Category: Aa

The Ringworld Engineers — Larry Niven

By 5t4n5

The Ringworld Engineers -- Larry NivenOnce again, we’re treated to more Seventies kitsch sci-fi with bizarre humanoids added to the mix of bizarre non-humanoids: there’s even vampires in this one.

On top of the bizarre creatures we are now treated to a never ending list of utterly unpronounceable names, obviously to make sure that you understand that this is real sci-fi, not some lame sci-fi with easy names that humans can pronounce.   To be honest Larry finds all kinds of ways to ruin a really good story and concept, and if it wasn’t for the fact that this is such a good story with such a good concept i would have stopped reading long ago.

But instead of stopping i’m going to carry on with the next book, The Ringworld Throne, just because it is such a good story, and i’m already bracing myself for even more jibbledy babbledy names and even more fucked up Seventies kitsch sci-fi creatures.

Ho hum, the trials and tribulations of the sci-fi reader.   To be honest, i’ll be glad when this Ringworld series thing is over and i won’t ever be reading Larry Niven ever again.

Larry’s Page

#scifi #larryniven

Ghost Marriage — P. Djèlí Clark

By 5t4n5

Ghost Marriage -- P. Djèlí ClarkYou can read this for free, or buy the issue, over at Apex Magazine.

So i’m continuing on my journey of Djèlí’s wonderfully refreshing fantasy.   In this story, Ayen’s husband has died and he won’t leave her, and as a poltergeist he causes her to be driven out of her tribe.   So off she goes in search of someone to help her exorcise his ghost from her mind.

But all is not as Ayen first believes it to be.

Really, really good.

Next up in the Djèlí timeline is A Tale of Woe, from 2018.

P. Djèlí Clark’s Page

#fantasy #pdjeliclark

Digital to Analogue — Alastair Reynolds

By 5t4n5

Digital to Analogue -- Alastair ReynoldsYou’ll find this in the collection, Zima Blue and Other Stories, and the anthology In Dreams.

A rather different take on why the dance music craze spread like wildfire in the 90’s.   As someone who was totally into the London acid techno scene in the 90’s this was right up my alley.

A fun little short with a nice touch of nostalgia for some of us.

Next up in the Alastair Reynolds timeline is Byrd Land Six.

Alastair’s Page

#scifi #alastairreynolds

Tokyo Ueno Station — Miri Yu

By 5t4n5

Tokyo Ueno Station -- Miri YuThis is quite a strange story, in that our protagonist/narrator, Kazu, is dead.   Before Kazu died, he was homeless and living in a cardboard and tarpaulin hut in Ueno Park, right next to Tokyo Ueno Station.

All too often we are shown the shiny-shiny capitalist face of Tokyo that those in power wish us to see, the Olympics, etc., but never do we see, or hear, those who are cast aside, unwanted and unneeded by a system that some just can’t keep up with.   Tokyo Ueno Station is their story, told by a ghost of one of the many people that society has no place for any more.

I know it sounds all rather depressing, but i didn’t find it so because it’s a view of Tokyo that is told in such a unique and interesting way, keeping our attention when most writers would have lost it, making us realise, consider and re-revaluate.   How many homeless people die on the streets every year and no one ever gets to hear their story, or realise the truth as to why they were homeless in the first place, this book makes you think about those things: they are important.

It’s certainly a fact in the UK, where i live, that the government deliberately maintains a homeless population in order to keep the threat in front of people of what will happen to them if they don’t comply with society’s demands.   I presume this is the same in Japan:   “Do you want to end up like them, Salaryman?   Well you’d best work hard, do lots of overtime, and do as you’re told — or else you’ll be living in Ueno Park too!”

Yu’s Page

#japan #miriyu

Nunivak Snowflakes — Alastair Reynolds

By 5t4n5

Nunivak Snowflakes -- Alastair ReynoldsYou’ll find this in the anthology, Deep Navigation.

Messages from the future found inside fish falling from the sky landing in front of the person the message was meant for.

Basically, someone from the future is being naughty and messing with the past in an indigenous community in Alaska.

Other than The Big Hello, of which i have no idea when published, this is Alastair’s first published story.   So it’s very early Alastair Reynolds, so don’t be expecting Revelation Space or anything like it.

But it’s a reasonable, quirky, little read that’ll keep you happily ensconced in you favourite reading pit for a while.

Alastair’s Page

#scifi #alastairreynolds

The Big Hello — Alastair Reynolds

By 5t4n5

The Big Hello -- Alastair ReynoldsIt’s listed on Wikipedia without a date, but it’s first in the queue of Alastair’s uncollected short fiction, and it is The Big Hello, afterall, so you may as well read it first if you’re reading all of Alastair’s books: me thinks.

You’ll have to hunt around the internet for this, it was originally published in German translation in a convention program.   But, like most rare things, it’s well worth a bit of a hunt around.

Basically, it’s a greeting from the rest of the galaxy informing us stupid Homo sapiens of a bit of etiquette, manners and how to go about things outside of out little insular bubble.   But, let’s be honest, we all know people like Musk & Co. are going to ignore everything Alastair says and totally fuck it up for the rest of us.

Alastair’s Page

#scifi #alastairreynolds

Painted Love — Rob Thurman

By 5t4n5

Painted Love -- Rob ThurmanIn the anthology, Carniepunk.

An enjoyable little story where our narrator, Doodle, follows a sociopath around a travelling carnival.

But all is not as it seems with Doodle, and it’s a really good twist to the ending.   I’d definitely be interested in reading more stories from Doodle if Rob ever gets around to writing a series.

Rob’s Page

#robthurman

Mummy and George Go to the Park — Gaie Sebold

By 5t4n5

Mummy and George Go to the Park -- Gaie SeboldIn the anthology, Nice Day for a Picnic.

I only got this anthology for Gaie’s story, as i’m quite the fan boy.

An interesting short in that it just implies something rather than spoon feeding you it.   I believe the whole anthology is about strange picnics and if Gaie’s story is anything to go by i think i might just have a go at a few more of them when i feel like a quick read.

So the whole thing is just Mummy’s voice speaking to George as they go to the park for a picnic, which seems quite normal at first, but as Mummy keeps on speaking to George as they go through their park visit we begin to realise that things aren’t quite normal.

It’s certainly different, but really enjoyable.

Gaie’s Page

#gaiesebold

The Girl who Leapt Through Time — Yasutaka Tsutsui

By 5t4n5

The Girl who Leapt Through Time -- Yasutaka TsutsuiThere’s two short stories in this book and i’ll review each of them separately below.

The Girl who Leapt Through Time

A short while ago i read The Maid, which was my first trip into the writing of Yasutaka, and i thoroughly enjoyed it: so much that i decided to collect every book of his i could find and read them in published order.   And so i began with The Girl who Leapt Through Time from 1967.

What doesn’t get a mention when approaching this book is that it’s a children’s book, i would perhaps place it around 11-12 year old level, so that’s something to bear in mind if you do decide to read it.

So it’s very simple writing and a rather simple story about some children having a bit of a crazy time with time travel and teleportation.   I felt the best thing about this was it’s simplicity in it’s writing because as an adult you don’t have to think about anything and can just breeze along with the story itself, and it’s quite a good little story.

So yeah, i’m more than happy to have come back to Yasutaka’s earliest book that’s so far been translated into English.   Definitely worth a read if you’re a fan of his writing, or if you just want a quick and easy read of some temporal sci-fi.

The Stuff that Nightmares Are Made of

This is quite a different story to the previous one.   Once again, it’s another children’s book, but this time dealing with the theme of repressed trauma manifesting as unexplained fears.

Although it’s a book for children, i do feel that there’s a few things for most adults to learn here as well, especially parents, whose words and actions can create all kinds of unintended consequences for children.

And that’s me done with this book.   The Maid was next in the original publishing time line of Yasutaka’s translated books, but i already read that, so next up will be Paprika, which i hope to get around to reading some time soon as i’m really enjoying Yasutaka’s writing.

Yasutaka’s Page

#japan #scifi #yasutakatsutsui