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Reviews
part one of two
Australian Speculative Fiction: a genre overview
The Grinding House
Odalisque
Camelot's Shadow
Camelot's Honour
River of Gods
Australian Speculative Fiction: a genre overview : Donna Maree Hanson (ed.)
Aust Speculative Fiction, 2005
ISBN: 0-9757217-0-4
240 pages
RRP: AU$44.99
Review by Russell B. Farr
As stated in the introduction, "[Australian Speculative Fiction: a genre
overview] attempts to be comprehensive but is not exhaustive", yet this
and every reviewer knows that projects such as this will always be judged
as much on their omissions as their inclusions. So much so that I'd advise
anyone attempting a project of this type to have that disclaimer in big letters
on the back of the book, just to make it clear from the start.
In many ways this book builds on the work done by Paul Collins et al with
the MUP Encyclopaedia of Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy (1998),
and by allowing the writers to contribute to their own entries avoids one
of the major problems the Encyclopaedia had in the varying consistency in
its content. Australian Speculative Fiction does hold a similar focus
to the Encyclopaedia, however, in giving the highest profile to fiction writers
at the expense of editors, essayists, reviewers and publishers.
Going back to the title of this impressive tome, I'm unsure of where the "overview"
actually comes into play, unless overview means "a who's who of writers and
illustrators, followed by selective publication entries and a potted bibliography
of works post-2000". There certainly doesn't appear to be any serious academic
attempt to discuss the last five years of the genre in Australia, in fact
Van Ikin's introduction sums the book up well when he says:
"What you hold in your hands is three books in one: it's simultaneously a
coffee-table volume of alluring design, a treasury of writers' comments and
revelations, and a handy guide to further reading, helping you to identify
writers whose work you have yet to sample and directing you toward their most
recent or most readily available works."
Between the pages of this three-in-one are individual entries for 134 writers,
from Deborah Arbela to John Zanetti; eight artists (with a double page colour
spread for each); 34 pages of short fiction anthologies and periodicals; 26
"new authors" (included here is Martin Livings, whose first story appeared
in 1992); and an appendix listing stories published in selected publications
since 2000.
Australian Speculative Fiction: a genre overview is kind of like a
genre phone book, capturing one person's image of what is happening in the
genre today. The amount of work undertaken to compile this has been impressive,
Donna Hanson appears to have run the length and breadth of a rapidly expanding
genre in order to be as inclusive as she has been. There are writers in here
I never realised were Australian, and some I didn't realise were genre. It
excels in its listing of Children's/Young Adult writers, and offers some amazing
insights into the minds of these writers.
In an ever-changing genre, it is inevitable that some of the information is
effectively out of date between the time of gathering and the book's printing.
With this in mind, the book's true value is in the insights provided by the
writers: brief biological details, influences and opinions on the value of
Australianness in genre writing. This last point has been a bone of contention
for some years among writers and it is of great interest to see this surveyed
here. Hanson has managed to get many of the writers to talk about the research
– or lack thereof – that they undertake. And she does this all in a page each,
cramming in this information yet letting a little of each writer's personality
escape onto the page. This is quite an achievement.
A credit to this work is that it is easier to list the omissions than the
inclusions. Notable faces missing include: Jonathan Strahan, possibly because
he's not a writer, new author or short fiction publication, he's an editor;
Jeremy G. Byrne, ditto; Joy Dettman; Grant Stone, more of a librarian and
living legend than any of the categories listed; and Grant Watson. A notable
omission on the publications side is Shadowed Realms.
Overall, Australian Speculative Fiction: a genre overview is a very
attractive package, an exceptionally interesting read and serves as a snapshot
of the genre in Australia as it stands today, or possibly yesterday. It contains
enough valuable reference material that it should become a valued source for
anyone looking to gain an understanding or undertake research in Australian
SF. And it is through the continued support of projects like this one that
encourages further editions, where old omissions may be corrected and new
omissions may be made. After all, the genre in Australia is moving pretty
fast, and to paraphrase Ferris Bueller, this book gives you the chance to
stop and look around. So don't miss it.
Australian Speculative Fiction: a genre overview can be found at Australian
Speculative Fiction Project
The Grinding House : Kaaron Warren
CSFG, 2005
ISBN: 958139032
RRP: AU$19.95
Review by Lee Battersby
Chuck McKenzie is fond of joking that his 1999 novel Worlds Apart
is the winner of the “World's Worst Cover” competition. Kaaron Warren's new
collection provides a challenger. There's no polite way to say this: the cover
to this book is just damn ugly. The illustration is clumsy and scratchy, and
the lettering looks placed onto the page via the Word-Art toolbar of Microsoft
Word. It's not a problem for those of us who know Warren's work, and are aware
of the words that await us within. But placed on a bookshelf alongside the
professional covers of other presses, it stands as a warning to the casual
browser to move on and buy something else. The book looks like the work of
amateurs, and Warren is served a gross injustice as a result. Because what
lies inside is a collection of strong stories.
There are few women writers in Australia who produce a consistent level of
quality whilst still retaining an essence of femininity in their tales. Warren,
along with the likes of Kim Wilkins and Lucy Sussex, is one of them, and the
stories in The Grinding House display the rawness of her feminine perceptions
to high effect. Stories such as 'The Glass Woman' and 'The Sameness of Birthdays'
leak pain and loss of identity. 'The Missing Children' and 'The Left Behind'
are bleak with fear and the helplessness that haunts much of the strongest
emotional work from the women writers named above.
Many of the tales carry a sense of futility in varying shades of brutal. Warren's
heroines act against a shared acceptance of humility and weakness, whilst
her males are often the bearers of random power, and just as often lack the
judgement to use that power for anything but harm. Even when the roles are
reversed, such as in the denouement of 'The Left Behind', we are left with
an overwhelming feeling of the characters' grief. All decisions are fatal
in Warren's world, and the downward spiral of fatalism that imbues the stories
in The Grinding House makes for uncomfortable reading.
Which is, of course, as it should be. Warren chooses no easy options as a
writer, and understands that for a reader to come away truly rewarded, s/he
must work for resolution. The Grinding House is not an easy read, certainly
not something to flip through in the fifteen minutes before bedtime. There
is an attempt at a genre literature sensibility here, and that alone raises
the book as a work worthy of attention.
Some stories are stronger than others, and I felt that the book as a whole
weakened slightly towards the end, but overall, it stands as a strong compilation
from an underrated author. Had it a cover worthy of its contents, it would
find the wider audience it deserves. It behoves those of us who are aware
of what lies within to inform those who don't.
The Grinding House is available from Slowglass Books or CSFG.
Odalisque : Fiona McIntosh
HarperCollins Voyager, 2005
ISBN: 0-7322-8180-6
402 pages
RRP: AU$19.95
Review by Liz Grzyb
At first glance this novel looks like a scene out of the Arabian Nights,
and the plot isn't far off. Love, death, prophecy, evil and eunuchs abound.
Odalisque is a fantasy tale of good and evil set in Percheron, a magical
land inspired by the Constantinople and the Ottoman Empire. The sample of
Turkish Apple tea from teas.com.au that
was included with my review copy certainly helped to set the scene!
Odalisque begins as a tale of political intrigue at the beginning of
a new Zar's reign, then it is revealed that the gods are involved.
The prologue introduces Percheron's bustling slave market where a mysterious
foreign slave, Lazar, fights ferociously to win his freedom from Joreb, the
Zar.
The story proper begins at the time of old Zar Joreb's death, and the succession
of his son, fifteen-year-old Boaz. His mother Herezah, the Absolute Favourite
from his harem, is quickly established as the source of most of the intrigue
in this story. She schemes to further the political power of her son, and
so herself. She is an intriguing character, a dichotomous mixture of beauty
and grace, and ambition and cruelty.
Lazar, that enigmatic foreigner, has become the Spur: a power to be reckoned
with in Percheron. He is also lusted after by most of the women in town, especially
Herezah. Lazar, of course, is too noble to dally with the Favourite of his
Zar, no matter how attractive. In any case, when he conveys Ana, a new odalisque
(resident of a harem that is not a concubine) to join the harem being assembled
for Boaz, his heart becomes otherwise engaged.
Lazar's affection for Ana causes problems with the two power bases in the
harem, Herezah and Salmeo, the head eunuch. This adds to the antagonism between
Herezah and Tariq, the Grand Vizier, in their struggle for influence over
Boaz, thus supremacy in the palace.
Once the age-old cycle of rivalry between the gods Lyana and Maliz begins
to influence the inhabitants of Percheron, the struggles become more dangerous.
The webs of intrigue tangle even further as Maliz takes over a human body
and Lyana appoints the Messenger for her cause.
McIntosh confides in her acknowledgements that Lazar is largely based on the
character of Mr Darcy, played inthe BBC miniseries by Colin Firth. This is
to the detriment of the story, as Lazar comes across as stilted and unconvincing
at times. Ana, the odalisque that Lazar brought to join Boaz's harem, is a
character who we are supposed to sympathise with, and she is certainly put
through trials and tribulations, but unfortunately she is not developed strongly
enough to really feel for.
I really wanted to care about these main characters, but it is the antagonistic
inhabitants of Odalisque that really engage the reader. Salmeo is utterly,
utterly horrible. He makes the skin crawl with every evil utterance. The malevolent
god Maliz is equally repellent, but again, his absorption in his cause is
fascinating.
The novel begins slowly, with a few fits and starts, but by halfway through,
the action and tension increases between the characters enough for Odalisqueto
become a really engaging story. Towards the climax I was looking forward to
reading the next instalment in the Percheron series, and by the cliff-hanger
ending, I was impatient for it.
Odalisqueis available from Slowglass Books.
Camelot's Shadow : Sarah Zettel
HarperCollins, 2004
ISBN: 0007171080
448 pages
RRP: AU$29.95
Review by P Niski
I read and thoroughly enjoyed both of Sarah Zettel’s books, then started
browsing through them again to do the reviews. They hooked me in again, so
now I’ve had to rush the reviews!
In previous incarnations of Arthurian Legends, stories are told of Arthur,
his mostly honourable knights and two women. Guinevere is depicted as the
good woman whose weakness betrays her, while Morgaine is portrayed as the
epitome of evil. In Camelot's Shadow we are introduced to Rhian. Her
life is blighted by her father's excessive love for her mother. He has given
Rhian, body and soul, to the sorcerer Eubaracon as fee for saving his wife
Jocosa from fever. Now Rhian has grown, and the time has come for her to be
sent to the sorcerer. She flees, desperate to escape her fate and as a result
meets, and is aided by, Gawain, whose own life has been changed by sorcery.
His mother and sister died when Gawain was still a child. As such he could
not help them, but now he is a knight of Arthur's court and he tries to make
amends by pledging to be of service to all women.
As they struggle to survive, Gawain and Rhian find love for each other, and
hidden strength in themselves. It is not only men who can be strong, nor only
women who can be weak. This story celebrates the individual and the strengths
and weaknesses inherent in the person. It is also a love story with adventure
on every page.
This is a tale that moves the reader to laughter, tears and amazement. It
is well-written with just the right amount of pacing, not so slow as to be
bogged down, nor so fast that details are missed.
A thoroughly enjoyable read.
Camelot's Shadow is available from Slowglass Books.
Camelot's Honour : Sarah Zettel
HarperCollins, 2005
ISBN: 0007158696
448 pages
RRP: AU$29.95
Review by P Niski
If the world of Faerie calls you, if sorcerers good and bad appeal, if magic,
romance and adventure are your thing, you must read Sarah Zettel.
Elen is just learning of the powers she will command, powers shared by her
kinsman, Merlin.
Geraint, nephew of Aurhur of Camelot and young brother of Gawain, seeks to
help her fight Urien, evil neighbour and lover/pawn of Morgaine. They must
overcome Urien and Morgaine's plans and the wiles of the sorcerer known as
the Little King.
The love and faith of Elen and Geraint will be tested severely. Will they
be found wanting, or will they triumph over the evil that has befallen them?
Will the help of Merlin and the Faerie be enough, or will Morgaine and her
foul allies win the fight for their lives and very souls?
The adventures they share will have the reader loath to put the book down,
in case something happens while they are not looking.
This book is a must-read for fans of Fantasy and Adventure/Romance. It has
something for everyone.
Camelot's Honour is available from Slowglass Books.
River of Gods : Ian McDonald
Simon & Schuster, 2005
ISBN: 0-743-40400-9
592 pages
RRP: AU$21.95
Review by Lev Lafayette
With a couple of writing credits to his name (Desolation Road, Ares Express),
Ian McDonald is carving out a reputation as a solid science fiction writer.
River of Gods is perhaps his most ambitious work, set in India in 2047,
the year of its 100th birthday as a nation. True to nearly all science fiction
set in the near future post 1984, this is firmly placed in the cyberpunk subgenre
with the requisite components of massively integrated telecommunications,
electronic warfare, artificial intelligences, modified humans, political fragmentation,
globalisation and robotic warfare.
Not only does McDonald pick the right motif elements, he also does an excellent
job in terms of style. The first several chapters simply thunder along in
their pace and bludgeon the reader with a sequence of disconnected dramatic
events. I was seriously wondering how the book was going to bring the disparate
narratives together if such a pace was maintained. However by part II the
narrative settles down to a more conventional expression with the single brilliant
exception of chapter 39 when describes an eight minute battle for a city.
In a sense, it was a shame that the novel returned to conventional mores in
this regard - it would be a work of extraordinary genius to keep up the pace
and punishment that the first chapters dish out.
The India of 2047 is a fascinating setting; a balkanized land fighting over
scare water resources (shades of Henry George!), where warfare is conducted
by remote control robots. Through the combination Hindu (religious) and Hindi
(cultural) expressions, with a fair dash of "Western" influence and Islam
lurking on the sidelines, you have quite an potent mix, sufficiently exotic
for the average Anglophone reader and not so sufficiently alien to leave the
reader requiring a quick course in anthropology. Of course, getting this pitch
right is a difficult thing and unlike others I actually found River of
Gods not sufficiently immersive in this context. By the end of the book
we are none the wiser of how many states India has fragmented into, what the
overall geopolitical situation is, what the status is of Sikhs, Buddhists
and Jainists (just to mention some of India's other major religions) and so
forth.
Despite this the narrative does hold together. Essentially the disparate characters
are brought together in the context of a regional war over water resources.
AI (aeai) technology is advanced, but limited by legislation and Krishna cops:
hunters of rogue aeais who are too smart to be allowed to exist (ahh, humans,
you are such a wonderful species). Indeed, it really is the characters who
unintentionally drive the narrative as each of their individual and strange
pieces fall into place as the last remaining illegal aeais try to make a bid
for freedom by mucking around with the space-time continuum as the megacorporation
Ray Power attempts to introduce free zero-point energy.
There is a large number of major characters in this story and all of them
are quite significant. Not all of them are particularly nice either: Shiv
is introduced as an organ legger; Tal — surgically asexual — is
the designer for a fairly annoying soap opera; Mr. Nandha fancies himself
a renaissance humanist but makes his money from killing; and so forth. Typical
readers will find themselves drawn to the two most Western characters, the
isolationist Thomas Lull and his former student Lisa Durnau, although the
hedonistic Vishram who finds himself in charge of the research of development
section of Ray Power is sufficiently incongruous to be entertaining. Some
of the more minor characters have extremely well executed albeit simple personalities;
the romance between Pavrati and her gardener Krishnan over cricket is charmingly
silly and Mr. Nandha's interfering mother-in-law is more than sufficiently
annoying.
This said, the characters are not particularly well fleshed-out and nor do
the seem to undergo significant character development as the story unfolds.
It is not unfair to suggest that Ian McDonald has provided an excellent portrayal
of diverse but relatively simple characters and has made up for their lack
of deep personality with quantity. Readers may find the number difficult to
follow at first, but fortunately the chapter titles refer to the individuals
in question. Indeed, it may just be possible to re-read the book according
to each character's perspective of events.
River of Gods has received high praise from reputable reviewers in
The Guardian, Locus, Starburst, SFX, Boing Boing, and none other than Ian
Banks. The words are quite deserved. It does deserve praise, albeit with the
caveats noted. It is not a great book, but it certainly is a very good book
and Ian McDonald really can write a damn fine story with excellent execution.
If nothing else, he has shown that the 'young Turk' of science fiction, cyberpunk,
is far from tired or old and is still about predicting with flair and acumen
what we could quite possibly be facing tomorrow.
River of Gods is available from Slowglass Books or Simon
& Schuster.
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