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A review by rbixby
A Song Called Youth: Eclipse, Eclipse Penumbra, Eclipse Corona by John Shirley
4.0
This was a good one.
Back in my youth (no pun intended), I devoured Gibson's novels and so considered myself an ardent fan of the genre. And yet, I must not have been much of one because I never even heard of John Shirley before seeing this doorstop of a volume in the store a year or so ago. Intrigued, I bought it, brought it home, stuck it on my TBR shelf because I was in the middle of some other large master piece at the time (some Hamilton space opera, most likely), and forgot about it until now.
First published in the mid to late eighties, with updates by the author for this edition (Facebook and iPads are mentioned, as well as the Arab Spring as something positive. I wonder if Shirley regrets that last one), the book's anachronistic qualities are equal parts attractive and disturbing.
Attractive because it's fun to read a 25 year old sci-fi story to see how the the present and near future jibs with the author's view of the future two generations past the time it was written in. I have to say, Shirley hits the mark more often than he misses in that regard.
Disturbing because, despite all of the positive events that have moved the world closer to freedom and equality for all in the last 25 years, the current political climate is such that it is very easy to see how we could end up in the world of 2040 he envisions.
Back in my youth (no pun intended), I devoured Gibson's novels and so considered myself an ardent fan of the genre. And yet, I must not have been much of one because I never even heard of John Shirley before seeing this doorstop of a volume in the store a year or so ago. Intrigued, I bought it, brought it home, stuck it on my TBR shelf because I was in the middle of some other large master piece at the time (some Hamilton space opera, most likely), and forgot about it until now.
First published in the mid to late eighties, with updates by the author for this edition (Facebook and iPads are mentioned, as well as the Arab Spring as something positive. I wonder if Shirley regrets that last one), the book's anachronistic qualities are equal parts attractive and disturbing.
Attractive because it's fun to read a 25 year old sci-fi story to see how the the present and near future jibs with the author's view of the future two generations past the time it was written in. I have to say, Shirley hits the mark more often than he misses in that regard.
Disturbing because, despite all of the positive events that have moved the world closer to freedom and equality for all in the last 25 years, the current political climate is such that it is very easy to see how we could end up in the world of 2040 he envisions.