Oh well. It doesn’t much resemble the shortlist I predicted in this post – I guessed The Quiet War
The Quiet War
Anathem
Song of Time, Ian R MacLeod
House of Suns
The Margarets
Martin Martin’s on the Other Side
It’s not a list that makes me want to dash out and read the books. I’ve already read – and enjoyed – House of Suns
I’m not going to try and predict the winner. I think most expect Anathem
… containing my review of Bruce Sterling’s excellent The Caryatids and my interview with the man himself. For the record, the story opens on Mljet, which is not Cyprus. As claimed by several other reviews of the book. See here – Mljet is a small island off the coast of Croatia. It is not Cyprus.
Interzone 221 also contains some excellent fiction by Will McIntosh, Al Robertson, Matthew Kressel, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Paul M Berger, and… Bruce Sterling. Plus book, film and DVD reviews.
I wanted to avoid reviewing books by friends on this blog because, well, it might cost me too much in beers if I ever ran into them at a con… Then I thought, what the hell. It’s not like my friends are crap writers. So I have implemented a policy change. And the first book to benefit from this is:
Seeds of Earth
This is the first novel of a space opera trilogy called Humanity’s Fire. I’d read in several reviews that the book was slow to start but picked up about halfway through. I’d interpreted this to mean there was a steep learning curve. It’s not uncommon in space opera. The author has to lay out their universe and it’s usually a big universe.
But those reviews were quite correct. Cobley’s universe is perhaps not that large – although he’s certainly thrown everything he can think of into it. Seeds of Earth
Having said that, I suspect Cobley has slightly over-egged his universe. While there are definitely some interesting ideas in there – a hyperspace consisting of strata of dead universes, for example – I personally prefer stories which aren’t so inclusive and which are a little more adventurous with sf tropes.
Which is not to say Seeds of Earth
So go read it.
I’m looking forward to the sequel.
I’ve been feeling a bit uninspired blog-wise recently, but since I’ve just done another “double whammy” on the music front I’ll post about it…
A double whammy is two gigs on two consecutive nights. This time it was French metal band Gojira on the 13th March, followed by prog rock band Magenta on 14th March. Both were excellent.
Here’s some Gojira for you.
And here’s a bit of Magenta.
Recently, I’ve been working on a near-future sf short story. For this story, I needed the name and location of a small town in central Asia. The plot required that the inhabitants of this town belong to a sufficiently small ethnic group for their origin to be identified by their genes. And the town had to be remote enough for no one to notice if its population disappeared pretty much overnight.
I was explaining my dilemma to a friend, and he said, “Why don’t you just make one up?”
Fifteen years ago, I’d have had no choice. The town would have to be invented. And if my invented details were a little implausible, it’s extremely unlikely anyone would ever notice.
Now, I can use the Web. I can go hunting in Wikipedia, or on Google Maps. Not to mention using online translation tools to read web sites in other languages. I can find a real town to use in my story. And, if I’m lucky, I might even be able to find photographs taken in that town. So when the protagonist of my story visits it, I’ll be able to describe the town as it actually is.
I explained this to my friend, and he said, “You could still make one up.”
Well, yes. I could. But that’s not the point. Science fiction is not about making it up as you go along. If I invent an alien planet, that planet is still subject to the laws of physics – so no breathable atmospheres at 1013.25 millibars on a planet with the same density as Earth but half the diameter. If I set a story on a moon of Saturn (as I have done), then I want it to be as close as possible to the real life moon of Saturn. I have in the past searched the NASA web site for artists’ impressions of Saturn’s moons – just to learn the angle at which Saturn’s rings will appear to a person stood on the surface of a particular moon.
And yet probably no one would ever notice if I got it wrong. The same is true for that central Asian town. Who actually cares if it’s real or not?
I do.
It’s important to me that the details of a story are right at every level. Even if it’s fantasy. Or space opera. And I now have a powerful tool on my desk which allows me to get the details right: the Web.
So if you’ll excuse me, I have some research to do…
Ringworld
Star King
Star Kings are actually humanoid amphibians, but appear entirely human. They are also intensely competitive and driven to excel. The fact that Malagate is a member of this race does help Gersen eventually identify him…
Gersen has been brought to be an instrument of revenge by his grandfather. He has all the necessary skills, and is especially effective at unarmed combat. His grandfather dies and leaves him with a single name, a pirate captain he recognised who was present when the town was enslaved. In a flashback, Gersen visits the pirate, tortures him until he gives up the names of the five criminals – the demon princes of the series’ title – and then kills him.
While meditating on this information at Smade’s Tavern on Smade’s World, Gersen meets Lugo Teehalt, a locator who has discovered an Edenic world ripe for settlement. However, Teehalt has learnt that his sponsor is Malagate, and he doesn’t want to hand over the location of the world to the criminal. Teehalt is then murdered by three other guests of the tavern – who admit they work for Malagate. They take Gersen’s ship, assuming it is Teehalt’s.
Gersen finds Teehalt’s ship, and there are enough clues in it to indicate that Malagate is one of three administrators at Sea Province University on the world of Alphanor… But which one?
I read Star King
Vance has fleshed this out by having Gersen questioning everything he learns and everything he does. It makes the story somewhat… conditional. It’s bad enough that the plot starts with a coincidence, but the continual second-guessing only makes it seem as if Gersen is being driven by the plot rather than vice versa. Even the resolution relies on events Gersen could not have foreseen or planned for. He has his plan, yes; but the final clues which reveal which of the three administrators is Malagate are not part of it.
Still, this is a novel by Jack Vance. And you read his books as much for his voice as for the story. In that respect, Star King
I’m tempted to read the other four books of the Demon Princes series, but… the to-be-read pile is big enough already. Another day perhaps.
To date, Gwyneth Jones has appeared on the Arthur C Clarke Award short list six times, and won it once – for Bold As Love
Simply, put, Life is one of the best things Jones has written. You can stop reading right now and go out and buy the book. Otherwise, you’ll have to endure yet another one of these diatribes about how science fiction doesn’t get any respect from the literary mainstream. Because you can’t read this book and not reflect on the fact that had this been written by, say, Margaret Atwood, Life would be receiving more of the widespread attention it deserves.
In other words, Gwyneth Jones is probably one of the best British science fiction writers currently being published. So a new novel by her is certain to be one worth reading. Spirit; or the Princess of Bois Dormant
The plot of Spirit
The shape of Dumas’ story is well-known: Dantès is falsely accused of treason, sentenced to life imprisonment in the Chateau d’If, befriended by a fellow prisoner who teaches him all manner of useful skills and knowledge, escapes, sets himself up in society using treasure whose location was given to him by his friend in prison… and subsequently has his revenge on those who conspired to send him to prison in the first place.
And Spirit
Of course, Spirit
In the Aleutian trilogy, aliens arrived on Earth and precipitated a crisis. This led to the Gender Wars and, eventually, a World Republic. In Spirit
And there is plenty of cake to eat in Spirit
Admittedly, those themes strongly season the book, making Spirit
Also present are small nuggets of Jones’ earlier works: Escape Plans
All this is mixed in with The Count of Monte Cristo
It makes for a rich and complex story; a story which, no matter how well stirred, can sometimes overwhelm the palate. As each new flavour or tang rises to the surface, so the focus of the story shifts. Bibi is not always there. At one point, for example, the story breaks away from her, simply so we can experience her ex-boyfriend laying another brick in the conspiracy which will condemn her. And in the final section of the book, the Princess of Bois Dormant has taken Bibi’s place entirely.
It is in fact that last section where Spirit
Not everything in Spirit
Spirit
Incidentally, 2009 should prove a good year for Jones. Spirit
(Ah well. The cake-thing seemed like a good idea at the time. But never mind…)
When I started this blog back in November 2006, it was never intended to be a review blog. I still don’t plan for it to become one. I already review books for Interzone, and I’ve no desire to write a review of every book I read.
But. I have posted book reviews here. There are my annual reading challenges, of course. Others are of books I really like, or books I think are important. One or two have been reviews I wrote years ago, and I’ve posted them here because I thought people might like to read them. I might dig out some more of them.
And I’ll continue to do that. I’m currently working on a post on Gwyneth Jones’ latest novel, Spirit; or the Princess of Bois Dormant
Christopher Evans’ Omega will likely be worth a post, as will Lewis Shiner’s Black & White. Then there’s Lawrence Durrell’s second novel, Panic Spring, originally published under the name Charles Norden. And, from the sublime to the, er, slightly ridiculous, there’s Child of Earth by EC Tubb, the recently published 33rd and perhaps final book in the long-running Dumarest Saga
I’d also like to write about the Beacon Books I’ve managed to collect – but I read during my commute to work and, given their cover art, I’d be too embarrassed to read them on the tram. But we’ll see.
And, of course, whatever other books I read which inspire to me write something about them.
As a reminder, here are the books I’ve written about on this blog to date, in alphabetical order by author. It doesn’t include my annual reading challenge posts. Click on the title to go to the review.
When mismanagement by the chief executive officer of a public limited company results in that company losing billions of Pounds Sterling, how about not rewarding him* for his years of service?
Fire him. Don’t give him his benefits. And since he’s quite clearly incompetent, don’t give him a consultancy clause. Other companies should steer clear of him too, unless they want their company to make a massive loss.
I’m boggled that we might need to make laws to ensure this. Surely it’s common sense? Oh wait. Early in his career, a public auditor suggested Robert Maxwell should never be put in charge of a public limited company again. No one listened. And look what happened. So maybe we do need laws then.
Welcome to the 21st Century, where we need laws to protect us from terrorists… and the rich.
(* or her, of course)
There has been some discussion of late in the blogosphere about film adaptations of science fiction novels. Everyone has a favourite they’d like to see on the silver screen, but it’s a process that usually results in failures. After all, how many good, faithful film adaptations of sf novels are there?
David Lynch’s version of Frank Herbert’s Dune was a bit of a mess. Stanisław Lem wasn’t happy with Andrei Tarkovsky’s adaptation of his Solaris. Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner doesn’t actually bear much resemblance to Philip K Dick’s Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?. There are notable differences between François Truffaut’s Fahrenheit 451 and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 – not that Truffaut’s film was all that successful. And Paul Verhoeven deservedly took the piss out of Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, although that didn’t go down too well with many sf fans (myself not included).
And those are films I happen to think are very good.
The quality of the original novel is almost immaterial to the quality of the film adaptation. Yes, a good novel can make a good film, such as A Clockwork Orange. But even a dull novel can make a good film, like The Children of Men.
If there’s one common factor to successful adaptations, it’s that they take great liberties with their source texts. Faithfulness simply doesn’t work. Which makes you wonder why anyone would want to see their favourite sf novel on the silver screen. Because the end result won’t bear much resemblance to the book. I like David Cronenberg’s films of JG Ballard’s Crash and William S Burroughs’ Naked Lunch – both “unfilmable” novels – but they’re more like addenda to the novels than adaptations of them.
So when people put forward sf novels they think will make good films – as io9 has done here – it’s axiomatic that most choices won’t make the transition unchanged. Or appear in any form much resembling the source text. It’s not just the size of the story; a 600-page novel can’t be squeezed into 120 minutes. It’s also the structure. Films have three acts – it’s the ruling story paradigm in Hollywood. A novel’s story has to be twisted and bent to fit this. A movie also demands a romantic subplot. And clear character arcs – very clear character arcs, because there’s not going to be much room for deep characterisation. The story also has to have strong narrative impetus, because it needs to keep bums on seats.
With these factors in mind, here is my list, in no particular order, of five science fiction novels which I think will make entertaining films.
Ringworld, Larry Niven
The setting itself is impressive enough. The sheer scale of the ringworld will keep people watching. But there’s also a very simple story buried in the novel, and it lends itself well to adaptation: Louis Wu and his comrades crash on the ringworld, and then they manage to escape. This can easily be slimmed down to 120 minutes. Throw in the romantic subplot between Louis and Teela Brown, and you have perfect adaptation material.
The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
This novel is essentially The Count of Monte Cristo in space, and they’ve made plenty of film adaptations of Dumas’ book. It has everything you need for a good movie – an arresting opening sequence (Gully Foyle left to die on a wrecked spaceship), Gully Foyle’s character arc, arresting visuals (the burning man), and romance (Foyle and Olivia Presteign).
The Undercover Aliens, AE van Vogt
This is one of my favourite novels, and one of the reasons I like it so much is because it has such great cinematic potential. It’s certainly not one of van Vogt’s best novels. It’s an appealing mix of California noir and pulp sf, although the plot is just plain silly. A small town lawyer, Allison Stephens, stumbles across a conspiracy run by a group of people centred around the big house owned by the family which founded the town. These people turn out to be immortals – a gift from a robot ship which has beeen buried beneath the house for millennia. Stephens’ first introduction to the group is via the beautiful Mistra Lanett – so there’s your romantic subplot. Throw in a penthouse apartment which turns into a spaceship and the mystery surrounding the identity of the late family patriarch’s nephew, and you have perfect film fodder…
The Santaroga Barrier, Frank Herbert
Like The Undercover Aliens, this is another sf novel set in a small town in which all is not as it appears. In this case, a psychologist is sent to Santaroga to find out why its inhabitants appear to be immune to marketing and advertising. There’s the conspiracy running the town to unravel, several attempts are made to kill the hero, and he runs across an old flame and rekindles their romance. No great visuals, perhaps, but then there weren’t any in Invasion Of The Body Snatchers.
Equator, Brian Aldiss
This is essentially a spy story tricked out as science fiction. It opens with a secret raid on an alien base on the Moon, but ends in the jungles of Malaysia. The opening alone should keep the audience glued to their seats. But when the raid goes wrong, and the hero has to figure out what happened… There is, of course, a romantic subplot. The aliens are humanoid, but different enough to stand out; and the final scene takes place at an enormous automated pumping station. It’s also a short novel, so there’s no need to leave great swathes of the story on the cutting-room floor.
Looking at the books I’ve chosen probably says quite a bit about the sort of films I like. None of the above require huge amounts of special effects. But then films dominated by special effects often suffer in other areas. Like story. And acting. And direction.
Yes, there are many spectacular scenes and/or artefacts from sf novels I’d like to see on the silver screen. But. Either the stories would lose so much in adaptation I see little point in trying. Or there’s not enough story there in the first place. I’d love to see the eponymous alien artefact in Arthur C Clarke’s Rendezvous With Rama, but there’s no real story in the novel. A team explores Rama. They fail to discover who built it. Or why. Rama leaves the Solar system. The End. If Rendezvous With Rama ever does appear in the cinema, that story won’t survive the transition. At least the five novels I’ve chosen above stand some chance of being faithfully adapted. Mostly.
It Doesn't Have To Be Right... 