| Fascinating portals to adventure |
REVIEWS BY GAVIN J. GRANT
Pat Murphy obviously had fun writing the multiple identity novel, Adventures in Times and Space with Max Merriwell. The Max Merriwell of the title writes science fiction under his own name, fantasy under the name Mary Maxwell and mysteries under the name Weldon Merrimax. The multifaceted author is hired to teach a writing class aboard a cruise ship due to sail through the Bermuda Triangle. As the ship sails through parts unknown, passengers on the ship begin encountering Max's pseudonyms -- people who cannot be real, yet are. Murphy's novel rolls quickly along with a chatty tone that entices the reader and makes us wonder what is and isn't real and what might be real. It's complicated but fun, and whether read alone or with the first two books in Murphy's series (There and Back Again and Wild Angel) makes for a very satisfying adventure.
By Pat Murphy Tor, $24.95 ISBN 0312866437
Scientific shenanigansMany of the characters in Geoffrey A. Landis' new short story collection, Impact Parameter and Other Quantum Realities, are scientists -- which isn't surprising, considering that the author works for NASA. Landis' expertise also means the science underpinning most of the stories is rigorously detailed and very much up to date. Stand-out stories include "Snow," a gritty tale that shows the value of a dollar -- and blank paper -- to a homeless woman; "The Singular Habits of Wasps," a rather dark reworking of Sherlock Holmes, in which information gleaned from a certain young Mr. Wells helps Holmes solve the mystery of Jack the Ripper; and Landis' first published story, the somewhat whimsical "Elemental," where magic has been formulated into a science and Italian grape growers might inadvertently cause a certain volcano to become active again. In perhaps the most hopeful, and least scientific story, "Beneath the Stars of Winter," a man newly imprisoned in Siberia is given the smallest reason to hope by a device fashioned from a pair of glasses, wax and a scientific theory unique to gulag researchers. There are a couple of short-short stories which don't add much, but otherwise, this is a strong collection that fans of the science fiction short story shouldn't miss. Landis can sketch characters quickly, explain the science concisely and still have more than enough room to explore fascinating ideas. This is the 16th collection of short stories published by Golden Gryphon Press, and while not all are up to the standard of Impact Parameter, this small publisher is definitely a boon to the reader of short genre fiction.
By Geoffrey A. Landis Golden Gryphon, $24.95 ISBN 1930846061
The history of the fantasticMike Ashley, the editor of The Mammoth Book of Fantasy, obviously prefers a certain type of fantasy -- classic fantasy tales, based on myth and folklore, in which the narrator's voice is instantly familiar, someone like ourselves or someone we know. Two of the best examples in this new collection are George MacDonald Fraser's "The Golden Key" (1867) and James Blaylock's story, "Nets of Silver and Gold" (1984). In between these two stories we explore heroic fantasy in Lord Dunsany's short and surprising "The Hoard of the Gibbelins," have a look at modern revisionist versions of same (Tanith Lee's "A Hero at the Gates" and Patricia A. McKillip's "Lady of the Skulls"), go on a quick excursion into comic fantasy (Theodore Sturgeon's wonderful "Yesterday Was Monday") and onto modern fantastic writing in Jack Womack's excellent "Audience," where we are taken through a museum of lost sounds. Five hundred pages does indeed make for a "mammoth" book, but this collection is only a step in the right direction. While Ashley manages to include a wide variety of writers, from Ursula K. LeGuin to Lisa Goldstein, Darrell Schweitzer to Harlan Ellison, there are a great many more who would have to be included if this were to be a definitive collection. However, it does work as a solid introduction to the field.
By Author Carroll & Graf, $11.95 ISBN 0786709170 Gavin J. Grant recently married the girl of his dreams, science fiction author Kelly Link. |
