1996 - Year in SF&F: Reviews

THE WONDER TIMELINE: SF&F RETROSPECTIVE 1996: October Read other issues here ---------------------------------------------- Terry Bisson "The Edge Of The Universe" (Brooklyn/ Wilson Wu series) © IASFM, Aug 1996 In The Upper Room, 2000 Numbers Don't Lie, 2004 --novelette : 1997 Locus /2 --novelette : 1997 Asimov's Reader Poll /7 --/ fourth place sf novella --/ wonder award --/ style award --/ humour award New addition to the honorable list of science-fictional nutty geniuses (remember Henry Kuttner's drunk professor, or some truly weird Ray Cummings "haunts of the laboratory" ?) - car mechanic / mathematician extraordinaire Wilson Wu saves the expanding universe from shrinking in this hilarious novella (complete with multi-level mathematical formulas). Add to it a "kosher" Brooklyn environment, wacky physics that just might be true, cosmological cataclysms that threaten the very fabric of our existence - and drink this soup slowly (it's hot) and perhaps with a pint of Guinness. I never expected the good old pulp humor to be resurrected with such vitality and aplomb - and enjoyed every sip of it. review: 18-Jul-06 (read in 2005) ---------------------------------------------- Peter F. Hamilton "The Reality Dysfunction - Emergence" (nv) (Night's Dawn Trilogy, Book 1, Part 1) © 1996, Warner / McMillan --sf novel : 1998 Locus /11 --/ fourth place space sf novel --/ wonder award --/ idea award --/ awesome scale "The Reality Dysfunction - Expansion" (nv) (Night's Dawn Trilogy, Book 1, Part 2) © 1996, Warner / McMillan --sf novel : 1998 Locus /11 --/ cool space sf novel --/ wonder award --/ awesome scale Here is an epic which is almost too big for its own good. Yes, I enjoyed the occasional "sense-of-wonder" brilliantly-written episodes, and a general sense of a "great wide yonder", but in the end I got entirely tangled up (not in a good way) in endless wanderings of multiple characters, many without any sense or purpose... It's almost like reading an unedited record of somebody's life - rough chunks of minute happenings.. various talks... whatever. Not to be too harsh, though, there is a wonderful creepiness and a thick desperate gloom hanging over the whole trilogy's setup: swarms of pretty much invincible dead creatures - zombies - come to life and threaten survival of every living thing in the Universe. This is a horror movie set to the grand scale of classic space opera, and I certainly enjoyed this aspect of it (for example, some atmosphere and echoes of Colin Wilson's writings there, and even Lovecraft's). There are also great depictions of a colony on a forested planet (and its pioneer lifestyle), wonderful glimpses of biological spaceships and organic technology, sweeping views of mining asteroids and cities in space - all this is nifty stuff, for sure. But, I as said, I got mired in this book's overblown narrative, and - seriously - I'm not even sure if I can ever finish it. So this review currently covers only about first two books out of the six-books series. Oh, well... review by Avi Abrams: 09-Jul-06 (read in 2005) ---------------------------------------------- Damon Knight "Life Edit" © Science Fiction Age, Sep 1996 --/ cool sf story The idea of editing "life" just like a scrap-book for a future generation's keep-sake, or even revising it as the person goes on living - this idea is not new, and by 1996 has been used already a few times. However, this story is written in usual Damon Knight competent and literate style, so it is a welcome addition to the bunch. review: 24-Aug-06 (read in 2000) ---------------------------------------------- David Langford "The Spear of the Sun" (Father Brown) © Interzone, Oct 1996 --/ cool sf story --/ idea award There are many "alternate history" SF stories, but this one is about an alternate history of science fiction itself. An unusual pastiche on G. K. Chesterton's "Father Brown" series, it positively glows with invention and wit. "Written in the world where G.K. Chesterton's "Father Brown" stories somehow mutated into SF, thousands of stories have been set in the shared "Father Brown" universe, and "G.K. Chesterton's Science Fiction Magazine" is more or less the only genre magazine..." I was not awfully impressed, however. The story reads good as a novelty, but otherwise quickly wears off. It's light fare that's good to read on a sunny afternoon with a soft breeze in your hair. review: 12-Oct-06 (read in 2003) ---------------------------------------------- Bruce Sterling "Bicycle Repairman" (Chattanooga series) © Intersections, ed. J. Kessel, 1996 A Good Old-Fashioned Future, 1999 --novelette : 1997 Hugo W --long list : 1997 Tiptree --novelette : 1997 Locus /4 --novelette : 1997 SF Chronicle W --/ cool sf novella --/ wonder award A bit muddy, not very clear on the plot. Sort of a sequel to "Deep Eddy", it involves some strange set-top cable box and a break-in at the bicycle repairman's shop in a Chattanooga, Tenn., slum neighborhood. review: 09-Jul-06 (read in 2004) ---------------------------------------------- Gene Wolfe "Counting Cats in Zanzibar" © IASFM, Aug 1996 --short story : 1997 Locus /2 "...Giving a synopsis of a Gene Wolfe short ruins their effect on the reader. The pleasure of Gene Wolfe is the gradual unfolding of the setting and the discovery of what is going on. At the risk of giving away too much, this poignant tale of a young man's pursuit of an older woman manages to incorporate an homage to Asimov's three laws of robotics, and a meditation on travel and identity, all while tackling the big issue of mankind's passing on". (M. Stackpole) review: 18-Jul-06 (read in 2005) ---------------------------------------------- Return to the Wonder Timeline

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