1985 - Year in SF&F: Reviews

THE WONDER TIMELINE: SF&F RETROSPECTIVE Read other issues here ---------------------------------------------- Michael Bishop "A Gift From The GrayLanders" © IASFM, Sep 1985 Close Encounters With the Deity, 1986 --novelette : 1986 Hugo --novelette : 1986 Nebula --novelette : 1986 Locus /8 --/ fourth place sf story --/ wonder award --/ style award --/ shock value The ferocious tone of this novella really took me off-guard, as I generally expect more subdued "artsy" and avantgarde pieces from Bishop, one of the leaders of Seventies New Wave revival. But apparently he graduated to a well-written, imaginative (and more focused) thriller style in the Eighties, as this novella (about a vicious and strange alien invasion of quiet American suburbs) clearly shows. After watching recent "War of the Worlds" movie, I was struck how much the implied terror is more frightening than the one clearly shown on a screen. This story was scary and yet visual enough to stand as one of the best "alien invasion" stories in the history of a genre. review: 25-Aug-06 (read in 2002) ---------------------------------------------- James Blaylock "Lord Kelvin's Machine" (Langdon St.Ives series) © IASFM, Dec 1985 book: Arkham House, 1992 --collection : 1993 World Fantasy --sf novel : 1993 Locus/19 --/ fourth place sf story --/ wonder award --/ adventure award --/ style award If you had to include one quintessential story in the genre-defining anthology of steampunk, this would be a good choice: it covers all the bases, and is unpretentious enough to fill most stomachs hungry for a quick meal of the Victorian Bizarre. "A scientist-explorer Langdon St. Ives and his valet, Hasbro, pursue their arch-nemesis, the hunchback Dr. Ignacio Narbondo, across Norway, contesting Narbondo's plot to destroy the earth and, later, efforts to revivify Narbondo's apparently frozen corpse. In the process St. Ives gains access to a powerful device created by Lord Kelvin, which allows St. Ives to travel through time." Quite an enjoyable steampunk romp through the (now already cliched) staples of the genre: deliciously cheesy arch-enemies, a plot spiced with mighty volcanoes and swell Victorian technology. Good stuff, recommended. ---------------------------------------------- Pat Cadigan "Roadside Rescue" © OMNI, July 1985 "Alien Sex", ed. by Ellen Datlow, 1990 Patterns, 1989 --/ cool sf story The car breaks, and the before the road crews arrive - aliens starved for human flesh arrive first! Oh yeah, baby, take that - the alien sex ensues, but it's not what you'd expect. The alien in question gets off simply by LISTENING to human beings talk. Oh well, different strokes for the different folks. ---------------------------------------------- William Gibson "Dogfight" (with Michael Swanwick) © OMNI, Jul 1985 Burning Chrome, 1986 --novelette : 1986 Hugo --novelette : 1986 Nebula --novelette : 1986 Locus /5 --novelette : 1986 SF Chronicle /2 --/ fourth place sf story --/ wonder award --/ style award "Top Gun" meets "A Scanner Darkly". A darkly intense tale about fighter jet "flight simulation/virtual reality" warfare. Quite predictable, but lively and very cinematic. Ultimately forgettable joint effort between two giants in the field... produced a mouse, albeit with airscoops and ailerons :) review: 2-Sep-06 (read in 1987) ---------------------------------------------- William Gibson "The Winter Market" © Vancouver Magazine, Nov 1985 also in - Stardate, 1986 also in - Interzone, Spring 1986 Burning Chrome, 1986 --short-form, English : 1986 Aurora --novelette : 1987 Hugo --novelette : 1987 Nebula --novelette : 1987 Locus /4 --short story : 1987 British SF --fiction : 1987 Interzone Poll /3 --novelette : 1987 SF Chronicle/2 (tie) --/ third place sf story --/ wonder award --/ style award --/ adventure award In many ways this story anticipates Gibson's later book "Idoru". Editing neural output became a part of the lucrative business that has replaced records and movies. Editors and virtual stars run the risk of the total dissolution of their entities, as they gradually upload their consciousness into a computer. Virtual entertainment can be quite a "soul-deadening" affair. review: 2-Sep-06 (read in 1987) ---------------------------------------------- Return to the Wonder Timeline

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