| Peter Heck: On Books |
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THE AMBER SPYGLASS
by Philip Pullman
Knopf, $19.95 (hc)
ISBN: 0-679-87926-9
Pullman’s trilogy, "His Dark Materials," comes to a conclusion
in this book, which proves again that a YA market niche does not
preclude–in fact, may even encourage–more thoughtful examination
of the Big Questions than most adult SF gets around to.
The previous books (The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife) introduced a world parallel to our own, in which every human
is paired with a daemon, an externalization of the soul in the form of an animal companion.
The two protagonists are Lyra and Will, misfit children of roughly
the same preadolescent age from two different parallel versions
of present-day England, who are thrown together after their lives
are disrupted by forces beyond their control. In the process,
each has come into possession of, and learned to use, the magical
devices for which the first two books are named. (One could argue
whether the devices are magical or para-scientific, since the
author drops hints of an explanation in terms of advanced physics.)
Much against their will, the two young protagonists have come
to the attention of the all-powerful Church that rules Lyra’s
world. The Church leaders believe that Lyra is destined to recapitulate
the story of Eve, bringing about a new Fall in a new Eden. The
Church throws all its forces into an effort to prevent this, including
sending a priest, who has stored up penance so as to gain complete
absolution in advance, to murder a scientist who has helped Lyra
(and who discovers the magical instrument to which the title of
this volume refers), and who has entered a parallel world where
she finds a race of creatures who have turned themselves into
organic motorcycles. In the process, she has discovered a world-shattering
crisis without apparent solution.
But Lyra and Will have plans of their own, that include an escape
through the most fearsome of all the worlds the subtle knife allows
them to enter. This is the realm of the dead, which they can only
get to by leaving behind their daemons–a sacrifice so terrible
it almost stops them from following through with their plans.
But Lyra’s plan requires the journey, and Pullman turns it into
a striking vision of a world after death that differs from the
promises of all the major western religions and yet remains fully
believable. In the end they emerge to join the final battle, where
the forces of good are successful–but at a cost.
Pullman has remarked that his purpose in writing the book was
in part to underline the obsolescence of the metaphor of a "kingdom
of heaven," and he drives home this point with a vengeance in
some of the final scenes. While some readers (especially those
who buy the book for young readers without finding out what’s
between the covers) will undoubtedly be shocked by his frank repudiation
of religion, others will be glad to see a solid counterweight
to the overt proselytizing of Narnia and similar children’s classics.
Pullman’s worlds are vividly imagined, peopled by characters who
embody the whole range of humanity, and packed with incidents
that sear themselves into the reader’s memory. "His Dark Materials"
is one of the most striking imaginative edifices of the modern
era; I cannot recommend it highly enough. |
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THE COLLECTED STORIES
by Arthur C. Clarke
Tor, $29.95 (hc)
ISBN: 0-312-87821-4
This one ought to be a no-brainer; all of Clarke’s short fiction
to date, in a single volume. That almost automatically makes this
book one of the cornerstones of any serious SF library. The "almost"
is in recognition of the fact that serious SF libraries are likely
already to have the bulk of these stories in previous collections
of Clarke’s work, and that Sir Arthur’s output of short fiction
has fallen off significantly in the last couple of decades. But
it’s good to have them all together, in chronological order, with
a few words from the author to put them in perspective.
There are obviously any number of valid ways to read this kind
of collection, although very few readers are likely to start at
page one and go all the way to the finish. This is a book that
rewards the browser. I found myself skipping the stories I’m most
familiar with to look at things I hadn’t read before–the very
early pieces and some of the most recent ones, in particular.
This very selective reading (the volume offers 966 pages of story)
led to some unsurprising conclusions. Clarke’s technical story-telling
ability improved considerably over the first decade or so of his
career, but has stayed pretty much on a level (a very high level)
since the early fifties. And even the earliest stories here show
a thematic relation to his mature work, and a fondness for certain
tropes. One in particular–setting the reader up to draw the "obvious"
conclusion from the historical or cultural context of a story,
then surprising him with the opposite–is in fact central to some
of Clarke’s best known stories: e.g. "History Lesson," "The Nine
Billion Names of God," and many of the Tales from the White Hart. It also gives him an easy method for turning out half-serious
squibs such as "Quarantine," which appeared in Asimov’s in 1977.
While Clarke no longer seems much interested in the short story,
some of the best work in the book is from the last hundred pages.
This is perhaps as it ought to be; a writer likes to think he’s
learned something over the years. "A Meeting with Medusa," from
1971, shows all the earmarks of his best work, including a quiet
mastery of nuts-and-bolts science and technology that effectively
grounds the story’s glimpse of the strange in recognizable reality.
"The Hammer of God," later expanded to novel length, has similar
strengths; had it been published in 1950-something instead of
1992, it would be considered a classic.
The title of this volume is probably a sign that Clarke doesn’t
foresee much likelihood of a return to the field. Still, the final
piece, "Improving the Neighborhood," commissioned as the first
piece of fiction to be published in Nature, suggests that the opportunity to score a historic first might
draw him out. Meanwhile, here’s a perfect chance to remind ourselves
once more just how good Clarke can be, and how much he has given
to our field. |
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JUPITER
by Ben Bova
Tor, $ 24.95 (hc)
ISBN: 0-312-87217-8
Bova takes us to a moderately near future, with a story set primarily
on a scientific satellite in orbit around Jupiter. This kind of
work is Bova’s forte: solid extrapolation from current science
supporting a straightforward plot.
The protagonist is Grant Archer, a young astrophysicist from a
society where a fundamentalist religious movement styling itself
New Morality has taken power. In exchange for a full scholarship
at Harvard, Archer has signed up to perform his four years of
Public Service (an obligation imposed on all citizens who finish
high school) directly after college, at a site of the government’s
choosing. To his horror, he’s ordered to Thomas Gold Station,
several million miles away from Earth–and from his new fiancée.
Worst of all, the two years’ round trip transit time doesn’t count
toward his obligation.
Archer’s situation is complicated when, before his departure,
the New Morality attempts to recruit him as an agent to report
any suspicious activity on Gold Station–in particular, any attempt
to find life in the Jovian atmosphere. And, in fact, almost as
soon as he arrives, he becomes aware that secrets are being kept
from him by the other scientific staff. In due course he learns
that not only are the scientists working on a plan to discover
life on Jupiter, they have already launched one partly successful
expedition into the atmosphere–and that another is in the works.
Eventually Archer is drafted to join the second expedition, and
in due course they build upon the discoveries of the first. Meanwhile,
in alternate chapters, we follow one of the Jovian creatures,
an intelligent entity carrying on a lifestyle not unlike that
of whales in our oceans. Bova generates tension by sending the
Jovian on a dangerous solitary journey around the Great Red Spot,
intermittently harassed by pack-hunting predators who come across
much like orcas.
Everything falls together in the end, of course, with Archer contributing
significantly to the denouement, and the New Morality taken down
a peg. Probably the best thing in the book is Bova’s convincing
portrayal of a Big Science project in action, with the internal
politics and social structure of Gold Station generating much
of the interest of the story. To this reviewer, at least, it’s
more interesting than his somewhat routine Jovians–but perhaps
if Bova takes this story to a second volume, the Jovians will
be fleshed out more. That would be welcome; this one has more
potential for sequels than most.
Recommended for readers who enjoy real science fiction, set on
distant worlds, and based on plausible extrapolations from known
science. |
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THE GRAVEYARD GAME
by Kage Baker
Harcourt, $24.00 (hc)
ISBN: 0-15-100449-8
This fourth book in Baker’s history of Dr. Zeus, Inc. follows
a group of immortals from the early twentieth century up to a
future in which they have to decide whether or not to challenge
the Company that has provided them with a reason for living.
The novel picks up when Lewis, one of the immortals, sees a person
who can’t possibly be there: the Bot-anist Mendoza, a central
figure in the previous three books of the series. Mendoza has
made a catastrophic error, and the Company has sentenced her to
exile in the deep past. So what is she doing, dressed in nineteenth
century clothing and leading a pair of horses, at one of the Company’s
sites in 1996? Much of the rest of the novel revolves around his
attempts to solve the mystery–and to learn what really becomes
of immortals who outlive their usefulness to the Company.
All this involves a fair amount of hugger-mugger to prevent the
Company from finding out what they’re doing. Baker handles this
chore with a fair amount of wit and inventiveness, as she moves
her characters through a number of entertaining settings, both
geographical and temporal. She’s obviously having a good bit of
fun here; typical is the recurring bit where immortals indulge
in junk-food pigouts–especially on chocolate. The changing mores
of the long stretch of time over which the story takes place gives
her ample opportunity for sly comment on various manifestations
of political correctness in current and future societies.
The wide canvas lets her play with a wide range of adventure story
tropes, as well. There’s a visit to a pre-historic battlefield,
where evidence of a lost race of giants turns up; a glimpse of
a vast conspiracy to rule the course of civilization, disguised
as a Victorian scientific society; a final chase set in a striking
landscape worthy of a James Bond movie; and lots of fiddling around
with the paradoxical possibilities inherent in time travel. Baker
has a nice ear for dialogue, as well, and can do a nice pastiche
of Victorian letter-writing style when the occasion arises.
If you’re in the mood for a witty, stylish SF thriller, this one
might be right up your alley. Look up the earlier installments
in the series and read them all. But a word of warning–Baker’s
stuff has the potential to become a very pleasant addiction. |
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REDEMOLISHED
by Alfred Bester
ibooks, $14.95 (tp)
ISBN: 0-7434-0725-3
This volume brings together a large chunk of Bester’s lesser-known
fiction, as well as providing a very healthy sample of the non-fiction
writing by which he earned his living in the long stretch during
which he was inactive in SF.
Bester is one of those who helped drive SF through its transition
from pulp entertainment to something that, at its best, can reasonably
be called literature. His two novels of the fifties, The Demolished Man and The Stars My Destination, are touch-stones of excellence in the genre, combining breakneck
pacing with use of avant-garde techniques few other SF writers
had previously attempted. His short fiction was nervous, cynical,
pyrotechnical and often impossible to forget–although not always
easy to like. But like him or hate him, he left an indelible stamp
on the field, and was a major influence on such later writers
as Samuel R. Delany and the cyberpunks.
Several of the stories here, notably the 1942 Unknown fantasy "Hell is Forever," show him already pushing the envelope
at the height of the Golden Age. The latest stories here show
him still a master of calculated outrage–as in "The Four-Hour
Fugue," a 1974 Analog story that doesn’t fit anybody’s idea of formula fiction. It
is a disgrace to the SF publishing business that most of Bester’s
fiction has been chronically out of print since the early 1960s,
when he realized there was a better living to be made as a senior
editor at Holiday magazine.
On the other hand, as several of the nonfiction pieces here indicate,
Bester was growing increasingly unhappy with the science fiction
ghetto as it existed in the years just before the emergence of
the New Wave in the mid-sixties. One essay, originally published
in the book review column of Galaxy in 1961, denounces the entire field as devoid of original thought
or worthwhile content. Always a risk-taker, Bester poured out
his wrath on the producers of workmanlike stories that conceal
some trivial scientific fact from the reader until they spring
it as a surprise on the final page. Another essay from the following
month pays homage to those authors who rose above the prevailing
mode: Heinlein, Sturgeon, Sheckley, Blish, Asimov–although in
each case Bester shows awareness of their limitations as well
as of their strengths.
Also included among the non-fiction are several interviews with
several people of interest to SF readers: Heinlein, Asimov, Rex
Stout, and Woody Allen. Bester was a good interviewer, with just
the right touch of irreverence for his subjects to bring out the
unexpected side of their personalities.
The final section of the book offers several perspectives on The Demolished Man, including the original prologue that ran with the novel’s magazine
serialization but was dropped by the book publisher to reduce
its length. This is a snapshot of the history leading up to the
era in which the book is set, much in the same manner as the prologue
to The Stars My Destination, which was not cut in the book version. Also included is a brief
article by Bester on the composition of The Demolished Man, which gives some insight into his approach to a story.
This is probably not the place for a reader unfamiliar with Bester
to begin; that would be (for my money) either The Stars My Destination or a selection of his short stories including such classics as
"Fondly Fahrenheit" and "The Men Who Murdered Mohammed." But for
those who know the major works and want as much Bester as they
can get, this is just the thing. |
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THE APE AND THE SUSHI
MASTER: Cultural
Reflections of a Primatologist
by Frans de Waal
Basic Books, $26.00 (hc)
ISBN: 0-465-04175-2
One of the leading experts on primate behavior, de Waal puts forth
the proposition that culture, far from being the exclusive property
of the human species, can be observed in the behavior of species
far removed from our exalted perch on the evolutionary family
tree.
By "culture," of course, de Waal means a good bit more than attendance
at the opera and an interest in painting–although there have been
a number of apes who’ve managed to produce canvases at least as
interesting as those of some of their human contemporaries. The
best simple definition of culture is those traits transmitted
from one generation to the next by example, rather than genetic
programming–although one could argue that the predisposition to
culture is programmed in our genes.
Many of the insights in this volume were arrived at after Western
scientists adopted the technique of identifying and watching individual
animals, a method pioneered by the Japanese. De Waal cites two
reasons for the delay in adopting this perfectly obvious technique:
the European tradition of placing a firm barrier between humanity
and the "lower" animals; and the rise of the behaviorist school
of psychology, which devalued not only differences between individual
animals but distinctions between species. "Rat, pigeon, monkey.
. . . It doesn’t matter," said B.F. Skinner, the leading behaviorist.
De Waal begs to differ.
A simple and instructive counterexample is a band of macaques
on the Japanese island of Koshima, who have learned to wash sweet
potatoes in the ocean to give them a salty taste. These monkeys,
under observation by Japanese scientists for several decades,
picked up the trick from a single female of the band, who taught
it to her close relatives, who spread it to the rest of the group.
No monkeys anywhere else in the world have learned this trick;
but it is nearly universal among the macaques of Koshima.
Innovation is not confined to primates, either. Among songbirds,
there is often one leading singer in a neighborhood, whose songs
attract the most response from the opposite sex, and are gradually
imitated by other birds in the neighborhood. These birds are not
averse to picking up melodies of human origin, although they often
have their own ideas of how they should go: Mozart had a pet starling
one of whose songs he noted down; the melody is very similar to
one of the composer’s own pieces, and it is unknown whether Mozart
plagiarized the bird or vice versa. Another starling, owned by
a researcher, liked to sing the first line of "Swanee River,"
but always ended the tune before the last three syllables–a musically
logical melody, but fingernails on a blackboard to humans who
know Stephen Foster’s song.
All this is neat stuff for someone looking for an outside perspective
on what it means to be human, and on what nonhuman intelligence
might be like. As a bonus, de Waal is a compelling writer, with
a pleasant sense of humor and an eye for the telling anecdote.
This looks like one of the most valuable popular science books
of the year. |
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