Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

(Originally posted in 2013)

Wowzer! Awesome! etc. etc.

OK, anybody that has read any of my previous reviews of Sanderson's work knows just how much I admire his writing. I've really run out of superlatives to describe his work, both the quality of it and the sheer amount of output he generates. I don't know of any other human on the planet that can write/publish so many books and sustain such high quality. He is simply amazing.

This novel is, of course, no exception. From the very first page, I was absorbed in this new world Sanderson has created. Yes, it's a young adult novel, but the only reason to classify it as such is that the main character, David, is 18 years old. But in every other way, this is a main-stream novel, filled with violence, action, and thought-provoking characters. In essence, this could be called a "super-hero" novel (mostly evil super-heroes) so I suppose that's another reason to classify it as YA. And we are treated to some inner thoughts from David that testify to his late-teenage attitudes towards others and self doubt. But I found them to be very true to the nature of the character, and essential to the plot.

The story takes place here on approximately present-day Earth, about ten years after an unexplained burst in the sky (subsequently referred to as 'Calamity') caused the appearance of 'Epics'. Epics are humans that have abilities, amazing superhero-like powers, and tend to use them for personal gain and power. They are so powerful that nobody fights them. Nobody except the 'Reckoners'. Epics are essentially bullies (bullies with incredible destructive power) but each one has a weakness, and thus can be fought by ordinary folks like us.

OK, that sounds like a plot for a YA novel for boys age 10-14. But I say 'Nay, friend.' This is a novel for all of us. The plot is only the superficial top layering of this 17-layer cake and, believe me friends, this cake has a lot of delicious calories. Sanderson is known for his unique, complex magic systems that he constructs for his novels. So, of course, the system that he has built for superheroes is equally complex and interdependent. He doesn't just come up with weird cool powers and sprinkle superheroes around. Epics' powers work the way they work for a reason and discovering just how they relate to each other is pure fun. And all through this novel (as well as in future novels in this series), we learn more and more about just how well thought out this system is.  

All of that stuff makes for fun reading and good movie entertainment but it's the characters that allow a story to rise to the top and be memorable for months and years afterwards. The core group of characters in this book are multidimensional and each one is intriguing. They are a delight to read about. I cared about each and every one, their roles, their fates. And, due to the high stakes action in this book, their fates are far from certain. Surprises await the reader at every turn; it definitely keeps the pages turning.

So, once again, my hat is off to Mr Sanderson. This is the first book of what is sure to be a great series. And although the main plot does conclude in this one book, it serves as a gateway to many more awesome books to come. 

The Jericho Iteration by Allen Steele

In the year 2012, a huge earthquake destroyed much of the Midwest United States.  Now, a year later, the city of St Louis is trying to come back from the brink of extinction and the heavy-handed Emergency Relief Agency carries out their tasks utilizing martial law. Gerry Rosen is an investigative reporter who finds himself chasing after a big story but not quite sure where it will lead. What he does know is that people around him are getting killed and it all involves a mysterious something with a code name, Ruby Fulcrum. As he follows the trail and becomes a fugitive himself, Gerry uncovers a conspiracy of monumental proportions involving the federal government and artificial intelligence.

It sounds like a techno-thriller and, indeed, that’s the way this novel reads. However, it is actually science fiction, having been published in 1994 and with the setting being the “near future” of 2013. Reading it now is much like reading a contemporary thriller albeit with a few twists where the author’s guesstimate of then-current trends would lead. I confess that part of the fun I had reading this novel was being spoon-fed those little tidbits that turned out to be mostly incorrect. But even though CompuServe and Commodore did not last to be the tech mega-companies that they are in the book, and neither did we concern ourselves with fax machines and long-distance rates in 2013, all that really doesn’t matter. The fact that the states of Oregon and Washington succeeded from the US and became the country of “Cascadia” however, is integral to the plot and so the book, in fact, becomes a bit more like reading a sci-fi thriller.

This book is quite a bit different than most of Allen Steele’s more space-adventure works but his fans will still appreciate his tight prose, quality characterization and tech-savvy climactic scenes. Another good one from Mr. Steele.

Dune by Frank Herbert

This won’t be a real review as I can’t imagine I have anything to offer that hasn’t already been said by millions of fans worldwide. 

For me, this is a rare re-read. I first read Dune back when I was a teenager. I read it because my older brother had read it and I pretty much did everything he did. I remember him talking about the sandworms and about life on a desert planet where water (or moisture) was in such short supply that residents had to wear body suits that captured and recycled their own body sweat. In fact, that is really about all I remember from my own first read way back then, nearly 40 years ago.

I’ve known for many years that I’ve wanted to re-read Dune. I was simply too young back then to appreciate it. As a lifelong science fiction fan, I felt it necessary to re-visit this classic, often considered the greatest in the history of the genre. It is to science fiction what The Lord of the Rings is to fantasy. Not only did it win the Hugo award in 1966, it also won the very first Nebula award for best novel. It is considered a landmark of “soft” science fiction rather than the typical novel of the time that relied heavily on technology. Reportedly, Herbert deliberately down-played technology in his Dune universe so he could write about the politics of humanity, as opposed to the future of humanity's technology. 

Now having completed my second read through of this classic I almost hesitate to call it science fiction. There are any number of classic fantasy themes and in fact I would almost call it mythological. I have not read any of the sequels and am not sure that I will as I understand the character of Paul Atreides undergoes further transformation, not all of which is admirable. 

I’ve long had this on my incredibly short list of novels to re-read, a true rarity for me. I kept telling myself that “one day” I would finally do it. Well, “one day” finally arrived and I am so very glad I took this journey once again.

Highly recommended for all three of you out there who haven’t read it yet.

Once Upon a Star: The Adventures of Manning Draco, Volume 1 by Kendell Foster Crossen

Manning Draco is the chief insurance investigator for the Greater Solarian Insurance Company, "Monopolated", in the 35th century.  He is called upon to work the most difficult cases of fraud, scams, and circumvent con artists of all types.  This book contains four sequential novellas that feature humorous/zany situations where Draco must exercise his considerable intellect to come up with creative solutions in order to prevent huge inappropriate monetary payouts from his company.  Frequently he rescues his company from poor decisions.

These stories are filled with funny situations and Draco’s snarky, yet friendly personality makes these stories really fun to read.  Since they take place in the far future, the author pulls out all the stops when creating alien species and planetary/cultural governments and cultures.  In fact, it often goes to the point of being absurd but that’s entirely consistent with the zany tone of the stories and just adds to the fun. It’s a bit like combining The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy with the Flashman novels but with an insurance investigator plot.  Fun stuff indeed.

These stories were originally published in the early 1950’s in “Thrilling Wonder Stories”.  Author Kendell Foster Crossen may be familiar to readers as the author of the Milo March detective novels under the pseudonym M.E. Chaber. Crossen was incredibly prolific and actually wrote over 400 radio and television dramas, some 300 short stories, 250 non-fiction articles and approximately forty-five novels. He also found the time to write reviews, edit several science fiction collections, and serve as editor for Detective Fiction Weekly.  He was responsible for the creation of  private eyes Brian Brett and Pete Draco, although he's probably best known for creating “The Green Lama”, a costumed vigilante who appeared in the pulps from the forties.

First on the Moon by Jeff Sutton

Written in 1958, more than a decade before the first actual Moon landing, this novel takes us on an adventure that is part scientific speculation and part Cold War thriller. American Adam Crag is tapped to lead the first manned mission to the moon, racing against the Soviet Union to be the first. The reward, per UN doctrine, is the right to claim the entire lunar surface for the country that can be the first to get there and still be surviving when the final UN vote takes place. But as if the mission itself wasn’t enough risk for these astronauts, intelligence suggests the Soviets plan to destroy the American rocket ship before it can ever launch.

But those Americans can be tricky, and they have prepared for just such a contingency. Their primary rocket ship is merely a decoy, and so when it is, in fact, destroyed, their real ship is able to blast off into space and proceed with the mission. But hold on, the Soviets aren’t done yet. Word comes down that one of the American astronauts is secretly, a saboteur!

This novel was author Jeff Sutton’s first. As a former marine (including WW2 service on Guadalcanal) and now a research engineer for Convair-San Diego, Jeff Sutton was used to journalistic and technical writing. He specialized in high-altitude survival and this background novel served him well in all the myriad technical aspects of this spaceflight novel. Of course, much of the plot was speculative I nature, particularly what it would be like on the surface of the moon. The Cold War plot of pitting the two superpowers against each other in actual space combat and moon-surface gunplay seems a bit hokey looking back from our time, but it provided a pretty good action-adventure alternative to what could have been simply an overcome-the-technical-glitches plot.

I pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed reading this novel. The technical parts were pretty spot-on but sometimes the characters acted in an unconvincing manner. For example, the American staff back on Earth desperately tried to determine which of the astronauts was the likely saboteur via background checks and interviews with their childhood teachers and so forth. We get to see some of that, but most occurs in the background. But when they finally think they have their man, they choose not to tell Commander Crag in case they have it wrong. They tell him they don’t want to poison his opinion of any of his crew. What? Why go to the trouble of figuring it out and then not tell him so he can take precautions. Poor Commander Crag must not only have to deal with fixing the rocket ship for a return flight, severe oxygen deficiency problems, incoming nuclear warheads launched from earth by the Soviets, crew morale problems, gun fights with a Soviet Moon landing crew, and more…he also has to battle the stupid bureaucrats back home. Yeah…probably more realistic now that I think about it.

So as long as you can take off your 21st century hat and insert yourself into 1958, this is a pretty good science fiction yarn. Jeff Sutton would go on to write 22 more novels in science fiction, war, political novels, and juvenile fiction. Most of them involved themes involving the space program.

Blackmark by Gil Kane

Published in January of 1971, this paperback is considered one of the first American graphic novels, written in a combination of prose, word balloons, and artwork by the inestimable Gil Kane. Kane, an already established comics artist had helped usher in the Silver Age of comic books with his role in revamping the DC Comics characters Green Lantern and The Atom, and who drew The Amazing Spider-Man during a particularly important 1970s run. However, this isn’t his first graphic novel, having experimented with the form with his 1968 black-and-white comics magazine His Name is... Savage.

Rather than enlarging on a pre-existing idea or character for this paperback book, Kane chose to develop an original story, setting, and character. In a post-nuclear-holocaust Earth, now devastated and devoid of all technology, mankind has been fractured into tribes. Mutated beasts abound and to the north, a race of malformed men with strange mental powers plot the eventual conquest of the planet from the fortress of Psi-Keep.

Into this world, a baby is conceived between a tinker’s barren wife and a dying wizard-king named Amarix. Amarix has the knowledge of science from before the wars and is able to magically transfer this knowledge into his spawn. The child is named Blackmark and, much like Conan, eventually sees his family and village slaughtered, is captured and raised as a slave. He vows revenge and to one day become King of all Earth. But first he must compete in the gladiator arena.

I enjoyed the story, but what puts this over the top is Gil Kane’s artwork. It’s too bad initial sales of the book didn’t meet expectations (due largely to some marketing mistakes), and no further books in the series were ever published. Kane, however, had already completed a second book worth of material. This would later be published as “The Mind Flayers” in the 62-page Marvel Comics magazine Marvel Preview #17  (Winter 1979).

This one is worth tracking down, not just for its historical contribution to the graphic novel format, but for the story and artwork itself.

Storm Over Warlock by Andre Norton

Shann Lantee, a poor and uneducated young man, feels fortunate to have achieved his goal of being included on a survey team of Terrans seeking out new planets to colonize. Unfortunately, here on the planet of Warlock, the team’s survey camp has been attacked and all but destroyed by the Throgs, an alien race of beetle-like beings that have plagued mankind’s ascendancy to the stars for more than a century. Shann must not only somehow survive against the Throgs but also, along with his two pet wolverines, determine the nature of the local planetary species, known for now as the Warlockians, and carve out some sort of a future for himself.

First published in 1960, this was one of the first novels to appear under Alice Mary Norton’s pseudonym, Andre Norton. It also begins the “Forerunner” series which features a vanished alien race whose power was incomprehensible if the artifacts left behind are any indication. The series also loosely ties in with other Andre Norton series, most notably in the description of the “witches” found on the planet Warlock.

The novel is fairly typical of an Andre Norton yarn. We have a protagonist with a less-than-ideal background, traveling across the wilderness in a largely solo affair, to ultimately surprise everyone, including himself with a profound contribution. The aliens encountered along the way are well-developed and unique, a hallmark of Norton’s work. There is plenty of adventure along the way, but also a lot of introspection from Shann. Along his journey, he discovers another Terran survivor, a survey team officer who begins by taking Shann for granted but who ultimately recognizes Shann’s grit and wisdom. It’s sort of a coming-of-age novel, which is also not surprising given the majority of the author's output as well as her origins as a young-adult writer.

An interesting tale that pulls me toward reading more from the prolific Andre Norton.

The Peril of the Pacific by J. Allan Dunn

This is a five-part serial, originally published in the pages of “People’s” magazine way back in 1916.  J. Allan Dunn, the author, had broken into the pulps just two years prior, but was already in high demand as a writer.  I was drawn to this book because I had read and enjoyed a collection of his “Crime Master” stories which weren’t written until the late 1920’s and 30's.

This serial is really a science fiction tale for that time, telling of a possible near-future.  A man by the name of Bruce Grahame is an expert in aeronautics and also a believer in preparedness, especially against what he believes is an imminent invasion of the western US by Japan.  Remember that this was written in 1916 so it is a really interesting take on what might happen, even if in our reality it didn’t come close to happening until the 1940s.

The author speculates that the new aeronautical technology of helicopters would completely transform the way combat would ensue, basically predicting that normal fixed-wing aircraft would become completely obsolete.  An interesting speculation that has, of course, been contrary to our history thus far but nevertheless makes for an interesting story.

This is largely a tale of war strategy with a lot of heroic adventure and a bit of romance thrown in. A major sub-plot involves a half-American/half-Japanese bad guy who hopes to betray his native US, lead the Japanese to surprise victory, and ultimately rule the new Nippon. He also kidnaps Grahame's girlfriend, for added incentive. A mere 150 pages cover the entire pre-war preparations, the surprise attacks, the limited response by the caught-flat-footed Americans, several key battles, and ultimate resolution.  And yet, it doesn’t feel rushed at all. It’s written in a more serious tone than the Crime Master stories I read, and I was content to read one section at a time, between novels, rather than straight through.  I wanted that same sense of reading a serial. I imagine that reading it back when it originally came out over five straight months amid the real WWI was quite an edge-of-your-seat experience.

Hats off to Off-Trail Publications and John Locke for re-publishing this interesting story.

Paperback Fantastic - Volume 1 - Sci-Fi by Justin Marriott (ed)

Once again, Justin Marriott has produced a slick ‘zine, with a cover designed by Bill Cunningham, that takes a good look at a specific genre of paperbacks and comics. This is actually the first of three related products, all devoted to speculative fiction. Here we have a focus on science fiction while the second will tackle fantasy and the third will examine horror paperbacks.

This volume is laser focused (see what I did there?) on the science fiction field. The bulk of the book is allocated to reviews of sci-fi through the ages, covering a wide variety of authors, eras, and styles. Many of the authors represented here are house-hold science fiction names like Silverberg, Asimov, Niven, Moorcock, Norton, Zelazny, etc. but many are names you may be less familiar with. Who knew Don Pendleton wrote "The Guns of Terra 10" before developing a whole new genre with "The Executioner novels"? We get reviews from every kind of sci-fi story out there, from David Brin’s “Startide Rising” to Jean-Claude Forrest’s “Barbarella”, from “Flash Gordon” to “Planet of the Apes”. Hard science fiction is found alongside humorous sci-fi and comics, swashbuckling planetary adventure, and end-of-the world scenarios. Nine different reviewers offer their opinions in thoughtful reviews (Full Disclosure: I’m one of them), but always with an eye for being informative. 

Along with the insightful reviews are a number of “Fantastic Factoids”. These are two-page spreads that spotlight themes or cover artists. These include subjects such as “Moorcock on Mars”, “Andre Norton and Ken Barr” and “Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction”.

A real bonus in this volume (and the next two) is the full color artwork. Almost every review is accompanied by a full color depiction of the cover. Often the covers chosen aren’t necessarily the ones you’ve seen and known from the bookstore shelves, offering a full mix of UK and US covers and even some from other countries. Sometimes, several covers are presented representing different styles and artists for the same book/comic. Additionally, each cover presented includes details of the artist and other facts about the book’s history.

As always, these products offer a great way to get a sampling of a specific genre. Sci-fi fans will soak this up while those who’ve only ever wondered about what this genre is all about will find plenty to whet their appetites. 

Highly recommended.

Flash Gordon: Crisis on Citadel II by David Hagberg

Picking up immediately after the events of book 2, "Flash Gordon: War of the Citadels", Flash, Dale, and Dr. Zarkov find themselves wondering just what side of the Citadel war they should be on. The android known as “Martin” has proven duplicitous so Citadel 1 seems like the bad guys now.  But Citadel II is now also showing signs of manipulating them for its own ends. Their galactic war has been going on for thousands of years now, run mostly by computers, and it would seem that perpetual war is the only thing that keeps them all going.

The third novel in this set of Flash Gordon books is my favorite so far. I’ve gotten used to this “new” style of Flash Gordon and I’m really starting to enjoy the action-oriented space opera plot. This one sees Flash on his own for almost half the book, away from Dale and Zarkov and I think that is good. In the first two books we didn’t get to see him as the hero as much as just one part of a group, often overshadowed by Zarkov who could use his intellect to get them out of trouble. He was the go-to guy for the first two books with Flash often relegated to just being the muscle. But this time around he is on his own much of the time and can display his own intelligence and creative solutions. That’s what this series needed. In addition, there were some important plot developments along with finally turning the corner on the Flash/Dale relationship.

All six books in this series are one long story so be sure to read them in order. Looking forward to book 4, "Flash Gordon: Forces From The Federation", even though the title makes it sound like a Star Trek novel.

Upgrade by Blake Crouch

A science fiction thriller set in the near future, “Upgrade” provides an intriguing look into what might be the future of the human species. It is set approximately 20-30 years in our future (Beyonce has just completed her farewell tour). The human genome has become a new battleground as we’ve learned how to edit our own genetic codes, to fight disease, etc. and make the world a better place. One problem is the age-old issue of people trying to make changes to what nature intended: the law of unintentional consequences. In fact, one brilliant scientist, Miriam Ramsey, accidentally created a mass-starvation event by altering the genetic code of locusts in China. Consequently, much of the world is currently starving and genetic manipulation has been outlawed.

The novel follows Logan Ramsey, Miriam’s son and an agent of the newly created Genetic Protection Agency. Logan participates in a raid and gets exposed to the SCYTHE virus. At first, nothing seems different but then he begins to notice the changes: better memory, better observational skills, better cognition all the way around. His bones are growing denser, as well. His genome has been hacked.

This is largely a thriller novel, as Logan learns to use his new enhanced abilities while getting tied up in a race against time to stop would-be saviors of the human race who want to use genetic enhancements to save the species. There is a lot of biological science thrown around throughout the novel, but I never felt it was overwhelming and in fact, I felt I followed along quite well even if I don’t have a complete understanding of gene structure or know my GRIN2B gene from my FOXP2.

Beyond the page-by-page thriller action lays the major theme of the novel. Why does the human race seem incapable of taking action to save itself from all the burgeoning threats that will very likely doom it to extinction. The point of humans being able to truly care for only a limited number of people is clear. The world watches breathlessly while a single child is trapped in a well but ignores the fate of several hundred thousand who are victims of a pandemic. The latter is just a statistic. How do we change that behavior…or should we?

This was a fun novel to read, fast paced, and with intriguing concepts. The level of research on the part of the author is mightily impressive. Blake Crouch fans will not be disappointed.

The People of the Wind by Poul Anderson

Two great empires, the Terran Empire of humans and the Ythrian Empire of bird-like people are at the precipice of war. Caught in between is the planet of Avalon where Humans and Ythrians have learned to live together. So much so that many of the humans there want to become more like the Ythrians, even going so far as to inject themselves with Ythrian DNA, evolving somewhat, into a hybrid species.

First published in 1973, this novel was nominated for the Hugo, the Nebula, and the Locus awards. However, it eventually lost to Arthur C. Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama and consequently is much less well known today.  There is quite a bit of scientifically based world building here, especially in regard to the Ythrian species. In many ways this is a novel about race relations but unlike similar science fiction novels of the time, the author does a good job of presenting the issues from both sides. Interestingly, while this is a stand-alone novel, there is a connection to Poul Anderson’s Polestechnic books in that Avalon was originally populated by descendants of David Falkayn, the master trader of those books.

I do confess to struggling with this one. Anderson’s sparse style is not always easy reading and I found myself having to re-read often in order to ensure I was understanding the plot. There are a lot of characters as well which add to the complexity; understanding how they relate to one another is challenging. Nevertheless, the effort was worth it and prods me to tackle more of Poul Anderson’s work.

Slaughter-House Five by Kurt Vonnegut

I’m not sure I am qualified to write a review for this novel. It’s been the subject of so many analyses and interpretation by the literati crowd and professorial reviewers that my comments will surely pale by comparison.  So rather than compete with some kind of attempt to impress with how it "affected me" I will simplify my analysis:

I liked it.

I have friends that absolutely loved it and friends that feel charitable when giving it only one star.  I can understand both points of view.  I think if I had read this in high school when many were forced to read and write a book report on it, then I would come close to hating it.  But at this point in my life and looking back at a 20+year career in the US Air Force I can appreciate its approach and style much better.   Especially the way the drama of the very real and horrific bombing of Dresden at the end of WWII is told in a semi-biographical way in a nonlinear order with events becoming clear through flashbacks (or time travel experiences) from the narrator who describes the stories of Billy Pilgrim, who in turn believes himself to have been in an alien zoo and to have experienced time travel.  

Boy, what a mishmash of a description.  Sorry about that but...so it goes.

Categorizing this novel is something else altogether.  I guess it’s science fiction and I guess it’s anti-war, and I know it’s a prime example of the literary device known as an “unreliable narrator”.  I also know that several of the other characters in this novel also appear in Vonnegut’s other novels but not always as quite the same character as they are here.

It sounds like a convoluted structure for a novel, especially with all the jumping around in time but I actually followed it pretty easily.  I’m glad to have finally read it, not only because I’ve always felt I “should” read at least one Vonnegut novel but also because reading it really got me to think.  I also understand it has been one of the most banned books in the US ever since publication and that always draws me to such a novel.

Not my usual cup-of-tea but I'm very glad to have read it.

Flash Gordon: War of the Citadels by David Hagberg

The second book in the Flash Gordon: Citadels series picks up right after the events of the first book (Flash Gordon: Massacre in the 22nd Century).  Flash, Dale and Dr Zarkov find themselves caught up in a war between two super-advanced machine worlds that have been at war with each other for many thousands of years.  When they acquire knowledge of a weapon named “Ultimus” that seems likely to tip the balance, the trio travel to a communications center planet to retrieve it.

David Hagberg once again pens this entry in the series.  He’s known for his techno-thrillers featuring super-spy Kirk McGarvey and has also written numerous thrillers under the pseudonym Sean Flannery.  That writing style is on full display here, combining lots of technical detail with a plot that leads the main characters through one harrowing escape after another.  In fact, the middle two thirds of this novel is practically nothing but running and escaping various pitfalls as they fight their way through enemy androids. 

I was pleased to see Dale briefly leave her damsel-in-distress role for a moment when she assumed a warrior persona and bravely sliced two androids in two.  Unfortunately, she immediately resumed her former approach to life by bursting into tears and throwing herself into Flash’s arms.  Oh well.  This was published in 1980 but perhaps the author felt this was one area in which he could emulate the more traditional story from the 1930s. 

Once again, the book spends the final few paragraphs setting up the next volume.  It’s one long hi-tech adventure throughout the series so don’t expect much resolution to the plot elements in each book.  One can't help but wonder if our heroes are truly fighting for the right side or if that might be a revelation still to come. I'm enjoying these books so far though, in spite of minor annoyances.  It's not exactly a traditional take on the Flash Gordon mythos but as long as readers can live with that, it's a decent action-oriented space opera story.

The Nemesis From Terra by Leigh Brackett

Rick Urquhart is attempting to evade “The Company”, a rather ruthless mining conglomerate that wields much power on Mars. Tension has been building between rebellious Martians and humans who work for The Company. Rick encounters a Martian who prophesizes that Rick will ultimately rule the planet. Unfortunately, The Company catches Rick and sends him back to labor in the mines once again.  From there the story takes off in a series of adventures involving his escape, a Martian-rights activist/love interest, travel to the Martian North Pole to meet with the “Thinkers”, overcoming several power-hungry bad guys, capture by the Martians, and ultimately rising to become the Martian’s greatest hope for success.

That’s a lot of plot to cover in one not-so-big book.  It is typical of 1940’s Science Fiction however which tended to be long on plot and short on world or character building. I’ve long wanted to try Leigh Brackett, well known as a prolific author of science fiction short stories and novels from the pulp era as well as a screen writer (to include work on the script for “The Empire Strikes Back”).  Much of her work is of the “planetary adventure” or “planetary romance” variety and this one sort of falls into that category.  This is actually her first full length science fiction novel, first published under the title “Shadow Over Mars” in 1944 in the pulp magazine, “Startling Stories”.

I enjoyed reading this quite a bit even though it was a bit rough around the edges.  Apparently, the style of this one is reflective of her previous work on a crime-noir novel and is darker than most of her later work which reportedly morphed into a more fluid style.  Often referred to as the "Queen of Space Opera", she wrote in what was the consensus Mars world of science fiction from the 1930s to the 1950s, so world-building as we know it today was not as necessary.  Everybody knew that Mars was a marginally habitable desert world, populated by ancient, decadent and mostly humanoid races. I do prefer more substantial characterization though rather than just names attached to interesting alien species as we see in this novel.  

All-in-all, I’m glad I read this one, even if it isn’t a perfect representative sample of her work.  I do plan to read more of her stuff as there is certainly enough here to bring me back.

Flash Gordon: Massacre in the 22nd Century by David Hagberg

Having read all six of the Flash Gordon novels written by Ron Goulart under the “Alex Raymond” name it’s time to turn my attention to another 6-book set in the Flash Gordon universe.  David Hagberg is the author this time, a fairly prolific author under a variety of pseudonyms, but almost always producing action-oriented thrillers or military fiction.  Those influences are very evident here in this first book.

I’ve done quite a bit of immersion in Flash Gordon-related media over the past six months, from books, to films, to the original 1930’s serials, and a fair number of comics.  So it is with some confidence that I can say this really is not a traditional Flash Gordon story.  It takes place in the year 2376 AD.  Flash Gordon is a Colonel in Earth’s military, and a widower for the past eight years.  Dr. Zarkov is an old man in his 80s and Dale Arden is his niece.  Not exactly “canon” if such a thing exists for these characters. One could substitute different character names for all three main characters and still have the same story.  No planet Mongo.  No Ming the Merciless, or anything else familiar to traditional Flash Gordon stories.

But despite that, I found this to be an enjoyable read.  The author brings the plot and the story aspects up to date (1980s) using technological jargon that is much more sophisticated than the older versions.  It has a sort of Star Trek feel to it.  The humans on Earth have built a “Federation” of planets for example. The term “prime directive” is used when interacting with alien civilizations. There is even a giant spaceship in the shape of a cube, 3 kilometers long on each side.  No, it’s not the Borg.  This novel predates that concept by almost a decade.

The plot involves our three characters encountering a derelict spaceship (the aforementioned cube) that had been launched from Earth 200 years previously and not expected to return.  But when they board it, they discover all crew members aboard have been murdered while in cryogenic sleep.  All but one who is missing.  But it seems the ship is being controlled by somebody or something and indeed, they are sucked into an FTL journey to a distant planet where they crash land.  Eventually they find a huge futuristic city but that also appears to be devoid of any life.  

The book does end with some answers to their questions but it is clear that this set of books will all be connected.  An actual series instead of a group of stand-alone books like the Ron Goulart ones were.

Bottom line: while clearly a new approach to the Flash Gordon saga, this was still a fun read.  The characters are one-dimensional, but I expected that.  Dale did show some feistiness at first, but this proved to be short-lived unfortunately.  She still serves as somebody to get in trouble and have to be rescued.  Flash is still the brawn of the group and Dr. Zarkov the brains.  So…maybe it’s more like the originals than I thought.  I am looking forward to book two to see where this goes and that is always a good sign.

Voyagers: Twelve Journeys Through Space and Time by Robert Silverberg

Robert Silverberg is well known as a grand master of science fiction and while he has written in other genres, it is his science fiction tales that have made him a legend. With a career spanning more than 60 years, his longevity is matched only by his productivity. From 1956 to 1959, he routinely averaged five published stories a month, and he had over 80 stories published in 1958 alone. While his novels have garnered much acclaim, I believe it is his short stories and novellas (his favorite form) that have propelled him into the stratosphere. 

This collection of 12 stories provides excellent examples from his body of work, traversing most of his career.  The theme is, obviously “voyaging” or “traveling” in one form or another. Silverberg himself is an experienced world traveler, and many of these tales reflect ideas he first garnered on his own journeys. These stories reflect various concepts of “voyaging” such as travelling to the far corners of the universe, time travelling, or even travelling into the depths of one’s own soul. They have all appeared in published form before, often in magazines such as “Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine”, “Amazing Stories”, or in various anthologies. Each story includes a nice introduction by the author describing how and when it came to be.

Over the past few years, I have been straying further and further away from my youthful love of science fiction. Lured away by other interesting genres perhaps or maybe just choosing poor samples. Often, I seem to run into science fiction stories that sacrifice good storytelling (characterization, plotting, pacing, etc.) in favor of too much detail. Many times, it seems authors are more interested in trying to show how smart they are than in telling a good story. Happily, this collection is not like that. Here, Silverberg displays his range, showing different styles, different levels of “hard science”. There are a couple of ‘literary’ examples here as well as less serious yarns but always, always, there is a good, compelling story that kept me turning the pages. I am pleased to say that it has reignited that feeling I once had about science fiction and I plan to dive into the genre more readily in the future than I have for quite some time.

Highly recommended.

The Stochastic Man by Robert Silverberg

Every once in a while I like to read one of the Grand Masters of Science Fiction and this time it was Robert Silverberg’s turn.  He always provides a good ol’ fashioned science fiction yarn, and doesn’t forget to add the science. He’s always good at playing the what-if question and then constructing a story around it, often including some intriguing concepts to ponder along the way.

The story here is about a man named Lew Nichols who uses stochastic methods to accurately predict outcomes and probabilities.  He is so good at it that he is recruited by a team of people dedicated to electing the next mayor of New York, with the ultimate goal of getting their charismatic man all the way to the White House.  Lew soon learns of another man who is even better at predicting events though…a man who is 100% accurate because he can “see” the future.

Silverberg uses the concept of alternate realities and parallel universes in a pretty cool way in this novel.  His what-if scenario is, “what if our timeline brushed up against a parallel universe’s timeline so we could “see” what’s happening over there?  Only that other timeline is flowing in the reverse direction…”  So when we see into that other life we are seeing what is still to come in our own lives. A lot of questions arise in Lew’s mind, including the inevitable questions of time paradox and what happens when one witnesses their own death, but Silverberg handles them deftly.  Ultimately, he explores the idea of prediction leading to predestination vs. any sort of free will to change our own paths.  Intriguing concepts to be sure.

This novel was written and published in the early 1970’s and the plot takes place in the late 1990’s.  But just as Silverberg doesn’t forget about the science, he also doesn’t forget about the story and the characters, a problem that seems to routinely crop up in many science fiction novels I’ve read from that era.  Curiously, for a novel about accurate predictions of the future, his own view of what life would be like in the late 1990’s was way off.  It’s easy to look back from our vantage point now and smirk but much of what Silverberg postulated is similar from book to book and in common with other science fiction authors from that time.

This book was nominated for a number of awards including the Nebula, Campbell, Hugo, and Locus SF awards.  I enjoyed it and look forward to reading a few more Silverberg novels that I already have on my shelf.

Needle by Hal Clement

My brother was cleaning out his bookshelves in anticipation of his upcoming move, and so I "inherited" about 100 of his books.  A nice haul all the way around and among them, were about 30-35 science fiction books, many from the so-called classical era.  I haven't really read all that much of the older science fiction for many years now but have wanted to get back into it and thought this the perfect opportunity.

So this book was my first to read out of that whole collection from my brother.  I had read one other Hal Clement book, "Mission Of Gravity" but that was at least 25 years ago.  This one, I believe, was Mr, Clement's first published work, written in 1949.  Unfortunately it shows.  The book opened delightfully, with the nice hard science that the author is known for.  A protoplasmic alien creature has crash landed on earth while chasing another of the same species who has committed some sort of crime.  The "hunter" alien absorbs into a 15 year old boy and uses him to function and chase after the criminal alien.  Yeah I know it sounds a bit hokey but the first 1/3rd of the book was quite riveting to see how the biology of the alien species worked.  This was just the sort of hard science I was looking for.  Unfortunately, the actual "story" took off from there and turned into a detective story that seemed aimed at younger readers, reminiscent of Heinlein's juveniles only not nearly as good.

The book spawned a sequel several years later, which I may read, but I may have to get through those other 99 books from my brother first.

Collision Course by Robert Silverberg

I’ve been on a bit of a Robert Silverberg kick in recent months and have generally enjoyed them.  This novel is no exception.  First published in 1961, this novel takes place in the 26th century after planet Earth (Terra) has developed instantaneous transport via “transmats” making colonization of additional planets much easier.  Now, during Terra’s expansion into the galaxy, they’ve encountered an alien race which appears to be very closely matched to human evolution and level of technology and whom also happens to be in the midst of expanding into the galaxy.

This is essentially a first contact novel but also examines the nature of human-kind’s perceptions of their own place in the universe.  What appears to be a friendly alien race turns out to be rather bossy and ultimately a third, extremely powerful alien race intercedes and forces the two “child” races to negotiate an equal solution and avoid armed conflict.

Unlike many “classic-era” science fiction stories, Silverberg tends to write very approachable stories rather than utilizing obtuse and overly-scientific prose.  He does, however, convey an excellent competence in the nature of the science he uses, especially space travel and the reader comes away with a feeling that it is all entirely plausible. The overall novel was fun to read although the ending seemed a little bit like Silverberg wasn’t sure where to take it.  It does conclude, but the major characters are left fundamentally changed but with no comments on what that would mean for them.