reading (catching up)
Nov. 4th, 2012 05:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eorOnce again, I'm incredibly late posting this. I'm also falling further and further behind in my book a week schedule.
The October/November 2012 issue of Asimov's is a big thick double issue. I was quite surprised by Alan Smale's "The Mongolian Book of the Dead". It has spiritual themes and those usually don't work for me. But this did work for some reason, the mix of a crass reality and mysticism. The story doesn't try to explain the mythology around the unlikely mystical events, it just tells them. I was pulled in and swept away by Jay Lake's "The Stars Do Not Lie". I enjoyed the world building and couldn't read quickly enough. But the end felt messy to me, like the characters that took the final step had to in order to keep the theme going. Gray Rinehart's "The Second Engineer" was a nice mix of action, mystery, and psychology. Are you crazy or is the world really out to get you? I liked the twists and turns in that novelette. Paul McAuley's "Antarctica Starts Here" is dark as June in Antartica, rocky as a penguin's nest, and quiet possibly prescient. Kit Reed's "Results Guaranteed" was a lovely bit of fun. Vylar Kaftan's "Lion Dance" is the winner in this issue for the short story packing the most in. It has a lot of world built into it and it packs some pretty good emotional punch. I was also pleasantly surprised by John Alfred Taylor's "Chromatophores", another short story packing a lot of world and punch, an awesome punch actually.
The three novel length worlds stuffed into Radical Utopias aren't necessarily utopias. The first, Suzy McKee Charnas' Walk to the End of the World is notably dystopian. It's a fair answer to Plato's Republic. As such it is long on construction and theory, but in the end the plot seems to fall on its face. In order to maintain the theme we have to politely ignore that the characters are mostly causing the destruction of the entire race. But it's a fair response to the Republic which by it's nature was static and could not carry a plot, or any action, in a bucket. I enjoyed seeing the contrast the author drew. Much of it contained good representation of human nature and pretty much proved humans are assholes whether they are currently oppressing or just lacking the opportunity to oppress someone else at the moment. Yes, that's dark, that's dystopia for you.
The second of the utopias was Joanne Russ' The Female Man. This story struck me as the week member of the set. Sometimes the "death of the novel" movement creates a story that moves beyond the confines and plot and with that freedom flies. Other times, like this one, it just feels like the author and editor can't be bothered to pull enough thoughts together to come up with a novel. Yes, I know the author says that any criticism leveled at the story just means the story is right, but those passages really feel like the childhood rhyme, "I am rubber you are glue, what you say bounces off me and sticks to you!" Just because you write that any criticism of your story means it's valid doesn't mean the story isn't bad, it just means you need a nice little delusion blanket to wrap yourself in before you publish.
The third of the utopias was one I'd red a long time ago, Samuel R. Delany's Triton. Starting this book I was struck by how quickly Delany could build a world and a society. He has great skill in weaving the science into the fiction. However, his characters feel emotionally flat. I still don't understand why the main characters was such a complete and utter asshole, even when it wasn't in his best interest in any way shape or form. Maybe it was a bit of that dystopian theme from the first story, we're all assholes no matter how easy our life is, no matter how advanced our society is, or how easily we can get psychological problems fixed. We're all just assholes. In Triton, once again themes rule the day and character and plot are sacrificed on the altar of theme. But Delany can draw amazing pictures and weave things together in unexpected ways.
And now for something completely different: Alexandre Dumas' Three Musketeers is a great romp. I'd never read it before. I enjoyed the humor and the love of the main characters. The action and settings are great fun. I didn't enjoy the way the main characters treated everyone else like tools. Kitty's treatment is especially bad. I feel like the way d'Artagnan brought the full force of Milady's wrath was a) completely out of character and/or b)a clear indication that he is no gentleman.
34. Asimov's October/November 2012
35. Radical Utopias (3 novels in one: Suzy McKee Charnas Walk to the End of the World, Joanna Russ The Female Man, Samuel R. Delany Triton)=
36. Alexandre Dumas The Three Musketeers
37. Asimov's December 2012
The October/November 2012 issue of Asimov's is a big thick double issue. I was quite surprised by Alan Smale's "The Mongolian Book of the Dead". It has spiritual themes and those usually don't work for me. But this did work for some reason, the mix of a crass reality and mysticism. The story doesn't try to explain the mythology around the unlikely mystical events, it just tells them. I was pulled in and swept away by Jay Lake's "The Stars Do Not Lie". I enjoyed the world building and couldn't read quickly enough. But the end felt messy to me, like the characters that took the final step had to in order to keep the theme going. Gray Rinehart's "The Second Engineer" was a nice mix of action, mystery, and psychology. Are you crazy or is the world really out to get you? I liked the twists and turns in that novelette. Paul McAuley's "Antarctica Starts Here" is dark as June in Antartica, rocky as a penguin's nest, and quiet possibly prescient. Kit Reed's "Results Guaranteed" was a lovely bit of fun. Vylar Kaftan's "Lion Dance" is the winner in this issue for the short story packing the most in. It has a lot of world built into it and it packs some pretty good emotional punch. I was also pleasantly surprised by John Alfred Taylor's "Chromatophores", another short story packing a lot of world and punch, an awesome punch actually.
The three novel length worlds stuffed into Radical Utopias aren't necessarily utopias. The first, Suzy McKee Charnas' Walk to the End of the World is notably dystopian. It's a fair answer to Plato's Republic. As such it is long on construction and theory, but in the end the plot seems to fall on its face. In order to maintain the theme we have to politely ignore that the characters are mostly causing the destruction of the entire race. But it's a fair response to the Republic which by it's nature was static and could not carry a plot, or any action, in a bucket. I enjoyed seeing the contrast the author drew. Much of it contained good representation of human nature and pretty much proved humans are assholes whether they are currently oppressing or just lacking the opportunity to oppress someone else at the moment. Yes, that's dark, that's dystopia for you.
The second of the utopias was Joanne Russ' The Female Man. This story struck me as the week member of the set. Sometimes the "death of the novel" movement creates a story that moves beyond the confines and plot and with that freedom flies. Other times, like this one, it just feels like the author and editor can't be bothered to pull enough thoughts together to come up with a novel. Yes, I know the author says that any criticism leveled at the story just means the story is right, but those passages really feel like the childhood rhyme, "I am rubber you are glue, what you say bounces off me and sticks to you!" Just because you write that any criticism of your story means it's valid doesn't mean the story isn't bad, it just means you need a nice little delusion blanket to wrap yourself in before you publish.
The third of the utopias was one I'd red a long time ago, Samuel R. Delany's Triton. Starting this book I was struck by how quickly Delany could build a world and a society. He has great skill in weaving the science into the fiction. However, his characters feel emotionally flat. I still don't understand why the main characters was such a complete and utter asshole, even when it wasn't in his best interest in any way shape or form. Maybe it was a bit of that dystopian theme from the first story, we're all assholes no matter how easy our life is, no matter how advanced our society is, or how easily we can get psychological problems fixed. We're all just assholes. In Triton, once again themes rule the day and character and plot are sacrificed on the altar of theme. But Delany can draw amazing pictures and weave things together in unexpected ways.
And now for something completely different: Alexandre Dumas' Three Musketeers is a great romp. I'd never read it before. I enjoyed the humor and the love of the main characters. The action and settings are great fun. I didn't enjoy the way the main characters treated everyone else like tools. Kitty's treatment is especially bad. I feel like the way d'Artagnan brought the full force of Milady's wrath was a) completely out of character and/or b)a clear indication that he is no gentleman.
34. Asimov's October/November 2012
35. Radical Utopias (3 novels in one: Suzy McKee Charnas Walk to the End of the World, Joanna Russ The Female Man, Samuel R. Delany Triton)=
36. Alexandre Dumas The Three Musketeers
37. Asimov's December 2012
