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sdwoodchuck's reviews
75 reviews
Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre
Snake is a healer--a trained physician who uses snakes and snake venom to treat her patients. However a scared bystander kills her Grass, her Dreamsnake--the rare extraterrestrial snake that takes away pain. This sends Snake on a journey to explain herself to her teachers, which sidetracks into bringing a message to someone who might be able to help her find a new Dreamsnake. And there is apparently a crazy man chasing her across the bomb-blasted wastes of nuclear wars long-past.
Dreamsnake's most remarkable accomplishment is the way that it takes such modern conflicts and adapts them to a setting that feels so foreign. Medical science being undermined by fear and superstition and just plain old arrogance; misuse of pain solutions leading to addiction; even the fragile and infuriating uphill climb that is a rape victim accusing her abuser. All this without ever feeling polemic or simplistic. There's an energy to this story that sometimes feels like it subsumes characters, but overall it's a quick, enjoyable, and smart read, and I'm looking forward to reading McIntyre's The Moon and the Sun sometime soon.
4.25
Snake is a healer--a trained physician who uses snakes and snake venom to treat her patients. However a scared bystander kills her Grass, her Dreamsnake--the rare extraterrestrial snake that takes away pain. This sends Snake on a journey to explain herself to her teachers, which sidetracks into bringing a message to someone who might be able to help her find a new Dreamsnake. And there is apparently a crazy man chasing her across the bomb-blasted wastes of nuclear wars long-past.
Dreamsnake's most remarkable accomplishment is the way that it takes such modern conflicts and adapts them to a setting that feels so foreign. Medical science being undermined by fear and superstition and just plain old arrogance; misuse of pain solutions leading to addiction; even the fragile and infuriating uphill climb that is a rape victim accusing her abuser. All this without ever feeling polemic or simplistic. There's an energy to this story that sometimes feels like it subsumes characters, but overall it's a quick, enjoyable, and smart read, and I'm looking forward to reading McIntyre's The Moon and the Sun sometime soon.
Ancient of Days by Michael Bishop
Lloyd Paul lets his ex wife--famed commercial artist RuthClaire--live in his old home, because secretly he's hoping to rekindle their past romance. When he receives a call about an intruder in the old Peach orchard, he thinks this might be his chance. Instead, his intruder turns out to be a proto-human homo habilis, thought extinct for millions of years. Where did he come from? How human is he? How can RuthClaire possibly be falling in love with this thing she's named Adam? And why is it that Lloyd finds himself considering this man his friend?
Meanwhile, Adam and RuthClaire's relationship draws the ire of the scientific community who wants Adam caged and studied; of civil rights groups who insist RuthClaire must be exploiting him as a kind of slave labor; and of the Ku Klux Klan, who know only that Adam is not white, and by no means human, in their book.
After absolutely loving Bishop's Brittle Innings, this was the only one of his novels I could find at my local used book store. I started out completely baffled by this one, but by around fifty pages in, I was completely on board with this story that aims to explore what it means to be human... Only for it to take another turn around 2/3 in, and fumble much of the goodwill it had earned from me. Here is a tonal misstep so severe, leading into some philosophical navelgazing so tiresome, that it really threatens to sink the whole endeavor.
Overall Grade: B-. The first two thirds are really good stuff, absolutely ballsy, but what would have been an easy A faceplants in the last act.
3.25
Lloyd Paul lets his ex wife--famed commercial artist RuthClaire--live in his old home, because secretly he's hoping to rekindle their past romance. When he receives a call about an intruder in the old Peach orchard, he thinks this might be his chance. Instead, his intruder turns out to be a proto-human homo habilis, thought extinct for millions of years. Where did he come from? How human is he? How can RuthClaire possibly be falling in love with this thing she's named Adam? And why is it that Lloyd finds himself considering this man his friend?
Meanwhile, Adam and RuthClaire's relationship draws the ire of the scientific community who wants Adam caged and studied; of civil rights groups who insist RuthClaire must be exploiting him as a kind of slave labor; and of the Ku Klux Klan, who know only that Adam is not white, and by no means human, in their book.
After absolutely loving Bishop's Brittle Innings, this was the only one of his novels I could find at my local used book store. I started out completely baffled by this one, but by around fifty pages in, I was completely on board with this story that aims to explore what it means to be human... Only for it to take another turn around 2/3 in, and fumble much of the goodwill it had earned from me. Here is a tonal misstep so severe, leading into some philosophical navelgazing so tiresome, that it really threatens to sink the whole endeavor.
Overall Grade: B-. The first two thirds are really good stuff, absolutely ballsy, but what would have been an easy A faceplants in the last act.
Gateway by Frederik Pohl
Robinette Broadhead is the richest man in the world, but he didn't start out that way, and his path to wealth has left some scars that only his AI therapist can help him heal. We follow his path from nutrient-miner to the abandoned alien colony of Gateway, where explorers board ships they barely understand on journeys that are often fatal, all in the hopes of striking it rich. Rob's fears lead him to hiding, avoiding his first expedition until his funds run dry, and then a string of bad luck and miserable self-loathing lead him even deeper into despair. As his story approaches the point of explaining his wealth, however, tensions begin to grow, and it's clear that Rob wants nothing more than to avoid admitting his deepest shames to his therapist.
What a cool fuckin' book! It's so rare to have a protagonist who is a real genuine bastard, and who you can still find some sympathy with. It's also rare to find an alien world so well realized, with so little explained, without ever feeling like a puzzle you need to solve. Through all of the fantastical and futuristic, this story is anchored solidly in one deeply flawed man, desperate to embody his avoidance of responsibility, not because he wants to avoid consequences, but because he wants to avoid forgiveness that might come with admitting his own guilt.
Pohl still struggles to write women, though.
4.5
Robinette Broadhead is the richest man in the world, but he didn't start out that way, and his path to wealth has left some scars that only his AI therapist can help him heal. We follow his path from nutrient-miner to the abandoned alien colony of Gateway, where explorers board ships they barely understand on journeys that are often fatal, all in the hopes of striking it rich. Rob's fears lead him to hiding, avoiding his first expedition until his funds run dry, and then a string of bad luck and miserable self-loathing lead him even deeper into despair. As his story approaches the point of explaining his wealth, however, tensions begin to grow, and it's clear that Rob wants nothing more than to avoid admitting his deepest shames to his therapist.
What a cool fuckin' book! It's so rare to have a protagonist who is a real genuine bastard, and who you can still find some sympathy with. It's also rare to find an alien world so well realized, with so little explained, without ever feeling like a puzzle you need to solve. Through all of the fantastical and futuristic, this story is anchored solidly in one deeply flawed man, desperate to embody his avoidance of responsibility, not because he wants to avoid consequences, but because he wants to avoid forgiveness that might come with admitting his own guilt.
Pohl still struggles to write women, though.
Absolution by Jeff VanderMeer
This is a prequel to Vandermeer's Southern Reach trilogy (Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance). It, uh... There's things, you see. And those things happen. Maybe? Probably. Probably some of them happen. But maybe not, or at least not in the same world as the original Southern Reach books. Or do they? There's a swamp town where experiments are being conducted, and things go badly for them. There's spies trying to piece together those badly-gone things, and their things also go badly. Then we see the first expedition into Area X, with spies inserted to pick up the pieces of both badly-went fiascos, and would you believe that things aren't especially rosy for them either?
This book feels at times like it's just playing within the scope of Area X as a concept, and at times it feels like pulpy horror, and other times still it feels like it's trying to act as a multiversal bridge between Vandermeer's various worlds (I see some Borne here, and some Hummingbird Salamander, and I bet I could find some Ambergris if I looked hard enough). And the whole thing feels nonsensical and off the rails almost from the first page. This is a really delicate tightrope walk through material that could feel indulgent to the point of masturbatory, but instead mostly works. The few areas where it doesn't mostly come down to the disjointed nature of the story's chunks not really feeling like a cohesive whole.
4.25
This is a prequel to Vandermeer's Southern Reach trilogy (Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance). It, uh... There's things, you see. And those things happen. Maybe? Probably. Probably some of them happen. But maybe not, or at least not in the same world as the original Southern Reach books. Or do they? There's a swamp town where experiments are being conducted, and things go badly for them. There's spies trying to piece together those badly-gone things, and their things also go badly. Then we see the first expedition into Area X, with spies inserted to pick up the pieces of both badly-went fiascos, and would you believe that things aren't especially rosy for them either?
This book feels at times like it's just playing within the scope of Area X as a concept, and at times it feels like pulpy horror, and other times still it feels like it's trying to act as a multiversal bridge between Vandermeer's various worlds (I see some Borne here, and some Hummingbird Salamander, and I bet I could find some Ambergris if I looked hard enough). And the whole thing feels nonsensical and off the rails almost from the first page. This is a really delicate tightrope walk through material that could feel indulgent to the point of masturbatory, but instead mostly works. The few areas where it doesn't mostly come down to the disjointed nature of the story's chunks not really feeling like a cohesive whole.
Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami
Natsuko is an Osaka girl trying to make it as a writer in Tokyo. When her sister Makiko visits the city for a consultation for breast implants, both sisters, along with Makiko's teenage daughter Midoriko, come to face uncomfortable understandings of each others' perspective of femininity.
Some years later, Natsuko finds herself curious about artificial insemination, due to her desire for a child, but complete disinterest in a romantic partner. The search to find a clinic that will accommodate a single woman--or failing that, an informal donor--is consuming her energy and sapping her will to write the followup novel to her initial success.
If this sounds very Lifetime movie-ish, I can't fault you for doubting, but what really works here is the way that it keeps the sentimentality at arm's length and instead lets its characters really engage in their discomfort, anxiety, and self-doubt. It doesn't have inspirational or simplistic answers for their conflicts, but treats each of their contradictory perspectives with compassion and interest. Each character is so well-realized and never a simple convenient caricature.
4.5
Natsuko is an Osaka girl trying to make it as a writer in Tokyo. When her sister Makiko visits the city for a consultation for breast implants, both sisters, along with Makiko's teenage daughter Midoriko, come to face uncomfortable understandings of each others' perspective of femininity.
Some years later, Natsuko finds herself curious about artificial insemination, due to her desire for a child, but complete disinterest in a romantic partner. The search to find a clinic that will accommodate a single woman--or failing that, an informal donor--is consuming her energy and sapping her will to write the followup novel to her initial success.
If this sounds very Lifetime movie-ish, I can't fault you for doubting, but what really works here is the way that it keeps the sentimentality at arm's length and instead lets its characters really engage in their discomfort, anxiety, and self-doubt. It doesn't have inspirational or simplistic answers for their conflicts, but treats each of their contradictory perspectives with compassion and interest. Each character is so well-realized and never a simple convenient caricature.
Man Plus by Frederik Pohl
3.5
The Man Plus program has the mission of modifying a test subject astronaut into a cyborg capable of surviving the harsh environment of the Martian surface. When one test subject dies, Roger Torraway's card is pulled, and he finds himself duty-bound to undergo the horrific augmentation process that leaves him unrecognizable even to himself. They have the technology to make him better, faster, stronger, but can they do so and still leave him himself?
I love the more psychological approach to this story and the ways that it delves into what it means to be so wholly changed. There is something surprising and engaging in Roger's imperfections that lets this story come alive in ways a lesser work would be unable to find. There are also some fun mysteries to unpack throughout the book, some with satisfying answers and some left satisfyingly unanswered, but I find the overall shape and structure of the story very rewarding.
The transitions and connective tissue though... less so. When the plot decides it needs to be somewhere else, then buckle up because it's shooting over there right now and if you arrive with whiplash then they've got a horribly painful and disfiguring procedure to fix that. And of course, the women here are cardboard, which is a shame. At least they're allowed to have interesting jobs, if that's any consolation.
I love the more psychological approach to this story and the ways that it delves into what it means to be so wholly changed. There is something surprising and engaging in Roger's imperfections that lets this story come alive in ways a lesser work would be unable to find. There are also some fun mysteries to unpack throughout the book, some with satisfying answers and some left satisfyingly unanswered, but I find the overall shape and structure of the story very rewarding.
The transitions and connective tissue though... less so. When the plot decides it needs to be somewhere else, then buckle up because it's shooting over there right now and if you arrive with whiplash then they've got a horribly painful and disfiguring procedure to fix that. And of course, the women here are cardboard, which is a shame. At least they're allowed to have interesting jobs, if that's any consolation.
The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov
3.5
Matter with inexplicable properties leads researchers to discover a parallel universe from which they can pump protons for a nearly limitless supply of power, with seemingly no risk. But what if their math is wrong, and the risk is far greater than expected? Communication with the scientists of the parallel universe reveal a world of wildly different scope, populated by beings unlike anything we've ever known. Both sets of researchers struggle against the needs of their respective populations to deliver on an energy source, while avoiding the curse of inconvenient bad news.
There's a lot of insight here into the ways people seek to avoid the truth when it requires sacrifice and hard decisions, and the novel is strongest dealing with this problem. It is weakest in pacing these elements, and the result is a story that only sometimes feels like it's moving, and not always in a satisfying direction. When it works though, it really works.
There's a lot of insight here into the ways people seek to avoid the truth when it requires sacrifice and hard decisions, and the novel is strongest dealing with this problem. It is weakest in pacing these elements, and the result is a story that only sometimes feels like it's moving, and not always in a satisfying direction. When it works though, it really works.
Armor by John Steakley
3.75
Banshee is a planet so inhospitable that most soldiers--even in their state-of-the-art power armor--don't survive their first combat drop on its surface. Survival rate for scouts? Much lower. So how is it that Felix, a scout with no experience, has survived one drop after another? How is he so often the last man standing when entire platoons fall around him? Ask him; he doesn't know either. He only knows that when his life is on the line, another side of himself takes over. A piece of himself he calls The Engine.
Years later, Felix's armor has been recovered. Holly and Jack, an unlikely pair of researcher and pirate form a friendship in their efforts to uncover the secrets of Felix's last days, imprinted by his thoughts on the inside of the helmet. Can they uncover the reason that Felix was assigned drop after drop, and the reason he kept surviving? Can they stand to watch what finally did him in? "War is hell" is a cute catchphrase, but Holly and Jack are learning that the demons forged in that fire wear armor not to protect them from the outside world, but to shield the world from what they hold inside.
I'm not a lover of military sci-fi, but there's an urgency here that really sells the story in a way I wasn't expecting. The segments focusing on Felix feel immediate and gripping. The Segments focusing on Jack Crow feel like the emotions are held at arm's length--and both registers work remarkably well. This isn't a story where every piece feels like it falls into its assigned place. It feels messy and oddly assembled and lumpy rather than smooth, but all of this comes together to make an experience that feels more authentic than it otherwise would have.
The novel's handling of women is less than stellar, but even there we have some unexpected nuance finding its way in behind the initially simplistic caricatures.
Years later, Felix's armor has been recovered. Holly and Jack, an unlikely pair of researcher and pirate form a friendship in their efforts to uncover the secrets of Felix's last days, imprinted by his thoughts on the inside of the helmet. Can they uncover the reason that Felix was assigned drop after drop, and the reason he kept surviving? Can they stand to watch what finally did him in? "War is hell" is a cute catchphrase, but Holly and Jack are learning that the demons forged in that fire wear armor not to protect them from the outside world, but to shield the world from what they hold inside.
I'm not a lover of military sci-fi, but there's an urgency here that really sells the story in a way I wasn't expecting. The segments focusing on Felix feel immediate and gripping. The Segments focusing on Jack Crow feel like the emotions are held at arm's length--and both registers work remarkably well. This isn't a story where every piece feels like it falls into its assigned place. It feels messy and oddly assembled and lumpy rather than smooth, but all of this comes together to make an experience that feels more authentic than it otherwise would have.
The novel's handling of women is less than stellar, but even there we have some unexpected nuance finding its way in behind the initially simplistic caricatures.
When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro
Christopher Banks fled Singapore after the kidnapping of his parents, and now is living his boyhood dream, making a name for himself as a private detective in London. When the opportunity presents itself to go back to Singapore to solve the mystery of his parents' disappearance, as well as to possibly prevent the world from tipping into its second World War, he can't pass up the opportunity.
I enjoyed this well enough, and taken on the small scale it's on par with Ishiguro's other works, but the big picture doesn't add up to more than a sum of those parts, and much of the connective tissue feels flimsy. It's hard to find the through-line between the narrator's boyhood revelries with his neighbor Akira, and his London socialite existence; it's difficult to follow his drive from one setpiece to the next, and when it finally lands in its climactic warzone, it feels like it sort of backed into it, in more than just the intentional way the narrative is leaning into. Still, each of those pieces hums along with a wonderful gentle rhythm of its own, and I was never bored by it, despite sometimes being a little unimpressed with the transitions.
3.75
Christopher Banks fled Singapore after the kidnapping of his parents, and now is living his boyhood dream, making a name for himself as a private detective in London. When the opportunity presents itself to go back to Singapore to solve the mystery of his parents' disappearance, as well as to possibly prevent the world from tipping into its second World War, he can't pass up the opportunity.
I enjoyed this well enough, and taken on the small scale it's on par with Ishiguro's other works, but the big picture doesn't add up to more than a sum of those parts, and much of the connective tissue feels flimsy. It's hard to find the through-line between the narrator's boyhood revelries with his neighbor Akira, and his London socialite existence; it's difficult to follow his drive from one setpiece to the next, and when it finally lands in its climactic warzone, it feels like it sort of backed into it, in more than just the intentional way the narrative is leaning into. Still, each of those pieces hums along with a wonderful gentle rhythm of its own, and I was never bored by it, despite sometimes being a little unimpressed with the transitions.