The set-up and world building in the first half of the story is top-notch, but halfway through it's like Reynolds got bored. The big mystery is suddenThe set-up and world building in the first half of the story is top-notch, but halfway through it's like Reynolds got bored. The big mystery is suddenly revealed in a big info dump, killing all the suspense, and then we're given a rather perfunctory climax....more
I was looking over a list of Seiun Award winners (that's the Japanese equivalent of the Hugo Awards) when I noticed something odd on the list of best I was looking over a list of Seiun Award winners (that's the Japanese equivalent of the Hugo Awards) when I noticed something odd on the list of best translated novels:
1970 The Crystal World by J. G. Ballard 1971 The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton 1972 Nightwings by Robert Silverberg 1973 The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. 1974 Dune by Frank Herbert 1975 Up the Line by Robert Silverberg 1976 ...And Call Me Conrad by Roger Zelazny 1977 The Dragon Masters by Jack Vance 1978 I Will Fear No Evil by Robert A. Heinlein 1979 Ringworld by Larry Niven 1980 Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke 1981 Inherit the Stars by James P. Hogan 1982 The Genesis Machine by James P. Hogan 1983 Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Forward 1984 The Garments of Caean by Barrington J. Bayley 1985 The Zen Gun by Barrington J. Bayley 1986 Elric saga by Michael Moorcock 1987 Neuromancer by William Gibson 1988 Norstrilia by Cordwainer Smith 1989 Footfall by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle 1990 Collision with Chronos by Barrington J. Bayley 1991 The Uplift War by David Brin 1992 The McAndrew Chronicles by Charles Sheffield 1993 Tau Zero by Poul Anderson 1994 Entoverse by James P. Hogan 1996 The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons Timelike Infinity by Stephen Baxter 1997 End of an Era by Robert J. Sawyer 1998 Fallen Angels by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle 1999 The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson 2000 Kirinyaga by Mike Resnick 2001 Frameshift by Robert J. Sawyer 2002 There and Back Again by Pat Murphy 2003 Illegal Alien by Robert J. Sawyer 2004 Heaven's Reach by David Brin 2005 Distress by Greg Egan 2006 Diaspora by Greg Egan 2007 Mortal Engines by Phillip Reeve 2008 Brightness Falls from the Air by James Tiptree, Jr. 2009 Spin by Robert Charles Wilson 2010 The Last Colony by John Scalzi 2011 Eifelheim by Michael Flynn 2012 The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi 2013 The Android's Dream by John Scalzi 2014 Blindsight by Peter Watts
Okay, that's a pretty good list of the major figures of sci-fi, leaning a bit more towards hard-SF than the Hugo Awards do and being light on female authors ... but, who the hell is this Barrington J. Bayley guy? I mean, the Japanese must really love him. They've given him more awards than anyone but Robert J. Sawyer.
Well, Wikipedia to the rescue. Turns out he was a new wave author who influenced Bruce Sterling and Alastair Reynolds. Huh, I love those guys. Better check Bayley out.
Luckily his works are available in reasonably priced ebooks.
And yes, I can definitely see the influence on Reynolds. The opening scene in Revelation Space is remarkably similar to a scene early in this book, and the climactic battle is very much in Reynold's style, with all the fighting taking place off screen while the characters deal with the intellectual issue at the heart of the story.
Too bad it all gets wrapped up with a deus ex machina.
I can also see why the Japanese like this. It has a lot in common with sci-fi anime -- villains who, despite being monstrously evil, are still presented as acting within their own moral framework (think of the House of Zabi from Mobile Suit Gundam), and the deus ex machina is one of those philosophical conversations that take place in a vaguely defined and surrealistic floaty place (the end of Madoka, the end of Penguindrum, the end of Mospeada, the end of Akira, etc., etc.)....more
Why do sci-fi authors always assume humanity will take the dumbest path possible? I mean, if presented the choice of curing overpopulation with birth Why do sci-fi authors always assume humanity will take the dumbest path possible? I mean, if presented the choice of curing overpopulation with birth control or killing everyone over the age of 21, who would opt for the latter?
This is CLAMP at their most experimental. What the means is, the artwork is beyond gorgeous, but there's not as much as you'd expect from a 500 page mThis is CLAMP at their most experimental. What the means is, the artwork is beyond gorgeous, but there's not as much as you'd expect from a 500 page manga since CLAMP decided to be all avant-garde with the panel layout. There are some pages that are blank save for a single panel taking up maybe an eighth of the page. So even though this omnibus contains four volumes, it feels like a mere four chapters. Worse still, this is one of the few incomplete CLAMP series, so the story ends mid stream. This isn't too bad as it's an episodic tale, but there are loose ends and a lack of resolution for the themes....more
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