Asimov's Science Fiction: September 2013 (26 page)

Despite the label they shared, the
Mirrorshades
group was a diverse bunch. Greg Bear was his own man from the start, trying on new styles and genres as the mood took him. His entry here, "Fall of the House of Escher," is a pastiche of the Poe tale alluded to in the title. The narrator, as in Poe's tale, finds himself in a grotesque house controlled by an intense, possibly mad host. But as the plot unfolds, an underpinning of advanced tech reveals itself behind the apparently fantastic elements—building at last to a climax Poe would have found congenial.

A fair number of the stories fit comfortably into the expected cyberpunk tropes, with advanced computer science integrated into the characters' lives. There are a couple of variants on the idea of telling a story through email memos or blog posts, Sterling's "User-Centric" and Paul Tremblay's "The Blog at the End of the World." Others, like Jonathan Lethem's "Interview with the Crab," take the notion of augmented intelligence in lower animals to satiric extremes. And Kelly's "Mr. Boy"—one of his strongest stories, and one of the best in the collection—takes body modification as its theme, then weaves an entire social structure around the idea.

But the stories cover a somewhat wider range than the original output of the cyberpunk group, and not only because of the inclusion of younger writers like Lethem and Cory Doctorow. While well-written and compelling, Kim Stanley Robinson's contribution, "Down and Out in the Year 2000," is a post-collapse story with no obvious cyberpunk elements I could detect. It could have been written almost any time after about 1965—which makes me wonder what criteria the editor used to define the anthology's scope.

And, in fact, the review copy of the anthology did not include the editor's preface, which can be one of the most interesting bits of this kind of book, putting the stories in perspective and often raising interesting issues in its own right. I'll look forward to seeing what Blake has to say about this intriguing collection. In the mean time, I have no difficulty recommending the book to readers of this magazine.

1491: New Revelations of
the World Before Columbus
By Charles C. Mann
Vintage, $16.95 (tp)
ISBN: 978-1-4000-3205-1

1493: Uncovering the
New World Columbus Created
By Charles C. Mann
Vintage, $16.95 (tp)
ISBN: 978—0-307-27824-1

These two titles constitute one of the most intriguing accounts of the early history of the Americas I have ever read—and should be required reading for anyone who wants to understand that quintessential SF theme, first contact. They also have loads of material for SF worldbuilding—and of course, they're a provocative read even for those not in the market for fictional materials and techniques.

As the two books' titles indicate, Mann offers a survey of the ecology and sociology of the Americas just before the arrival of Europeans, and the results of the meeting of the Old and New Worlds. Note the plural of "Americas"—Mann looks at North, Central, and South America. For many readers, the books may provide their first broad survey of the history of the Western Hemisphere outside the U.S.

1491
builds on the proposition—put forward by any number of anthropologists and archaeologists over the last few decades—that the population of the Americas was considerably larger, and had attained a much more advanced level of social organization, than most of us were taught about in school. Mann isn't just talking about the Incas, Aztecs, and Mayans, whose monuments are probably the most impressive physical artifacts of the pre-Columbian New World. Certainly those cultures get their due from the author, with more information on their history than most of us are likely to have encountered. But Mann especially shines in his treatment of lesser-known indigenous cultures. The tribes of the Amazon region had created a rich culture based on the native plants of the area. Rather than primitive hunter-gatherers, they were sophisticated agriculturists who used the resources of their habitat to the maximum.

In addition to the proposal that the population of the Americas was much larger, a central point of the book is that the continents were much more thickly settled than was long believed. The point is crucial; the Indians (the word Mann uses except when referring to a specific culture) were not savages living a bare-subsistence life. They were a group of thriving societies, in some cases as advanced as most of the European societies that were about to invade them.

Equally importantly, the Europeans' advantage over the Indians came not so much from a superior technology—though gunpowder and steel certainly had their impact—as from something neither side really understood: the introduction of new diseases against which the Indians had no defenses. The conquistadors and the other Europeans who followed in their wake were fighting badly weakened opponents. The spread of smallpox, measles, flu, and other imported diseases after the arrival of the Spanish was rapid and thorough enough to ease the way to the conquest of both the American continents. By as early as the 1550s, the native populations had already been exposed to—and ravaged by—an enemy against which there was no defense in the world they had been born into.

In
1493,
Mann follows the thread farther. The arrival of the Europeans was the first step in bringing the entire world into a coherent whole—the real beginning of globalization, in fact. Columbus had come here looking for a way to China, and his successors didn't give up on that goal. In fact, they were soon using their American bases as a stepping-stone to the Asian trade they had been seeking. Peruvian silver quickly found its way to China, as did tobacco, and corn and sweet potatoes—both now staples of Chinese cookery. In turn, Asian trade goods came through America on their way back to Spain and its trade partners. And so did Asian immigrants—within a few decades of the Spanish conquest of Peru in 1532, many of the workers in that country's silver mines were Chinese, and there was a thriving Chinatown in Mexico City by the 1600s.

Africans were brought to the Western Hemisphere, as well. A major reason was the impact of a group of Old World diseases neither the Indians nor the Europeans had immunity to: malaria and yellow fever. Native Africans had acquired some resistance to both; in fact, most had suffered mild bouts of yellow fever in childhood, when it was far less deadly than in an unexposed adult population—such as the Indians and Europeans. And many Africans had the sickle-cell mutation that afforded some immunity to malaria. Perhaps inevitably, once the mosquitoes carrying those diseases had gotten to the New World, the immunity of Africans made them a desirable addition to the labor force needed to farm the tropical areas. Slavery already existed in the African societies they came from, and that gave Europeans all the excuse they needed to bring them here as forced labor.

The mixture of populations from five continents (Europe, Africa, Asia, and the two Americas) created a previously unimaginable smorgasbord of racial blends. Faced with an unprecedented diversity, the ruling Europeans developed a complex vocabulary (mestizo, Creole, octoroon, Cambuja, and others less familiar) in an attempt to impose some kind of order on it—an order that was of course bound to fall apart as the different groups continued to mix.

Best of all, Mann weaves in bits of history that most of us never learned—or only learned part of. For example, I never knew that Squanto, the New England Indian who greeted the Massachusetts Pilgrims upon their arrival, knew English because he had previously been captured and taken to Europe, ending up in England before returning to his native home—only to find it devastated by the plagues that came up from the south.

There's plenty more here—the two books are full of revelations, large and small, about the consequences of the arrival of Europeans in the Americas. Mann makes no claim to having done great original research—but he has synthesized the results of many other investigators into a stunning whole. I can't recommend these two books highly enough. The discovery of the Americas may be the best real-world example we have of "first contact"—one of the primal SF themes—and Mann makes an irresistible story of it. Highly recommended.

I'll be resting up for, then recovering from, the San Antonio WorldCon this summer. But for other Asimovians who might not be able to make it there, consider going to ArmadilloCon, CopperCon or BuboniCon. Plan now for social weekends with your favorite SF authors, editors, artists, and fellow fans. For an explanation of con(vention)s, a sample of SF folksongs, and info on fanzines and clubs, send me an SASE (self-addressed, stamped #10 [business] envelope) at 10 Hill #22-L, Newark NJ 07102. The hot line is (973) 242-5999. If a machine answers (with a list of the week's cons), leave a message and I'll call back on my nickel. When writing cons, send an SASE. For free listings, tell me of your con five months out. Look for me at cons behind the Filthy Pierre badge, playing a musical keyboard.—Erwin S. Strauss

JULY 2013

25-28-Cascade Writers Workshop. For info, write: c/o Junker, 3626 144th Pl. NE, #M-7, Bellevue WA 96007. Or phone: (973) 242-5999 (10 am to 10 pm, not collect). (Web)
www.cascadewriters.com
. (E-mail) [email protected]. Con will be held in: Portland OR (if city omitted, same as in address) at the Airport Holiday Inn. Guests will include: Claire Eddy, Cameron McClure, many authors.

25-28-PulpFest.
www.pulpfest.com
. Hyatt, Columbus OH. Celebrating Doc Savage, pulp heroes of 1933, 80th anniversary of Fu Manchu.

26-28-ArmadilloCon. 512343-2626.
www.armadillocon.org
. Renaissance, Austin TX. A. Bishop, C. Neill, Liz Gorinsky. J. Dillon.

26-28-Anime Iowa.
www.animeiowa.com
.
[email protected]
. Marriott, Coralville IA. R. Axelrod, G. Ayres, T. Meuller, M. Riby, Y. Wang.

26-28-TFCon.
www.tfcon.ca
. Delta Meadowvale Hotel, Mississauga ON. For fans of the Transformers toys and movies.

2-4-DiversiCon.
www.diversicon.org
. Best Western Bandana Square, St. Paul MN. Jack McDevitt. Multicultural, multimedia spec fiction.

2-4-Shore Leave.
www.shore-leave.com
. Hunt Valley Inn, Hunt Valley MD. Shatner, A. Tapping, J. C. Brown, Weber. Trek & media SF.

2-4-MuseCon.
www.musecon.org
. Westin Chicago NW, Chicago IL. Seanan McGuire. Celebrating creativity in all forms.

2-4-Harbour ConFusion.
www.harbourconfusion.com
. Saint John NB. SF, fantasy, horror, steampunk, anime.

2-4-Fandemonium.
www.fandemonium.org
. Shilo Inn, Nampa ID. SF, fantasy, horror, comics, gaming, cosplay.

2-4-Flashback Weekend. (847) 478-0119.
www.flashbackweekend.com
. Rosemont (Chicago) IL. Horror.

2-4-Deadly Ink.
www.deadlyink.com
. Hyatt, New Brunswick NJ. Hank Phillipi Ryan, Rosemary Harris. For fans of mystery fiction.

8-11-CopperCon, Box 62613, Phoenix AZ 85082.
www.coppercon.org
. Phoenix AZ.

9-11-When Words Collide, 3314 38th SW, Calgary AB T3E 3G5.
www.whenwordscollide.org
. Calgary AB. Genres: SF, mysteries, etc.

9-11-Otakon, Box 27291, Columbus OH 43227. (484) 223-6086.
www.otakon.com
. Convention Center, Baltimore MD. Big anime con.

15-18-GenCon, 120 Lakeside Ave. #100, Seattle WA 98122. (206) 957-3976, x3806.
www.gencon.com
. Indianapolis IN. Big gaming con.

16-18-SanJapan.
www.san-japan.org
. Convention Center & Hyatt, San Antonio TX. Arin Hanson, Martin Bilany, Richie Branson. Anime.

23-25-BuboniCon, Box 37257, Albuquerque NM 87116. (505) 459-8734.
www.bubonicon.com
. T. Powers, B. Weeks, D. Rowland, A. Beck.

23-25-NecronomiCon.
www.necronomicon-providence.com
. Biltmore, Providence RI. S. T. Joshi and others. Celebrating H. P. Lovecraft.

29-Sep. 2-Lone Star Con 3, Box 27277, Austin TX 78755.
www.lonestarcon3.org
. San Antonio TX. The World SF Convention. $200+.

30-Sep. 2-DragonCon, Box 16459, Atlanta GA 30321. (770) 909-0115.
www.dragoncon.org
. Many downtown hotels, Atlanta GA. Huge

7-TitanCon.
www.titancon.com
. Wellington Park Hotel, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Science fiction and fantasy.

11-15-IlluXCon.
www.illuxcon.com
. Allentown PA. Note new city. For fans and practitioners of the art of illustration, in all its forms.

13-15-SF: the Interdisciplinary Genre. McMaster Univ., Hamilton ON. Robert J. Sawyer, whose papers he's donating. Academic.

13-15-NautiCon.
www.nauticons.com
. Provincetown Inn, Provincetown MA. Age 21 & up only. Members only on hotel premises.

14-15-FantaCon.
www.fantacon.com
.
www.albany.org
. Marriott, Albany NY. No more information on this one at press.

19-22-BoucherCon.
www.bcon2013.com
. Albany NY. Guests TBA. The world convention for fans of mystery fiction.

20-22-Roc-Con.
www.roccon.net
. Main Street Armory, Rochester NY. SF, comics, anime, horror, gaming.

27-29-ConText, Box 163391, Columbus OH 43216.
www.contextsf.org
. Doubletree, Worthington OH. SF & related games, comics & films.

2-4-FenCon, Box 701448, Dallas TX 75370.
www.fencon.org
. Addison (Dallas) TX.

14-18-LonCon 3, 379 Myrtle Rd., Sheffield S2 3HQ, UK.
www.loncon3.org
. Docklands, London UK. The WorldCon. £105/A,C,US$175.

SHEILA WILLIAMS

Editor

EMILY HOCKADAY

Editorial Assistant

MARY GRANT

Editorial Assistant

DEANNA MCLAFFERTY

Editorial Administrative Assistant

JAYNE KEISER