So my plan this year was to start off with “anti-epics,”
i.e., SF paperbacks under 200 pages. I’ve more or less stuck to that rule, and
have put away five so far. I also wanted to pen reviews for each, but, alas,
life has intervened (more on that in a follow-up post). The only one I reviewed
was the first novel, Between Planets,
by Robert Heinlein. Since I want to get at least something of my humble opinions
on each here on the blog before I forget, I decided to simply spew a few
sentences on the four other tales I’ve read.
Ready?
OK!
The
Grayspace Beast © 1976 by Gordon Eklund
I first read this book in the summer of 2010,
recuperating from all my lung surgeries, when I realized that I really first
read this book as a child in the late 70s. Everything came back – the characters,
the plot, the beast itself. I vaguely recalled enjoying it thoroughly as a lad,
though I was easily pleased, and not really enjoying it as a middle-aged dude.
A group of carny-like aliens come together to find lasting and last-ditch glory
in hunting down the mythical grayspace beast, a monster inhabiting the “subspace”
that’s hardly used anymore since teleportation has become commonplace. Flash
Gordon combined with Baron Munchhausen with some very cool SF ideas. It’s also
a story-within-a-story, where you have to guess which character in the
grayspace beast story is narrating the story as told to a group of children. As
it turns out, you can’t, but the double reveals at the end make it a worthy read.
Find and devour it if you can.
5-day read
Grade: A-
The
Deep Range © 1957 by Arthur C. Clarke
A somewhat ponderous but intriguing Clarke novel from
his early days. The focus is on oceanography, specifically the herding of
whales and gardens on the ocean floor to feed mankind. Strength in ideas as
opposed to characterization, though the main protagonist is more fleshed out
than the average Clarkian character. A second character’s sacrificial death is
basically meaningless. Clarke’s pro animal rights comes out, as well as his
Buddhist slant, but I was okay with both. Got me interested in the physics,
chemistry, and biology of the seas, if only for a week.
7-day read
Grade: B+
Who
Goes Here? © 1977 by Bob Shaw
Nifty tale of a man who has his memory completely
wiped and joins the equivalent of the space foreign legion. A statuette of a
purple frog is the only clue to his prior life. Tries to be an SF comedy, and
succeeds more often than not. Kind of like the equivalent of Ron Goulart novel meets that
Christopher Nolan movie Memento.
There are some real mean baddies called “Oscars”, crazed single-minded
bodybuilders with glowing red eyes that will hunt you down and feed you to “throwrugs”
– blobby like things that fall on you from trees and eat you alive. Some
slapstick stuff, some horror stuff, all mixed into a fast read that went from a
B to an A- due to the really awesome reveals at the end, from the Oscars and
throwrugs to how the hero got his post-memory wipe name, “Warren Peace.”
2-day read
Grade: A-
West
of Honor © 1976 by Jerry Pournelle
Straight up military with a dash of SF thrown in. A
map on page 1 was a good sign. Seems that Arrarat, an agricultural world
settled by Amish-types, is having trouble dealing with convicts Earth is
dumping on them. Send in the colonial marines. Heavy on military theory and
machismo, but no so much on science fiction. Paradoxically interesting and dull
at the same time. Had a hard time visualizing the story as it was unfolding.
Learned some good military axioms that most likely young Napoleon heard, maybe
even young Alexander. Had a textbook feel to it, and I’d like to have more
focus on the commanding officer, Captain Falkenberg, rather than the newbie
lieutenants.
5-day read
Grade: B-
I’m looking to read two more quickie science fictions
paperbacks followed by a return to Richard Sharpe and the Napoleonic wars next,
and get all that done by Ash Wednesday. Because I have something interesting I
want to do for Lent…
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