Three Monkeys, Ten Minutes

If you see a film with a lot of script writing credits there is cause for concern. It is usually a mess. People have been bought in to fix perceived problems. As often as not they make it worse. You don't see many books with more than one or two names on the cover. Even collaborations are fairly uncommon and those that do exist usually work together from the start. Having somebody come in to work on a problem book is not common - usually the book just goes in a drawer somewhere for the author to perhaps pull out later for another go at it.

But the movie writing type of collaboration is not completely unknown in books. Witness Hunter's Run by George R R Martin, Gardner Dozois and Daniel Abraham. It took 30 years of fits and starts with various attempts by the authors and long periods in drawers to come up with this publication. It shows. In some ways it is a mess, just like you would expect. The styles chop and change and there are some strange continuity errors. It is particularly evident in the beginning where somebody, a young Gardner Dozois I think, has run wild with some very overblown descriptive prose. Any book written over a 30 year period not only has to contend with the different writers but that each writer has changed considerably over that time.

You have to wonder why they bothered. The thing is, it is a story worth telling. At some point somebody, again Dozois, had a really good idea for an adventure story on a colony world that also delved into personal identity. It is a first contact story of a kind but also about how we see ourselves and what happens when we encounter a mirror into our nature. Not an original thought but the take on it by these authors is pretty distinct and was well worth the effort even if the execution proved flawed.

It helps that this book has an afterword and interviews with the authors. It helps assemble the puzzle of who did what. Perhaps apportion blame might be a better phrase. But there is credit too. Despite all the flaws, after a few early doubts I enjoyed this book. Perhaps just one rewrite more would do the trick.

I have finished the Phoenix end of year quiz. It ended up taking a lot longer than the last couple that I set. Even allowing for everything in life being harder at the moment, I think that I have lost quiz inspiration again. It happens every so often. I do a few and enjoy the process and then it becomes a chore and I stop for a while. I don't think I'll be doing any more for a year or two. Unless, that is, somebody is happy with a recycled one, but I'd need a whole new audience for that to work.

Actually, I'm pretty happy with the quiz I have done this time - I think it has enough themes and small pieces of humour to work pretty well. However it is a bit challenging. By which I mean that it is just plain hard. There is always a balance between making a quiz a genuine test of knowledge and making it a feel good exercise that lets the audience boost their ego by being able to answer lots of easy questions.

Still it is part of the end of year party - perhaps I better dumb go it down a bit.

Astonishing, I finished reading a book today. It seems like ages since I finished the previous one. It does not explain the general slowness in getting through the book but there was a bit of an impediment to getting started. The first part of the book had previously been published as a short story that I had read. A pretty good story but not one I was feeling compelled to read again. However I didn't want to skip the introductory parts of the book so I struggled through the short story again. It didn't help kick the book off well. It isn't a general principle - sometimes reading the familiar story can kick things off faster and better. It all depends on the story. In this case, it lead into a book that was really a series of tightly connected short stories anyway - Accelerando by Charles Stross.

Stross is fun in an old fashioned "sense of wonder" space opera kind of way. I don't mean the science is old fashioned. It is very much of the moment and taps into some of the more optimistic popular culture views of the future. In other words, pretty much what science fiction of the golden age did. It has the same failings too - stories and characters being secondary to the technology and some big blobs of exposition. There is a bit of a revival of this mode of writing at the moment and Stross is regarded as one of the leading lights. I'm not convinced. Yes it is fun but it is flawed by relying too much on the idea. But then again, there is a market for that and I'm glad that there are people writing for it and being published. Personally that kind of book can appeal from time to time. I just think that on those occasional times that I will still be better off with Stephen Baxter even if Stross makes a handy backup.

I suppose funeral parlours should be able to advertise just like anybody else. Some of our hang-ups about death need a good shake. However I was still a bit disconcerted to receive an invitation to an open day at a local funeral outfit.

Actually, this particular place probably does not need to advertise. Their premises are just across the road from Hutt hospital and easily visible from many wards including cardiac care.

An observation. Having your hair cut by a barber with a shakey grasp of the only language you have in common is quite a disconcerting experience. First is the worry that he has completely misunderstood your requests - he hadn't. Second, the whole barber shop banter thing is missing. There was just the snip of the scissors and the whine of an old air conditioning fan. Strange.

A question. Should I take part in Movember? I've never been a fan of wearing facial hair - it does not appeal to me. So apart from failing to shave during a weekend, I have never attempted to grow a beard or moustache. Work is getting behind this however, so I'm giving it some thought. Do you think a "mo" in Movember would suit me?

I'm not big on plot description when I review* or when I read reviews. I suppose that comes down to spoilers - I'd prefer the author to tell the story not the reviewer. In a review I look for tone, quality, genre, theme and that sort of think. Clues as to whether I would want to read it myself. In this spirit, all I can really say about Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff is that it is really really very good. Even discussing theme, genre etc would be a spoiler. Why - because nothing in this book is what it seems. It is complex, layered, obscured and yet easy to read. Even saying that is a spoiler. If you have read Ruff's previous book Set This House in Order, you have the beginnings of the idea where this book goes. Beyond that I will say no more except that that you should read it.

*It could be said that I'm not big on review when I review - true enough, especially here where I'm recording personal impressions rather than writing anything resembling a proper review.

Blue Silence by Michelle Marquardt has a telepath as a protagonist. For an obviously science fiction book written this century, it gives the book an old fashioned feel. Up until sometime in the '70s, telepaths were very common in science fiction. As the real hard evidence on telepathy in humans failed to materialise so the notion that telepathy and such mental powers could be considered science went away and so did the fiction using it. It still crops up from time to time in science fiction but these days the author has to sell it properly. There has to be a good reason for it rather than it just being the future and therefore people have mental powers. I'm talking books here of course - TV series coming out of California continue to include super mental powers.

For those interested, the story is set on a large space station colony which has a first contact situation of sorts. Most of the action is political. When you think about it, there is a fair bit of reality about that view. If we ever have a public first contact situation, you can bet that the biggest amount of activity would be from politicians manoeuvring the get the best result out of it for themselves in a media frenzy. Actually, Blue Silence could have done with more media frenzy although the lack of it says more about the society on the station that gets revealed than any expository text. I wonder if it was deliberate.

A message to all you horror writers. This type of activity is perhaps taking your dedication to the craft just a tiny bit too seriously.

The so called juvenile novels of Robert Heinlein and Andre Norton were very important to me when I was a kid. What we call the YA market was a pretty thin offering in the SF field back then. Harry Turtledove's Gunpowder Empire reminds me of those books in terms of the way it is written. Way to much so for it to be a coincidence. I didn't finish it. That style of writing holds nothing for me now. I'm not sure how I'd go re-reading those Heinlein & Norton books now. I suspect Heinlein would hold up better, but I'm not sure. I am half tempted to grab, say, Tunnel in the Sky* and see if it still works for me. But then again perhaps it might be better not to and just live with the memories.

*Tunnel in the Sky may not be the best or best known of Heinlein's youth oriented work, but for some reason it has always held a particular place in my affections.

...don't force it. Did anybody ever tell Charles de Lint that. De Lint has a common universe for a lot of his fantasy - a lot, but not all, of it is set in the city of Newford. These stories have a connected set of characters and a kind of fantasy setting that fits together into a pattern of sorts. All except Someplace to be Flying*. It is set in Newford but the story uses a different mythos. Not totally different - first animals instead of alternate spirit existences. But distinct enough that it does not really fit with the other stories. It just does not seem right. Taken individually, I like the characters and the story but it just does not work all that well in the setting. It should be in its own distinct setting I think. I suspect de Lint sees it that way too - why else would he introduce a character for just one scene who tries to reconcile the different myth systems. A character that bears a strange resemblance to the author himself. I think this shows through in other ways - the author is struggling with this. I does make me wonder if this shoe horning job was done at the insistence of his editor. Whether it was or not it is a pity - it was almost something really special.

*well on my experience so far. There are many more Newford books for me to read.

I read William Gibson's Spook Country. Gibson cops a lot of flak from certain quarters "he does not understand computers", "he isn't original - all sorts of people did 'cyberpunk' before him", "he can't write" and so on. It may all be true to some extent or another. Others may or may not have done it earlier, better or more realistically, but Gibson's popularity gave the SF genre a big shake up and spawned a very important movement. A movement which at its core seemed to be about being more than human and having style - what you are and how you look.

So what happens when that William Gibson joins the stream of sf writers moving into the thriller area? Turns out that nothing much changes at all. It is still about style and people who use technology to extend themselves. Really the only difference is that he hasn't moved quite as far ahead as he has in previous books. It still feels absolutely like a William Gibson novel. Even more so really - he continues to work on his writing craft. This novel is not only about style but stylishly written as well. Eventually, you realise that it is fun too.

I wasn't sure whether Gibson still had it in him to produce something really good. His second trilogy was not as good or important as his early work. But this book is an indication that he still has the mojo. All that without me saying anything about what the story is about. But when you are concerned with style, that is not really important is it?.

The worst thing about Conflux is that it is over. Sydney airport and Qantas are doing their best to overtake that though. On the way over all I had was delays and a bumpy flight. On the way back there were delays, a cancelled flight, more turbulence and terminal building air conditioning that didn't work.

Was it all worth it? Of course it was. I had a most agreeable time at Conflux. I talked to all sorts of nice interesting people, I went to many good items, I participated in 3 panels and didn't get anything thrown at me, ate some good food and bought lots of small press books. More detail and perhaps even a photo of a Dalek birthday cake later.

A limo company has moved in a few doors down from work. They have a stretch Hummer - a very long one with 4 more side windows (on each side) than an ordinary Hummer. I looked at it and all I could think of was how obscene is that. I mean, limo, stretch, Hummer! - none of that is good. But then I thought - isn't that just a bus? Big long vehicle which can seat lots of people - well not lots but quite a few more than an ordinary car. Aren't buses good things which move people around more efficiently than cars. So is a stretch limo Hummer a good thing?

Nah! Only...

Oh dear, it seems I have agreed to be on one of the blogging panels at Conflux. It also seems that I am one of "Four men who are never far away from their blogs talk about blogging and its impact on developing and maintaining the community."

I only seems appropriate to note that here and call for comment. Just what sort of communities are blogs anyway?

The first book in a space opera series. So, lets see there is a galactic spanning civilisation, post human intelligence with everybody being very long lived. There is some mysterious very powerful race which seems to be doing people harm and who may have been responsible for catastrophe. Humans doing the same thing too. There is mystery all around. A small group of highly resourceful people are battling to figure out what is happening and save their skins while doing it - a group who are obviously going to become big players in the restoration of order. It is all entertainingly written - fun with a few clever little jokes mixed in. But not deep - written to entertain not to enlighten. Of course it is a Sean Williams book. Saturn Returns to be specific about it.

About the only fundamental difference I can see between this and the first books of his previous space opera series is that Shane Dix's name isn't on the title page. Perhaps the tone is a tiny bit lighter but that is it. I should say the story is quite a bit different to the previous ones but that is just the window dressing - the fundamental mode of entertainment remains the same. Another thing to note is that the first volume in all these series, including this one, is exposition heavy. There is some action but a lot is about building the universe and the characters. Interesting that I always enjoy these first volumes more than the action laden subsequent ones. Not sure if that says something about the author's strengths and weaknesses or if it just reflects my preferences. Good fun either way.