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Review: Natural History by Justina Robson

Natural History is a far future sci-fi novel with incredible science as its foundation. The book involves bioengineering, theoretical physics, artificial intelligence, and spiritual ascension. This stuff his high brow and a challenge to digest. The book is a little difficult to get through because of its dense ideas but also the story isn’t terribly compelling. Justina Robson is brilliant but it just didn’t feel like this book came together well.

First about far future: a good deal of hard science fiction is about the future. What makes far future unique is that it goes past stage 1 and 2, perhaps 500 or more years into the future to a universe that we would scarcely recognize if we visited. It requires tremendous imagination, a great knowledge of theoretical sciences and other disciplines to put it all together. It is also a challenge to create a super-advanced alien universe that doesn’t leave readers completely lost. It is not easy and I’ve struggled to do when I have tried.

Natural History combines far future technologies with several philosophical and psychological themes that are interesting. There is a concept of ascension from a being that lives in four-dimensional space to one that can inhabit seven or even eleven-dimensional space where time, distance, and individual action become irrelevant. There is also an examination of human-AI hybrids and the psychological complexities that arise out of such beings. Robson even added a virtual reality element with the Uluru, a reality where beings can create their own experiences.

The characters are incredibly diverse on the surface. Isol is an interstellar (sub-FTL) ship that encounters an alien artifact that gives her the power of FTL travel. She uses it to discover a new planet as a possible home for her mechanical brethren, called the Forged. The Forged have human minds or consciousness but inhabit mechanical bodies. There are others like her of various shapes and sizes, all machines designed for a certain function to serve the Unevolved human (us). However, their human minds desire greater autonomy and wish to end the servitude to the Unevolved. Along with Isol is the Forged characters Tatresi, Corvax, Bana, and Kincaid. All of contact with the alien artifact and experience different things.

Zephyr is an Unevolved human appointed to investigate this new planet to see if there is an alien species there or if the Forged’s claims to the planet are in fact legitimate. She discovers part of the mystery behind the artifact in the process.

There are bird-like characters, actual bird characters, ships, humans, hive minds, and agricultural cultivation machines. It is a diverse group on the surface but don’t seem to be all that different from one another personality-wise. This is an issue when they are designed to have certain psychological traits that allow them to do their job more efficiently. For example, Isol is designed to be a loner due to her job requiring long periods in deep space by herself. Yet, she seems just as outgoing as any other character in the book. In fact, she takes on the cause of Forged independence even though it goes against her solitary apolitical nature.

The political interests and psychological desires of the characters are fluid, to the point of being nonexistent. Corvax is a criminal outcast yet when an Unevolved general deals with him he turns from despised prisoner to eager research partner in two seconds flat.

The themes of spiritual ascension, evolution, and eleven dimensional space are very fascinating but inhabit a story that is a little boring. There is no real drama or suspense other than a few minor scenes. You don’t really care for any of the characters because they are plain, cynical, and don’t seem feel especially strong about anything. They are just there for the ride.

To sum up, this book has brilliant ideas and interesting themes but they are presented in a sleepy, slow-moving story. There are probably two or three brilliant novellas or short stories within Natural History, but the complete work is just not a great read. Techno-geeks and physicists will love it, but general speculative fiction readers may not. I have mixed feelings about it but in the end it was a little difficult to get through so I have to give it 3 stars.

I intend to read more of Robson’s work. Her imagination and knowledge of various sciences are rare. She delved deeply into subjects that other writers tend to do no more than a glancing blow.

I am in the middle of The Lost Symbol and Feed. After that is Ready Player One, 2312, and Bowl of Heaven.

Jacob

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Illogicon 2013

The second Illogicon was held in my hometown of Raleigh this weekend. It was only my second sci-fi convention and the first in North Carolina so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Overall, it was fun, informative, and well attended. The Triangle area of North Carolina has an active sci-fi/fantasy/gaming community and definitely warrants an annual convention of its own.

Illogicon is fan-organized so there is little to no corporate or big publishing presence. Baen Books had a small road show and one of its authors there but other than that it was a convention of individual authors, artists, and fans. I like this quality of sci-fi conventions, particularly the smaller ones.

As with the MileHiCon, attendance on Friday was low but picked up very early on Saturday. When I first got there most but not all of the merchandise vendors, costume people, and artists were there. There were plenty of empty tables. The early panels also had low attendance. Course none of that is really a big deal. In the end somewhere between 100 and 200 people attended. Some of the panels were near full at the end.

I got to meet authors Tim Powers, James Maxey, and early on along with many others. Another notable participant was NC State professor and author John Kessel. I also met Natania Barron, fiction editor for Bull Spec, senior editor of GeekMom and author of several fantasy novels and short stories. There was a talent show, which was hilarious, and a sci-fi burlesque show that capped off a great Saturday.

Saturday and Sunday also brought some interesting panels. From steampunk to zombies, there was something for everyone to talk about. Several panels discussed what they called “geek culture.” I take this term to include a passion for science fiction, fantasy, comic books, science, technology, and myth. The panel discussed some of the antisocial exclusionary behavior among sci-fi/fantasy fans, gamers, and online personalities which some call trolls. It seems some geeks can be just as prejudicial and exclusionary as any other clique.

It is ironic, hypocritical, and sad since the common experience of geeks in middle school and high school is that of scorn, ridicule, and exclusion. Yet, when they finally find like-minded people and groups, a place where they fit in and feel validated, they turn around and do the same thing. They scorn, ridicule, and exclude those that aren’t like them, particularly women.

To them, I would say “GROW UP!”

Two of the panels focused on the prejudice towards women. I was not aware of such a prejudice until this weekend. It seems a part of geek culture is resistant, even hostile to girls that are encroaching on geek territory.

I cannot relate to this sentiment AT ALL. I am excited that a growing number of the fairer sex is showing an interest and passion for geek culture. One of the things that turned me away from science fiction when I was younger was its reputation of being exclusively for men and repellent to women. Like most teenage boys, I wanted to go places where there were girls. Why geeks would intentionally exclude women is beyond me.

A couple stories from the Illogicon stood out. A woman named Moxie Monroe told of the ridicule she received when she expressed any interest in geeky guy stuff. Many were hostile not only because she is a woman but because she is black. She coped with the animosity by simply being a bitch (her words) and not letting the stupidity of others discourage her from expressing herself. Whether those around her reacted negatively or not, she continued to be who she was. I can’t help but wonder how many young girls who didn’t have Ms. Monroe’s strength and simply turned away from geekdom.

Model and gamer Allegra Torres faced insults from fellow geeks because she was a booth babe. Most assumed she was just a ditsy model who knew nothing about geek culture and hence didn’t belong. Had they had an open mind, they would’ve learned quickly her impressive knowledge and passion for many things geek.

Who would you rather talk to: a beautiful woman who detests geeks or a beautiful woman who loves role-playing games reads sci-fi and dresses up in elaborate costumes at cons???

Luckily the world is passing up the anti-female elements of the geek culture. In books stores, movies, and comic books there seems to be a trend toward more female characters, especially female leads, and less chauvinistic story lines. Dated cliches are starting to get batted down slowly but surely. I for one hope this trend continues. Prejudice and intolerance stifles creativity and intellectual development. Science fiction and fantasy needs both.

Also as a constructive criticism for the convention organizers: Illogicon might want to be a little more careful next time in selecting panelists. Two of the panels collapsed into incoherent idiocy. In one instance, the two panelists were drunk and exchanging fire with five of their friends sitting in the crowd (who were also drunk). In another instance, three panelists were completely off-topic for the entire hour and again taking questions from a small group of their buddies. I am sure it was a lot of fun for them but it led to several people leaving the rooms and moving on to another part of the con.

Granted, it is not easy to fill up a weekend with fascinating panel discussions or topics, but it makes people feel uncomfortable when a supposed open or public panel is really just a bunch of drunk college students joking around with one another.

Aside from that small mishap, I had a great time and look forward to attending next year.

Jacob

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Update on Fifth World Sequel and other Projects

I have been working on the sequel to The Fifth World for the last five months. It has definitely been an enjoyable process the second time around. The tough lessons from the first one have made some things go easier and revealed new ideas and possibilities I never would’ve thought of last year.

The first draft is about 70 percent complete. Several other projects have divided my time up lately and pushed back my timetable. My day job for one takes up considerable time along with travel over the holidays, other writing projects, and just good old fashion procrastination. I originally was hoping to have the first draft done in January or early February, ready for the first round of editing. Unfortunately that is no longer realistic. My new goal is to have it ready to go by March 1.

It took 3 months to go through all the rounds of editing last time. First came the critique, then the line-editing, then the copyediting to get rid of those pesky grammar and spelling mistakes. The experience was very educational and helped me avoid many mistakes the second time around. This first draft might actually be readable!

Add in all the marketing and promotional stuff that goes with publishing a new book and I’d say The Fifth World sequel could be out by early July.

I haven’t decided on a title yet or an ending but everything else is pretty well mapped out.

The sequel has more action along with political intrigue. Readers will learn a lot more about Gaia. Many of the characters from the first novel are in the second with especially prominent roles for Alex, Becca, and Colonel (now General) Moleiro. You will also get to know Alex’s family a little better as well as other Gaians. The Federation returns with a new leader named Thomas Solwin. Solwin is eager to avoid the mistakes of his predecessors.

The second novel also won’t be as dark as the first one. No more post-apocalyptic imagery. The book will take place almost exclusively on Gaia. It is more about fighting for the future. I want to show more of Gaia so that readers can see what the Oraibi rebels are fighting to keep.

The experience of writing the first novel has helped me in many ways. For one, I feel like my writing style is improving. As a first time author and a novice at fiction, I knew this would be the area I would need to work on the most. I’ve have also immersed myself in science fiction and fantasy novels for the past year. From Arthur C. Clarke to China Mieville, I’ve tried to learn what other greater writers have done and gotten a better idea of where the bar is in terms of science fiction. I’m far from their level and may never reach it but I certainly intend to try.

Over the past few months I’ve also worked on developing outlines for a third and fourth book in the series as well as a couple new ideas for stand-alone works. Whether my novels become bestsellers or not, I’m just gonna keep writing them. I have one short story I might share on this site rather than try to get it published but haven’t decided yet. As for the other material on the site, I’ve been slacking with the Diary of Miguel Moleiro and the Stories of the Ark sections. I will try to get back on those in the next two months.

The end of 2012 was busy on all fronts and early 2013 promises to be the same. It will take some time management and multitasking skills (of which I don’t have much) but I will get another novel and some short stories out by summer.

Jacob

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Review: Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey

Hugh Howey’s Wool Omnibus is a post-apocalyptic drama that is among the best contemporary sci-fi I’ve read. Not only it is among the better science fiction stories (its actually five stories, not one full-length novel), it does not rely on flashy technology or futuristic landscapes to get readers’ attention. I hope they make a movie out of it.

The first story is about Holston, the sheriff of a subterranean society who recently lost his wife. The underground society has a unique set of laws, condemning anyone who says they wish to see whats on the surface to death. The sentence involves them actually going up on the surface to clean the underground city’s sensors allowing the people underground to see the nightmare dead lands that are just above them. The suits they utilize to walk on the surface eventually give way and the person dies. Holston’s depression and guilt lead him to announce he wants to go up-top where he learns the reason why prisoners actually go through with cleaning the sensors rather than just take off.

The second story is about the mayor who must find a new sheriff to replace Holston. She and her deputy decide on a mechanic that works deep down in the city (called the silo). The IT head, Bernard, is not happy with the selection, preferring his own man. This story reveals some of the politics of the silo as well as more description of all the levels of the silo, which goes over 140 levels down, using a huge main stairwell as a highway linking them. There they meet their selection, Juliette, a young woman less than eager to leave the deep to become a political appointee.

Stories 3-5 follow Juliette in her rise to sheriff and her fall. Intrigue and conspiracy follows where Juliette learns the truth of Holston’s death, the reason for the order of things in the silo, and the dark secret that keeps the existing order intact.

I loved the stories; they interlink perfectly. There are no gaps or missing pieces that sometimes ruins compilations or series. Only two or three of the characters are fully developed but you get just enough of the secondary characters to care about each of them. They feel and sound real. The drama is powerful and the action sequences are well written making it difficult to put the book down at all.

Unfortunately I had to put it down because it exceeds 500 pages. The Silo Series gets a great start but the Omnibus is long. It takes a little patience but readers will never feel like the story isn’t moving. It is always moving, which makes the 500 pages go at a good pace. Some of the descriptions are tough to follow and overly mechanical. Howey must be a carpenter or electrician or something. I have no mechanical knowledge or skills at all, which is why I had a little trouble in these parts.

For those looking for futuristic technology, it isn’t here. This has a bit of steampunk, in that the technologies seem to be late industrial but pre-information age. The IT dept. carefully guards their knowledge of computers and data storage. In fact some of the characters struggle to figure out a radio. I love this element of the series. It is a regression in technology that would likely happen if the world suddenly ended and billions of years of knowledge and skills were lost. It is one thing to store it on hard drives and books, its another for the survivors to actually possess and utilize that knowledge.

Howey presents the reality of technological regression in a post-apocalyptic era. The cleaning of the sensors and concealment of the truth are great little elements that explain why people are the way they are in the silo.

As for negatives: some of the technical descriptions get tiresome but that’s due to my mechanical ineptitude. Other than that, I absolutely loved it.

I am officially a fan of Hugh Howey. Wool Omnibus deserves 5 stars and I am eager to read the sequel First Shift – Legacy.

Next up are Natural History by Justina Robson, The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, Feed by Mire Grant, and Bowl of Heaven by Gregory Benford and Larry Niven.

Jacob

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A Return to Middle Earth with The Hobbit

The long awaited “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” debuted in theaters this week. I was able to catch it this weekend in 3D. It was excellent on its own but there is the issue of the inevitable comparisons to LOTR. By comparison The Hobbit is good but not great. It has a couple minor weaknesses but none that should stop everyone from seeing this movie – especially in 3D!

I haven’t read the book but have read LOTR. In what I know about Tolkien’s style and his ability to create epic quests, The Hobbit is a great representation of that genre. It is an adventure of a hobbit pulled into a large and dangerous world outside of the Shire. Martin Freeman is an excellent Bilbo Baggins and Ian McKellen returns as the legendary Gandalf. In this film, Gandalf is a little diminished in some respects similar to Fellowship of the Ring. Gandalf the Gray is a little less on his game than Gandalf the White. Either way, McKellen is brilliant.

The dwarfs are a great group and provide comic relief as well as heroism. Richard Armitage is good as the brave, strong, yet stubborn Thorin Oakenshield. He is the strong, silent type obsessed with reclaiming his birthright as king of Erebor. His company are those committed to reclaiming their homeland underneath the Lonely Mountain. They were evicted by the massive dragon Smaug who by all accounts is invincible.

A few omens give them signal that the time of their return is fast approaching, and so they begin their quest. Other dwarfs remain unconvinced, leaving most of the former inhabitants of the mountain on the sideline. I love this part because there is doubt in the prophecy. This is true of humans but Tolkien has also applied it to wizards, hobbits, and dwarfs. It is a play to faith in something that seems impossible, in this case taking back the Lonely Mountain from Smaug.

The timeless sin of greed is the cause of the dwarfs eviction. They mined too much gold, to the point of valuing it over all other things. As the saying goes “the love of money is the root of all evil.” In Tolkien’s Middle Earth, the accumulation of immense wealth in one place attracts dragons. In many myths, dragons are obsessed with treasure and guard it greedily.

Costumes, makeup, special effects, scenery, and all other measures of visual entertainment have to be put at a perfect 10 out of 10. Some have complained that certain action sequences are dizzying and overwhelm the senses to the point of looking away just to get bearings. This didn’t happen to me but I have to agree that a few scenes did push the limit.

There are orcs, wolves, trolls, dragons, and a ring wraith. Gollum of course plays his part. The excitement in the theater over the Gollum-Bilbo scene was palpable. The CGI creature is so life-like it is quickly forgotten that it is all green screen magic. The appearance of the one ring, the Witch King of Angmar, the pale orc, Saruman, Galadriel, Elrond, and a cameo by Frodo allow audiences to make the strong connection to the LOTR films.

On the negative side, the movie is a bit long. It is less than three hours but the barrage of action sequences wear you down a little faster than normal. For those with short attention spans, this is a problem. The fact that the book has been divided to two movies also bothers some people. That’s right, the movie ends at a middle point in the quest.

Since I haven’t read the book, I also had a problem with the first couple scenes. It is not very clear why Gandalf chose Bilbo or is so determined to have him join the quest. Its strange to see Gandalf angry at Bilbo for not leaving his comfortable life to join an extremely deadly, almost suicidal, quest for a cause he knows nothing about.

Perhaps in the book it is clear. Otherwise it seems Gandalf is just dropping in on some random hobbit, inviting his dwarf buddies over for a party, than dragging the poor bastard along, essentially accusing Bilbo of not having any balls. Bilbo has zero reason to go on this adventure, until there is a moment of realization very late in the movie. It’s backwards, he commits to the unexpected journey then finds a reason to do it after the fact.

This is a small criticism and for people who read the book it probably isn’t a concern. Overall the movie is great, especially in 3D!!! 5 out 5 stars.

Jacob

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