Asimov's SF, February 2010 (27 page)

The plot begins with a teenage girl, Rhiana Davinovitch, running through the center of Albuquerque, unknown pursuers closing in on her. Also on her trail is a young cop, Richard Oort, trying to trace the cause of a string of electrical outages in the city. He finds Rhianna surrounded by three attackers and rushes to her aid, discovering in the process that the attackers are not men but monsters. Then, while he is still trying to figure out what to do, Rhianna casts a spell and shatters one of the creatures. The battle ends with the appearance of a homeless man, who says he's been sent to save Rhianna—but then says that she should stay with Richard, because she's invisible to her pursuers as long as she's with him.

The weirdness builds from there. Snodgrass puts her troubled protagonist, Oort, in a web of political intrigue sufficiently grounded in reality so that the supernatural elements seem plausible. But more is at stake than mere political power. Richard and Rhianna learn they are pawns in an eons-old conflict between the Old Ones, godlike creatures that seek to control human minds and hearts, and the Lumina, a group dedicated to freeing us from oppression. On the one hand are the powers of religion and magic, on the other science and rationalism.

Richard finds himself torn both ways. Like many policemen, he has a strong religious faith. To learn that all religion—not just the dark pagan rituals he's been taught to think of as satanic—is bent on oppressing humans is a hard lesson to confront. But events work to convince him that real hope lies with the Lumina, and he throws himself into the fight.

Snodgrass effectively connects her Lovecraft-like dark fantasy plot to real issues in today's world, with strong conflict and well-drawn characters. Worth looking for.

ZOE'S TALE

By John Scalzi

Tor, $24.95 (hc)

ISBN: 978-0-7653-1698-1

Scalzi's latest in the “Old Man's War” universe is a retelling of the plot of his 2007 novel
The Last Colony
from the point of view of the protagonist's adopted teenage daughter, Zoe.

Zoe is a fairly typical smart-mouthed kid, with most of the usual preoccupations and problems. But she also comes with an unusual pair of companions: two aliens named Hickory and Dickory (names she gave them). Members of the Obin species, they are of the first generation of their people to have individual consciousness, a quality bestowed upon them by Zoe's father. She is therefore, in effect, an object of worship to the entire race—a status that brings nearly as many problems as benefits.

Zoe's parents have been chosen as leaders of the new human colony on a planet named Roanoke—a colony established in spite of a ban on further colonization by a powerful coalition of alien races. And while a significant degree of secrecy has been maintained in its founding and settlement, the colony is clearly a fat, inviting target for the coalition to attack.

Having been brought up in a context of interplanetary warfare and Machiavellian political games, Zoe is well aware of the larger currents swirling around her new home—most of them, at least. She's also intent on having whatever semblance of a normal growing-up she can manage. Her first move when the colonists begin to meet one another is to put together a group of friends her own age, and she fairly quickly starts working to turn the younger generation into a cohesive group. Whether instinctive or calculated, it works.

The larger plot elements are familiar to anyone who's read
The Last Colony
, and I'll avoid rehashing them for anyone who hasn't already read either book. Nonetheless, the idea of taking a second tour over this same territory undoubtedly made writing this book an interesting challenge to Scalzi, over and above the job of creating a convincing first-person narrator who happens to be a teenaged girl. (Those tempted to detect echoes of Heinlein's Podkayne are probably barking up exactly the right tree.) Scalzi has also said that he wanted the opportunity to fix a couple of plot holes in the original telling of the story that had begun to bother him. On the whole, the new viewpoint gives the story more than enough novelty to make it work on its own.

Whether or not he comes back to this particular future history, Scalzi's “Old Man's War” series has won him a good number of loyal fans, and to judge from the fact that it was chosen for the 2008 final Hugo ballot, this book appears to have given them a good dose of what they enjoy. What's next on his agenda remains to be seen—but odds are it'll be worth reading.

STRANGE ROADS

By Peter S. Beagle

DreamHaven, $15.00 (chapbook)

ISBN: 978-1-892058-10-2

Three short stories based on artwork by Lisa Snellings-Clark make up this short collection issued in a limited edition by the Minneapolis bookstore, Dreamhaven.

While each of the stories is undeniably fantasy, they have quite different settings and tones. The first, “King Pelles the Sure,” takes place in a small kingdom, surrounded by powerful neighbors; the king, desirous of glory, gets his advisor to start a war. He thinks the war will be short and victorious, with a minimum of carnage. Not surprisingly, he is wrong on all counts.

The second tale, “Spook,” is set in a modern apartment building in a Mediterranean country. It involves a ghost that has decided that one of the characters is responsible for its death. If there is to be any peace, the ghost must be banished.

Finally, Beagle turns to 1950s New York for “Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the Angel,” the story of an immigrant Jewish artist visited by an angel. The story is told by the artist's nephew, a young boy who doesn't entirely understand everything that's going on but who is perceptive enough to make the story's final breakthrough.

All three stories blend serious subject matter—tragedy, death, moral responsibility—with a comic tone, most evident in the dialogue—which in the latter two stories is characterized by the characters’ deadpan acceptance of the supernatural intrusions into their world. Beagle's touch is sure; whether he is working in the quasi-mythical fantasy kingdoms or the vanished New York of half a century ago, the characters sound like real people, getting through as best they can even when their dreams are exploded.

Strange Roads
is published in an edition of a thousand copies. DreamHaven Books can be reached on the Web at www.dreamhavenbooks.com.

ODD AND THE FROST GIANTS

By Neil Gaiman; illustrations by Brett Helquist

Harper, $ 11.99 (tp)

ISBN: 978-0-06-167173-9

Gaiman, who won a Hugo for his recent YA novel “The Graveyard Book,” turns to Norse mythology with this tale of a young boy caught up in the war of the Aesir and the Frost Giants. Once again he shows clearly that writing for young readers needn't mean stripping the story of anything that might interest adults.

The novel begins in a small Norse village, where Odd is a young boy without a clear place in the larger society. His father has been lost during a raid, so he has no older man to teach him the ways of the community. On top of that, he is lame—the result of a tree he was attempting to fell landing on his foot. And if his own bad luck were not enough, what seems an endless winter has fallen on the land. That last detail should be enough to orient readers familiar with the sagas; the danger of the last days is upon the world. And, of course, Odd turns out to be the only one able to turn things right.

The tale itself begins when Odd finds himself in the company of three strange animals: a fox, a bear, and a one-eyed eagle. When Odd discovers that they can talk, he gets them to reveal their identities. They are, as knowledgeable readers will have guessed, the gods Loki, Thor, and Odin in animal form, exiled from their home in Asgard after a trick by one of the Frost Giants.

The story develops in authentic style from there, with each of the gods taking on his characteristic attributes. To cut to the chase, Odd overcomes the Frost Giant in a game of wits, and wins back Asgard for the gods. Gaiman gives the flavor of Norse tale-telling without a heavy load of background material, and the story moves smoothly to its foreordained conclusion, with the world put right again and Odd rewarded for his courage and cleverness.

Helquist, who is best known for his illustrations of Lemony Snicket's improbable adventures, gives the characters and scenes a visual presence that adds to the tale.

Enjoyable myth-retelling for younger readers, with enough depth and wit to keep any of Gaiman's grown-up audience interested as well.

TALES FROM OUTER SUBURBIA

Written and illustrated by

Shaun Tan

Scholastic, $19.99 (hc)

ISBN: 978-0-545-05587-1

Australian artist/storyteller Tan made a huge impression with his wordless story,
The Arrival,
portraying the life of an immigrant trying to make enough of a living to bring over the family he left behind in the Old Country
.
But while the theme is the stuff of mainstream fiction, the world of the story brims over with fantastic creatures and odd social institutions—all portrayed with a virtuoso graphic hand.

Here, he takes a somewhat more conventional approach—if that term applies to anything he does—combining prose stories with quirky art. The tales here cover a remarkable range, with the only common element being a suburban setting. But these suburbs are only superficially like the ones familiar to us; walking down one of Tan's streets, one is likely to meet a water buffalo or a suited deep-sea diver. In the backyards, there may be ballistic missiles. Just beyond the next block, there may be an enormous chasm. And a visit from an alien can leave a family with a curious set of mementoes.

Some stories are largely illustrated prose, although such a description shortchanges the power of the art. Tan's illustrations bring the quirky subject matter into the visual realm with wit and precision. Many of them are little stories—or little jokes—in and of themselves. Sometimes the art comments on the story, as at the end of “Eric,” the story of a small alien visitor that is summed up by a final display of what Eric has left behind; or the final illustration of “Our Expedition."

In other stories, the visual presentation is a large part of the overall effect. In “The Amnesia Machine,” the tale is presented in the form of a newspaper story, with bits of other features (sudoku answers, a crossword puzzle, some sort of table of numbers) spread around the edges and a straight-faced picture taking up half the page. Others appear to be bits of torn-up paper with words or phrases strewn together in an order that adds up to a coherent tale.

The artwork takes on even more power in the stories that are told largely through images. While none are quite as thoroughly wordless as
The Arrival
, there are points—as in the middle of “Grandpa's Story"—where Tan stops depending on language and just lets the pictures go to work for a few pages.

The incidental art on the end pages and the table of contents (just for two examples) is a delight as well. You can buy this book for the kids in your family, but be sure to get hold of an extra copy for your own enjoyment.

Copyright © 2010 Peter Heck

[Back to Table of Contents]

I hope to meet Asimovians at Arisia near Boston, over the MLK Day weekend.
RustyCon is also a good bet. 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 5 months out. Look for me at cons behind the Filthy Pierre badge, playing a musical keyboard.—Erwin S. Strauss
Copyright © 2010 Erwin S. Strauss

DECEMBER 2009

31—MEWCon. For info, write: 4570 S. Mueller Dr, #H-305, Beaverton OR 97007. Or phone: (973) 242-5999 (10 am to 10 pm, not collect). (Web) mewcon.com. (E-mail) [email protected]. Con will be held in: Vancouver WA (if city omitted, same as in address) at the Red Lion at the Quay. Guests will include: R. Axelrod, Sachibelle, M. Hopcroft. “Manga/Exotic Worlds."

JANUARY 2010

1-3—IkkiCon. ikkicon.com. [email protected]. Hilton, Austin TX. Anime.

8-10—Anime Los Angeles. animelosangeles.com. LAX Marriott. B. Feiner, J. Gaona, K. Hevert, T. Tomomatsu, Spooky Bards.

8-10—IchibanCon. Great Wolf Lodge and Resort, Concord NC. Vic Mignona. Anime.

15-17—RustyCon. rustycon.com. SeaTac Marriott. James P. Blaylock, Theresa Mather, D.-G. Anderson. SF/fantasy.

15-17—DarkCon. (602) 430-3413. darkcon.org. Grace Inn, Phoenix AZ. Martin Klebba, John Wick. Fantasy, SF, gaming.

15-17—DeCONpression, 5765 Cairo Rd., Westerville OH 43081. deconpression.org. Doubletree, Columbus OH. Relaxacon.

15-18—Arisia, Box 391596, Cambridge MA 02139. arisia.org. Hyatt. Dozois, Clemens, Toker, Roche, Trembley. SF/fantasy.

16-17—SetsuCon, Penn State, 240 HUB, Robeson Center, Univ. Park PA 16802. Days Inn, State College PA. Anime.

29-31—VeriCon, H/R SF Assn., 4 Univ. Hall, Cambridge MA 02138. vericon.org. Harvard Univ. Comics and gaming.

29-31—ConJour, c/o U. of Houston Clear Lake, 2700 Bay Area Blvd., Houston TX 77058. conjour.net. SF/fantasy.

29-31—OhayoCon. ohayocon.org. [email protected]. Hyatt Regency Hotel, Columbus OH. Anime.

FEBRUARY 2010

5-7—GeneriCon. genericon.org. Rensselaer Univ., Troy NY. General SF and fantasy.

5-7—SuperCon, 601 Palace Ave., St. Paul MN 55102. supercon.info. Brentwood Courtyard, Rochester MN. Relaxacon.

5-7—AggieCon, Cepheid Variable (958460), Box 5688, College Station TX 77844. (979) 268-3068. aggiecon.tamu.edu.

6-7—EvilleCon. evillecon.com. Downtown Executive Inn, Evansville IN (near Louisville KY). Anime.