Books: More That Need To Be Packed

[woodwardiocom]

Unicorn Variations by Roger Zelazny

This story collection has been sitting in my to-review pile for awhile, so I don't recall specifics, but Zelazny is always very readable.

The Third Level by Jack Finney

Another collection, this one mostly focused on escaping the banalities of mid-20th century American suburbia — or, alternately, fleeing to it. There's the usual rose-glassed nostalgia for eras that were lovely to live in, if you were a rich white male, but it's still a good collection.

The Stars Are Ours! by Andre Norton

A near-future technophobic tyranny sets the scene. Our heroes fight, then flee to another world, with its own menaces, both alive and archaeological. Not Norton's best, and I always wish she'd use her female characters better, but still a keeper.

The Practice Effect by David Brin

An early Brin novel, in which our hero is stuck in an alternate world where tools become better the more they're used. Thus, rich people pay poor people to wear their clothes for them, eat off their dishes, etc. Our hero has some light sword-n-sorcery style adventures, triumphs over evil, and sets up a sequel, which never happened. Good "what if" SF, recommended.

Red Planet Blues by Robert J. Sawyer

Hard-boiled detective adventures on Mars, often focusing on the questions of identity that non-SF pulp loved even without the aid of cloning, brain transplants, etc. The pulp trappings make it a bit sexist, but it's still worthwhile.

A Confederation Of Valor and The Heart Of Valor by Tanya Huff

These two books include three novels about space marine Sergeant Kerr, a woman who is very good at her job. I really adore them; the military details are good, the tech is consistent, the reasons why people are still using ground troops are solid, and the adventures are exciting. Recommended.

Shadow's Edge by Brent Weeks

I wasn't sure if I was going to pick up v2 of this low fantasy trilogy, but it was on sale, so... Our assassin hero's life continues to suck, even as he gains more power and becomes more embroiled in international politics. And he just can't seem to get out of the game. Dark, not high art, but evocative and colorful. Recommended.

The Human Division by John Scalzi

The continuing story of the Old Man's War universe, in which humanity is trying to cling to its foothold in the stars with hostile aliens at every turn. Morally complex stories ensue. Recommended.

In Search Of Wonder 3e by Damon Knight

This is a collection of SF criticism, mostly dating from the 1950s-1960s. Knight is a fine critic, but my problem with his attitude can be summed up in one quote: "The humbling truth is that science fiction is only for the small number of people who like to think and who regard the universe with awe, which is a blend of love and fear. 'The public' does neither."

Oh, retch.

First, sir, you don't understand the word "humble", because this quote is not it. Two attitudes SF never needed, and certainly no longer needs, are A) that we are a persecuted minority, and B) that we are better and smarter than "the public". Both may have some slight basis in fact. Both do nothing good for the fan who believes them, or for the genre as a whole. (And note how many of the great SF novels are about the persecution of someone smarter or stronger than the persecutors. (Though that's not uncommon in other genres, either.))

The book also contains many, many instances of SF gatekeeping, where Knight defines SF as tightly as he can in order to say, "This book is not SF." I don't have much patience for that sort of snobbery. The boundaries of a genre are often where the most interesting work is done.

And along the way he redefines "sci-fi" to mean "science fiction I want to sneer at", thus tainting the harmless abbreviation for an entire generation.

So, eh, lots of useful criticism (notably his demolition of Van Vogt's The Players Of Null-A,) but it's surrounded by many bad habits of SF thought.

Comments

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

I encountered "sci-fi" in the pages of Time in the 1960s, where it was used with impressive consistency to sneer at what it referred to; in fact I don't recall ever seeing Time refer to anything in the genre without sneering. The writers who took it seriously and respected it called it "sf." Uniformly so, whether they were old school Campbellians or New Wave enthusiasts. I don't recall seeing any of them use "sci-fi" at all, though I wasn't a fanzine fan and might have missed its being used in fanzines. Whatever Damon Knight did to bring the term into disrepute affected a negligible number of people compared to those who read Time back then.

I'm aware of Forrest J. Ackerman's efforts to popularize the term—though I certainly didn't hear about them back then. But really, 4J also used the term to refer to crap; he just happened to be an enthusiastic consumer of crap.

I'm aware that in more recent years the terrm has taken on a more reputable use, to refer to the action/adventure subtype of science fiction. But it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and I can't bring myself to use it. And none of that bad taste comes from Damon Knight; I'm pretty sure I've read In Search of Wonder, but I don't recall seeing it there. And I doubt that Time's contemptuous usage was a product of Knight's influence either.

[woodwardiocom.livejournal.com]

Interesting, thank you.