Komarr - Lois McMaster Bujold

Back aboard the Vorkosigan train! I've done a lot of posts on the Vorkosigan and Temeraire series lately, and it may be getting a little repetitive/boring. After all, what new things can I say about the same authors, over and over again? I do try to pick out something new to talk about with each book, even if it ends up being a relatively short post. With the Temeraire series I like to look at how Novik's writing evolves over time, but Bujold has been writing since 1986, whereas Novik's only broken into the mainstream in 2006. A woman with almost thirty years of writing experience is probably at the top of her game, so it's hard to look for the 'improvement' with each book (besides, Vorkosigan was written completely out of chronological order so it's more difficult to see any kind of improvement arc). Maybe I use Bujold's books to analyze what's done right as far as plotting goes. And maybe it's just a nice escape into a world with characters that I really care for.

Komarr sees Miles Vorkosigan on his first assignment as an official Imperial Auditor (technically the ImpSec incident was the first-first assignment, but this is the first after really being assigned the office on a permanent basis). He travels to the planet Komarr with another auditor, to investigate an accident where a ship crashed into a solar array over the planet, and determine if it was deliberate sabotage or not. Naturally, in the vein of Vorkosigan's life, things quickly get complicated. It's also the first time we meet Ekaterin Vorsoisson, who--because I don't believe in spoilers and read some wikis to find out if Miles ever, ever is lucky in love--will eventually become Miles' wife. It's a bit of a thrill to see such an interesting character and know that one day he'll get to have a successful relationship. It's not the point of the book, but when you get attached to a character that is so perennially unlucky--even when he gets lucky!--with the ladies, it's comforting to see him find some happiness.

This is going to end up being one of those short posts.There's just not a lot left for me to say about Bujold short of raving about her characterization and clever dialogue, which I do every time. It's another solid entry in the Vorkosigan series that reliably leaves me asking "What next?"

Realistically I should probably leave the Vorkosigan series for a bit so my posts don't all become this predictable, but it's haaaaaard.

She rested her chin in her hand, and regarded him; her brows quirked in quizzical delight. "Lord Vorkosigan. Can I take a number and get in line?"
Whatever it was he'd been expecting her to say, it wasn't that; he was so taken aback he nearly fell off his chair. Wait, she hadn't meant it to come out sounding quite like--His smile stuck in the on position, but decidedly sideways.
"The next number up," he breathed, "is 'one.'"

Overall: 4 stars

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I wonder who that's supposed to be?

Memory - Lois McMaster Bujold

So I've heard this idea here and there that some books enter your life just when you need them: I totally buy it. At least, I do now. First I talked about Serena, where I really envy the main character's ability to give-no-fucks and get what she wants (although, admittedly, I draw the line at murder). Now I identify heavily with Miles in this, the umpteenth book of Bujold's Vorkosigan series (seriously, I have no idea what number we're at). To explain this, I really have to get right into the meat of the plot.

In books previous to this incarnation, Miles was killed, cryogenically frozen, and reanimated, and still he suffers from some residual side effects of the resurrection process. He finds himself having seizures more and more often, and we open on a rescue mission going catastrophically wrong when Miles seizes while holding a plasma arc and accidentally amputates the legs of the very man he's supposed to be saving. He hadn't told the Dendarii, hoping to keep it secret, and though that cat's out of the bag he still hopes to keep it secret from Illyan and avoid a medical discharge from the Barrayaran military. So he lies on his report. Illyan, naturally, finds out, and does the only thing he can do: he fires Miles for falsifying reports.

Miles' life is completely falling apart, and we spend this book with him figuring out how, exactly, to deal with that, and the guilt of knowing he completely deserved for it to happen.

"Worse. I did that myself. I did it all to myself." - Miles

Why do I find this so personal? Well, I'm about doing the same thing to myself. I currently have a terrible boss at work, and the constant stress is really encouraging me to self-sabotage. For several months now I've felt like I'm watching my career circle the drain--and there's this sense of hopelessness, that I see reflected in Miles. How to go forward?

But, it naturally being a Bujold-written world, nothing can ever be uncomplicated. Illyan starts showing signs of rapid mental decline, and it's attributed to the memory chip in his brain failing. Miles believes that the failure is deliberate sabotage, but the acting head of ImpSec, Haroche, seems to be deliberately stepping in his way. Through a series of pushes where Miles explores his identity as Admiral Naismith vs Miles Vorkosigan, he ends up appointed as an Imperial Auditor, and swiftly unravels the sabotage, restoring balance to the Imperium. He earns his redemption, both internally and externally, as he figures out what it means to be Miles Vorkosigan again, and steps into the permanent role of Auditor, finding a new path forward in his life.

Again, I feel life imitating art: I received a great job offer recently that's also allowing me to continue my life forward on a different path. It's not the way I planned to go forward, but like Miles, I'm finding the opportunity in it.

I don't really have much more to add to this. Bujold is ever wonderful, Miles is ever engaging, Grover Gardner is ever a delight to listen to. I've mentioned previously how I intersperse my more difficult reads (whether because they actually require a higher reading skill or are just more boring) with fun reads, and Vorkosigan is like the equivalent of curling up with a blanket, hot tea and a warm fireplace. It's comforting, no matter how many times I go back to it.

"You have no mass and cannot move me. I'm tired, and I want my supper." - Miles

Overall: 4.5 stars

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Gene Mapper - Taiyo Fujii

I've been making an effort to pick up one new release every month, and it's been coming up with some pretty great results. I hadn't heard of Taiyo Fujii before, but found his book Gene Mapper on an IO9 post on June releases. (Eventually, I'll get to reviewing them the same month they're released, but I digress.) Fujii is a Japanese author, and Gene Mapper is his debut novel, just released in English translation.

In the world of Gene Mapper, much of the world's natural crops have fallen to a blight called Red Rust, leading to a rise in genetically engineered foods. Mamoru Hayashida is a gene mapper who works for a company, L&B, developing Super Rice 6, or SR06. Only the field of SR06 that's been planted appears to have some sort of invader, which could spell trouble not only for L&B, or Mamoru's career, but genetically engineered (or in L&B's preferred nomenclature, genetically distilled) plants entirely. It's Mamoru's job, with the help of Takashi (a victim of a side effect of L&B's super rice zero), to figure out who and what the invader is and whether or not they can stop it. It's a high-tech mystery, a whodunit of virtual reality proportions.

I think it's the translation that hinder this book for me. It's as if something is being lost in going from Japanese to English, and I have a certain sense of being lost. I really like Fujii's concept of augmented reality, using AR stages for conversations and work and broadcasts and all kinds of things, but I don't really understand how it works. I can see someone entering an AR Stage and seeing the augmented reality, but what would someone not on any stage see them doing? They're talking and moving in their stage, sometimes having private conversations, and so wouldn't they be talking and moving in the real world as well? I guess I don't understand the privacy factor of that, just as an example. And again, I think this is partly due to the translation. The worldbuilding, while interesting, is not very clear in english, and more difficult to really engage with.

In another part of the book, Mamoru goes into the SR06 field wearing a special suit that has a weird kind of emotional control built in. The 'augmented reality' turns into a real hindrance, but that whole portion just makes no sense to me. I don't understand why they're wearing the suits in the first place--maybe to prevent contaminating the field, though I'm not sure with what, if the genetically distilled rice is supposed to be so stable--but also, I really don't understand why they would need or even want emotional control in the first place. That just makes no logical sense when you look at how it completely derailed Mamoru's mission. The only purpose I can see it serving is a plot point that reveals Takashi's true nature, which really, it needs to make sense on the surface as well as move the plot forward. Thumbs down.

I felt the ending to be a little forced. It reminds me of the theme of the movie Antitrust, where the culminating moment is the scrappy underdog releasing the corporate badguy's code to the world. Mamoru knows that revealing the engineered animals will prompt people around the world to create their own, but he can't let the 'nature guerrillas' get away with their plan to discredit genetically distilled rice with underhanded means. So he releases the entire code and user manual to the world, thinking hey, now everyone will do it right. I don't follow the logic, I guess. I mean, sure, you're giving those who would possibly do a bang-up job of replicating a bunch of engineered grasshoppers by themselves the tools to do it correctly, but just because someone has the tools doesn't mean they're not going to purposefully create something destructive. I appreciate the effort to create a more complex ending than everything-is-fixed, though. There probably wasn't any way they were going to come out of that situation with an entirely happy ending anyway, but it does feel as if that's the feeling that's trying to be pushed there--the code's out, everything's okay now. Resolution, in the context of fiction, does not have to be Solution. Not every problem in a story needs to be Fixed.

Overall though, if you don't mind feeling a little lost in a sea of buzzwords, it's not a bad read. I think a lot of other fantasy and scifi I've read has primed me to be okay with not necessarily understanding everything that's going on, though I like clarity more. It's a fun read on it's own, and high-concept, which is always nice. But somehow it also doesn't necessarily stand out to me. Not bad; but not necessarily great, either.

Overall: 3 stars

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The Book of Phoenix - Nnedi Okorafor

The internet-o-sphere has been abuzz lately about diversity in fantasy and science fiction. It's a valid concern for sure: for over a century both genres have been dominated by white men, and the worlds they create reflect not only their time but their culture. How many fantasy stories are based on medieval Europe and all that goes along with that, including subjugation of women, feudal/monarchy systems of government and absence/tokenism of minorities? It stands to reason that if we approach these genres from outside of that perspective, we'll get new, fresh, incredibly interesting worlds that may resonate with readers who have never been able to see themselves in these traditional narratives.

Nnedi Okorafor is an outspoken proponent of fantasy diversity, and her books work to fill that void as well. Previously I was introduced to her post-apocalyptic African-based book Who Fears Death via a college course, but I realized I had a copy of her short story collection Kabu Kabu on my shelf already. And once I got into them? I was hooked. This is a fantasy I hadn't seen before.

Great art, too.

The Book of Phoenix, released this May, is a prequel to Who Fears Death. We listen to the story of Phoenix Okore, a genetically engineered woman who burns like a sun and rises from her ashes. She escapes from the tower where she's been contained for the first few years of her life (she ages dramatically fast, and is only three for the majority of the book, though she appears around 40) and, over the course of the book, discovers more about what the people who kept her captive have done to her, her birth mother, her genetic siblings, and her friends and lover, all of whom are of African descent. It's a kind of 'let my people go' quest, only Phoenix holds nothing back. She's willing to destroy everything to achieve justice.

Okorafor's worldbuilding is always a pleasure. I really enjoyed how she tied this story, not only to Who Fears Death but also to one of her short stories, Spider the Artist (which, incidentally, can be read online at Lightspeed Magazine). The anansi droids, spider-like robots, guard the Nigerian oil lines, but become too dangerous to be around people. In The Book of Phoenix, they're spotted by Phoenix swimming through the ocean, having left Nigeria. We don't know their exact intentions, but it's certainly ominous. Are they looking for more humans to kill? Are these machines programmed to hate the human race? It's a small commentary on how AI has the potential to get away from us. You can also see how these droids, and the atrocities committed by the Big Eye towers, could contribute to a mythology in Who Fears Death where humans were punished for their technological sins.

In fact, that's really the basis of the story. The Book of Phoenix is constructing the mythology of the Great Book in Who Fears Death. It's all very interconnected, and fascinating for that.

It's something to note, too, exactly how important race is to this story. I think a lot of fantasy and science fiction, when attempting to be diverse, makes race incidental to the character. And in some settings, that could make perfect sense. A fantasy world without out our particular societal baggage, I could see skin color being incidental to a character's personality. But in many others, it seems like either a mistake or a missed opportunity. Our race--though a construct created entirely by our perceptions--does have an effect on who we are. We can see that effect in the Book of Phoenix, in every African character, that their heritage is an integral part of the character and shapes how they move and talk and react and even how they see each other and how others see them. This is what I mean when I say making race incidental is a missed opportunity: there's an extra dimension to these characters because of how they interact with the world, influenced by their race.

I think this can be something hard for white authors to understand. Is this what leads authors to make entirely white casts? Or, sometimes, token characters with racial signifiers, that maybe have no bearing on the character's development? White authors certainly CAN write characters of color effectively, but I think it takes a level of commitment to writing authentically and trying to understand the experiences of someone not like yourself. But ultimately, I think it's going to be most important to continue to push for diversity in publishing, in race and sexual identity and ability. Those are the authors that are going to be giving us the deepest truths about these experiences. I say this as a white author who, still, will try to find my own place in the industry and do my best to contribute to the solutions, not the problems.

As always, your mileage may vary. All I can say is I like the focus that #weneeddiversebooks is getting, and I hope that it continues.

"Phoenix," she said. Hearing my name come from her lips made me feel stronger. "I birthed you all on my lonesome. They cleared out soon as I was in labor. They left me in that building, talked to me by portable. They were sure you'd blow up...or something. But you came out alive, eyes all open. Glowing like a little sun--orange under ebony brown. Brownest newborn I ever saw. I held you." She shut her eyes and she held my hand. She opened her eyes and looked intensely into mine. "I held you. They come back when they knew it was safe. Took you from me! They'd promised me I could raise you! That you'd be mine." She breathed heavily, wheezing and coughing.
"Easy," I whispered, patting her on the back.
"They classified you as a 'dangerous non-human person'. That's how they justified taking you from me like that. But then, what's that make me?" She coughed again, weaker. "Phoenix, give 'em hell. You hear me girl? Give 'em hell."

Overall: 5 stars

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The Giver - Lois Lowry

I've been digging into books from my childhood again lately, to mixed success. Some failed miserably to live up to my memories (Redwall, Pern, among others), but others, the ones that I think are truly remarkable, hold up well. The Giver is a great example of that. Though maybe better known to today's audiences as a exceedingly subpar movie adaptation, Lowry's original book was published in 1993 and was awarded multiple honors, including the 1994 Newberry Medal.

Hollywood always gotta insert romance into a story that doesn't have one and doesn't NEED one.

The Giver was perhaps dystopian fiction before dystopian fiction became a thing. It takes place in an implied future, where every aspect of life as we know it today has been changed: hills don't exist, because they interfered with shipping and travel. Weather doesn't exist, because it interferes with the efficiencies of life. Sunlight doesn't exist. Color doesn't exist. Everyone is herded through early life in groups according to their birthyear, and they explore the same milestones together, learning about interdependence and the importance of community cohesiveness. Careers are assigned to them based on their aptitudes, spouses are assigned based on compatibility. Sex doesn't exist, children are born by birthmothers and assigned to family units. Rules are paramount. Rules are what keeps the community existing.

Enter Jonas, who approaches his twelfth year ceremony with apprehension, the year everyone gets their career assignments. The community is shocked when he is assigned to be the Receiver of Memory. Jonas learns about how the previous Receiver, now the Giver, holds the memories of the time before, meant to remember all the hardships that all these extraneous things brought them, and advise the community when questions arise that would bring the state of their community into jeopardy.

 I wouldn't say it's an overly complicated plot or anything, and yes, we see this idea of sameness=bad, freedom to make our choices=good, etc. in other works, but I think it's important to consider first, the time that this was published, and second, the audience. This book came out before our latest glut of science fiction and dystopian young adult works, so really, a lot of the work we're seeing now is really sampling from what Lowry wrote. For example, Divergent uses the same trope of "This categorizing isn't LIVING! Freeeeeedooooom!" -- only executed a lot poorer. But also, this is children's fiction, possibly middle grade by today's publishing standards. You don't want a middle grade book to be TOO far above the audience's heads, which this book is not. The writing is easy to understand and digest.What makes Lowry's writing so much higher quality is the fact that while easy to understand, it's still challenging for that age group, and really gives them something to think about in terms of what they might want society to look like in the future

There's not a whole lot I can take away from this from a technical standpoint, because I don't think that middle grade will be my genre of choice, but I like having the example of what's appropriate for that age group. If that was something I wanted to explore at some point, The Giver would certainly be a decent example to emulate, as far as word choice and sentence structure.

One thing I found interesting is how Lowry emphasized the characters that have distinctively light-colored eyes: Jonas, the Giver, and the previous Receiver all do; as well as Gabe, the newchild that Jonas's family is caring for. There's also a female Six that Jonas mentions has the same eyes. They mention that the Birthmothers only bear three children in three years and then retire, so it's not possible that all there could have the same birthmother, but I do wonder if they're related somehow. It makes it seem like the ability to give and receive these memories (which Gabe can also do) is somehow related to their genetics. Perhaps the community has a store of sperm? I wonder how they would replenish that supply, given that every male in the community takes the pills that remove all sexual desire?

Additionally, it's never really explained how the memories 'escape' and return to the community. When Rosemary was released/died, her memories just flew out and everyone had a piece of them. It's heavily implied that Jonas and Gabe die, but they make it seem as if they believe just leaving the community will release those memories back. How does that work? They pass some special line on the ground and lose those memories? It's not like there aren't other communities in the world, they specifically mention groups of visiting children from Elsewhere. I guess I just wonder at some of the logistics of this world that Lowry didn't explore, because from an adult perspective it doesn't necessarily make sense. Which isn't the point of the book at all, so it's okay to not explore that--I'm just that kind of annoying reader, I guess.

Incidentally, I have only now learned, twenty years later, that there's a Giver series and now I must read the others. Maybe my questions will be answered!

"But now that I can see colors, at least sometimes, I was just thinking: What if we could hold up things that were bright red, or bright yellow, and he could choose? Instead of the Sameness."
"He might make wrong choices."
"Oh." Jonas was silent for a minute. "Oh, I see what you mean. It wouldn't matter for a newchild's toy. But later it does matter, doesn't it? We don't dare to let people make choices of their own."
"Not safe?" The Giver suggested.
"Definitely not safe," Jonas said with certainty. "What if they were allowed to choose their own mate? And chose wrong?"Or what if," he went on, almost laughing at the absurdity, "they chose their own jobs?"
"Frightening, isn't it?" The Giver said.
Jonas chuckled. "Very frightening. I can't even imagine it. We really have to protect people from wrong choices."
"It's safer."
"Yes," Jonas agreed. "Much safer."
But when the conversation turned to other things, Jonas was left, still, with a feeling of frustration that he didn't understand.

 Overall: 5 stars

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Mirror Dance - Lois McMaster Bujold

So here we are again with Bujold and Miles Vorkosigan. I, like many people, have my comfort series, and until I finish devouring the whole thing, I'm going to keep picking at it piecemeal. I do love picking up new books by new authors but there's always an element of chance involved. Will I connect with their prose style in any way? Are they able to tell a good, cohesive story? Are their characters at all interesting? With Bujold I know the answer to all three of those questions is an emphatic yes, so I pretty much have to keep sampling her wares. It's guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser.

Again, it's hard to place this exactly in the Vorkosigan timeline, but this begins after Miles's first encounter with both Mark and Taura, who both feature prominently. Mark who is still hesitant to call himself by that name (because, after all, Miles chose it for him), impersonates Admiral Naismith to gain control of a Dendarii unit and use it for his own personal rescue mission on Jackson's Whole. They raid House Bharaputra, known clone creator and distributor, to free a group of young clone siblings before they can be killed. Naturally, it all falls apart, and even as Miles rushes in to try to save both his brother and his troops, he's hit with a needlegun and killed.

This book explores the resurrection process that's been hinted at in previous works, from Miles' perspective. Mark explores who he is without Galen and within the identity of Mark Vorkosigan, as he travels to Barrayar, gets to know his parents, and learns about Barrayaran society. Miles exploers re-finding himself as well after cryo-amnesia. They parallel each other in this story, and both come out drastically changed. I won't spoil that far, but the psychology behind this story is really fascinating. You really find yourself rooting for what previously seemed an unredeemable character.

All in all, still classic Bujold gold. This is the kind of book I pick up when I'm bored with my other picks and want some delicious word candy to lose myself in.

"I don't understand."
"Just exactly so." She was a child, despite her grownup body, he was increasingly certain of it. "When you are older... you will find your own boundaries. And you can invite people across them as you choose. Right now you scarcely know where you leave off and the world begins. Desire should flow from within, not be imposed from without."

"And what were you planning to do tonight, Mark?"
"Dance with Kareen."
"I don't see the problem with that. You're allowed to dance. Whatever you are. This is not the play, Mark, and old Prospero has many daughters. One may even have a low taste for fishy fellows."
"How low?"
"Oh..." The Countess held out her hand at a level about equal to Mark's standing height. "At least that low. Go dance with the girl, Mark. She thinks you're interesting. Mother Nature gives a sense of romance to young people, in place of prudence, to advance the species. It's a trick--that makes us grow."

 Overall: 5 stars

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More reviews: Mirror Dance on Librarything (Average 4.28 stars)

Mirror Dance on Goodreads (Average 4.31 stars)

 

 

Borders of Infinity - Lois McMaster Bujold

There's something really comforting about series from good authors. I like knowing that I can keep going back for more Vorkosigan from my hero Loid McMaster Bujold. And given how great the narrator is, I just keep picking them up in audiobook form every time I get a credit from Audible. Good for housework, knitting, driving, walking, boring times at work, any time I want to shut out anyone obnoxious; I'm hard pressed to find a time when an audiobook ISN'T the right choice. So I return to Miles Vorkosigan with my metaphorical blanket and hot tea, curled up in front of a window on a rainy day.

Borders of Infinity is actually a three novella collection, including the novella of the same name and two others, The Mountains of Mourning and Labyrinth. Each have entirely separate storylines, tied together by a rather thin thread of Miles being questioned about each of these incidents during recovery from one of his many surgeries. Really, we could have done without the 'present' storyline at all. Each novella stands well enough on its own, but I think it was probably written up just for the release of these three together. There are other collections the novellas can be found in, so I suppose they had to tie these together in some way to make them stand together.

The Mountains of Mourning is actually my favorite of the three, because we're seeing a side of Barrayar that is normally quite hidden. A woman appears at Miles' home, asking to appeal to Count Vorkosigan for justice for her murdered infant, a baby girl who had "the cat's mouth", or a cleft lip/palate. Many Barrayarans have been fighting the mutant stigma for years, but in this backcountry it remains strong. Miles is dispatched by his father to investigate who smothered the child and decide for himself what to do about it. Especially nice was how Miles found a way to use the tragedy to better the whole area, by sending the child's mother to a school to learn how to become a teacher, so that she can come back and improve the lives of all the local children. Through education do people stop murdering their babies, one hopes.

I find it really interesting to explore characters that Miles wouldn't normally interact much with: his own people. He's spent so much time in space with the mercenaries or in the Barrayaran military tht we forget he has familial duties regarding the people who are technically under the care of his family. It was also nice to see 'country' people portrayed varyingly, rather than a monolith of stupid and intolerant. Sure, there were a few stupid and intolerant characters in the mountains, but there's a few on the ships, and in the Vor, and the goverment, too. I just like that those traits define those characters, and not their people as a whole.

Labyrinth was also interesting, for here we see the introduction of Taura. I remember Jackson's Whole from Ethan of Athos, mostly as a seedy planet with a penchant for immortality via transplanting brains into homegrown clones. The Houses that populate Jackson's Whole all seem to be very interested in genetics, and trade both in interesting genomes and creatures (or people) created using them. Miles and the Dendarii are sent to retrieve a particular scientist from House Bharaputra, only their plans go awry when Dr. Canaba places the genomes he was going to take within a living creature that is subsequently sold to Baron Ryoval. They have to stage a mission to infiltrate Ryoval's labs and retrieve the sample and kill the creature. Only.. it turns out the 'creature' is really an altered sixteen-year-old girl, cold, starved, hurt and scared.The retrieval mission turns into a rescue mission with some laboratory vandalism thrown in for good measure.

Taura is a fascinating character, and so far one of my favorites. She was part of a batch of embryos genetically altered to be super soldiers, possibly by using animal genes. By consequence Taura is very large, very strong, and very fast: her metabolism runs at a much faster rate than regular humans, and she is the only one of her cohort to have survived this long. Her face is almost leonine to Miles, and she has functional fangs and claws. She's been treated as an animal or experiment for so long that it's baffling to her when Miles treats her like a human. And treat her he does. She asks him to prove her humanity by sleeping with her. For such a self-proclaimed ugly, Miles sure gets a lot of action from a lot of hot ladies. (I had an ick moment here, but then realized this story was taking place when Miles was only 23--so the age difference isn't quite as stark as I initially thought.)

Lastly is Borders of Infinity itself. In this novella Miles as Captain Naismith infiltrates a Cetagandan prisoner-of-war camp to rescue a captured Colonel who was supposed to stage a Marilacan resistance against the Cetagandans. Only the Colonel is beyond Miles' help, and he still must figure out a way to rally the prisoners and escape from the dome the Cetagandans have encased him in. A good story that showcases Miles' ability to read and influence people, which is really his greatest asset--how else could a teenager bluff his way into commanding an entire mercenary crew? Overall I just didn't find it quite as interesting as the other two, but it's certainly a fine story on its own. Miles spends a lot of time naked. He practically creates a religion. He gets beat up by some women for a while and falls a little bit for a tragic redhead.

So I'll leave you with classic Bujold Vorkosigan quips.

“Bleeding ulcers run in my family, we give them to each other.” 

“If you can't be seven feet tall, be seven feet smart.”

Overall: 5 stars

 Amazon: Borders of Infinity

 

More reviews: Borders of Infinity (Collection) on Librarything (Average 4.14 stars)

Mountains of Mourning on Goodreads (Average 4.26 stars)

Labyrinth on Goodreads (Average 4.16 stars)

Borders of Infinity (novella) on Goodreads  (Average 4.30 stars)

 

 

 

Ringworld - Larry Niven

Part of my self-imposed research study involves reading not just the new or new-ish science fiction, but also that of decades past. This has, shall we say, mixed results. Some of the ideas that I would consider tropes in today's fiction were first engineered in sci-fi from the 1970s and earlier, so it's interesting to see them in their early forms. These are sometimes some of the most imaginative science fiction I've come across, because really these authors were pioneering their way into the genre. Heinlein didn't have decades of Heinlein to draw on like authors today: he pulled it all out of his ass.

But on the other hand, even within the futuristic settings there are prevailing archaic attitudes that make some of these difficult to read. Larry Niven's Ringworld is no exception, certainly, and maybe a bigger offender than others.

Interestingly this book also plays heavily into my hard-vs-soft-science-fiction debate from earlier. The entire plot of the book is built around the concept of a Dyson sphere, or a hypothetical space structure encompassing an entire star at the same distance of that star's zone of habitability, thence able to capture all of that star's energy output. It's hypothetical because, clearly, the size of such a structure is beyond our abilities, and even challenges the limits of our understanding. Niven's universe proposes the existence of a modified Dyson sphere, in the shape of a ring around such a star. While still massive, such a ring would be a fraction of the size and require a fraction of the materials. The main characters, Louis Wu, Teela Brown, and two aliens Speaker to Animals and Nessus, have come to learn about the ringworld and what it might mean for the future of all their species given the 'imminent' (aka, twenty-thousand years in the future) explosion of the galaxy's core.

The focus on the science lands this story squarely in the realm of hard science fiction. Simply put, the characters are all fairly incidental. The addition or subtraction of Louis Wu to the group would make little difference in the general outcome of the story. I find this to be a drawback, personally, though I know some seem to prefer this type of science fiction. There are some minor plot points woven in through the larger narrative related to each specific character that are more interesting, but the overall idea is, essentially: rag-tag group of beings inspects a 'planet' after its highly technological civilization has fallen to ruins; encounters hostile natives and technological malfunctions; must find a way to get home again. Not particularly revolutionary for now, though perhaps moreso for its publication date of 1970, more than forty years ago.

But there are parts of this book that are just downright painful to read. I touched briefly on the group of four that were included in the expedition earlier. Nessus, an alien known as a puppeteer, is the instigator of the expedition, provider of transportation and supplies and information. Speaker to Animals, a cat-like Kzin, is the muscle, well-versed in offense and defense. Louis Wu is an accomplished space traveler and adventurer. Teela Brown? The sole female member of their crew? She has no skills. She's just lucky.

I WISH I was exaggerating this. Literally the only thing she brings to this expedition is her luck (which actually ends up being a plot point for them later in the book, but a weak one). We have two highly skilled and intelligent male characters (and one genderless intelligent character), and then a stupid, beautiful, lucky twenty-two-year-old girl, who is there to periodically sex up Louis and throw tantrums when she steps on something hot.

Later on a second female character is introduced (literally the only other woman with a name, I might point out), but she's a whore. Prill was a member of the human species who built the Ringworld, but she wasn't a scientist, or an engineer, or a pilot, or anything like that. She was the ship's prostitute. She's also there to sex up Louis (because Teela isn't around at the moment, and clearly Louis can't NOT be sexed), but also to sex him like he's never been sexed before. She's not just a hooker with a heart of gold, she's the best hooker to ever hook.She can come back to Earth and teach all them Earth women how to sex their men right.

Lastly, Niven makes a point of stating how the Kzin have sub-sapient females. I feel like I could have just stopped reading right there. Is it any wonder this post is positively dripping with disdain?

But even if you throw aside my feminism objections--which I'm sure some are happy to do, given that it's practically a dirty word these days--the writing is just downright sloppy. At one point Niven uses the phrase "sky-blue sky" to describe.. uh.. the sky. Like, thanks. That was a very helpful description. This odd word repetition is pretty rampant. As another example: "Unending, endlessly changing terrain". Surely there are better ways of phrasing that, that aren't the phonetic equivalent of stumbling over a brick half-buried in the ground.

Lastly, this quote.

"A bandersnatch looked like a cross between Moby Dick and a Caterpillar tractor."

If I have understood this correctly, this seems like a HUGE break in narrative consistency. While written in the third person, the book is written with Louis Wu as the POV character. We are seeing what Louis sees, and also into Louis' head. POV can be difficult for beginning writers, because it's easy to slip out of this third-person limited by accident. But it's important to remember that, with third-person limited, we are LIMITED to only what that character knows. We can't jump to another place where Louis isn't at; we can't jump into anyone else's head; and we can't get a description that Louis Wu would not realistically know. Moby Dick is a reference I might ascribe to Louis, given how classic literature does tend to hold up even over centuries. But a Caterpillar, as in, the brand of construction equipment? If we're far enough ahead in the future to have instantaneous teleportation across the world and 'booster spice' capable of extending human lifespan to centuries, I sincerely doubt we're still using Caterpillar tractors. This is a break in POV and it's sloppy.

Overall, I don't think this book stands the test of time. It may have been good for its era, but it's aged pretty terribly. Niven doesn't exactly stand up to the durability of Heinlein and Asimov. What I do have to say went well for this book is it had a great narrator: Tom Parker, aka Grover Gardner, my hero of Vorkosigan. So at least I enjoyed listening to his voice.

Overall: 2 stars

Amazon: Ringworld

More reviews: Ringworld on Librarything (Average 3.83 stars)

Ringworld on Goodreads (Average 3.94 stars)

Brothers in Arms - Lois McMaster Bujold

Lois McMaster Bujold is something of a science fiction legend. She's won five Hugo awards, three Nebula awards, and three Locus awards--but I'm no award snob. She's just an all-around clever and snappy writer, and I marvel at the worlds she creates. Her Vorkosigan Saga is space opera at its finest, and I certainly don't mean that in the derogatory way: it's character-driven science fiction, which is, I think, the bridge between genre and literary fiction.

Hello ma'am I think you are great.

I wait, I think I hear a thousand noses lifting into the air at that phrase. Literary fiction? Surely not!

As I slowly start to dig into the literary world I come across this interesting genre bias. TRUE literature is only realistic! Science fiction and fantasy are always pulp. Obviously I find this to be ludicrous, or I wouldn't make a point of being mildly sarcastic about such a statement. I grew up reading genre, because it was what was interesting. And some of it, sure, was pretty pulpy. But is it too dramatic if I compare it to an addiction, in that it feels really, really good, but not being able to step back from genre to study it objectively can leave the aspiring writer with some severe problems?

Maybe that's a rant for another time (short version: hey stop writing the same stories new writers, please) so I'll get right down to my main point: Genre is fun. Genre is awesome. Genre has so many possibilities and places you can go, limited only by the writer's skill and imagination. But there's a big caveat: the best genre is CHARACTER-driven, not PLOT-driven.

So yes, this kind of focus is what bridges us between poor genre and snobby literary fiction, to create a hybrid that's taking some of the best qualities of both: the fun escapism, the exciting adventure, the strange worlds; and the complex characters and literary chops to pull it off.

So laugh, literature snobs, but Bujold is an amazing writer. Every time I read (or in this case, listen to) one of her stories, I'm astounded at the end at how she's crafted a story that is complex, and yet easy to follow; surprising, and yet logical. At the end, everything just makes sense. I suspect this is the result of deep, intimate knowledge of your characters, your setting and your plot, something that every writer should aspire to. Bujold excels at the aphorism, and her characters and their dialogue are, although distinct from each other, just so damn funny sometimes.

Tangentially related: Meet Grover Gardner, the best damn audiobook narrator ever. He does the whole Vorkosigan series (and I spotted him under a pseudonym doing Ringworld, too.)

Brothers in Arms is the... well, I'm not sure exactly what number in the series it is, to be honest. The chronological and publication orders are substantially different, and while I prefer to read in chronological order, even that is a little complicated. There's a lot of short stories and novellas worked into the saga here and there, and opinions seem to differ about what order to read them in. For myself this is seventh Vorkosigan book I've read. Miles Vorkosigan is a young man leading a double life: He is a member of the Vor of Barrayar, a class of nobility on his home planet, and a low-ranking military officer; but he is also Admiral Naismith, leader of the Dendarii mercenaries, and only his closest associates know that the fleet is secretly under the pay of the Barrayarans. How did Miles acquire this fleet? Though fast talking, a keen mind and sheer luck. In a previous book he essentially talked an entire mercenary fleet into his own power.

In this installment, Miles and the Dendarii are stopped at Earth after the mercenaries' last engagement, and when Miles checks in with the Barrayaran embassy (because hey, they need to get paid!) he gets caught up in a Komarran revenge plot against his famous father. Miles tries to pass off the appearance of both Vorkosigan and Naismith in the same place with a story about a clone, but as it turns out, the Komarrans really do have a clone, and Miles discovers his new 'brother', who he christens Mark. Deep down this is a story about loyalties: Miles to his planet, his fleet, his family; Mark's to the Komarrans; Galeni's to Komarr, his father, and Barrayar. Which of these loyalties are worthy? Which are not?

I feel like this summary is only scratching the surface of what Bujold is setting down. Her stories are just so deliciously complicated, and I don't want to ruin the flavor by boiling it down to its separate parts here. Suffice to say it's a great story; though, perhaps, not the best one to start the series with. It feels so rich to me because I know the history that has led up to this point, and someone entering the series here might not catch quite as much. In a sense I appreciate that Bujold hasn't spoon-fed us recaps with every book, or worked in extraneous information in artificial ways, in the way that some authors do when trying to make a series book stand alone. I don't think the story here suffers without that context, but is certainly enriched by having it.

A few years ago there was a really interesting post on whether or not Bujold can be considered hard science fiction (hard being based on actual science, soft being less true to actual physical possibilities, but both terms have some leeway). I liked what Martin Wisse had to say about the matter:

Much hard science fiction suffers from technofetishism, where the characters go around lovingly describing each type of ship taking part in a space battle or go into the finer details of the ammunition they’re using in the midst of a firefight. Even when the focus is less militaristic, it can sometimes seem the future is entirely populated by geeks. This is not the case with Bujold: her characters are people comfortable with using futuretech, without particularly noticing it or how it influences their society, but this influence is still there. As a reader it means you yourself have to work harder to notice things too, as they’re not pointed out to you.

There's an implication in the argument over hard vs soft science fiction that soft science fiction is somehow inferior to hard. Geek culture likes to rank things like this, in terms of something being better, geekier, more pure or more hardcore than something else; but really I think it comes down to personal preference. While I certainly like stories that are science-plausible, I don't like stories where the science is prioritized over the characters. So in a way, soft science fiction fulfills this need more, but again, there's a certain amount of leeway that makes for successful stories in both categories.

In closing, quotes.

"The costs had been so small, compared to the spectacular results. Except for all the individuals who had paid for the triumph with their lives, for whom the price was something infinite, divided by zero."

"They tilted bed-ward, hungry mouthed."

"Some attitudes couldn't be changed, they just had to be outlived."

 Overall: 5 stars

Amazon: Brothers in Arms

More reviews: Brothers in Arms on Librarything (Average 4.16 stars)

Brothers in Arms on Goodreads (Average 4.18 stars)