129,864,880! to samo do nedelje...

[PTY]

James Gunn is a Grand Master of Science Fiction, one of its best historians and proponents, and is a gentleman and a scholar. He's been writing science fiction for 64 years, and has been a science fiction scholar for 54 years. I only spoke with him a couple of times briefly at Worldcon, but he was gracious and very forthcoming. At 90 years of age, Jim was energetic, articulate, polite and had time for everyone. And his memory and clarity of mind rivals the sharpest.
Jim started reading pulps like Doc Savage magazine (who doesn't like Doc?), and a set of Tarzan novels found in the back of his parents' closet. He absorbed all the magazines he could at Andy's used magazine store. He has memories of his Uncle John taking him (at 14 years old) and his brother to see H.G. Wells speak; Jim doesn't recall what Wells talked about, but recalls that he was "short and dumpy, and spoke in a high voice." He and his brother tried to get close enough to touch and talk to his hero, but were unable to.
His first science fiction story was called "Paradox" – it was rejected by Astounding (John Campbell) and Amazing but eventually sold to Thrilling Wonder Stories for $80. The late Frederik Pohl was Gunn's agent; they first met in person at the 10^th Worldcon in Chicago in 1952. Gunn sold nine of his first ten stories, but he took two years. With his wartime savings running out, he turned to Kansas University.
As a science fiction scholar, Professor Gunn founded the Center for the Study of Science Fiction as Kansas University. His scholarly works include the series of six Road to Science Fiction anthologies and Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction (for which he won the Hugo for Best Non-Fiction Book in 1983). He also wrote a book of science fiction criticism, Alternate Worlds: The Illustrated History Of Science Fiction, which won a special award from the 1976 World SF Convention (there were no Hugos for non-fiction at that time). He is the only person to be president of both the Science Fiction Writers Association (1971-1972) and the Science Fiction Research Association.
James Gunn was recognized with the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement in 2007.
His latest novel, Transcendental, is as ambitious and optimistic as his novels from decades ago. In this interview (partially in person, mostly via email), Professor Gunn discusses his past, science fiction's past, his new novel, and how Science Fiction can save the world.
(There is a link below to also skip over the parts about Transcendental, for those who wish to read the interview but want to avoid any spoilers.)
Read the rest of this entry

[PTY]

 
The idea of "The Wonder Timeline" is to highlight selected stories throughout SF&F history (all 100 years of it). Every "Year in SF&F" page contains reviews of stories, collections, original anthologies and novels published in that year in the certain month. This way we'll gradually fill out reviews for thousands of stories listed on our site, as well as enjoy a fun perspective on the genre.

http://www.scifi.darkroastedblend.com/2008/01/wonder-timeline-sf-retrospective.html#Time_2000s

[PTY]

Stari, dobri Hal Duncan... 





You Got Your Privilege in My Face                        
The Privilege of Authors

My first thought on reading this article in Strange Horizons is, I have to say, a fairly simple thought: I can't say I'm impressed with claiming the right to ship/slash my characters in ways I find fetishising/problematic and vetoing my engagement. Clearly from the "Go, you!" comments, a number of readers don't have anything approaching that thought, oblivious to the ramifications for a sodomite in a principle which theoretically extends to outright straightironing, and all the more oblivious to the authorial privilege it's actually asserting rather than rejecting, for the authors of appropriative work and amateur critique who are apparently to be treated as special snowflakes, protected from the responses of their sources and subjects. All those poor little straight white authors who need protected from the Authoritay of us faggot authors who might, heaven forfend, gently point out that having X fuck Y in that way (or insisting that the work is Wrong because that's not how it happens) is Epic GayFail, an Othering fantasy promulgating the stereotypes at the heart of the gaybashing that leads to... you know... gay kids blowing their own heads off.  http://notesfromthegeekshow.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/you-got-your-privilege-in-my-face.html

[PTY]

Five science fiction novels for people who hate SF

The genre's denser stories can seem rebarbative to 'general readers', but these books tell immediately relevant, compelling tales

Science fiction is all around us, from clandestine electronic surveillance to robots taking our jobs, from death-dealing drones in the skies of Pakistan right through to the second industrial revolution unleashed by 3D printing. It's more than a century since writers began charting the technological dream of human civilisation we now live in, but some readers are still put off by a writer who reaches into the future, a novel with a spaceship on the cover.


Like any enduring cultural experiment, science fiction has evolved its own codes, its own logic. Some of the genre's most intense and visionary work talks in a shared language of concepts that can be hard for the uninitiated to penetrate – works Samuel Delaney's Dhalgren or James Tiptree Jr's Ten Thousand Light Years From Home, for instance, would be a forbidding place to start. But if you want to catch up with the literature of our shared future then where can you begin?


It would be hard to find a better starting point than Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow. Mankind receives a signal from space, music from the alien world Rakhat. The first to respond are not governments or even corporations, but the Jesuit missionary order, who send a private expedition in a hollowed out asteroid to make contact. The novel is told in retrospect through the eyes of the only surviving crew member, priest Emilio Sandoz. If this scenario sounds at all oddball to you, please put those feelings aside. The story of the first encounter between humankind and alien life that Russell creates is both devastating and an awe-inspiring treatise on man's relationship to our universe.


Pattern Recognition by William Gibson is quickly becoming historical fiction. It so astutely pinpointed the emerging trends in technology in 2003 that a decade on from its publication it reads more like a documentary record than a work of SF. Cayce Pollard is a 30-something hipster immersed in the new media world of global corporate brands, who finds herself drawn in to a dangerous conspiracy as she tries to track down a mysterious set of video clips on the internet. Gibson's seventh novel pre-empted the YouTube revolution by mere months, and is still required reading for anyone trying to understand the fractured reality of our media-saturated world today.


The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin is among the first major works of feminist SF, alongside Marge Piercy's Woman on the Edge of Time and Joanna Russ's The Female Man. I could in fact have included any of Le Guin's novels in this list, but The Left Hand of Darkness arguably marks the point where SF came into its true political strength. Genly Ai is an envoy sent to the planet of Winter to petition for its entry to the Ekumen. But Winter is a world unlike any other, its inhabitants neither male nor female. The construction of identity – of gender, race and class – is at the heart all of today's political and social struggles. Le Guin's genius was to show how SF could be a powerful tool for dissecting and reconstructing those identities.


The Player of Games by Iain M Banks takes at least a little inspiration from the masterworks of Le Guin. The Culture is a galaxy-spanning civilisation that lives in perfect utopia. Nothing amuses the humans and computer Minds who run the Culture more than messing around with less evolved, more barbaric civilisations. Jernau Gergeh is the Culture's greatest game player, dispatched on a mission to the Empire of Azad, a brutal set of distant planets whose political system is structured around the game of Azad itself. The strength of Banks's writing is as much in its wit and bombast as its smart political thinking, but readers will find plenty of big ideas to get their teeth into.


China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F McHugh is perhaps the most mundane of my five picks here. Rafael Zhang is mixed Chinese and Puerto Rican, living in a near future where China has become the political and technological global super-power. Zhang is also gay, a cause of major problems as he tries to advance in a conservative world. The young man's attempts to qualify as an engineer are continually frustrated by a world of social hierarchies, oppressive government and rapacious corporations reaching into the lives of individuals. China Mountain Zhang is a reminder that for all its galaxy-spanning ambition, sometimes SF gives us as accurate description of the present day as anything you can find in the mainstream.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/jun/28/science-fiction-novels-hate-sf

[PTY]

DeNardo pročitao i kaže sledeće:






REVIEW SUMMARY: A coming-of-age tale set in Earth's paleolithic period.

BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Following apprentice shaman Loon,Shaman is the ambitious story of a young man's journey from boyhood to adulthood, with all the associated love, heartbreak, and adventure you'd expect.


MY REVIEW:
PROS: Incredibly detailed; an immersive experience.
CONS: Slow pacing; characters do not feel real until about halfway through the book.
BOTTOM LINE: A slow but creative trip into the past that's worth the required investment.



Where most speculative fiction explores the what if's of the present and future, Kim Stanley Robinson's Shaman takes a step back...30,000 years into the past. Winters are cold, summers are late and short, Neanderthals share the land with early humans, and the cycles of life go ever on. There's a joke about Canada in there somewhere, I'm sure...

Things start with Loon, the apprentice shaman, being sent naked into the wild for 2 weeks to complete his wander, one of the steps to becoming a shaman. We spend a lot of time in Loon's head, sharing his thoughts, his dreams, his bitterness about being stuck in the cold, the sense of adventure he feels at knowing he's going to survive his wander and return to his tribe victorious. The wander itself seems a pretty clear metaphor for growing up; you start out naked and without any of the tools you need to survive, and as you go, you get better and stronger and wiser.

But for all the time spent with Loon in the first chunk of the book, he feels very incomplete, very shallow. He doesn't demonstrate much personality. The one thing I'm sure of is that he has sex on his mind a lot, but considering he's a 12-year-old male, that doesn't exactly make him stand out. He's not quite a blank slate, but he doesn't feel much like a person either. Many of the characters (perhaps intentionally) feel like this through a large portion of the book; they are a representation of a child's view compared to an adult's view. If so, kudos to the author for that subtlety, but I think it might go unappreciated by many readers.

Once we get considerably further into the novel and see a larger cast of characters, things start to come together. About the first half of the book is very "a year in the life of," making the daily and seasonal lives of Loon's tribe members known — the hunt for food, the starvation months of winter, the desperation as winter ends but the abundance of summer has yet to begin. Robinson expresses this quite well, and has really put the effort and research into making the tribe a believable society. After the rhythms of life have been established, we move to much more action-oriented territory, with Loon falling in love, getting married, and subsequently having his wife kidnapped. He makes the decision to go after her and steal her back, and is himself kidnapped by the same northern tribe.

The last half of the book goes much faster than the first half, and the events are definitely page-turners: Loon gets kidnapped; Loon nearly dies of cold and starvation; Loon escapes with his wife; and the interaction between Neanderthal and human. Where the first half of the book felt largely like set-up, the second half takes you on a grand adventure and is well worth the slow beginning. Characters have had the time to be developed and fleshed out, and you can really feel the ever-present tension and excitement of the situation.

Patience is definitely required when reading this book since, as I said, things don't really seem to get started until halfway through. There's a lot of essential set-up, but at least it's shown rather than just told. And there's a real poetry to Robinson's writing that makes sitting through the first half more bearable. It's an investment, and in the end it's a worthwhile investment: a trip into the past and some of the early stages of human society, filled with imagination and creativity. An anthropological treat, to be sure!

[PTY]

ho! vest godine! ili barem njenog finalnog kvartala 


Kaze on na blogu:

You may have noticed that I haven't been around much lately. That's about to
get worse (or better, I suppose, depending on your perspective).


In order to make its August release date, Tor needs the definitive
publisher-ready version of Echopraxia by the end of this month. I'm
expecting to get editorial feedback Any Day Now; depending on how much my
submitted draft sucked, the rewrite may take all or some of the time between now
and October 1.  And even before said feedback arrives, my hands are full
just working on the Notes & References and the Acknowledgments, both of
which I've barely started.

a naslovnicu mu potpisuje Richard Anderson! lovlibejbi! 

[PTY]

Classic Cyberpunk SF Novels: Reviews

sve sa ove liste stvarno spada u obavezno stivo:

http://www.scifi.darkroastedblend.com/2013/01/classic-cyberpunk-sf-novels-reviews.html

[PTY]

 

Snatchers, impostors and imitators from BEYOND!

Pods, or no pods, these creatures will gladly invade your privacy to the point of sharing your brain and eating your grandma for breakfast. Read (watch the movies, too) and shudder at the pulp adventures highlighted below, full of sleek writing and even sleeker alien psychology.

----------------------------------------------

[PTY]

Elem, vreme da se malko zgrnu naslovi na gomilu  :

 


Atopia Chronicles: Brothers Blind  (Mather Matthew)



Dakle, pošto je Atopija konstruisana da joj svi delovi startuju u istom odredištu, pa tako ni redosled čitanja delova nije bitan, krenula sam sa Brothers Blind. MM je prolifičan pisac, Atopija je fino osmišljena kao transhumanistička post-apokalipsa, stil je dosta prijemčiv, tema i naracija sasvim pristojne za ovakvu vrst 'internet instalment' pisanja, mada sam ja izgleda malko prerasla te tinejdž-angst konstrukcije, tako da... "solidno" je reč koja najadekvatnije opisuje rečeno iskustvo.



 
Warm Up (V.E. Schwab)



Pošto je u pitanju bila besplatna Torova promocija, overila sam tu noveletu više kao kvalifikaciju za njen roman Vicious, koji kupi pristojne rivjue.  Pristojan weird i solidne narativne sposobnosti, ali ništa spektakularno.





Resurrection, Inc  (Kevin J Anderson)



 

Još jedan debi roman duž generalnijih smernica transhumanističke distopije, dobro osmišljen futurizam u kom ljudske leševe čeka frankenštajnovski mračna posmrtna sudbina oživljavanja u krajnje prljave svrhe. Fina karakterizacija i dobro konstruisana osnova zapleta, sa intrigantnim neo-Satanističkim kult-motivom koji je mogao objasniti doleko više, samo da je roman pre objavljivanja pročešljala neka veštija urednička ruka. Ovako, ostao je malko rasplinut u limbu neznanja kom žanru da se privoli, i mada se upinje u štrpkanju od-svega-po-malo, nekako mu to i nije baš dosta da preboli tu tipično debitantsku krize identiteta. Šteta, moglo se na ovome postići daleko više.


I, najzad, jedan - skoro pa fenomenalan debi roman:






Odlično konstruisana distopija na tragu  mračnog futurizma iz Cloud Atlas o Sonmi451, detaljna i suptilna i zaista veoma, veoma uverljiva. Anne Charnock ima sve potrebne kvalitete za sjajnog autora, ima zreo književni izraz, zdrav svetonazor i urođenu suptilnost sa understatement stremljenjima, a to je zaista pravo osveženje. Roman se bez po muke probio u moj uži izbor za knjigu godine.

[PTY]

Jonathan L. Howard on The Appeal of Lovecraftian Horror




The Appeal of Lovecraftian Horror
By Jonathan L. Howard



Monsters, done well, are scary. Hordes of monsters, done properly, can be scarier. Organised hordes of monsters, done sensibly, can be scariest.

This, I think, is part of the attraction of Lovecraftian Horror in general, and the Cthulhu Mythos (you will note the use of capitals there, to impress you with the seriousness of the matter) in particular. There are vast, unknowable numbers of horrors ranged out there just beyond the dusk, and their organisation and goals are alien and beyond the comprehension of we poor mortals. All that matters to us when we have the poor fortune to encounter such creatures is that we tend to come off worst, physically, mentally, psychically.

Even if such an encounter is glancing enough not to destroy the human protagonist, it serves to shine a dim, flickering light into things Man Was (very literally) Not Meant To Know, both because humanity's knowledge of them is a nuisance and a bother to the non-human agencies behind them, and because the human mind tends to shatter dramatically or sag and deform uncomfortably under the weight of such knowledge.

Here, then, is one of the great draws of Lovecraftian Horror – it is about secrets, and people adore secrets. They don't even especially mind not knowing the main secret as long as a few peripheral secrets are revealed. For example,

   
• Old man Crispin who lives by the toll road has been dead a while, and that man you see on the porch is actually a hundred and fifty pounds of closely packed alien fungus wearing his face.
• The Brunton Expedition isn't missing; it just found exactly what the Brunton family has been looking for since 1685.
• Those dead mathematicians were clever enough to understand the Ensel Equation, but not clever enough to stop reading it when they felt the dimensions shift inside their own medullae, nor are they as dead as they now appear.

I just made these up, but I think you could reasonably spin an intriguing story off from each. Each story might more or less reach a conclusion that explains the immediate mystery, but none would approach the true heart of it, which simply put, is what kind of a universe do we live in that can permit such horrors in passing? These plots may lead to vast disruption on Earth, but the ramifications of them are cosmic in nature. We are nothing: blinded by the static; minds destroyed by the whispers between the stars. The only difference between us and bacteria is that a bacterium never deludes itself as to its importance.

Conspiracies feature prominently, from the goings on behind the surly front of the Whately family in "The Dunwich Horror" to the ghastly machinations of "evil-looking foreigners" (to quote the reflexively xenophobic Lovecraft) in "The Horror at Red Hook." Conspiracies are a lot of fun – I have hatched a few in my time working on adventure games – and catnip to the inquisitive mind. For conspiracies represent a puzzle with a workable solution, even if in Lovecraft the innermost solution lies beyond the limits of human comprehension. If we could but penetrate the mystery then we would touch the face of a god. But, it would be a god that doesn't tolerate being poked in the face by uppity humanity, and which often reacts with predictably hilarious results. "Hilarious" is used here in its most inaccurate sense.

None of which makes the presence of the secret any less exciting.

In these terms, the nucleus of Lovecraftian Horror is not perhaps what usually leaps to mind. It isn't really about Deep Ones and Cthonians, Night Gaunts and Mi-Go. It isn't even about Cthulhu. It's about the sense that there is something behind the facade, something terrible and ancient that isn't evil nearly so much as splendidly unconcerned with us as rational creatures. To it, we are at worst a nuisance. At best, cattle.

In many respects, for example, The X-Files was Lovecraftian Horror in all but name. Behind the patina of daily life lurked the intrigues of at least one huge conspiracy, scattering discordances across our mundane lives like water thrown from a tyre. Strange sciences, freakish mutations, agents of secret masters – human and not. These trappings could be from The X-Files or from Lovecraft. Indeed, there are role-playing games such as Delta Green and, to an extent, Night's Dark Agents that directly and unapologetically pitch government agents against eldritch horrors.

For a more overt case, take John Carpenter's film In The Mouth of Madness, an entirely Lovecraftian narrative with almost nothing in the way of explicit Lovecraftian references. Reality is a construct, we are disposable puppets that those outside manipulate to gain entry.

Thus, it is a bleak, hopeless cosmology, wherein understanding even a fragment of the greater truth will cinder the mind and invite the attentions of dread entities.

Naturally, I dabble in it for giggles. It's the only sane thing to do.

[PTY]

In Space No One Can Hear You Scream
edited by Hank Davis
Published 10/15/2013 - Baen Books



HE UNIVERSE MAY NOT BE A NICE NEIGHBORHOOD . . .

"The oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown," the grand master of horror, H.P. Lovecraft, once wrote. And the greatest unknown is the vast universe, shrouded in eternal cosmic night. What things might be on other planets—or in the dark gulfs between the stars?

Giving very unsettling answers to that question are such writers as Arthur C. Clarke, George R. R. Martin, Theodore Sturgeon, Tony Daniel, Robert Sheckley, James. H. Schmitz, Clark Ashton Smith, Neal Asher, Sarah A. Hoyt, and more, all equally masters of science fiction and of terror.

One might hope that in the void beyond the earth will be found friendly aliens, benevolent and possibly wiser than humanity, but don't be surprised if other worlds have unpleasant surprises in store for future visitors. And in vacuum, no one will be able to hear your screams—as if it would do any good if they could . . .






REVIEW SUMMARY: This week's Short Fiction Friday features two selections of science fiction with a sinister vibe, the opening story from Peter Watts' forthcoming collection, Beyond the Rift, and a story from the recently released anthology In Space No One Can Hear You Scream.

MY REVIEW:

PROS: Strong prose in the Watts' story; engaging young character in Daniel's tale; fun takes on the alien-as-parasite trope.

CONS: Final line in one story is potentially offensive and may color what is an otherwise good story.

BOTTOM LINE: An alternate viewpoint of John Carpenter's The Thing makes for a page-turning read and Tony Daniel's story, chosen at random, provides a nice comparison as each story examines the idea of aliens assimilating mankind for their own reasons.  One story looks at things from the alien point of view while the other shows the tenacity of a young lady to remain fully human.  Both were enjoyable and worth checking out as further examples of science fiction with a frightful edge.


"The Things" by Peter Watts

An alien awakens in Antarctica only to realize that the crash which stranded it here happened a long time ago.  Its attempts to take "communion" with the creatures it discovers is met with hostility.  With violence that threatens its existence, the being does what it must to survive.

Peter Watts' highly lauded short story is a look at John Carpenter's The Thing from the point of view of the alien. The film itself is based on a John W. Campbell story, "Who Goes There?".  The initial confusion of the protagonist is shared with the reader as the story begins from a place where it is not entirely apparent what is going on and as things come into focus the reader's expectations of and reactions to the alien undergo a metamorphosis.  Watts' story has a palpable sense of fear and dread that lies just under the surface, keeping the pacing tight without distracting from the connections the reader is supposed to be making with the protagonist.  It is easy to see why Watt's story has been nominated for and won several awards.  Stories and films like The Thing are entertaining but also commonplace in that there are many examples of aliens being treated as monsters meant only for destruction, whereas "The Things" gives readers a chance to see past the initial, very understandably human, reaction of violence to the intentions of the alien and how it is interpreting the things it is experiencing.   What was a very strong story was derailed for this reader by the last line of the story, one that references an all-too-common topic that is often mishandled in science fiction.  It is a line that makes an impact, and certainly a shocking one, but left this reader with a bad taste in his mouth.

"The Things" made its first appearance in Clarkesworld magazine and is also available as an audio podcast here.

John DeNardo has done a much more thorough and informed review of the story here.

"Frog Water" by Tony Daniel

By contrast, Tony Daniel's short also looks at a parasitic alien race only instead of the action occurring on Earth, the scene of his story takes place on an alien craft returning to its home world after harvesting a young pre-teen girl for eventual assimilation.   Megan was ten years old when she went to bed and dreamed of a bright light, only to wake up inside an alien craft in the custody of a slug-like alien named Aleria who is slowly preparing Megan to become a part of her.  Though Megan sees herself as nothing but a pet, Aleria sees her as a daughter, to the point of wanting to be called "Mother".  The reader sees the events unfolding through the eyes of Megan, and Daniel does a nice job of capturing the pre-adolescent voice and personality.  Having first experienced the young teen heroine in science fiction through the work of Robert A. Heinlein ("The Menace From Earth" and Podkayne of Mars in particular) it is hard not to compare similar stories.  Daniel's tale holds up nicely and Megan proves to be an entertaining and resourceful heroine who demonstrates that you just shouldn't pick on Earthlings, even if they appear to be merely children.

I enjoyed "Frog Water" very much and recommend giving it a read.  The "fright" of this story lies largely in the idea of a person being taken somewhere against their will, in addition to the equally frightening idea of losing one's identity by being assimilated into another entity.

[PTY]

Halloween is one of the best holidays out there. It's a perfect excuse to curl up with a hot beverage of your choice and read a spooky novel. Perhaps you break out some H.P. Lovecraft to get your yearly quota of monsters or maybe you grab a classic like Dracula or The Hound of the Baskervilles. What if I told you there was the perfect Halloween book out there that combined all these things and more?Let me introduce you to the best Halloween book you've never read.








Every October I re-read Roger Zelazny's outstanding yet forgotten book, A Night In the Lonesome October. Zelazny was a science fiction legend known for his Books of Amber series and his Hugo award-winning standalone novel Lord of Light. He earned a Nebula nomination for A Night In the Lonesome October in 1994. It's one of Zelazny's best works and it's been sadly forgotten and out of print for many years.

The novel is a science fiction lover's dream and the perfect book for Halloween. Told in thirty-one chapters — one for each day of October, plus an introduction — the novel is written from the point of view of Snuff, a smart guard dog that belongs to a gentleman named Jack who has a predisposition for knives and dark alleys. They live in a quiet home in the country where various things are kept trapped in mirrors and steamer trunks. The neighborhood is full of colorful characters such as a crazy woman with a black cat, a mad scientist who always seems to have storm clouds over his home, a Transylvanian noble, a mad Russian monk and a detective who wears a deerstalker hat.

Yes, friends, Jack the Ripper lives in the London countryside with a witch, Doctor Frankenstein, Dracula, Rasputin and Sherlock Holmes. What's even better is that these well-known characters have familiars; clever animals that share information about their game they're playing. A game of life and death. Every few decades a full moon rises on Halloween and the veil between this world and others become thin and porous. This unlikely cast of characters have come together in October to summon (or prevent the summoning) of the Old Ones. The Elder Gods. Cthulhu and Nytharlohotep and Shub-Naggorth.

It is the most meta work of science fiction in the history of literature. Lovecraft and Stoker and Shelly, oh my! Where else can you see the Wolf Man hanging out with Jack the Ripper while they gossip about Sherlock Holmes? How often have you wished that Dracula could fight Lovecraftian horrors?

The novel starts innocently enough. A man and his dog wander London, collecting items they need for Halloween with a sacred knife. The game slowly unwinds as the October moon waxes and wanes. Characters slowly reveal their affiliations and what magic items they control (such as the sacred knife, a magic bowl and a small icon painted by Abdul Alhazred). The name "elder gods" aren't even mentioned until the middle of October. There are tantalizing hints and tidbits littered in the novel as you get glimpses of people you know and love from history and fiction. Zelazny picked some of the most iconic characters to populate his novel and he pulls it off with aplomb. It's a wildly original and captivating story, told with a charm only Roger Zelazny possessed.

Besides being stuffed full of amazing characters, the story is also deeply funny and surprisingly terrifying. You're purposefully kept in the dark about the affiliations of the players. Could Crazy Jill the witch be trying to stop the elder gods while Doctor Frankenstein is trying to summon them? It's suspenseful and dramatic and yet told with such gentle care.

Zelazny's writing talents shine in A Night in the Lonesome October. His descriptions, while short, are evocative and he juggles all the competing legends, mythologies and stories easily. It's an absolute delight to see some of the most iconic monsters of literature and history roam freely in such a deliciously demented story. Zelazny really did his research and each character feels authentic. The Lovecraftian mythos is spot on as well, and there are fun Easter eggs for devoted fans to chuckle over such as a cat visiting the city of Ulthar in a dream.

If you're a fan of H.P. Lovecraft or classic literary monsters, this book is sure to please. It's become my October tradition to read one chapter a day and discover if the world is saved from the gibbering mad Old Ones. It's woefully out of print, but many libraries have it in their collections and copies can be found on eBay, Amazon or Alibris. Get your hands on it before Halloween or else it might be too late! You never know when the closers will fail and Cthulhu will wake up.

[PTY]

Kesselova odlicna analiza Enderove igre, i sad prilicno aktuelna zbog filma:


Creating the Innocent Killer:
Ender's Game, Intention, and Morality

[PTY]

http://www.sfsite.com/11a/ee403.htm


It's been fifteen hundred years since The Quiet War, and the evening's empires, as Bob Dylan put it, "have returned into sand."

The   once solar-system encompassing civilization has fractured and decayed, leaving a multitude of smaller communities living amongst the   ruins.


Gajananvihari Pilot, better known as Hari, and his family are scavengers, roaming the system for salvaged technology and   supplies. It's a pretty good life until their ship is attacked and stolen, leaving Hari, marooned, as the only known survivor.


   Hari is left with a thirst for revenge and the need to find out who did it and why. He's also got one item salvaged from his escape,   the head of Dr. Gagarian, an eccentric researcher who was a passenger on Pabuji's Gift. The head, it turns out, contains technology   that a lot of people would like to get their hands on.    Hari's quest leads him from the outer reaches of the solar system to the inner asteroid belt, eventually all the way to Earth. In the   process, he meets lost relatives, finds unlikely allies and friends, confronts unexpected enemies, and grows up.    


That's plenty of story for any novel, and Paul McAuley places it in a setting that is both decaying, and, from our perspective, full of   wonders. For the characters, life in the solar system is akin to Europe after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, with pockets   of civilization and relative prosperity separated by lengthy and dangerous travel. It's a far cry from the beginnings of a solar   system wide civilization depicted in The Quiet War and Gardens of the Sun, and from the cultural struggles going on   in distant Fomalhaut in In The Mouth of the Whale, yet McAuley provides enough of an historical background to tie them all   together. The life of genetic engineer Sri Hong-Owen is one of the connecting threads in the novels and, in a way, influences every   character in Evening's Empires, though it is separated from the other novels by vast distances in time and space.    

The novels are also connected in their depictions of societies in a state of flux, where the possibility of sudden and violent   change looms large, and the desire to confront past wrongs often leads to new, and bigger, problems. Hari's adventure   in Evening's Empires recapitulates the themes of the entire series on a personal level, to the extent that his   motivations lead him to places that he couldn't have expected, but now can no longer avoid. And that's not all bad.    One final note for the meta-readers among us. The sections of Evening's Empires are titled after science fictions of   the past, such as "Childhood's End" and "Marooned Off Vesta." Have fun deciding just how much each section does, and   does not resemble and/or pay tribute to its famous predecessor.

Copyright © 2013 by Greg L. Johnson

[PTY]

     Darko Macan je svojevremeno ustvrdio da danas knjige više ne utiču ni na koga, pa čak ni na druge knjige,  zato što danas rukopise oblikuje isključivo film. 

Naravno, od tog njegovog "danas" je proteklo desetak i kusur godina i stanje na hrvatskoj žanrovskoj sceni je sada znatno drugačije, ali postoje indikacije da je sam fenomen preživeo i otputovao malko južnije. Više no jedan kompetentan kritičar ukazao je na uticaj ne samo filma, nego i stripa na domaće mlade autore, i mada se pri tome uglavnom raspravljalo o Laguninim autorima, moguće je da je fenomen uočljiv u van domena ove konkretno uzdavačke kuće. (A kad smo već kod Lagune, da uzgred napomenem kako sve više dolazim do zaključka da su jedino Lagunina izdanja vredna kupovine, to kako po kvalitetu proze tako i po profesionalnosti izdavača. Ovim ne tvrdim da je Laguna odlična izdavačka kuća, nego naprosto konstatujem da je po navedenim tačkama daleko najbolja od sviju onih čija sam izdanja imala prilike da čitam.)

Elem, da se vratimo uticajima, književnim i inim: nije nemoguće prepoznati u knjizi uticaje koji su formirali njenog autora, i meni lično je to oduvek bio jedan od pratećih vidova zabave pri čitanju.
U srećnijim okolnostima (čitaj, u boljim knjigama), taj aspekt dodatne komunikacije sa knjigom u velikom meri obogaćuje celokupni utisak koji knjiga na mene ostavlja - bilo kroz očigledne omaže ili kroz suptilniju intertektualnost, takva knjiga sa mnom komunicira na nivou koji prevazilazi direktna saopštavanja zapleta i neretko mi ponudi onaj dragoceni osećaj pripadanja, deljenja nekakve zajedničke istorije. Osećaj je najlakše opisati kao dobrostivo oduševljenje, kao kad u razgovoru sa potpunim strancem iznenada i slučajno dođete do otkrića da delite nekog pradavnog krvnog srodnika: to je nekako apsolutno predivan i neopisivo ispunjujući osećaj koji vam se retko zalomi u stvarnom životu, ali blagostivo često u književnosti. Vrlo je moguće da sam pristrasna i skučena u interesovanjima, ali oduvek sam na taj osećaj češće nailazila u žanru negoli van njega, pa otud valjda i potiču moje sklonosti i interesovanja, a ta konkretno igrarija sa tekstom je u velikoj meri i razlog zašto često opstanem u čitanju očigledno slabo kvalitetne proze.









     Roman "Zovite ju Zemlja" (u daljem tekstu ZjZ) Ivana Lutza svakako ne nudi mnogo razloga za čitanje. Reč je o očigledno amaterskom i beznadežno naivnom uratku koji ponajpre fascinira svojom vanvremenski anahronom koncepcijom. Da nije relevantne informacije u vidu blarba na koricama, ja ne bih imala ni najblažu predodžbu kad je ova knjiga datirana niti ko ju je napisao; ovo je ladno mogao biti jedan od onih rukopisa koje Mića iznalazi po buvljacima, objavljen tridesetih ili šezdesetih godina prošlog veka, napisan od strane domaćeg ili stranog autora jednako, bilo kao roman prvenac ili kao četvrti u nizu roman prolifičnog ali nenačitanog entuzijaste. 

Naravno, ta anahronost nema nikakve veze sa samom temom: odlazak sa matične planete i kolonizacija nove možda i jeste tema stara koliko i sam žanr SFa, ali to ne znači da se njome i dandanas ne bavimo - pogledajte samo Beckettov "Mračni raj" i oduševljenje koje je proizveo u žanru, mislim da je to već samo po sebi argument u korist tvrdnje da nema zastarelih žanrovskih tema, zastarele su samo nemušte i naivne obrade istih. A da stvar bude još očiglednija, i "Mračni raj" se opredeljuje za koncept koji izbegava savremene zahteve tehničke potkovanosti, nudeći priču iz ugla deklarisano neukih naratora koji imaju automatska opravdanja za sve nedostatke relevantne informacije. U mnogim žanrovskim aspektima, "Mračni raj" je također vanvremenski anahron roman, ali razlika je što je kod njega to odluka i otvorena namera pisca, dok je u slučaju ZjZ-a to iskučivo posledica autorske književne nesposobnosti i imaginativne skučenosti.

No, da se ne razacujemo sa neartikulisanim utiscima, red je da se pozabavimo poštenijom analizom:

[Mica Milovanovic]

Krajnje si nepravedna prema "mojim" piscima sa buvljaka.
Vladimir Velmar Janković je Čehov za Ivana Lutza...
Mladen St. Đuričić možda nije Dostojevski za Ivana Lutza, ali je barem Alekasndar Grin...

[PTY]

     ZjZ se otvara scenom poslednjih priprema oko... pa eto, lansiranja velikog broda koji će u sebi poneti 1270 ljudi na potragu za planetom podesnom za kolonizaciju. Sama ceremonija tog lansiranja odvija na svemirskoj stanici Esper, gde Administrator (u stalnoj pratnji svog časnika Turka) i Predsednik (u nekakvim "posebno ulaštenim električnim kolicima") puše cigarete i igraju šah, dok nam uslužno prepričavaju detalje o svemu, a ujedno ni o čemu konkretnom.

Karakterizacija u ovom romanu je do te mere plošna, a njeno didaktički nametljivo saopštavanje do te mere ograničeno i nemušto, da niko od pomenutih aktera nema više od jedne osobine ili karakteristike, pri čemu ih mnogi pomenuti dele, otežavajući tako razlikovanje pomenutih pojedinaca:

"Na slici (zidu), stajao je mladi časnik, sav prošaran ožiljcima kraj očiju i velikom, tek zaraslom, brazdom na čelu." (16)

Odmah pored tog časnika, sam kapetan broda Pollard se opisuje kao "ne previše visok, oko 175 centimetara, svijetle puti i oštrog pogleda. Ožiljci ispod oka podsjećali su na dane borbi Dolje, a svježe ukopana brazda na čelu, posljedica naglog otvaranja hidrauličnog poklopca u D-sektoru, bila je još samo jedno obilježje golemog iskustva koje je posjedovao".  (17)

Dakle, na dve uzastopne strane imamo dva izdvojena aktera sa ožiljcima, i to baš oko očiju i baš na čelu. Da stvar bude gora, ako je kapetan broda zaradio brazdu na čelu tako što ga je mlatnuo hidraulični poklopac, ne znam baš zašto bi to trebalo da mu se priznaje kao kvalifikacija, ali dobro, za časnika ne znamo da li je i on tim svojim ožiljcima ikako kvalifikovan, mada, samim tim što se pominje i izdvaja iz gomile, rekla bih da jeste. U prethodnom pasusu već nam je rečeno da "Pollard, s druge strane, nije komplicirao, te je znao bespogovorno izvršavati zapovijedi, improvizirati ako je bilo potrebno i nije se libio riskirati u težim situacijama. Bio je idealan čovjek za kapetana Zeda.", tako da su kapetanske kompetencije time relativno pokrivene.

Administrator je, s druge strane, opisan u duetu sa svojim ličnim časnikom po imenu Turk: "Administrator je hodao brzo, dok je Turk, prateći njegov hod, gotovo posrtao pri svakom koraku." (6)


Dakle, tu imamo naglašenu hijerarhiju fizičkih osobina koje autor nudi u reprezentciju intelektualnih, pošto nameće logiku da časnik posrće tamo gde Administrator "hoda brzo", iako po nekoj normalnijoj logici, mlađi čovek nema razloga da posrće tamo gde ni stariji neće, osim ako se time ne implicira da je u pitanju čist fizički hendikep kod samog časnika. Isto tako, u tom hodu, Administrator će "provući ruku kroz sijedu kosu", potapšaće istog tog časnika "očinski, nekoliko puta", položiće ruku na rame Predsjedniku, i, uopšte, ponašaće se kao karikatura izuzetno papirnatog i bespotrebnog protagoniste iskorištenog tek da nam u klišeiziranim i gotovo besmislenim izjavama objasni stvari koje se ili podrazumevaju ili su očigledne zbog podjednako klišeiziranih recitacija ostalih aktera, dok će Turk ostati upamćen samo zato što liči na grotesku duhovnog grbavca koji posrće dok sedi čovek pored njega brzo hoda.


Ta nenamerna komičnost koja se dosledno provlači kroz čitavu karakterizaciju zapravo čini štivo uvelike čitljivijim, prosto zato što se tokom vizualizacije tih naivnih i pompeznih scena svo vreme cerekate i protiv svoje volje.

Predsjednik se tu malo izdvaja iz gomile zato što je u pomenutim kolicima: "Stigavši do kraja prostora ograđenog žutom, niskom, pletenom ogradom, Predsjednik zastane, okrene se i pozdravi sve prisutne u hali. Prijeđe na malu platformu koja se spustila za koji milimetar pod njegovom težinom, a mala vratašca provuku kromirane šipke okomito, praveći pri tom ogradicu visoku nekoliko desetaka centimetara." 


Autor naprosto nema vokabular kojim bi adekvatno izrazio to što je zamislio, a imaginativno siromaštvo oličeno u pomanjkanju tog adekvatnog izraza čine tekst ne samo nemuštim i neuverljivim, nego i potpuno nezanimljivim, kao što pokazuje nastavak rečenog pasusa: "Platforma zakoči metalnim klinovima Predsjednikova kolica i hidraulika zazviždi najavljujući podizanje. Ugodnom brzinom krene prema gore - okrenut prema cijeloj posadi Espera. Na pet-šest metara visine, zastane, a iza njega, na velikom metalnom zidu Stanice, pojavi se - malo manji od zida - odraz projektirane slike." (16)


Što se samog broda tiče, dakle, te poslednje nade za opstanak čovečanstva, o njemu znamo sledeće: ime mu je ZX00, a Administrator po tom pitanju kaže sledeće: "Ha, ne znam, ali inženjer koji ga je projektirao morao je smisliti nešto bolje... ipak je Grdosija sve što će ostati... ovako... - zamišljeno otpuhne dim." (

Dakle, to je brod koji je projektirao i imenovao jedan jedini inžinjer.

[PTY]

Krajnje si nepravedna prema "mojim" piscima sa buvljaka.

Nisam, nisam, ja bih itekako volela da se dočepam tih primeraka, nego eto, ta konkretno tvoja aktivnost se pokazala praktična u svrhe ilustracije, to je sve.

inače, provela sam neočekivano prijatno jutro u druženju sa prve 23 strane ovog romana ali sad ću da stanem jer predosećam migrenu, tako da... nastavićemo kasnije.  

[Mica Milovanovic]

Znam. Šalim se. Ipak, u neverovatnom nastupu filantropije, rešio sam da se odvojim od jednog primerka SREĆE A.D. i pošaljem ga u South Africa.
Ovde u Srbiji nema gotovo niko ko bi cenio da to pročita, pa, reko', da bar nekom učinim plezir...



Pošalji mi adresu na pm i posavetuj koji je najbolji način da ga sigurno dobiješ (da se negde ne izgubi)...


PS: nedavno sam na buvljaku nabavio bolje očuvan primerak, sa sve posvetom pisca, scallopu u inat... 

[PTY]

hah, "neverovatni nastup filantropije"  
ako te išta definiše, to je onda postojanost u filantropiji... što ne znači da nemaš drugih "neverovatnih" mana, ali nalazim da sa njima ipak mogu udobno da živim, jer eto, ljubav je vazda bila slepa.


Nego, da se vratim na ZjZ, koja zaista vredi svu svoju težinu u evrima. 

[PTY]

dakle, da se vratimo na svemirski brod, Jedrenjak, Grdosiju, ZX00, Zed - čedo jednog jedinog inžinjera.




"Ambasador provuče ruku kroz sijedu kosu ne spuštajući pogled sa usidrenog broda. Zavuče ruku u hlače i prinese ustima tanku, dugačku cigaru. Turk automatski izvuče upaljač i škljucne. Uvukavši prvi dim, Administrator duboko uzdahne.
- ZX00. Kakvo ime za ovaj stroj? - kiselo se nasmije.
- Mislim da je trebalo da se zove Zeus ili Odisej, ali odustali su - primjeti Turk." (7)




"Predsjednik u kolicima pogleda brod-grdosiju na drugom kraju hale. Kroz otvore na visokim zidovima nazirao se spremnik jedara. Cijelom je dužinom Stanice zaklanjao otvoreni prostor na suprotnom kraju. Visina Grdosije nije se mogla procijeniti s mjesta gdje je Predsjednik sjedio, ali po položaju kabinskih prozora, dalo se naslutiti da je znatno viši od 76 metara. Administrator također okrene glavu u tom smjeru.
- Nisam mogao niti pretpostaviti njegovu veličinu - tihim glasom punim oduševljenja progovori Predsjednik.
- Da, velk momak - potvrdi Administrator. (10)




Predsjednik odmjeri usidreni Jedrenjak na suprotnom kraju stanice i pogled mu zastane na monitoru koji je snimao cijelog Grdosiju izvana. Mogao je razabrati njegovu pravu veličinu, jer vidjevši ga iz šatla, nije mogao u tako kratkom vremenu prepoznati sve njegove konture. Dvostruko, možda i trostruko veći od Svemirske stanice Esper, bljeskao je u crnom svemiru poput božićne jelke. Otvori kroz koje je dopirala svjetlost konstantno su mijenjali boju, a iza debelih prozora kabina moglo se vidjeti komešanje." (14)






pored toga što ovaj citirani tekst vrvi lektorskim, korektorskim, uredničkim i logičkim propustima, najuočljiviji nedostatak je ipak u domenu samog izraza i jezika. Tako ubitačna smesa naivne deskriptivnosti, pogrešno odabranih reči i trivijalnih a suštinski i nepodesnih poredbi može se naći uglavnom u tekstovima nenačitanih adolescenata, ali kod odraslih taj konkretno izraz ukazuje na eklatantan nedostatak ma kakvog sluha, da samu nadarenost sad i ne pominjem. A kako je sluh osnova svetonazora, neretko je upravo to razlog vanvremenskom "izmeštenju" ne samo teksta, nego i samog svetonazora.




"Uz nekoliko taktova mikrofonije, glas kapetana očistio se i postao onako hrapav i autoritativan kakav je bio i u stvarnosti.
- Gospodine Predsjedniče! Gospodo! Moja posada i ja spremni smo krenuti. Svi sustavi rade optimalno i svaki putnik je obaviješten o polasku. Na sve tri palube svatko zna što mu je činiti. Želim napomenuti kako ćemo moja posada i ja svim svojim bićem težiti ispuniti misiju stavljenu pred nas. Zed će pronaći svoje odredište, u to budite sigurni.
Prijemnom halom razlio se pljesak odobravanja. Pollard nije bio rječit, ali bio je jasan i precizan poput infarkta."




Teško mi je poverovati da je ovo objavljeno godine Gospodnje 2013, ali sasvim mi je jasno zašto ovaj roman nije uspeo da nađe izdavača u Hrvatskoj.


No dobro, svaka knjiga eventualno nađe kupca a bogami i čitaoca, pa tako i ova, eto, ima mene.

[džin tonik]

Sad, sto se tice jednog jedinog inzinjera kao THE planera, the vehikel se jos moze shvatiti kao produkt first step-a uobicajenog top-down postupka. Ostalo je urnebesno zabavan trash. Steta sto se nije nasao izdavac.

Gesendet von meinem GT-I9300 mit Tapatalk

[džin tonik]

... Ivan Lutz je poslao svoj tekst preko e-mail-a, i ja sam ga, moram reći, progutao u jednom dahu. Uredničke primedbe su bile minimalne, i ticale su se uglavnom sporednih stvari u tekstu. Ivan nije samo odličan pisac, on je i fizičar, veoma obrazovan i potkovan. Ništa ne piše napamet, sve pažljivo prouči, i onda pušta svojoj mašti na volju, a to je ono što najviše manjka kod današnjih mladih pisaca. Roman Zovite ju zemlja ima, čini mi se, sve što jedan dobar sf roman i treba da ima: izuzetno je zanimljiv i dinamičan, pun neočekivanih obrta, a u svom konačnom razrešenju filozofičan. Sa nestrpljenjem očekujem da vidim kako će srpska publika reagovati na Ivanov prvenac, a sudeći po prvim reakcijama, SF fanovi su veoma zainteresovani. ...

Roman hrvatskog autora Ivana Lutza objavila Čarobna knjiga iz Srbije

Žanr trpi zato što mladi autori nemaju nikakvu šansu

Dve moguće budućnosti

Istorijski događaj za srpsku fantastiku

... This is a first novel of this young author, and it is written well, above the average for books published in Croatia (not limited onli to sci - fi). ...

Customer Reviews

izitpanjovim tragovima, antitalenat stopedesetosmi.

[PTY]

     Naravno, unutar granica iracionalne fantastike, teško je argumentovano osporiti postavku u kojoj je interstelarna svemirska letelica čedo jednog jedinog inžinjera, prosto zato što je unutar granica iracionalne fantastike nemoguće argumentovano osporiti bilo šta. Ali iracionalna fantastika je žanrovska alatka kojom se kompetentni autori svrhovito koriste, dok onim nekompetentnima služi uglavnom kao azil za neznanje. Danas je gotovo nemoguće izbeći - dakle: nemoguće izbeći - relevantnu sf ikonografiju interstelarnih letelica, dovoljno je 5 minuta guglanja da čovek izvuče preko stotinu fotki i ilustracija tog konkretno fenomena. To je, zajedno sa dinosaurima, danas deo opšteg znanja prosečnog osmogodišnjaka, i ne verujem da bi čak i njih bilo koja od tih letelica asocirala na božićnu jelku. 


Ali nije to potpun razlog za ovo uvijanje suvog drena; razlog leži u činjenici da pomenute 23 strane čine narativnu celinu prologa, dok je ostatak romana datiran 2500 godina kasnije. Dakle, sva korisnost koju prolog zapravo nudi i koju ćete nakon prologa trebati je - sam brod.

No dobro, tekst je već prepoznato nemušt, pa stoga i komunicira nepreciznu (a neretko i kontradiktornu) informaciju, a to dalje rezultuje utiskom haotične celine kojoj je pri čitanju neophodno prevođenje i tumačenje, znači - treba tu bogami i dobrano učitavati šta je pisac trebao da kaže, a nije. Domaća žanrovska scena se već dovoljno istrenirala u tom poduhvatu, tako da u njoj skoro svaki čitalac zapravo polaže neku vrst autorskog prava na pročitanu prozu. Otud su mi kolegijalni rivjui domaće proze beskrajno zabavni za čitanje, pošto sve ono što ti i takvi rivjuisti tvrde da su navodno "pročitali" definitivno nije sam autor svojeručno stavio u knjigu. Zanimljiv je to fenomen, a ujedno je i velik deo uzroka zašto se neki mladi i perspektivni pisci nisu zanatski unapredili; koja vajda od tog konkretno truda, kad znaš da će ti vajni "čitaoci" ionako u prozi "pročitati" sve i samo ono čega tamo nema, tako da... praktičnije im je posezati za dvosmislicama i višeznačnim besmislicama, i pustiti "čitaoce" da se nadmeću u disciplini.

No dobro, opet, knjige treba voleti i sa njima se družiti, nisu tu knjige ništa krive, books don't kill people, people kill people.


Pošto nemušta proza po difoltu podrazumeva problem u komunikaciji - a on dalje podrazumeva problem u razumevanju - skroz zeznuto komentarisati takve uratke, i to po pravilu izbegavam, pošto su šizofrene psihoze zarazne bolesti, ma šta neki drugi o njima mislili. Povrh toga, tumačiti somnabulije je jalova a opasna rabota, jer tu ni sam Gospod (a nekmoli autor) ne znade šta se zapravo htelo reći, ako išta.

Ali vredi napomenuti da se na uzorku prvih 50tak strana da zaključiti kako ovaj roman definitivno ne spada u takve apsurdno-iracionalne uratke, jer ovo je ipak napisao čovek očigledno racionalan, budan i trezan: problemi romana su uglavnom u vokabularu, a nakon toga i u idejnom i zanatskom domenu.     

[PTY]

Elem, dakle, strašno, strašno: čiča Simons je najzad došao do kraja (ili, možda je bolje reći - do vrha) svoje 5-6-7godišnje namere da frustrira i antagonizira čak i svoje dugogodišnje hard-kor obožavaoce! Ta nesrećna gomila će bez sumnje prepoznati u The Abominable ili podignut srednjak ili okrenuta leđa, a oni najvatreniji garant oboje, i najverovatnije će doživeti ovaj roman kao ličnu uvredu! Jer, ova gromada od romana, ova planinčina od teksta, ovaj Everest od marketinške misreprezentacije nije ništa od onoga što je najavljeno da će biti, a to što jeste... pa, bojim se da će se to malo kome svideti.






Kao prvo, The Abominable nije "natprirodni" triler. Čak se i ono "triler" može silno dovesti u pitanje, mada, tehnički govoreći, jeste nekakav triler, samo što se sva njegova trilovitost brutalno udavila & zakopala u snežnohladnoj lavini mnogočega ostalog.

Kao drugo, The Abominable nije horror, nikakav, nit natrprirodni a bogami još manje bilo kakav prirodni, mada, ruku na srce, tu je marketinška misdirekcija ionako više bila plod uobrazilje samih fanova, koje je ponela i zanela Simonsova horror-reputacija + obilate aluzije na odlični The Teror.

Kao treće, The Abominable nije ni žanr, iako povremeno koketira sa više njih, a bogami nije ni mejnstrim, ili ga bar menjstrim neće takvoga videti, jer je odveć... pa, eto... špekulativan. Tako da... bog dobri zna gde će i kako ova sirota romančuga eventualno završiti.

A dok se svi izređaju da ga bar jednom mrko pogledaju zato što nije sve ono što se najavljivalo da će biti, neko (ovde najverovatnije samo ja  ) će ga možda i gotiviti zbog onoga što jeste, a to je – oblina smesa veoma uverljive karakterizacije, prhko delikatne avanture, masivne zloupotrebe istorijskih činjenica, krajnje dekadentnog mekgafina i - last but not least – poslovično vešte manipulantske "ovo je zapravo rukopis očevica, a ja sam tu samo editor koji zajedno sa svojom rođenom ženom garantuje za istinitost" naracije.

Malo li je?

A ako jeste, tu je uvek beskrajno uporno (ali meni nikad, ama ni na sekund dosadno) detaljisanje svega, ali ama baš svega vezanog za planinarenje & alpinizam, od krampona i karabinera do šatora, ranaca, užadi i vreća za spavanje. A kako je radnja romana smeštena u 1925tu, to znači da se do besvesti detaljiše ne samo ondašnja oprema, nego i podvizi ondašnjih ekspedicija na Everest, i to ponaviše onaj tragični Mallory/Irvine pokušaj da se osvoji vrh. A kako je to jedna od velikih fascinacija mog detinjstva, ja sam, eto, krajnje pristrasan i zbog toga najverovatnije skoro pa beskorisan rivjuista kojemu je čiča Simons napisao knjigu baš po meri, a uz to još i obilnu.
I eto, šta reći nego - dok nekom ne smrkne, drugom ne osvane. 


Čiča Simons je izgleda odlučio da u opusu ima dovoljno kvalitetnih romana da zadovolje poklonike mnogih žanrova, pa se pod mlade šezdesetpetogodišnje dane okrenuo isključivo samom sebi i svojim prohtevima, pišući samo ono što se isključivo samom njemu sviđa, naizgled ne hajući odviše ko će u tome da ga čitalački sledi.

My man! 

[Mica Milovanovic]

Hrvati su preveli The Shining Girls Lauren Beukes. Danas kupio u Zagrebu..

[PTY]

da, da, javili mi mejlom za Djevojke koje sjaje, superknjižara je moj dobar drug... prijatno iznenđenje i još prijatnija ažurnost. Vidi samo blarbove:

,,Izvanredno. Knjiga o dvoboju dva sjajno realizirana lika. Nevjerojatno postignuće." Independent


,,Nova vrsta trilera. Mračna, nesmiljena i napeta priča o ubojstvima u iskrivljenom vremenu. Priča koja sjaji." Matt Haig

,,Domišljata priča, pametna proza." Stephen King

,,Vrlo pametno, sasvim originalno, potpuno silovito." William Gibson

uživaćeš skroz.


nego, ako se opet zalomiš tamo u idućih nedelju-dve-tri, gvirni pa proveri za mene ovu knjigu:







ovo mi izgleda deo kao Joe Kurtz trilogije, ali ne mogu da pohvatam koji je roman tačno u pitanju, a po broju strana rekla bih da je definitivno samo jedan. Najverovatnije je prvi, Hardcase, ali ne bih da naručujem pre no što zasigurno utvrdim, a plus me zanima da li je i ostatak trilogije preveden.

[PTY]

hmhph, ovo teško da ću čitati, ali vi koji ste pratite momka, eto, možda će vas zanimati:













Miriam is on the road again, having transitioned from "thief" to "killer".Hired by a wealthy businessman, she heads down to Florida to practice the one thing she's good at, but in her vision she sees him die by another's hand and on the wall written in blood is a message just for Miriam. She's expected...

[PTY]

odvratno, vidim sad u prethodnom postu svoj treći po redu imbecilni tipfeler večeras, izgleda da mi je tardisov art-direktor (muahaha) skinuo edit-time na ciglih 00.06 sekundi, to najverovatnije iz čiste milošte inaklonosti, taman da mi vreme za edit istekne barem ceo milisekund pre no što mi se post učita... no dobro, svako dete zdušno voli svoju zvečku, i eto, ignorisaćemo, pa ko koga nadživi...


nego, jedna zanimljiva knjiga u najavi:


















We are very happy to showcase cover art and synopsis for the new book by Mikhail Elizarov, The Librarian. The book is scheduled to come out on 24th April, 2014. [/font]
[/color]


An epic full of video game-like battles, Russian landscapes and old babushkas, who fight with scythes




As the introduction to this book will tell you, the books of Gromov, obscure and long forgotten propaganda author of the Soviet era, have such effect on their readers that they suddenly enjoy supernatural powers. Understandably, these readers need to keep accessing these books at all costs and gather into groups around book-bearers, or as they're called, librarians. Alexei, until now a loser, comes to collect an uncle's inheritance and unexpectedly becomes a librarian. He tells his story.

[PTY]

How do you write female characters with agency? What did J.R.R. Tolkien learn from Attila the Hun? What is it like to be a dragon? Is science fiction stuck in a rut? The Internet has the answers. Speculative Fiction 2012 collects over fifty articles from some of the top bloggers and authors in science fiction and fantasy, including over two dozen reviews. Contributors include Joe Abercrombie, Daniel Abraham, Niall Alexander, Kate Elliott, N. K. Jemisin, Aidan Moher, Abigail Nussbaum, Christopher Priest, Adam Roberts, Tansy Rayner Roberts, Sam Sykes and Lavie Tidhar.


Need more convincing? Here are just a few of my own favourite quotes from Speculative Fiction 2012...


"I feel that by limiting feminist expression to strong female characters only, we are shortchanging ourselves. If male characters are allowed to be strong, weak, broken, insane, anti-heroes – why can't we have a range of female characters likewise? I think that writing women in a non-stereotyping way, as people with desires, weaknesses, strengths – is feminist. I want portrayals of women that are as vivid and varied as portrayals of men." - Rose Lemberg


"[Miéville] has created one genuine masterpiece, The City and the City, and several works of importance, chief amongst them Perdido Street Station, which represented nothing less than a paradigm-shift in commercial fantasy fiction but – like Neuromancer in its turn – could not turn its numerous imitators into anything but moderately talented hacks." - Lavie Tidhar


"It's funny because whenever you challenge somebody to look around at the people in their lives who don't fit dominant expectations of what men and women should be doing, they come up with hundreds of examples. But ask them to construct fictional worlds that contain that same kind of fluidity between gender roles, and it all goes to hell." - Kameron Hurley


"The overwhelming sense one gets, working through so many stories that are presented as the very best that science fiction and fantasy have to offer, is exhaustion." - Paul Kincaid


"I may transgress against the rules of SF because there are many things that I do not know about science fiction. I did not grow up surrounded and soaked in its language." - Rochita Loenen-Ruiz


"Imagine a female point of view character is going along about her protagonist adventure, seeing things from her perspective of the world as written in third person. She hears, sees, considers, and makes decisions and reacts based on her view of the world and what she is aware of and encounters. Abruptly, a description is dropped into the text of her secondary sexual characteristics usually in the form of soft-focus Playboy-Magazine-style sexualized kitten-bunny-I-would-fuck-her-in-a-heartbeat lustrous-eyes-and-nipples phrases. Her breasts have just become omniscient breasts." - Kate Elliott

[PTY]

Losing Our Literary History




.

If you want to be terrified by cultural ignorance, you have only to go to YouTube, where an activist went to four major universities with a camera and asked random students what the Holocaust was, what nation Adolph Hitler led, and whether they could define genocide.  One after another, bright and involved students failed to come anywhere near the truth.  (You can find the film here; the questioning begins at 2:22 and I found I couldn't stand to watch very much of it.)


I mention that in order to put this post into perspective.  I'm about to lament how a working knowledge of the history of science fiction and/or fantasy, which used to be common in both genres, has become a rare and endangered thing.  But I don't want to overstate my case.  Compared to well-educated young people smiling in embarrassment and saying, "Gee, I ought to know this," or "1800?" when asked when the Holocaust occurred, this is small potatoes indeed.

Still.

Over on Facebook, somebody reported attending a panel of fantasy novelists at Comic Con where a reader asked if any of them were influenced by Lord Dunsany.  None of the writers had ever heard of him.

Once upon a time -- long, long ago in the 1970s -- all science fiction writers and most fans knew the history of the SF genre inside-out.  Lester Del Rey's terrible (and astonishingly sexist; but it would have been a terrible story even if somehow the sexism could've been magicked out of it) "Helen O'Loy" had been read everybody -- because it was a significant work in the evolution of the genre.

Fantasy fans and writers had an even easier time of it, because there was so little classic fantasy back then.  You read the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series as they were reissued under the editorship of Lin Carter,  E. R. Eddison's books, the Gormenghast trilogy, maybe the Conan books, a handful of others and you were done.

At the time I sold my first story, I had read pretty much every important work of science fiction and fantasy ever written.  As had pretty much every writer before me.

Today that's not possible.  Amid the great avalanche of genre being published every year are enough genuinely good books to keep even the most voracious reader satisfied, without having to dip into the past.  But it would be a mistake.

I'm not going to mourn the passage of a more innocent time:  Believe me, we would have loved to have all these new books available back then.  But ask yourself this . . .

Who's more likely to come up with something brilliantly unexpected:  writer who've fed their brains with a steady diet of contemporary fantasy and SF or those who've read Dunsany, Mirrlees, and the other great outliers, and thus has an idea of exactly how strange and varied fantasy can be?


http://floggingbabel.blogspot.com/2013/11/losing-our-literary-history.html

[PTY]

Best Bets for Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Books—December 2013





I jos ponesto ovde:

[PTY]

Najpre generalije: ovo je roman koji je odneo Pulicera 2013, napisao ga je čovek koji je univerzitetski profesor (engleski na Stanfordu) i pokupio je iskrene ovacije gde god se pojavio, a to nije mala stvar. Roman je brilijantno napisana fikcija i predstavlja kolaž mukotrpno satkan od svedočanstava retkih prebega iz DPRK, propagandnog materijala KCNA i vrlo odmerene ekstrapolacije ideološkog sadizma ruskog i kineskog komunizma, garniranog sa sitnim uplivima u pedantne koreografije državnog terora Kube, Haitija, Zimbabvea, centralnoameričkih hunti i njima već slično egzotičkih Petrijevih tanjirića masovne psihopatizacije kvaziinetligentnog dvonošca na ovoj nesrećnoj planeti. Prepričati sadržaj ovog romana značilo bi insinuirati fantastiku, u meri u kojoj tuđa drževna opresija može da nam zaliči na fanstastiku, recimo duž linija 1984te. Naravno, to je daleko od istine. I mada The Orphan Master's Son jeste fikcija, u njemu ima realizma isto koliko i u Gulagu, što dalje znači da nikakav sinopsis ne mogu da ponudim, jer to mi se čini kao krajnja subverzija glavne svrhe ovog romana.


     Čitam ga još od početka oktobra i nebrojeno puta sam sumnjala da ću ga ikada dočitati. Ne verujem da sam ijednom pročitala više od dvadesetak strana odjednom; to je toliko potresna knjiga da proizvodi fizički bol pri čitanju, bukvalno je bilo trenutaka kada sam verovala da mi ne gine nekakva fizička manifestacija duhovnog stanja u koje me knjiga baca, da mi sledi otpadanje noktiju ili u najmanju ruku krvoliptanje iz nosa i ušiju. Sećam se da mi je Gulag proizveo tek približno sličnu reakciju, i to ne na prvo čitanje - bila sam tad isuviše mlada da u potpunosti shvavim šta to zapravo čitam. Možda nije pošteno da se ova knjiga poredi sa Gulagom, jer ako ništa drugo, Gulag je za mene oduvek bio tek svedočanstvo preživelog - u vreme kad sam ja čitala Gulag Solženjicin je bio živ i relativno zdrav i to je bila činjenica koja je uvelike uticala na dimenzije mog shvatanja štiva koje čitam. Ovde takve dimenzije nema, ovaj roman je mrak u još crnjem mraku ambisa potpune tame, i ždere me spoznaja da nešto jednostavno nije u redu sa svetom u kom bilo ko može da čita ovaj roman u dvorištu punom juke i begonija uz neskafe i tiramisu a da se pod njim zemlja ne otvori u raspuklini aramgedona.


Da svar bude gora, baš u to vreme to vreme, sa sviju strana matriksa virtuelne informacije čuje se kako Severna Koreja sistematski delituje stare internet vesti u kojima se pominje Jang Song Thaek, dok u isto vreme, na drugim krajevima planete, neki drugi ljudi padaju u afektiranu nesvest oko skoro pa imaginarnih socijalnih nepravdi i eto, to je dodatni razlog zašto stvarno nisam mogla da pređem više od desetak strana odjednom. Bilo je momenata u kojima sam htela da knjigu zapravo delitujem, da se ni slučajno ne spotaknem o njen leprozan ajkon koji preti mom malom svetu žanrovskog palpa i kineskom zidu oko njega, ali sadizam je zarazna bolest, i eto.


Sam roman je zaista maestralno napisan, naracija je čisto savršenstvo koju nosi najefikasniji mogući dijapazon POVA, to od intimno dnevničkog prvog lica pa sve do nebuloznih propagandnih saopštavanja preko javnih razglasa. Kao i sve knjige koje zauvek menjaju svog čitaoca, to u ma kako malom procentu, ni sad nisam načisto da li bih je ponovo čitala, da me neko može da transportuje nazad u septembar. Veovatno ne bih, iako je sa lakoćom zasenila sve knjige koje sam pročitala u zadnjih... pa ne znam, desetak godina najmanje. Ovo je knjiga koja obavezno menja svog čitaoca ali zaista nisam sigurna da li je to promena na bolje: sećam se da sam sinoć pročitala nekoliko imbecilnih antiameričkih komentara glede politike DPRKa, i isključila sam komp uz neverovatno duboku i srdačnu želju da boga zapravo ima, makar samo na kratko, samo da transportuje autora tog konkretno komentara pravo u DPRK, tek da okusi malo to o čemu priča.

[PTY]

     Elem, sad već možemo da se polako osvrnemo na godinu i, bogami, bila je stvarno dobra za SF, a ne verujem ni da su ostali žanrovi tu manje profitirali. Od mnogih dešavanja vrednih pažnje među prvima je svakako završetak Oryx and Crake trilogije Margaret Atwood, tačno deset godina nakon objavljivanja prvog dela.



Priznajem da malko strepim kada mejnstrim face svrnu u žanr, to mi uvek nekako rezultira u krajnostima - to ili bude fijasko čiste eksploatacije, ili remek-delo koje sa lakoćom zaseni čak i najbolje žanrovske uratke. I dobro sad, ovo potonje bi trebalo da obraduje svakog poštenog ljubitelja dobre proze, ali žanrovci su vazda bili malko pristrasni po tom pitanju, i koliko god im je drago da neko "zvučno" ime svrati u žanr, toliko im i pomalo smeta ako pri tome odviše razgoli indie dimenziju koja je, šta da se radi, oduvek bila u srži žanrovske produkcije.
Čim se Oryx and Crake pojavio, bilo je malo sumnje da će pribaviti mesto u vrhu SF trilogija ikad. To ne samo zbog izuzetno atraktivne i savremene teme - ekiloška katastrofa uparena sa biološkom distopijom, nošenom na GMO krilima skoro otvoreno tehnofobske varijacije na prastaru temu čovekovog srljanja u samouništenje - nego zbog besprekorne ekstrapolacije trenutnih fenomena i preokupacija, zbog kojih je Oryx and Crake bio uznemiravajuće realističan čak i u najfantastičnijim delovima svoje teške i mračne premise. I kako to već ponekad ide na ruku remek-delima, izlazak knjige su ispratili fenomeni koji su u velikoj meri doprineli njenoj uverljivosti: ptičji grip i SARS su samo podvukli teze kojima je Oryx and Crake ne samo definisao apokalipsu, njego i njen metodičan i pedantan sled razvoja.



I mada se Oryx and Crake završio najbrutalnijim klifhangerom kakvog samo najsuroviji pisci mogu da smisle, u isto vreme je bio i dovoljno zaokružen kao celina da dovede u pitanje i sam nastavak, a kamoli treći deo sage. Ali kad je 6 godina kasnije objavljen  The Year of the Flood, čak su i pristrasni skeptici poput mene morali da priznaju kako je u pitanju vrhunsko štivo, na svakom bogovetnom planu superiorno čak i onim trilogijama koje su pri samom vrhu bilo koje sentimentalne naj-liste makar i najzadrtijeg žanrovskog ovisnika: Margaret Atwood u obe knjige nudi ama baš sve aspekte u čistim desetkama, to od neobuzdane imaginacije, preko besprekorne ekstrapolacije pa sve do neosporne relevantnosti sa savremenim preokupacijama tog konkretno vremena. A o književnim kvalitetima, naravno, ne treba ni govoriti, to se toliko podrazumeva.
I opet je The Year of the Flood surovo završen na klifhangeru, iako je i njegova zaokruženost i kompaktnost dovodila u pitanje potrebu za nastavcima. Ali tad je već bilo jasno da Atwood delove trilogije ne kalemi linearno, nego ih koristi za ekspanziju osnovnog Oryx and Crake zapleta.



Maddaddam je finalni deo trilogije i, baš kao i ostala dva dela, ima svoje specifičnosti u naraciji i stilu jednako: tamo gde je The Year of the Flood narativno koristio propovedi i himne Božjih baštovana, Maddaddam koristi primitivnu usmenu bajku i time upotpunjuje biblijski format saopštavanja istorije među generacijama. Isto tako, i dalje se razotkrivaju identiteti učesnika u apokalipsi, uz veoma vešto tkanje njihovih međusobnih odnosa; skoro ništa od svega toga se nije dalo nasluti u prethodnim naslovima, tako da ta zapanjujuća svežina rašomona i dalje nosi zaplet kao da je reč o potpuno novim zbivanjima, a ne samo o drugim tačkama gledišta. I eto kako to već biva sa mejnstrim majstorima koji svrnu u žanr da natrljaju indie nos vrhušci: Atwoodova bira jedan od nastarijih i najizraubovanijih motiva - motiv ludog naučnika koji u skoro potpunoj tajnosti iskonstruiše apokalipsu - i koristi ga kao prizmu kroz koju raščlanjuje mnoge suptilnosti naših trenutno najsavremenijih apokaliptičnih bauka - ekološke katastrofe i genetske manipulacije.

[PTY]

 i definitivno najbolja antologija 2013:









... što ne znači da su ostale bile loše, daleko bilo - to pogotovo vrlo dobre Dozois/Martin kooperacije u "Dangerous Women" i "Old Mars", a također i "After: 19 stories" Datlow/Windling - ali ova konkretno antologija odnosi šnjur prosto zato što ja tu naprosto ne vidim niti jednu jedinu prosečnu priču, sve su mi ekstra i straobalno odlične. Paula je naprosto prevazišla samu sebe i pored klasično zvučnih imena (Doktorow, Okorafor, Baker, Beukes, Gould, Sterling, Shirley, Bacigalupi, Morden) moj apsolutni favorit je priča "Horses" do sad mi nepoznate Livia Llewellyn, a posle toga "The Adjudicator" iz pera Brian Evenson, a to već samo po sebi daje na znanje da se radi o zaista odličnom izboru, kad vam potpuni anonimusi zasene uratke faca ovog kalibra.


A i inače se može reći da su postapokaliptične priče ove godine stvarno odlično iznenađenje (i to ne mislim samo na natologije), pošto su najzad uspele da dokažu ono što odavno slutim, a to je da dobra SF prezentacija postapokalipse može da zaseni i najbolje horor uratke kad god joj se prohte. Paula tu prednjači po senzibilitetu, pošto tek nekolicina priča nudi tračke iracionalne fantastike, a i to por strogom supervizijom autorske lucidnosti, tako da je ovde reč o zaista vrhu današnjeg apokaliptičnog SFa u kraćoj formi. Maestralan izbor sad već oprobanog i dokazanog uredničkog maestra - Paule Guran.




Što se zbirki tiče, tu je trka izluđujuće izjednačena između ova dva naslova:




[si








Watts je tu poslovično odličan, čak i njegova varijacija na film "The Thing" me se ovde istinski doima, iako me nije bog zna kako impresionirala kad se pojavila, usprkos nagradama. Pomalo bizarna varijanta tačke gledišta vanzemaljskog monstruma ima svog čara, mada i dalje smatram da funkcioniše samo kod ljudi koji su ne samo gledali film, nego i zapamtili doslovno svaku scenu, sa svim detaljima. Ako joj se oprosti taj hendikep (mislim to, da nije bog zna kako funkcionalna kao stand alone tekst), mora se priznati da ima dimenziju koja impresionira. Ali kičma zbirke je svakako "A word for Heathens", vrlo uspešno seciranje one strane ljudskog karaktera koja je izgleda zadužena za šizofrene halucijacije i religioznost jednako.


Norman Lock je priča za sebe, i ovo je moj prvi susret sa njime - prvi od brojnih, u to sam sigurna. Već prva priča je varijacija na "Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde", i to ne varijacija koliko nastavak samog zapleta: vrlo morbidno i vrlo, vrlo Stivensovski ne samo u jeziku nego i u stilu. Na moje oduševljenje, i ostatak zbirke je ispoštovao taj manir, otud se i sam naslov odmah zapatio pri vrhu naj-liste i ništa ga nije moglo uzdrmati sa pozicije.

[PTY]

The new novel from Simon Ings is a story that balances on the knife blade of a new technology. Augmented Reality uses computing power to overlay a digital imagined reality over the real world. Whether it be adverts or imagined buildings and imagined people with Augmented Reality the world is no longer as it appears to you, it is as it is imagined by someone else. Ings takes the satire and mordant satirical view of J.G. Ballard and propels it into the 21st century. Two friends are working at the cutting edge of this technology and when they are offered backing to take the idea and make it into the next global entertainment they realise that wolves hunt in this imagined world. And the wolves might be them. A story about technology becomes a personal quest into a changed world and the pursuit of a secret from the past. A secret about a missing mother, a secret that could hide a murder. This is no dry analysis of how a technology might change us, it is a terrifying thriller, a picture of a dark tomorrow that is just around the corner.






In a future, long-declining America, society is strictly stratified by class. Long-abandoned urban neighborhoods have been repurposed as highwalled, self-contained labor colonies. And the members of the labor class—descendants of those brought over en masse many years earlier from environmentally ruined provincial China—find purpose and identity in their work to provide pristine produce and fish to the small, elite, satellite charter villages that ring the labor settlement.In this world lives Fan, a female fish-tank diver, who leaves her home in the B-Mor settlement (once known as Baltimore), when the man she loves mysteriously disappears. Fan's journey to find him takes her out of the safety of B-Mor, through the anarchic Open Counties, where crime is rampant with scant governmental oversight, and to a faraway charter village, in a quest that will soon become legend to those she left behind.








As any reader of Jo Walton's Among Others might guess, Walton is both an inveterate reader of SF and fantasy, and a chronic re-reader of books. In 2008, then-new science-fiction mega-site Tor.com asked Walton to blog regularly about her re-reading—about all kinds of older fantasy and SF, ranging from acknowledged classics, to guilty pleasures, to forgotten oddities and gems. These posts have consistently been among the most popular features of Tor.com. Now this volumes presents a selection of the best of them, ranging from short essays to long reassessments of some of the field's most ambitious series.
Over 130 essays in all, What Makes This Book So Great is an immensely readable, engaging collection of provocative, opinionated thoughts about past and present-day fantasy and science fiction, from one of our best writers.














On the planet Ilmatar, under a roof of ice a kilometer thick, a team of deep-sea diving scientists investigates the blind alien race that lives below. The Terran explorers have made an uneasy truce with the Sholen, their first extraterrestrial contact: so long as they don't disturb the Ilmataran habitat, they're free to conduct their missions in peace.But when Henri Kerlerec, media personality and reckless adventurer, ends up sliced open by curious Ilmatarans, tensions between Terran and Sholen erupt, leading to a diplomatic disaster that threatens to escalate to war.Against the backdrop of deep-sea guerrilla conflict, a new age of human exploration begins as alien cultures collide. Both sides seek the aid of the newly enlightened Ilmatarans. But what this struggle means for the natives—and the future of human exploration—is anything but certain, in A Darkling Sea by James Cambias.












"A stunning debut! Alien races to rival Larry Niven, world-building to rival Hal Clement, and lots of rip-roaring adventure. James Cambias will be one of the century's major names in hard science fiction."—Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Red Planet Blues
"Fast-paced, pure quill hard science fiction.... Cambias delivers adroit plot pivots that keep the suspense coming."—Gregory Benford, Nebula Award-winning author of Timescape"This is great fun—traditional science fiction but with today's science. And I love the aliens."—Jo Walton, Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Award-winning author of Among Others

"The best story about an alien race and its environment that I've read in a long time. Cambias is in the same league as Hal Clement."—Vernor Vinge, Hugo Award-winning author of A Fire Upon the Deep

"Cambias's exploration of truly alien politics is fast, fun, and packed with characters you'll cheer for. It's exciting to welcome an exuberant new voice to the ranks of hard science fiction!"
—Karl Schroeder, author of Ventus


"A compelling read."
—Michael Flynn, author of On the Razor's Edge

"A fascinating exploration of alien lives at the extreme edges of an alien world."—Brenda Cooper, award-winning author of The Silver Ship and the Sea

[PTY]

moj neosporni favorit među debi romanima 2013:











Distopija na maglovitom tragu Sonmi~451, ali zadivljujuće vešto ispripovedana, i sasvim u skladu sa umerenim engleskim ekstrapolacijama o crnjaku koji čeka radničku klasu u korporativnoj budućnosti metropola.


Jayna je genetski augmenotvana da briljira u karijeri, ali ta augmentacija ne podrazumeva nikakve očigledne psiho-fizičke super-sposobnosti: Jayna je genetski "obrađena" na tako suptilnom nivou da se ne razlikuje od ostalih ljudi gotovo ni po čemu osim po olafaktornim specifičnostima - Jayna ima vanredno slaba čula mirisa i okusa. Taj sitni genetski tvik omogućio je ljudima poput Jayne da briljiraju u karijeri prosto zato što nisu podložni izvesnim distrakcijama koje su ljudima uglavnom osnovna merila kvaliteta života. Jayna ne mari odviše za okus hrane ili pića, njen život je spartanski jednostavan i sastoji se samo od rada i spavanja, a njen genetski hendikep uslovljava i njenu nesposobnost da se intimno zainteresuje za drugo ljudsko biće. Ali Jayna je dovoljno inteligentna da shvati svoju nekompletnost i njen život se uskoro pretvara u nesavladiv poriv da prevaziđe svoj hendikep.


Doktorow je u rivjuu za MacLeodov Intrusion naveo kako je reč o "benevolentnom diktatoršipu tehnokratije", i to je ideja vodilja i ovog romana, otud je distopija koju nudi vrlo uverljiva a na momente čak i prihvatljiva, sa nekog racionalnijeg stanovišta. Greg Egan je još pre dve decenije zaključio kako bi ogroman broj ljudi svojevoljno izabrao slične hendikepe, ili bolje rečeno kako ih zapravo već odavno svojevoljno bira, u prozac-nation obliku bega od zahtevne radne i životne stvarnosti. U Eganovoj verziji, reč je o hirurškoj intervenciji koju biraju svesni i savesni ljudi, ali svejedno, od toga pa do genetske manipulacije je prilično mali tehnološki (a još manji prozni) korak. Anne Charnock uspeva da izuzetno suptilno - za razliku od MacLeoda, naprimer, koji je po tom pitanju suptilan koliko i macola - predoči razloge i potrebe koje u savremenom čoveku stvaraju želju da što manje oseća, i na tom nivou, skoro je ravnopravna sa Eganom. Ne verujem da joj mogu dati veći kompliment od toga. Odličan roman, ubedljivo najjači debi utisak 2013.

[mac]

Mnogo je to meni neki high concept. Umrtvili su joj čula ukusa i mirisa, ali šta ćemo s ostalim čulima? Šta je sprečava da uživa u svim oblicima umetnosti, u sportu i ostalim adrenalinskim aktivnostima, poput kockanja? Osoba će tražiti zadovoljštinu zato što joj je zadovoljština potrebna, a ne zato što joj je dostupna čulima ukusa i mirisa. Ako vam treba čovek-mašina onda čoveku ubijte potrebu za zadovoljštinom. Pitanje je kako to izvesti, a ne pretvoriti čoveka u egzistencijalističkog zombija.

[PTY]

Naravno, nije to tako jednostavno, to je samo bazična premisa. Postoje tu još mnogi faktori, od neuralnih implanata pa sve do rigoroznog odgoja, znači radi se o veoma kompleksnom konceptu za čije objašnjenje je potrebna knjiga, tojest ova knjiga. Ja bih mogla sa detaljisanjima samo da je upropastim sa spojlerima.


Isto tako, nije tačno da Jayna nema čula mirisa i okusa, poenta je u tome kako njen mozak interpretira te senzorne informacije, i dalje, kakve reakcije to proizvodi. Pojednostavljeno govoreći, ako tebi određena supstanca - uzmimo na primer čokoladu - ne proizvodi osećaj fizičkog boljitka, onda ti na tu supstancu jednostavno ne reaguješ kao ostali ljudi, tebi se ona čini jednako ukusna koliko i spanać, recimo. Fakt da imaš ostala čula, neće uticati na taj konkretno tvoj biohemijski hendikep, pogotovo ako si još od ranog detinjstva odgojem uslovljen da u hrani vidiš samo neophodno gorivo a ne estetski ili fizički doživljaj. Isto tako, ako si odgojen da tu svoju specifičnost ne doživljavaš kao hendikep nego kao vrlinu koja ima svoje prednosti...


Ali u pravu si što se tiče te opaske o zadovoljštini i zašto je čovek traži, na tome upravo i počiva zaplet, u pitanju je svojevrsna studija kako ljudi suočavaju hendikepe i na koje se sve načine dovijaju da ih zaobiđu, ako već nije u njihovoj moći da ih eliminišu. Prednost ove premise je u tome što savršeno ilustruje situacije u kojima je to dovijanje isključivo kognitivno, znači posledica isključivo intelektualne i svesne namere zrelog čoveka, rađe nego samo instinktivno posezanje za senzornim preopterećenjem.


Inače, ovo jeste debi roman, ali Anne Charnock je vrlo potkovana u pisanju (novinarka po profesiji), a naučna premisa je vrlo potkovana i vrlo detaljisana. Osnovna tema kojom se bavi (osnovna opsesija, bolje rečeno) je upravo ta fina razlika između čoveka i mašine, pa se roman upravo i bavi hajlajtom koji navodiš - granicom koja deli zdravo i funkcionalno ljudsko biće od egzistencijalističkog zombija.

[Albedo 0]

prije će biti obrnuto, ako vam treba čovjek-mašina podstičite njegovo zadovoljstvo što više

upravo za moderno doba je karakteristična ideja da se ljudski um razvija kroz potpunu upotrebu ljudskih čula, npr mislim da je Kondijak u pitanju, koji je tvrdio da ljudsko biće nastaje tako što brdu gline pridodate sve čulne organe, i to brdo će postati misleći čovjek samom upotrebom tih čula

s druge strane, Srednji vijek je potiskivao neke čulne osjećaje na uštrb drugih, i uopšte ta ideja potiskivanja je srednjevijekovna, orvelovska, budistička, aristokratska, asketska, sve suprotstavljeno onome što se stvarno dešava

ko je pogodio budućnost, Vrli novi svijet ili 1984?

štaviše, to potiskivanje nazivamo ''fašističkim''. Dakle, riba otkriva toplu vodu, koliko vidim, a Doktorow pravi salatu sa ''benevolentnom diktaturom'' (kada je upravo benevolentnost to što je diktatorsko), i to još ''diktaturom tehnokratije'', kao da postoji neka demokratska tehnokratija.

[mac]

Knjiga se onda čini i dobar kandidat za čitaonicu.

[Albedo 0]

jel to još postoji?

[PTY]

Knjiga se onda čini i dobar kandidat za čitaonicu.

Nažalost, premalo je ljudi a prekoviše interesnih sfera za bilo kakve non-profit zezancije... 


Ali knjiga je zanimljiva i u širem smislu, recimo da dobro ilustruje trenutne razlike između UK i US distopija, između ostalog. UK distopije ne samo da više počivaju na ekstrapolaciji, nego i ilustruju onaj fini momenat u životu današnjih demokratija kog se može prepoznati i kao prilično subverzivnog - taj regulatorski deo demokratije u kom se donose društvene odluke na način koji namerno zaobilazi glasačku većinu. I mada se za same te odluke ne može reći da su maliciozne u svojoj prirodi (naprotiv, neke su očigledno benevolentne, duž linija koje Meho zastupa, a to su da demokratija mora da brine i o manjinskim pravima za koja se ne može očekivati da će biti prioritet glasačkoj većini), ali ostaje činjenica da je ipak u pitanju društvena manipulacija, znači subverzija sistema. To nije vidljivo samo u prozi, i Black Mirror se bavi upravo takvim premisama, mada uz jače primese fantastike, pa otud i zahteva malko jaču suspenziju neverice.   

[PTY]

Elem, od premise da je olfaktorni hendikep jedna od najnepremostivijih barijera koje dele zdravo ljudsko biće od egzistencijalističkog zombija, dolazimo do druge najnepremostivije barijere za sličnu karakterizaciju, a to je koncept individualnosti.







Bilo bi stvarno nekorektno ne pomenuti ovaj odličan debi roman koji se bavi problemima identiteta kroz analizu emotivnih hendikepa humanoidnog tela, pa to još kroz prizmu podela i karakteristika pola-roda: teško da se može smisliti ambiciozniji koncept, pa je otud i red da se pomene, iako mene nije impresionirao dovoljno da roman završim. Ali priznajem da su u pitanju sasvim pristrasni parametri, pošto sam ja izgleda sasvim prerasla space-opera format, čak i kad dolazi iz pera neosporno genijalnih autora kao što je pokojni Banks.


Reč je o radikalno futurističkom konceptu koji nudi ljudsku vrstu rasprostranjenu širom galaksije, to u nebrojenim i prilično agresivnim varijantama i kulturama. Najinteresantniji (a verovatno i glavni, na duge staze)protagonista knjige, Breq, je svojevremeno bila neka vrst ratnog zarobljenika kojem je svo originalno sećenje bilo izbrisano od strane AI kontrolora. Iz zapleta se da zaključiti kako je to standardna praksa u ratovima, da se ratni zarobljenici zombifikuju oduzimanjem sećanja, a potom i koriste kao najradikalniji vojni aset, nešto u fazonu janjičara, a to je koncept sa kojim smo prilično dobro upoznati. Prava drama počinje tek kasnije, kada se Braq otpusti iz tog ropstva pod AI kontrolom, i kada otkrije da više jednostavno nije u stanju da živi bez njega.


Odlična premisa i isto tako dobra postavka, ali malko odviše slaba u izvedbi da me zadrži u čitanju. Informacijsko preopterećenje je jednostavno bilo isuviše agresivno da mi dopusti uživanje u zapletu, tako da sam to batalila. Ali ko voli space-opera koncept zasigurno će uživati u ovako ambicioznom i (tvrde renomirani poznavaoci žanra) konceptualno hrabrom prvom delu serijala.


   

[PTY]

a što se žanrovskih naslovnica tiče, Justin Landen izdvaja najimpresivnije u 2013:

http://www.staffersbookreview.com/2013/12/2013-juice-box-awards-best-cover-of-the-year.html#more-4163

[Mica Milovanovic]

Ova za Ljubav -80 je najbolja...

[PTY]

Nije mu ni roman loš (pri kraju sam i sa njime i sa KSRovim Shamanom), ali 2013 ima stvarno jaku konkurenciju, tako da je još uvek otvoreno pitanje da li će se izboriti za mesto na mojoj naj-5 listi.   

[PTY]

Da, da, krajnje je vreme došlo, i moram priznati kako su mi najjači kandidati na listi najboljih 2013 romana uglavnom  tek periferno SF, i to sa naglaskom na iracionalnu fantastiku. Life is a bitch.


Bez nekog naročitog redosleda, ređam ih ovako:









odličan roman o vremeplovcu zarobljenom u paradoksu, ispričan sa lepo odmerenom dozom saspensa. Pošto sam već pominjala roman na ovom topiku, ne bih da se ponavljam, sem da ga preporučim za čitanje.


I, kao da to nije dosta vremeplova, još jedan takav roman se probio u top 5:







 


Lauren je znatno odmakla od prethodnih romana u zanatskom smislu, iako meni lično kao da malko nedostaje njena čupava i dlakava indie imaginacija kakvu je ponudila u Zoo City. Ali ne može se osporiti fakt da je ovaj roman skoro pa besprekoran u egzekuciji, mada je mene lično finale dovelo na sam rub iritacije. A pošto sam i taj roman pominjala, nema potrebe za ponavljanjem, samo za preporukom.











šta reći osim - maestru se mora odati počast, pa makar bila i reč o finalu trilogije. To je ujedno i ocena cele trilogije, pošto nalazim na su prethodni naslovi još maestralniji, ako je to uopšte moguće. Izuzetno štivo.










i da, da, da, glomazna knjižurina na tragu Plemena spiljskog medveda, nimalo žanrovski prepoznatljiva ali neverovatno podatna pri čitnaju, usprkos vrlo tromom zapletu prve polovine ili do tu negde.












a za peto mesto se još  bacaju kockice... 

[PTY]

Teffi was among the finest, most popular Russian writers of the twentieth century, yet she remains woefully unknown outside Russia. Pushkin Press's forthcoming volume of Teffi's short stories finally introduces this wonderful writer to English-language readers all over the world. The selection has been drawn from the complete body of Teffi's prose, ranging from work early in her career up to her last stories. The chosen stories are examples of her finest writing, and representative of its variety. Her pitch-perfect prose is sharply observed and replete with irony, but deeply humane.








Summer 2011. Berlin. Adolf Hitler wakes up on a patch of ground, alive and well. Things have changed - no Eva Braun, no Nazi party, no war. Hitler barely recognises his beloved Fatherland, filled with immigrants and run by a woman. People certainly recognise him, though - as a brilliant, satirical impersonator who refuses to break character. The unthinkable, the inevitable, happens, and the ranting Hitler takes off, goes viral, becomes a YouTube star, gets his own TV show, becomes someone who people listen to. All while he's still trying to convince people that yes, it really is him, and yes, he really means it.

Look Who's Back is a black and brilliant satire of modern media-bloated society, seen through the eyes of the Führer himself. Adolf is by turns repellent, sympathetic and hilarious, but always fascinating. Look Who's Back is outrageously clever, outrageously funny - and outrageously plausible.

[PTY]

sta nas to zanimljivog ceka u 2014:



Monica Byrne: The Girl in the Road
The Girl in the Road is the debut novel of author and playwright Monica Byrne, a Clarion graduate with a masters in Geochemistry from MIT. I haven't read her work previously, but, based on the early buzz, I think this is a book that a lot of people will know of by year's end. In the future, a young woman leaves India to travel The Trail: a silver bridge across the ocean toward Ethiopia. In another time, a young refugee girl travels east across Saharan Africa in a truck, also toward Ethiopia. I don't have much more detail on the parallel journeys of the protagonists and how those threads will intertwine, but looking at her writing resume I have every reason to expect well-developed and evocative prose, and a richly-drawn world.




Wu Ming-Yi: The Man With the Compound Eyes: A Novel
This is the first novel translated into English by Taiwanese author Wu Ming-Yi. I am drawn to speculative fiction from other cultures because the different perspectives and traditions are often a fresh change from the themes and styles I am so familiar with. I go to speculative fiction for the strange and unfamiliar, and there is an extra layer of that when I read something written by an author whose native language I do not speak. Wu holds a Ph.D., teaches creative writing, and this is his fourth novel, so I am confident that the writing will be solid from a craft standpoint. The story itself concerns a mythical island, a vortex of sea-borne trash, a tsunami, and two people from different cultures brought together in the midst of environmental tragedy. Reviews suggest strong world-building and strange, lovely imagery.



Jeff Vandermeer: Annihilation
Annihilation is the first book of award-winning author and editor Jeff Vandermeer's Southern Reach Trilogy, all three volumes of which will be published in 2014. In Annihilation, a portion of the United States has been cut off from the world, taken over by some alien force. Eleven teams have been sent to explore the anomaly, and all but the first have been lost. Annihilation follows the twelfth expedition to the contaminated landscape of Area X, where they will encounter forces beyond human comprehension. From the snippets I've seen, I expect a chilling story with emotional resonance. Vandermeer has a marvelous sense of the strange and grotesque, and I anticipate that his unique voice will be in full form. This will be a world as rich and terrible as Ambergris, and as unique.



Adam Sternbergh: Shovel Ready
NYT Magazine Culture Editor Adam Sternbergh's debut novel is a futuristic hard-boiled thriller about a garbage man turned hit-man in the ruins of New York. Spademan is a classic noir killer with a code of honor, now stalking the radioactive streets of the poor and the virtual reality paradises of the wealthy. This one has been getting a lot of national coverage, and Sternbergh's style is described as lean and gritty, with a dark, razor-sharp wit. A film is in development with Warner Brothers. A solid bet.



Thomas Sweterlitsch: Tomorrow and Tomorrow
I'm having trouble finding out a great deal about this debut novel, which is surprising since it is due for release in four countries and movie studios are apparently engaged in a bidding war for the rights well before publication. (Sony won.) The author has a Master's Degree in Literary and Cultural Theory and has worked at the Carnegie Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped for many years, so I would expect a very literate and thought-provoking text. Tomorrow and Tomorrow takes place ten years after a catastrophe has reduced the city of Pittsburgh to ash. Survivor John Dominic Blaxton cannot move beyond his grief and haunts an interactive digital reconstruction of the city called The Archive. Psychologically trapped in this virtual past, he uncovers a coverup that will lead to a trip through the code of The Archive and the ruin of the city itself. It's hard to judge from the few descriptions available, but blurbs that invoke Raymond Chandler and William Gibson have my interest piqued.



Alena Graedon: The Word Exchange: A Novel
Graedon's debut novel is billed as "a literary adventure for book lovers, a dystopian thriller about the digital age and a love story set in a world threatened by the disappearance of language." In a world in which physical print is at the cusp of extinction, a virulent "word flu" spreads, degrading the spoken word as well. The main character Anana, working on the final print edition of the North American Dictionary of the English Language, is spurred by the disappearance of her father to investigate secret societies and corrupt corporate powers in a literary thriller infused with thoughts about the nature of language and the written word. The author has an MFA from Columbia and worked at PEN America Center before leaving to complete her novel on fellowship, so this should be an interesting and informed work. Low profile, but they had me at "a fiendishly clever dystopian novel for the digital age."



Kenneth Calhoun: Black Moon: A Novel
In Black Moon, civilization is grinding to and end, but not from one of the usual suspects. In this case, pandemic insomnia has resulted in the slow mental breakdown of nearly everyone, creating utter chaos. It's an interesting concept, with sleep and dreaming the only resource that matters in a dying world. This will be a different kind of apocalypse, and I'm looking forward to exploring it.




The Future Embodied: The Future of Human Evolution, edited by Jason Andrew and Mae Empson. This collection will explore the impact of technology on the body.