Anima

by M. John Harrison

When a writer like M. John Harrison looks at love, you know the results will be unusual and compelling, evocative and imaginative, dark, depressing and transcendent. In SIGNS OF LIFE, the beautiful Isobel Avens dreams of flying like a bird; Mick 'China' Rose runs a fast (and sometimes illegal) courier service to the genetics industry. When they meet and become lovers, it sets off an unstoppable train of events. Set in London and Budapest, against a backdrop of cosmetic surgery, genetic engineering and medical waste-dumping, SIGNS OF LIFE is both a sparely written thriller and an unforgettable love story. THE COURSE OF THE HEART follows three students whose lives are changed forever by the ritual they carry out one May night in a Cambridge meadow. To escape the consequences, they seek out the Coeur, a country which emerges from the shifting borders of Europe under only the most special conditions. In the Coeur anything is even hope; even redemption.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction

480 pages, Paperback

First published April 14, 2005

About the author

aka Gabriel King (with Jane Johnson)

Michael John Harrison, known for publication purposes primarily as M. John Harrison, is an English author and literary critic. His work includes the Viriconium sequence of novels and short stories, Climbers, and the Kefahuchi Tract trilogy, which consists of Light, Nova Swing and Empty Space.

Reviews

[J K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wanted to like this more. This is very literary, post modern fantasy writing - in that it seems to be embarrassed to have those fantasy elements and each goes on in extensive depth about failing relationships. It was always annoying when he character decided that going on about how a cup of tea reminded them of when their partner said some non-sequiter they said in Bruges or somewhere....the agical or science fiction elements are well buried, and while this works in a graphic novel, its a shame they're so hard to find, and interpret, in these two stories. It's well written, but the sheer reluctance to acknowledge it fantastical elements just means it's like watching a mini-series that occasionally has a ampire show up. Before you can can say 'look, a vampire' we're back to making cups of tea and talking about John Rocha frocks. Which is a bit depressing.

[Candy Wood]

Anima contains two works originally published five years apart. The cover blurb calls them “classic love stories,” and also classifies them as sf/fantasy, but I don’t really agree with either designation. Both are full of desire, usually unfulfilled. The unnamed narrator in “The Course of the Heart” is as interested in telling the story of his friends Lucas and Pam as in his own (a scene in Museum St and the British Museum may have been what made me start reading it ten years ago). That one does affirm love. On the other hand, “Signs of Life” has a narrator with a name, and his interest in Isobel, Christiana, and Choe (rhymes with Joey) keeps coming back to himself. Lots of realistically gritty London and other places outweigh the sf element, which has to do with genetic engineering but could as easily be metaphorical. Happy to have finished it/them.

[Sue Chant · Rating 2 out of 5]

Contains "The Course of the Heart" and "Signs of Life" (Tiptree shortlist 1997).
Beautifully written as expected with M John Harrison, which is what kept me reading to the end, but the aimless meanderings of dull people doing tedious things with only a slight hint of sff-fantasy/SF at the end is not my cup of tea. Plus no idea why it got onto the Tiptree shortlist. Disappointing.

[Sebastian Kloss · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Course of the Heart: ***
Signs of Life: **** +

[Iain Dimond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Course of The Heart is superb. Still not sure what to think about Signs of Life. Both books live long in the memory.