the plot, but there’s something else about The Santaroga Barrier that keeps this book on my ‘favorites’ shelf: Herbert’s superb skill as a writer. There’s something almost hallucinatory about the style of the book; it reads like a dream or a hallucination without resorting to overly flamboyant, pretentious language – a skill few had done well and only writers like Herbert mastered. In the end, The Santaroga Barrier is a totally imaginative novel told with sparkling language and genius skill: the work of a master storyteller at the height of his game. Review by M. Christian ---------------------------------------------- J. R. R. Tolkien "Smith of Wootton Major" (also as "The Great Cake") (Middle-Earth, possibly) © 1967, Allen & Unwin (illustrated by Pauline Baynes) --/ second place f novella --/ wonder award --/ adventure award --/ idea award --/ style award --/ emotion award The village of Wootton Major was well-known around the countryside for its annual festivals, which were particularly famous for their culinary delights. The biggest festival of all was the Feast of Good Children. This festival was celebrated only once every twenty-four years: twenty-four children of the village were invited to a party, and the highlight of the party was the Great Cake, a career milestone by which Master Cooks were judged. In the year the story begins, the Master Cook was Nokes, who had landed the position more or less by default; he delegated much of the creative work to his apprentice Alf. Nokes crowned his Great Cake with a little doll jokingly representing the Queen of Faery. Various trinkets were hidden in the cake for the children to find; one of these was a star the Cook discovered in the old spice box. The star was not found at the Feast, but was swallowed by a blacksmith’s son. The boy did not feel its magical properties at once, but on the morning of his tenth birthday the star fixed itself on his forehead, and became his passport to Faery. The boy grew up to be a blacksmith like his father, but in his free time he roamed the Land of Faery. The star on his forehead protected him from many of the dangers threatening mortals in that land, and the Folk of Faery called him "Starbrow". The book describes his many travels in Faery, until at last he meets the true Queen of Faery. The identity of the King is also revealed. The time came for another Feast of Good Children. Smith had possessed his gift for most of his life, and the time had come to pass it on to some other child. So he regretfully surrendered the star to Alf, and with it his adventures into Faery. Alf, who had become Master Cook long before, baked it into the festive cake once again for another child to find. After the feast, Alf retired and left the village; and Smith returned to his forge to teach his craft to his now-grown son. Read review by John Garth here --------------------------------------- Jack Williamson "Nowhere Near" (The Legion of Space series) © 1967, Pyramid Books Included in Pyramid Books 1967 edition of "One Against the Legion" Three from the Legion, 1979 --/ third place space sf novella --/ wonder award --/ adventure award --/ awesome scale --/ romance award --/ rare find I liked this novella more than the whole series... and here is why: it takes place in a closed, mysterious, ghastly environment (partly-abandoned space station Nowhere Near, hovering at the edge of a weird space-time anomaly). The claustrophic, lost feeling adds to the mystery and dramatic effect, making the adventure all the more effective - almost cinematic... This would make great Japanese animation (complete with a big-eyed female character, dressed as a nurse). Giles Habibula is being his old slightly-annoying, but lovable self. The story overflows with great space adventure elements: gigantic alien robotic spaceships, suitably grandiose cosmology, the budding of romance in the face of insurmountable odds, colorful prose that gets better as the story progresses - and the sheer tremendous sense of COSMIC ABANDONMENT and centuries of doom - all this makes the story a diamond-in-the-rough, a gem to be discovered. This novella is little known, as it was only printed inside "One Against the Legion" paperback and SFBC editions. "Nowhere Near" shines with great space adventure brilliance, starting with a perfect title and ending with love on abandoned station and melancholy on a cosmic scale. A sheer joy to read, a classic adventure in the style of Edmond Hamilton (or even early George R. R. Martin, or Alastair Reynolds). ---------------------------------------------- Return to the Wonder Timeline

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