1997 - Year in SF&F: Reviews

THE WONDER TIMELINE: SF&F RETROSPECTIVE Read other issues here ---------------------------------------------- (left: "Interzone" illustration by SMS) Alastair Reynolds "A Spy in Europa" (Revelation Space series) © Interzone, Jun 1997 --fiction : 1998 Interzone Poll /10 (tie) --short story : 2003 Seiun Award --/ third place space sf story DRB top lists --/ adventure award --/ wonder award --/ style award "A Spy in Europa is an entertaining mixture of hard sf, James Bond, and Jaws." "Inventive, colorful adventure steeped in interplanetary politics as rival factions vie for control of Jovian space."(Locus) All good reviews can't convey the sense of discovery I experienced upon reading this story - this was my VERY FIRST encounter with Alastair Reynolds's fiction. At first, I liked the underwater caper and the "Thunderball"-like spy intrigue, being "duly" entertained by highly visual descriptions and the overall sense of a cool confidence. It's as though Reynolds has read ALL the best examples of space adventure story on his weekends (or downloaded them straight into his cortex) and decided that he is going to "ace" them all before lunch on a lazy afternoon. Effortless, smooth writing, good control of the plot, intricate world-building - all displayed here, in one of his earliest published stories. Plus there is an interesting twist in the end. After reading the last page, I shook my head in disbelief and announced to my wife that I've got a new "MOST FAVORITE" sf writer... Her reply was "How many "my most favorites" do you have? Must be some crowded company". She's right of course. Reynolds is good at what he does, but the beauty of the fantastic literature is that it is so diverse and so full of flavors and styles, that there is always room for another "your one and only" favorite writer. (review by Avi Abrams) Here is a pretty neat excerpt from the interview in Aurealis: Australian SF: AUREALIS: I've read you also enjoy spy-novels and this again comes out in many of your stories. "A Spy in Europa" is probably my favourite of this style of story. You intrigue us with a whole mess of espionage and double-crossing, only to turn everything on its head for both the reader and the protagonist. There doesn't seem to be anything sly, or of pulling-the-rug on the reader about this. The ending is rational and logical, you just don't see it coming. Is this an effect you consciously set out to achieve when you write a story? The ability to surprise a reader just when they think they've got it all figured out? ALASTAIR REYNOLDS: I guess that's the effect I'm striving for with that specific kind of story, certainly. Whether I hit the mark all the time, or any of the time, is another matter entirely. I know people who disliked A Spy... intensely, because they felt it was implausibly contrived. Again, you write the stories you think of. With that one, I got the ending nailed down pretty early and worked back from it. It was actually one of the easiest stories I've ever written: I think I started it on a Friday evening, and had it done by Sunday. Most times, my short stories take at least three to six weeks. ---------------------------------------------- Return to the Wonder Timeline

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