Michèle Laframboise's Blog
June 1, 2024
Pour les passionné-es d'histoire, ce huitième registre!
Huitième Registre 1. Le Silène assassiné (Le) (Le Huitième Registre)
Confession, j'avais lu la nouvelle "Le 8e Registre" en traduction anglaise, qui m'a frappée par la richesse et l'originalité de l'univers alternatif. J'ai tellement "trippé" que j'ai commencé une BD de 60 pages avec le jeune André Antonikas. Hélas, bien d'autres événements sont intervenus, incluant la naissance de mon fils et des refus de subventions au projet, qui est resté dans mes boîtes.
Mais voilà que mon confrère sort un doublon de gros volumes qui explorent plus en profondeur cet univers, et les répercussion de la première histoire. J'ai eu un peu de craintes étant donné le titre, mais finalement j'ai plongé et je n'ai pas regretté du tout.
Je dois prévenir que la narration comporte des passages expositoires au début, et un long prologue écrit par un "traducteur" qui à mon avis aurait pu sauter.
Car on sait que c'est un univers parallèle, où le Nouveau Continent a été découvert en 1809 et la province de Galactée couvre le sud du Québec actuel. Des cartes géographiques de l'Empire nous aident à s'y retrouver.
Province, car en 2015, Constantinople est le centre du monde civilisé, et le pape règne à Rome. Mont-Boréal est habité par des citoyens et des "Peaux-Rouges", des émigrés du nord de l'Europe aptes à travailler au froid, des roux qui attrapent facilement des coups de soleil. (Les premiers habitants du Continent ont été 'pacifiés' --i.e.: massacrés ou repoussés au loin-- par un certain général Belgarius.) Mais il y a en Arkadie et Galactée un mouvement séparatiste qui veut se libérer de l'emprise de Constantinople...
Le livre un reprend la nouvelle que j'ai lue en 1998, avec plus de profondeur, et ce qui arrive vingt ans plus tard au pauvre André qui a bien mal tourné hélas.
La deuxième partie du livre devient très intéressante avec l'arrivée d'un inquisiteur spécial formé aux nouvelles méthodes sans torture (quoi? s'écrie le préfet de Providence) d'un certain AEdegard Dupinius, auteur de la Lettre Volée (tiens, tiens), et qui reprend l'enquête. Ça nous permet de visiter des institutions de la ville de Providence, puis l'affaire se corse avec un empilement des intrigues et des motifs... byzantins, justement.
Dans ce monde hyper-traditionnel et chrétien, les droits des femmes sont quasiment réduits au néant, mais celles des plus riches familles reçoivent une éducation et peuvent tirer leur épingle du jeu... si elles ne se font pas épingler! On va y rencontrer une "puelle" (de 'puer', un jeune entre 17 et 30 ans dans la Rome antique, ou bien une contraction de pucelle) débrouillarde et pas piquée des vers. D'ailleurs elle conduit son propre phaeton (une voiture à trois roues)!
On mentionne entre autres un Zénon de Vince, inventeur de l'orgue à traitement de signes, et d'autres figures historiques se cachent entre ces pages.
Un livre qui satisfera les passionnés d'histoire. Le plaisir est de découvrir les recoins de cette histoire alternative, et d'explorer cette société.
Un lexique à la fin complète cette visite d'un monde original, qui liste les personnages et les technologies aux noms savoureux. (Par exemple, les orgues à traitement de signes Casavanti, hihihi!) !
Confession, j'avais lu la nouvelle "Le 8e Registre" en traduction anglaise, qui m'a frappée par la richesse et l'originalité de l'univers alternatif. J'ai tellement "trippé" que j'ai commencé une BD de 60 pages avec le jeune André Antonikas. Hélas, bien d'autres événements sont intervenus, incluant la naissance de mon fils et des refus de subventions au projet, qui est resté dans mes boîtes.
Mais voilà que mon confrère sort un doublon de gros volumes qui explorent plus en profondeur cet univers, et les répercussion de la première histoire. J'ai eu un peu de craintes étant donné le titre, mais finalement j'ai plongé et je n'ai pas regretté du tout.
Je dois prévenir que la narration comporte des passages expositoires au début, et un long prologue écrit par un "traducteur" qui à mon avis aurait pu sauter.
Car on sait que c'est un univers parallèle, où le Nouveau Continent a été découvert en 1809 et la province de Galactée couvre le sud du Québec actuel. Des cartes géographiques de l'Empire nous aident à s'y retrouver.
Province, car en 2015, Constantinople est le centre du monde civilisé, et le pape règne à Rome. Mont-Boréal est habité par des citoyens et des "Peaux-Rouges", des émigrés du nord de l'Europe aptes à travailler au froid, des roux qui attrapent facilement des coups de soleil. (Les premiers habitants du Continent ont été 'pacifiés' --i.e.: massacrés ou repoussés au loin-- par un certain général Belgarius.) Mais il y a en Arkadie et Galactée un mouvement séparatiste qui veut se libérer de l'emprise de Constantinople...
Le livre un reprend la nouvelle que j'ai lue en 1998, avec plus de profondeur, et ce qui arrive vingt ans plus tard au pauvre André qui a bien mal tourné hélas.
La deuxième partie du livre devient très intéressante avec l'arrivée d'un inquisiteur spécial formé aux nouvelles méthodes sans torture (quoi? s'écrie le préfet de Providence) d'un certain AEdegard Dupinius, auteur de la Lettre Volée (tiens, tiens), et qui reprend l'enquête. Ça nous permet de visiter des institutions de la ville de Providence, puis l'affaire se corse avec un empilement des intrigues et des motifs... byzantins, justement.
Dans ce monde hyper-traditionnel et chrétien, les droits des femmes sont quasiment réduits au néant, mais celles des plus riches familles reçoivent une éducation et peuvent tirer leur épingle du jeu... si elles ne se font pas épingler! On va y rencontrer une "puelle" (de 'puer', un jeune entre 17 et 30 ans dans la Rome antique, ou bien une contraction de pucelle) débrouillarde et pas piquée des vers. D'ailleurs elle conduit son propre phaeton (une voiture à trois roues)!
On mentionne entre autres un Zénon de Vince, inventeur de l'orgue à traitement de signes, et d'autres figures historiques se cachent entre ces pages.
Un livre qui satisfera les passionnés d'histoire. Le plaisir est de découvrir les recoins de cette histoire alternative, et d'explorer cette société.
Un lexique à la fin complète cette visite d'un monde original, qui liste les personnages et les technologies aux noms savoureux. (Par exemple, les orgues à traitement de signes Casavanti, hihihi!) !
July 11, 2022
The Rose Guardian, a poetic and spellbinding novel
by Lorina StephensMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I bought the Rose Guardian after reading the opening at the end of in Dreams of the Moon.
it was riveting. Intriguing, family tensions at the funerals of the main character's mother. I had to know more! I bought the book and waited until I had finished some projects before starting to read the Rose Guardian.
In a vastly populated publishing landscape, many excellent writers are often overlooked. Lorina Stephens is CanadaLit's best kept secret.
Her spellbinding prose kept me guessing as I dove headfirst into the psychological woes of an aging artist who deals with her estranged mother's passing and the roses business. And as Violet discovers her mother's journals and secrets, she is visited in her Manitoulin home by a strange little girl who shows an uncanny talent in drawing. Who is she?
The narrative flows between the harried mother's journals dating from WWII, the present day-to-day artist's life, with many details about the craft that visual painters among us will appreciate (I have done watercolors, but never this elaborate!) and a little unnamed girl who grows in her Ma's shadow and gives souls to every being in her reach, and talks to a majestic Roses bush in the garden, the titular Rose Guardian.
The unnamed girl looks with hope at the clouds building up, seeing boats, waiting for them to take her to a place where nobody hurts. The mother, who has endured abuse, resents her solitude ("Find a successful woman and you'll find a lonely one. Where a man shows leadership and decisiveness, in a woman it's called arrogance and bitchiness.") The watercolor artist composes with the ghost-child visitations, an estranged husband who still loves her, a possible interview by a major media outlet (oh, the weight of appearances!) and the cruel self-interrogations of her worth as an artist, another thing this reader related to.
The three mysteries entwined more and more in the novel, we get to understand the mother's tribulations, the mysterious ghost-child, and the unnamed girl who has to grow up... and abandon her golden dreams.
The prose is rich and delicate like a cloud lining:
"Silence drifted in the house, comfortable, eloquent."
"I was struck by the aromas of my trade: the fungus smell of watercolour papers, the citrus-sharp pungency of oils and turps and glazing mediums."
"Only now did I understand that, accept it, recognize the shift on the political map of my life."
The story is about the complexity of a human soul, the relations, and the mental prison we build for ourselves, against an outside world full of hurt. It is about art, too, about the female artist condition (oh, the weight of appearance, bis!) about too-tight clothes (oh, the passage about the torturing shoes) and a host of concerns, and friendship, resilience, acceptance. Life is imperfect, but we have to cope with, and eventually transcend the limits, to find closure.
I loved this book for this gradual poetic construction, of shades and lights in the characters with an artist's brush, and for the exaltation of the beauty of Manitoulin Island (which I hope to discover for myself soon.) As I closed the book, I shared this desire of the soul to fly out towards an horizon crowned with golden clouds.
View all my reviews
July 3, 2022
A very proud milestone (Not a shooting star! )
But I love my writing path!
I have achieved a milestone with simultaneous publications in the summer issues of Asimov’s et Analog.
As I was born in July, I think this double publication makes a fine birthday gift. Especially as my name is featured on the Asimov’s cover.
It took a long time to get there. Far from being like a shooting star, I am more like a long distance runner with more than 60 nouvelles published in magazines. There are still about 100 short-stories doing the rounds in the pro mag circuits.
In the SF short-story field, Asimov’s Science Fiction (founded by writer Isaac Asimov himself) and Analog Science Fiction & Fact (formerly Astounding SF, counting John Campbell as a long-standing former editor) are the top mags that receive several thousands submissions per year. My stories there are :
Rare Earths Pineapple in Analog
Screaming Fire in Asimov’s.
Currently on sale in kiosques and specialized bookshops.
**
I do enjoy writing, and publishing collections of published stories, and comics. I just indie-published Maîtresse des vents, the first YA graphic novel at Échofictions.
I have achieved a milestone with simultaneous publications in the summer issues of Asimov’s et Analog.
As I was born in July, I think this double publication makes a fine birthday gift. Especially as my name is featured on the Asimov’s cover.
It took a long time to get there. Far from being like a shooting star, I am more like a long distance runner with more than 60 nouvelles published in magazines. There are still about 100 short-stories doing the rounds in the pro mag circuits.
In the SF short-story field, Asimov’s Science Fiction (founded by writer Isaac Asimov himself) and Analog Science Fiction & Fact (formerly Astounding SF, counting John Campbell as a long-standing former editor) are the top mags that receive several thousands submissions per year. My stories there are :
Rare Earths Pineapple in Analog
Screaming Fire in Asimov’s.
Currently on sale in kiosques and specialized bookshops.
**
I do enjoy writing, and publishing collections of published stories, and comics. I just indie-published Maîtresse des vents, the first YA graphic novel at Échofictions.
September 23, 2021
My First Story published in Asimov’s!
After 16 years of besieging the English-language sci-fi magazines, a breach has been opened in Asimov’s wall.
Asimov's Science Fiction September/October 2021
My sarcastic SF story “Shooting at Warner’s Bay” is out this month. Follow a witty support actress through a typical Hollywood monster movie shooting, on a lonely tropical island, that is far from deserted... Oops!
It is a special moment for me, because it was a promise I made to my father on his hospital bed, in November 2014. I was subbing to top mags since 2005, so this is a breakthrough.
But the nicest thing is, I got to do an illustrated article on the Asimov's Science fiction blog.
Check it here
Asimov's Science Fiction September/October 2021
My sarcastic SF story “Shooting at Warner’s Bay” is out this month. Follow a witty support actress through a typical Hollywood monster movie shooting, on a lonely tropical island, that is far from deserted... Oops!
It is a special moment for me, because it was a promise I made to my father on his hospital bed, in November 2014. I was subbing to top mags since 2005, so this is a breakthrough.
But the nicest thing is, I got to do an illustrated article on the Asimov's Science fiction blog.
Check it here
June 17, 2020
28 YA titles to do good!
the YA megabundle
Clouds of Phoenix and 27 others YA titles, available until June 20th.
StoryBundle was created by Jason Chen to give a platform for independent authors to showcase their work, and a source of quality titles for thirsty readers. StoryBundle works with authors to create bundles of ebooks that can be purchased by readers at their desired price.
The YA MegaBundle organizer, Anthea Sharp, explains her motivation to link readers and writers with a super ebook deal. I met Andrea in 2016 and she is a talented musician as well as a writer. So I was delighted to be included in the Bundle with my YA SF novel Clouds of Phoenix!
From Anthea Sharp:
And not only are these 28 books packed with fabulous adventure, the bundle itself is an amazing deal. In the spirit of generosity and providing hope, authors have included books that, combined, would cost over $50 if bought at regular retail price. Half the MegaBundle profits will go to Mighty Writers, a non-profit organization benefiting children’s literacy that is also doing some important food security outreach right now for the disadvantaged population it serves. Check out more at Mightywriters.org.
Still three days left: the YA megabundle
Clouds of Phoenix and 27 others YA titles, available until June 20th.
StoryBundle was created by Jason Chen to give a platform for independent authors to showcase their work, and a source of quality titles for thirsty readers. StoryBundle works with authors to create bundles of ebooks that can be purchased by readers at their desired price.
The YA MegaBundle organizer, Anthea Sharp, explains her motivation to link readers and writers with a super ebook deal. I met Andrea in 2016 and she is a talented musician as well as a writer. So I was delighted to be included in the Bundle with my YA SF novel Clouds of Phoenix!
From Anthea Sharp:
And not only are these 28 books packed with fabulous adventure, the bundle itself is an amazing deal. In the spirit of generosity and providing hope, authors have included books that, combined, would cost over $50 if bought at regular retail price. Half the MegaBundle profits will go to Mighty Writers, a non-profit organization benefiting children’s literacy that is also doing some important food security outreach right now for the disadvantaged population it serves. Check out more at Mightywriters.org.
Still three days left: the YA megabundle
April 19, 2020
Here Be Brave New Worlds!
It is a daunting task to adjust to every changes the COVID19 pandemic has wrought upon us.
The landscape has changed incredibly fast.
So here's a nice bundle curated by the British author J.D. Brink Here Be Brave new Worlds
*
Worlds on the brink of apocalypse, or already there. Nature’s wrath and dominion over humanity, and humanity’s folly incarnate.
Dark magic, terrifying tech, greed, ravaged environments, rare courage and grim hope in lost cities and fallen worlds.
Brave new worlds or last best hopes — Dare you glimpse the future?
Here Be Brave new Worlds – 13 SF & fantasy futuristic stories, novellas and novels, collected by U.K. author A. L. Butcher, reunited for 4.99$!
I have read gripping and fun stories by J.D. Brink, Rob Jeschonek and Leah Cutter previously, and their stories are a fine level.
My contribution is the dystopian story "Ice Monarch."
Come and get it, before the end of April!
The landscape has changed incredibly fast.
So here's a nice bundle curated by the British author J.D. Brink Here Be Brave new Worlds
*
Worlds on the brink of apocalypse, or already there. Nature’s wrath and dominion over humanity, and humanity’s folly incarnate.
Dark magic, terrifying tech, greed, ravaged environments, rare courage and grim hope in lost cities and fallen worlds.
Brave new worlds or last best hopes — Dare you glimpse the future?
Here Be Brave new Worlds – 13 SF & fantasy futuristic stories, novellas and novels, collected by U.K. author A. L. Butcher, reunited for 4.99$!
I have read gripping and fun stories by J.D. Brink, Rob Jeschonek and Leah Cutter previously, and their stories are a fine level.
My contribution is the dystopian story "Ice Monarch."
Come and get it, before the end of April!
March 4, 2020
Recent SF readings
(Warning: some of the reviews are in French.
Warning 2: not an exhaustive list of the stories, because I concentrate of SF stories, but some texts sit on the fence.)
Neil Clarke – Best SF of the year, 2019 edition.
The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 4
When we were starless Simeone Heller. An alien species makes contact with a leftover AI from a human museum. A delayed first contact story filled with hope.
Intervention by Kelly Robson.
That story’s central theme is the caring attributes of a man (Jules) who fully embraces a “female” job of raising pod of children.
Une superbe histoire dont les héros sont des responsables de crèche et suivent un pod de six jeunes. C'est rare une histoire qui porte autant sur le "caring", et celle-là est une réussite pour moi. Surtout que le narrateur Jules, centenaire, montre des qualités d'affection émouvantes.
The time we have left by Alyssa Wong suit une jeune femme défigurée qui visite une copie de la leader de son ancien groupe rock, décédée accidentellement. On comprend qu’elle s’en veut d’avoir involontairement causé la mort des membres du groupe, par dépit, mais découvre au-delà de la mort que Hime avait eu une confiance inébranlable en son potentiel.
Domestic Violence de Madeline Ashby, quand les maisons intelligentes deviennent des prisons sadiques. Doublée d’une histoire d’abus conjugal. Notre HR specialist va-t-elle s’en sortir? / When too-intelligent houses become complicit in domestic abuse. The past of our MC, and the way she disposes of problems, is not clear to me.
(in English!)
Prophet on the Road, par Naomi Kritzer, A dominant AI called the Engineer divided wants to find its other pieces to reunite, pushing the guilt-ridden ex-soldier forward. As he meet a Engineer-carrying person with a piece more akin to the humans, its priorities eventually change from domination to helping.
Traces of us, by Vanessa Fogg. IA intelligences in far future, and humans in present day. A promise. To reach out, held eons later. Cute. Uploading of consciousness.
Theories of flight by Linda Nagata is set in her universe of the white destructive-creative fog that forces people to live beyond walls on hill tops. Yaphet is a secondary character from her other novel where people are “players” and reincarnation is admitted. The story is an engineering problem solved at the end, prodded by compassion. Mishon: “The fault is in the code from which I was written.”
Lab B-15 by Nick Wolven. Why is Dr Jerry Emery experiencing time loops each time he crosses the Lab B-15 door? What if is was dead and recreated, like the rich clients hoping for a second life? Good riddle. Try, reach, feel. Which is a life lesson for everyone.
Requiem by Vandana Singh. Varsha follows the steps or a dear departed aunt in a research center in the glacial north, where the aunt was studying whale’s communication, and a company sends “T-Rex robots” to dig for remaining oil. The aunt and her Eskimo lover also tried for a whale-shaped submersible now currently missing. What if… A long story well told, without violence which I appreciated. With a touch of nostalgia. The story addresses cultural gaps, Eskimo life, community sharing of the meat of one whale, and inheritance. My favorite, even if on the long side.
Sour Milk Girls by Erin Roberts. In the tedious environment of a “agency”, orphans wait to be adopted or turn 18 before retrieving their childhood memories, that technology allows to exchange engrams. Sour milk is their mood, and hot sauce is the rebellion they carry inside. Acceptation and rejection are high on the theme list.
Mother Tongues by S. Qiouly Lu tackles the engram transfer theme, too, but with languages that you can sell for someone not eager to learn. Problem is: your own brain cells gets fried in the process. But a Mandarine speaker is ready to sacrifice her mother tongue to get her girl through college.
Singles Day, by Samantha Murray, overpopulation background. We follow four persons around the world, all in difficult circumstances, all having to make a life-changing decision. Because a great ship will be leaving the over crowded Earth soon, for good. (The Rift) Yu yan, Xanthe, Tea, Carren) Over connected world. One of my fave.
Nine Last Days on planet Earth… by Daryl Gregory follows the progress of several alien invasive plant species arrived by meteor, over a life span (10 to 97!) of “LT” the narrator, and his personal/family life, a moving gay relationship and adoption of a baby girl who will grow through the story (and his mother!). The tale is not one-sided as the alien remains alien, and humanity manages to adapt (finds a microbe that helps digest the alien plant species. Lots of biology. The kind of story that prods you to revise your botanic notions.
The Buried Giant, by Lavie Tidhar. A post-apocalypse tale, told to two children by an old man in a strange junkyard besides a mountain that may or may not be the outline of a giant robot. The opening by the narrator (May), stated the truth of “We believed we had all the time” and once that belief is gone, it couldn’t be recaptured, is a tug at the heart of the human reading the same. The magic of the writing, eyes like blackberries at the end of summer” is stunning. A very good story inside a story.
The Anchorite Wakes, by R.S.A. Garcia has a stunning puzzling setting that reveals itself as we read the story of sister Nadine, living in a Church, tasked with dispensing advice, and choosing for a Harvest directed by entities unknown. But one day her senses are awoken by a little girl. Hymns involved, and many worlds with anchorites. A story of hope. More fantasy that SF.
Entropy War by Yoon Ha Lee. Entropy explained as a role-playing game, The short story didn’t work for me.
An Equation of State, by Robert Reed (300+ published, exp. author) a powerful shape shifter soldier from an alien army studies the primitive “water” creatures on Earth at first as a horse, then as a rat, then… , and their war, and gets closer empathic to them. Interesting, but the ending is unclear for me.
Quantifying Trust, by John Chu. (Dérivé de l’épisode d’une IA apprenant le racisme sur Internet.) Maya, a young Chinese-looking student experiencing racism, tries to train an IA to learn to evaluate trust. Her post-doc is a weird man-construct project named Sammy. Lots of tech details in the opening almost threw me out, until I recognized the real-life incident of the racist-trained IA exposed to Internet. But she is aware she is passing her own bias along.
At the end, she disconnect (reboot) Sammy and go out with the post-doc. Long.
Hard Mary by Sofia Samatar
Five girls living on a farm compound with strict scriptures, find a half statue from Profane Industries. They fear it is evil, but pray. One changes her battery heart. The hard Mary is a robot. They start educating her.
This is a fun weird whacked-up world story. Talking animals, robots, and the light of friendship. The end is unclear, and there’s lot to understand about this world.
Sylvia Moreno-Garcia, Nebula Awards Showcase 2019NEBULA AWARDS SHOWCASE 2019
Welcome to your authentic Indian experience, by Rebecca Roanhorse, a very cruel, bet efficient tale of cultural appropriation/ simulation. You root for the main character whose life is turned upside down. Second reading, since I read it first in Apex Magazine.
A series of steaks, by Vina Jie-Min Prasad, is the best ever story I read, it has every quality I like in a story: dripping suspense in poverty setting, the plight of contract artists, a couple of savvy Asian protag girls with a gray-toned morals but finally OK in my book, and the printed meat question. And the narrative voice, Opening and Ending.
Weaponized Math, by Jonathan P. Brazee. The ups and down of the sniper life, with a very talented lady, and the second by second calculations of range and angle in her head. The author really plunges us inside a war zone. Plus the details of rounds, caliber, and jackets to satisfy the appetite of any gun amateur.
Utopia, Lol? by Jamie Whals. A man lands on a Tour guide to the Future led aby an over enthusiast girl-AI, into various simulations. Humanity lives plugged to simulations. The story poses the question: is an utopian existence of simulated environments satisfying in the long term? Unless the IA convinces the human to hop in a long-range probe…
p. 39 “Post singularity humanity now exists entirely as uploaded consciousness in distributed Matryoshka brains, living in trillions of universes presided over by our friendly AI, Allocator.”
So fun to read, I re-read it a second time. Lots of narrative tricks like texting between Kit and the IA.
Fandom for robots by Vina Jie-Min Prasad, is a fun story about a square boxy robot getting acquainted with an anime program featuring a square boxy robot and human, and get dragged into fanfic and fandom. A pleasant read with texting.
All Systems Red, Martha Wells. A “murderbot” android protects scientists prospecting an alien world for a company. Then when glitches in the map are revealed, and all contact with another prospect team is lost, the guileless and genre-less murderbot (who likes watching the entertaining channels it access since hacking this commander module) has to go over its repulsion of humans to help the team survive. Who is masterminding the sabotage?
A very surprising thing is that this story grows on you, and I got attached to the nameless murderbot. A very good short novel or novella. Surprised me.
Wind Will Rove, by Sarah Pinkster, a generation ship’s memory back-ups have been tempered, leaving the essentials but erasing all Literature, culture, movies, music banks, along with the simulated environments. The narrator grandmother was an astronaut and a violinist. She played the title song.
The narrator wants to revive the music. People painted, played instruments, to reconstruct a culture lost. The story plays upon the importance of music, and knowing history to avoid repeating it. But also as each one re-create an opus as they reinterpret it.
The feel and rhythm is slow, the reveal coming drop by drop about the Black out.
The last novelist / Dead Lizard in the yard by Matthew Kressel is a moving piece, even if at first I grounded my teeth: another self-reflecting story about a writer who… But it turned into a tentative friendship story in a SF setting, with death looming over and the power of creativity. When nobody reads anymore, why continue writing? The Thoughtships are a oniric means of transportation, but not the basic of the story.
Carnival Nine by Caroline M. Yoachim
A moving transposition of life with windup dolls. Fantastic piece, but… fantastic more that SF. And the counting in turns, like the spoon concept, is genial. Moving. And about caring for a disabled children and acceptation. Surprised. Fantasy?
Small Changes over a long period of time, by K. M. Szpara, is a vampire story, in a society where they are incorporated in mainstream society with regulations. And the MC is a trans man.
Clearly lettered in a mostly steady hand, by Fran Wilde, is a guided visit of a strange museum where the visitor will be changed… in more ways than one. Fantastic.
Human Stain, by Kelly Robson is a fantastic/horror story. Hang on to your teeth!
Warning 2: not an exhaustive list of the stories, because I concentrate of SF stories, but some texts sit on the fence.)
Neil Clarke – Best SF of the year, 2019 edition.
The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 4
When we were starless Simeone Heller. An alien species makes contact with a leftover AI from a human museum. A delayed first contact story filled with hope.
Intervention by Kelly Robson.
That story’s central theme is the caring attributes of a man (Jules) who fully embraces a “female” job of raising pod of children.
Une superbe histoire dont les héros sont des responsables de crèche et suivent un pod de six jeunes. C'est rare une histoire qui porte autant sur le "caring", et celle-là est une réussite pour moi. Surtout que le narrateur Jules, centenaire, montre des qualités d'affection émouvantes.
The time we have left by Alyssa Wong suit une jeune femme défigurée qui visite une copie de la leader de son ancien groupe rock, décédée accidentellement. On comprend qu’elle s’en veut d’avoir involontairement causé la mort des membres du groupe, par dépit, mais découvre au-delà de la mort que Hime avait eu une confiance inébranlable en son potentiel.
Domestic Violence de Madeline Ashby, quand les maisons intelligentes deviennent des prisons sadiques. Doublée d’une histoire d’abus conjugal. Notre HR specialist va-t-elle s’en sortir? / When too-intelligent houses become complicit in domestic abuse. The past of our MC, and the way she disposes of problems, is not clear to me.
(in English!)
Prophet on the Road, par Naomi Kritzer, A dominant AI called the Engineer divided wants to find its other pieces to reunite, pushing the guilt-ridden ex-soldier forward. As he meet a Engineer-carrying person with a piece more akin to the humans, its priorities eventually change from domination to helping.
Traces of us, by Vanessa Fogg. IA intelligences in far future, and humans in present day. A promise. To reach out, held eons later. Cute. Uploading of consciousness.
Theories of flight by Linda Nagata is set in her universe of the white destructive-creative fog that forces people to live beyond walls on hill tops. Yaphet is a secondary character from her other novel where people are “players” and reincarnation is admitted. The story is an engineering problem solved at the end, prodded by compassion. Mishon: “The fault is in the code from which I was written.”
Lab B-15 by Nick Wolven. Why is Dr Jerry Emery experiencing time loops each time he crosses the Lab B-15 door? What if is was dead and recreated, like the rich clients hoping for a second life? Good riddle. Try, reach, feel. Which is a life lesson for everyone.
Requiem by Vandana Singh. Varsha follows the steps or a dear departed aunt in a research center in the glacial north, where the aunt was studying whale’s communication, and a company sends “T-Rex robots” to dig for remaining oil. The aunt and her Eskimo lover also tried for a whale-shaped submersible now currently missing. What if… A long story well told, without violence which I appreciated. With a touch of nostalgia. The story addresses cultural gaps, Eskimo life, community sharing of the meat of one whale, and inheritance. My favorite, even if on the long side.
Sour Milk Girls by Erin Roberts. In the tedious environment of a “agency”, orphans wait to be adopted or turn 18 before retrieving their childhood memories, that technology allows to exchange engrams. Sour milk is their mood, and hot sauce is the rebellion they carry inside. Acceptation and rejection are high on the theme list.
Mother Tongues by S. Qiouly Lu tackles the engram transfer theme, too, but with languages that you can sell for someone not eager to learn. Problem is: your own brain cells gets fried in the process. But a Mandarine speaker is ready to sacrifice her mother tongue to get her girl through college.
Singles Day, by Samantha Murray, overpopulation background. We follow four persons around the world, all in difficult circumstances, all having to make a life-changing decision. Because a great ship will be leaving the over crowded Earth soon, for good. (The Rift) Yu yan, Xanthe, Tea, Carren) Over connected world. One of my fave.
Nine Last Days on planet Earth… by Daryl Gregory follows the progress of several alien invasive plant species arrived by meteor, over a life span (10 to 97!) of “LT” the narrator, and his personal/family life, a moving gay relationship and adoption of a baby girl who will grow through the story (and his mother!). The tale is not one-sided as the alien remains alien, and humanity manages to adapt (finds a microbe that helps digest the alien plant species. Lots of biology. The kind of story that prods you to revise your botanic notions.
The Buried Giant, by Lavie Tidhar. A post-apocalypse tale, told to two children by an old man in a strange junkyard besides a mountain that may or may not be the outline of a giant robot. The opening by the narrator (May), stated the truth of “We believed we had all the time” and once that belief is gone, it couldn’t be recaptured, is a tug at the heart of the human reading the same. The magic of the writing, eyes like blackberries at the end of summer” is stunning. A very good story inside a story.
The Anchorite Wakes, by R.S.A. Garcia has a stunning puzzling setting that reveals itself as we read the story of sister Nadine, living in a Church, tasked with dispensing advice, and choosing for a Harvest directed by entities unknown. But one day her senses are awoken by a little girl. Hymns involved, and many worlds with anchorites. A story of hope. More fantasy that SF.
Entropy War by Yoon Ha Lee. Entropy explained as a role-playing game, The short story didn’t work for me.
An Equation of State, by Robert Reed (300+ published, exp. author) a powerful shape shifter soldier from an alien army studies the primitive “water” creatures on Earth at first as a horse, then as a rat, then… , and their war, and gets closer empathic to them. Interesting, but the ending is unclear for me.
Quantifying Trust, by John Chu. (Dérivé de l’épisode d’une IA apprenant le racisme sur Internet.) Maya, a young Chinese-looking student experiencing racism, tries to train an IA to learn to evaluate trust. Her post-doc is a weird man-construct project named Sammy. Lots of tech details in the opening almost threw me out, until I recognized the real-life incident of the racist-trained IA exposed to Internet. But she is aware she is passing her own bias along.
At the end, she disconnect (reboot) Sammy and go out with the post-doc. Long.
Hard Mary by Sofia Samatar
Five girls living on a farm compound with strict scriptures, find a half statue from Profane Industries. They fear it is evil, but pray. One changes her battery heart. The hard Mary is a robot. They start educating her.
This is a fun weird whacked-up world story. Talking animals, robots, and the light of friendship. The end is unclear, and there’s lot to understand about this world.
Sylvia Moreno-Garcia, Nebula Awards Showcase 2019NEBULA AWARDS SHOWCASE 2019
Welcome to your authentic Indian experience, by Rebecca Roanhorse, a very cruel, bet efficient tale of cultural appropriation/ simulation. You root for the main character whose life is turned upside down. Second reading, since I read it first in Apex Magazine.
A series of steaks, by Vina Jie-Min Prasad, is the best ever story I read, it has every quality I like in a story: dripping suspense in poverty setting, the plight of contract artists, a couple of savvy Asian protag girls with a gray-toned morals but finally OK in my book, and the printed meat question. And the narrative voice, Opening and Ending.
Weaponized Math, by Jonathan P. Brazee. The ups and down of the sniper life, with a very talented lady, and the second by second calculations of range and angle in her head. The author really plunges us inside a war zone. Plus the details of rounds, caliber, and jackets to satisfy the appetite of any gun amateur.
Utopia, Lol? by Jamie Whals. A man lands on a Tour guide to the Future led aby an over enthusiast girl-AI, into various simulations. Humanity lives plugged to simulations. The story poses the question: is an utopian existence of simulated environments satisfying in the long term? Unless the IA convinces the human to hop in a long-range probe…
p. 39 “Post singularity humanity now exists entirely as uploaded consciousness in distributed Matryoshka brains, living in trillions of universes presided over by our friendly AI, Allocator.”
So fun to read, I re-read it a second time. Lots of narrative tricks like texting between Kit and the IA.
Fandom for robots by Vina Jie-Min Prasad, is a fun story about a square boxy robot getting acquainted with an anime program featuring a square boxy robot and human, and get dragged into fanfic and fandom. A pleasant read with texting.
All Systems Red, Martha Wells. A “murderbot” android protects scientists prospecting an alien world for a company. Then when glitches in the map are revealed, and all contact with another prospect team is lost, the guileless and genre-less murderbot (who likes watching the entertaining channels it access since hacking this commander module) has to go over its repulsion of humans to help the team survive. Who is masterminding the sabotage?
A very surprising thing is that this story grows on you, and I got attached to the nameless murderbot. A very good short novel or novella. Surprised me.
Wind Will Rove, by Sarah Pinkster, a generation ship’s memory back-ups have been tempered, leaving the essentials but erasing all Literature, culture, movies, music banks, along with the simulated environments. The narrator grandmother was an astronaut and a violinist. She played the title song.
The narrator wants to revive the music. People painted, played instruments, to reconstruct a culture lost. The story plays upon the importance of music, and knowing history to avoid repeating it. But also as each one re-create an opus as they reinterpret it.
The feel and rhythm is slow, the reveal coming drop by drop about the Black out.
The last novelist / Dead Lizard in the yard by Matthew Kressel is a moving piece, even if at first I grounded my teeth: another self-reflecting story about a writer who… But it turned into a tentative friendship story in a SF setting, with death looming over and the power of creativity. When nobody reads anymore, why continue writing? The Thoughtships are a oniric means of transportation, but not the basic of the story.
Carnival Nine by Caroline M. Yoachim
A moving transposition of life with windup dolls. Fantastic piece, but… fantastic more that SF. And the counting in turns, like the spoon concept, is genial. Moving. And about caring for a disabled children and acceptation. Surprised. Fantasy?
Small Changes over a long period of time, by K. M. Szpara, is a vampire story, in a society where they are incorporated in mainstream society with regulations. And the MC is a trans man.
Clearly lettered in a mostly steady hand, by Fran Wilde, is a guided visit of a strange museum where the visitor will be changed… in more ways than one. Fantastic.
Human Stain, by Kelly Robson is a fantastic/horror story. Hang on to your teeth!
June 28, 2019
Ten exciting SF books for this summer!
As the summer heat and Canada Day are upon us, most of you are looking for a place to spend your vacations… and for good science fiction adventure books to read!
So I look forward to dive into refreshing novels.
The choices are so much diverse than when I was a teenager looking for space adventures, and finding only guy’s adventures. Now, when I dip into the waters of an enthralling story (like The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal ) and explore its depths, forgetting all about the outside world.
The aftermath of Reading Good Books / Quand on termine une bonne lecture...
When you emerge from a powerful and moving story, gratitude floods you, along with a faint regret of having finished the book… but there are many other waiting!
And, speaking of good books…
The Space Travelers Bundle reunites several wonderful writers, and I am proud to be a part of it with one novel (Clouds of Phoenix, featuring a disabled heroine on planet Phoenix) and one short-story (Closing the Big Bang) in the Space Travelers Anthology.
This bundle is a joint promotion that gets 10 very affordable books in your hands, and helps you discover new writers along the way.
More details about how the Bundle works are explained on site.
The gist is: you pay what you want for the ebooks, and they will get into your reading device, whatever formatting you use. This gives the authors a tremendoux help into reaching new fans!
And fans, my friend, are the life and blood of creatives.
So I look forward to dive into refreshing novels.
The choices are so much diverse than when I was a teenager looking for space adventures, and finding only guy’s adventures. Now, when I dip into the waters of an enthralling story (like The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal ) and explore its depths, forgetting all about the outside world.
The aftermath of Reading Good Books / Quand on termine une bonne lecture...
When you emerge from a powerful and moving story, gratitude floods you, along with a faint regret of having finished the book… but there are many other waiting!
And, speaking of good books…
The Space Travelers Bundle reunites several wonderful writers, and I am proud to be a part of it with one novel (Clouds of Phoenix, featuring a disabled heroine on planet Phoenix) and one short-story (Closing the Big Bang) in the Space Travelers Anthology.
This bundle is a joint promotion that gets 10 very affordable books in your hands, and helps you discover new writers along the way.
More details about how the Bundle works are explained on site.
The gist is: you pay what you want for the ebooks, and they will get into your reading device, whatever formatting you use. This gives the authors a tremendoux help into reaching new fans!
And fans, my friend, are the life and blood of creatives.
January 6, 2019
Pages féériques et modernes
J’aime lire les contes de fées, particulièrement quand ils ont été repris par des auteures avec de belles surprises.
Je propose, dans ce sens les livres suivants :
Beauty, by Sheri Tepper
reprend avec finesse le conte de la belle au Bois dormant dans un contexte de SF écologique qui se promène à toutes les époques! Accrochez-vous! 463 pages époustouflantes.Ce livre-là m'a beaucoup marquée.
L’auteure Robyn McKinlay a créé plusieurs romans reprenant des contes. Beauty, a Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast
est son plus connu, ainsi que Rose Daughter : les deux reprennent La belle et la Bête, deux interprétations différentes!
Parke Goodwind, Sherwood
suit le jeune Robin des Bois mêlé à l’invasion des Français… J’ai bien aimé car la mère de Robin (si,si!) et son amie Marian sont très présentes.
Et le sheriff de Nottingham qui fait partie des envahisseurs normands s’avère un bon bougre!
Tout est nuancé. L’auteur n’a pris qu’une liberté en plaçant l’époque historique en 1066 lors de l’invasion des Normands (imaginez s’ils étaient restés, les Anglais parleraient français aujourd’hui!)
Une autre auteure qui reprend des contes est Jane Yolen, auteure britannique établie aux États-Unis
Twelve impossible things before breakfast
https://images.gr-assets.com/books/13...
Elle nous avait déjà dit en 2006 There is no such thing as a time-fairy!
Twelve impossible things before breakfast rassemble des contes humoristiques.
**
Ces contes et bien d'autres nous emmènent loin du présent écrasant, des vacances mentales bien méritées!
Bonne année 2019!
September 8, 2018
Mon roman "La ruche" est finaliste au Prix des Horizons Imaginaires 2019!
(English summary below)
Mon roman de science-fiction La ruche, publié par les Six Brumes, figure parmi les 5 finalistes annoncés pour le prix Horizons Imaginaires 2019.
Curieux? Allez voir la page Goodreads du livre! La Ruche
Un comité de sélection composé de libraires, d’éditeur et d’un étudiant a choisi les cinq ouvrages finalistes dans le champ de la science fiction et du fantastique. Le communiqué complet figure sur le site de la revue Les Libraires.
Pendant l’année scolaire, les romans finalistes seront lus par des étudiant-es au CEGEP.
L’oeuvre gagnante sera annoncée lors du 40e Congrès Boréal qui se tiendra à Sherbrooke.
Et oui, il contient un hommage à Marilyn Monroe!
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La Ruche
My science fiction novel “La ruche” (The hive), published by Les Six Brumes, is among the 5 finalists announced for the 2019 Horizons Imaginaires Award.
A selection committee composed of booksellers, publisher and a student has chosen the five books of science fiction/fantasy/horror.
And, as the cover tells you, it contains an homage to an iconic actress!
Mon roman de science-fiction La ruche, publié par les Six Brumes, figure parmi les 5 finalistes annoncés pour le prix Horizons Imaginaires 2019.
Curieux? Allez voir la page Goodreads du livre! La Ruche
Un comité de sélection composé de libraires, d’éditeur et d’un étudiant a choisi les cinq ouvrages finalistes dans le champ de la science fiction et du fantastique. Le communiqué complet figure sur le site de la revue Les Libraires.
Pendant l’année scolaire, les romans finalistes seront lus par des étudiant-es au CEGEP.
L’oeuvre gagnante sera annoncée lors du 40e Congrès Boréal qui se tiendra à Sherbrooke.
Et oui, il contient un hommage à Marilyn Monroe!
-------
La Ruche
My science fiction novel “La ruche” (The hive), published by Les Six Brumes, is among the 5 finalists announced for the 2019 Horizons Imaginaires Award.
A selection committee composed of booksellers, publisher and a student has chosen the five books of science fiction/fantasy/horror.
And, as the cover tells you, it contains an homage to an iconic actress!
