Books: Spin State & The City, Not Long After

[woodwardiocom]

Spin State by Chris Moriarty

ozarque mentioned this book in her LJ, and I was interested enough in her description to pick it up. It's a murder mystery in a fairly by-the-numbers interstellar future. I didn't finish it. The book is written in phrases I've encountered before, in better books. The author either has no understanding that a slower-than-light spaceship will take more than a month to get to our solar system from another star, or does a lousy job of explaining space travel in his universe. Similarly, the author either has no understanding of how virtual reality works (as when the protagonist is pleased to have put a permanent dent into her host's table, when she's only there in virtual reality, so the dent's not real), or explains it very badly. And the conspiracies are so convoluted that I couldn't keep track of who's who. I used to think, when I was having trouble following stuff in a book, that it was my failing, that I wasn't smart enough. These days I'm starting to realize that it's more likely the book's badly written. The one plus side is that the author does an excellent job of portraying a mining town and the process of mining. Unless that's your thing, however, really not recommended.

The City, Not Long After by Pat Murphy

doeeyedbunny lent me this book. About 18 years after a plague has wiped out most of humanity, a colony of artists have survived in San Francisco, and are slowly turning the city into Art. A de facto warlord named Fourstar (who claims to be the de jure leader of the U.S. Military, at least locally), decides the city is a threat. Conflict, of a sort, ensues.

-I liked this quite a bit, particularly that the author managed to portray the hippie-flaky-artist types in a way that didn't make me roll my eyes. They're a complex, sympathetic, and engaging group. I do think the author missed a potential plot twist, though.

This setting has supernatural elements, which manifest as the city being apparently aware and capable of limited kinds of magic. The residents of SF are therefore defending and inspired by the city. Partway through the conflict, it becomes clear that Fourtstar's soldiers are more scared of him than they are of the city and its defenders. Fourstar talks about defending and rebuilding America a lot, and the protagonists variously mention that they have no use for America, and that the American flag is ugly. When the soldier talks about Fourstar having almost mystical powers, I became certain it was going to turn out that Fourstar was being empowered by America in the same way the protagonists were being empowered by San Francisco. However, nothing like that happened. While it would have made for an interesting twist, and added to the magical depth of the novel, I suspect it would have been counter to the author's thesis that art is good and jingoism is bad. (A thesis that I agree with, of course.)

Recommended.

Comments

[princeofcairo.livejournal.com]

I suspect it would have been counter to the author's thesis that art is good and jingoism is bad. (A thesis that I agree with, of course.)

Depends on the art; depends on the jingoism. And of course, you're leaving a great wide swathe of jingoistic art, from Henry V on down, unaddressed.

[woodwardiocom.livejournal.com]

[hairy eyeball]

[tactical-grace.livejournal.com]

I pretty much agree with you on both counts. The City, Not Long After is an old favorite of mine, and Spin State wasn't bad, but certainly nowhere near as good as any number of other books that have been written in similar veins. (A little miner...err minor humor for you there.)