Canavan’s Comments (group member since May 15, 2018)

Canavan’s comments from the Spells, Space & Screams: Collections & Anthologies in Fantasy, Science Fiction, & Horror group.

Lena said:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

I snapped this one up. It boasts a nice line-up of authors and all but two of the stories are original to the anthology.

“Hyphae”, John Langan

This was a competent story, but only that. I really expect more from this particular author, who I regard as pretty talented. There are a fair number of questions that go unanswered by story’s end, and while I don’t find that ambiguity necessarily hurts a story, in this case I couldn’t determine whether it was artful or just a reflection of unimaginative/lazy writing. However, I think my biggest quibble is that the tale doesn’t really fulfill the editors’ promise in the introduction to seek out fiction that goes “beyond body horror and Hodgson-esque mushroom people”.

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With the seemingly endless stream of depressing news endured over the past few months, one of the more recent, seemingly insignificant items hit me rather hard, no doubt because it was more personal. Uncle Hugo’s, founded back in 1974, is usually considered to be the oldest surviving independent book store that specializes in science fiction. It’s co-located with Uncle Edgar’s, a mystery bookshop, on Chicago Ave. in Minneapolis. Back in 70s (when it was located a few miles away on Lake Street), I spent countless hours perusing their books and talking with both customers and clerks/owners. I’ve long since moved away from the Minneapolis area, but still manage to make it back there to visit family and friends at least once a year; and each time I return I make it a point to stop by “the Uncles”.

Well, no more. They are both gone, burned to the ground the morning of 30 May during the riots. Don Blyly, the owner and co-founder, reports that insurance will probably not cover the damage and so it is unclear whether he will be able to rebuild. Yes, I know that compared to loss of life, etc., etc., this sad event may seem trivial by comparison. But it somehow strikes me as symptomatic of the unhinged times in which we seem to be living. I’m struggling to imagine how anyone, regardless of their political persuasion, can perceive this as anything other than a senseless act of destruction that diminishes us all.

“Prayers of Forges and Furnaces”, Aliette de Bodard

Maybe it’s just me, but I had a hard time connecting with this story. (view spoiler)[The author thrusts our protagonist into a situation where she is forced to choose between two different belief systems, a more secular, mechanized view of the universe versus an older, more traditional and overtly religious perspective. My big problem, I think, is that at the end of the day there doesn’t seem to be much distinction between the two world views. As one character states, “All gods are cruel, Xochipil. What else did you expect?” I personally don’t find the idea that the best we can do is to freely choose between the one versus the other all that satisfactory. (hide spoiler)]

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“The Zeppelin Conductors’ Society Annual Gentlemen’s Ball”, Genevieve Valentine

(view spoiler)[In this story the author invokes one of those steampunk-type worlds where zeppelins are a dominant mode of transportation; more specifically, Valentine envisions a subclass of zeppelin workers known as “conductors”, whose bodies have undergone a metamorphosis of sorts (elongated limbs, decrease in muscle mass, etc.) due to prolonged exposure to helium. The science here is completely bogus, but for me the story still works on a emotional level. The language used and ideas presented remind me a bit of Ray Bradbury’s early tales which described both the dangers and the wonder of rocket travel. (hide spoiler)]

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“The Mechanical Aviary of Emperor Jalalud-din Mohammed Akbar”, Shweta Narayan

This is another story that the group previously encountered in Steampunk II: Steampunk Reloaded . Here is the brief entry I wrote for this one back then:

(view spoiler)[This is a well executed fairy tale-like steampunk entry that warns the reader about the perils of divahood (if that’s a real word). (hide spoiler)]

✭✭✭½

Lena said (in part):

While I like the explicit idea Canavan I thought it was just a deep friendship and bond over men-at-arms. Maybe some guilt over Salmon dying at the hands of his invention.

Perhaps you are right, Lena. I’m just not sure. The line that started my spidey senses tingling comes early in the story:

“There was a familiar warmth in his friend’s voice, in which Tom sometimes to his secret shame found comfort amidst the clanking, heaving darkness of the steam ram during prairie nights.”

“Tom Edison and His Amazing Telegraphic Harpoon”, Jay Lake

This was another story that, although for the most part competently told, didn’t quite gel for me. In some respects it evokes memories of the old Tom Swift books, specifically, the earlier ones that started seeing publication during the first half of the 20th century; on the other hand, most of the references (the Parrot rifle, Edison’s age, etc.) would seem to indicate that the story’s action takes place sometime in the 1860s or maybe early 1870s.

Some of the questions I had after reading this story: (view spoiler)[One of the strands involves Tom’s relation to Salmon. At a couple of points Tom seems on the cusp of revealing to the reader something more explicit or meaningful about this relationship, yet he seems to pull back. I was left a bit confused, wanting something additional. Was Edison’s “shame” merely a product of the fact that he was white and Salmon was a black man? And what was the deal with the Nephil? It seemed like such an odd choice for a bad guy. Was Lake making some larger point here about progress and religion? (I remember reading an interview with Lake conducted right before he died during which he talked about his steadfast opposition to mixing religion with politics.) (hide spoiler)]

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“Icebreaker”, E. Catherine Tobler

This one was a bit of a miss for me, although it was not wholly devoid of merit. Tobler is better here at characterization (although I’m still a little fuzzy on Plenty’s motivations) than she is at plot or describing action. Events unfold in a kind of hurried, jerky, arbitrary fashion. This might have worked better as a novel or novella.

✭✭½

“The Steam Dancer (1896)”, Caitlín R. Kiernan

We read this story not too long ago in one of our previous group reads. Here’s a slightly edited version of what I wrote at that time:

I typically enjoy Kiernan’s fiction, so it’s no real surprise that I came away from this reading experience with generally positive feelings. I liked, for example, the almost poetic descriptions of Missouri’s dancing and the gentle eroticism that permeates much of the story. My enthusiasm is a bit tempered by concerns about the tale’s brevity. In short, I wanted more. Kiernan’s story struck me as almost a thumbnail sketch of a character.

✭✭✭½

“Fixing Hanover”, Jeff VanderMeer

(view spoiler)[There is a kind of sad inevitability to this story of a prideful inventor who too late is forced to face the reality that his creations are being used for nefarious purposes. It’s not exactly original stuff, but it’s well told. (I smiled at the quick nod the author gives to James Whale’s 1931 Frankenstein.) (hide spoiler)]

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Fiona said (in part):

Having never watched any Star Trek, would you say this is a good place to start? Or should I build up to that by starting at the true start of the series?

You could do worse than follow Lena’s suggestion of going back to the original Star Trek episodes. Keeping in mind the caveat that the scripts were sometimes unfortunately a product of their time, in my estimation perhaps a fourth to a third of the episodes hold up fairly well, not too shabby for a television show that’s half a century old. One of the downsides of plowing through the original episodes is that for every half-way decent one, there are one or two real stinkers, especially when you reach the third (and last) season.

If you forced me to pick just one series with which a novice ought to start, I’d probably go with The Next Generation. Not because it’s necessarily the best of the lot (although I happen to think it is), but because, even more than the original series, it kinda serves as the framework for most of the series that followed. One big problem with Generation is that, whereas the original Trek ended badly, Generation started out badly. It sounds harsh to say this, but the show only began to find its footing after its creator, Gene Roddenberry, died and the reins were passed to others. I think that the first time I had the sense that Generation might actually evolve into something respectable was with the airing of the second season episode, “Elementary, Dear Data”.

I just finished watching the Season 1 finale of Star Trek: Picard and can report that it’s, erm, pretty good. In fact, in my opinion it’s probably the best new television series in this seemingly never-ending franchise since DS9. The writing (largely the product of Michael Chabon) is a definite improvement over that found in the other CBS Trek series, Discovery, although I was faintly disappointed by the ending ((view spoiler)[yet another one of those all-life-as-we-know-it-is-in-peril plots which I find are paradoxically boring and unengaging (hide spoiler)]). Kudos for the most part to a fine cast, particularly Patrick Stewart, Michelle Hurd, and Alison Pill.

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Stuart Gordon passed away on 24 March. He will be fondly remembered by many horror aficionados as the director of a number of low-budget films that were equal parts grisly horror and black humor. Perhaps his best film was Re-Animator, a very loose retelling of an H. P. Lovecraft story.

I made it through Season 3 of the Netflix series, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. I thought that the first season of this series was flawed, but showed potential. Unfortunately, the second season was even more problematic, and this most recent one is just plain bad — the writing is sloppy, unfocused, and unevenly paced; the writers seem to have little or no idea what they want to do with these characters. The series has already been renewed for a fourth season, but this is where I get off the train.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Season 3 (2020) ✭✭

Lena said:

Candyman is back... and I would have been more excited had they stuck with the original story.

Jordan Peele’s involvement makes me hopeful. And I’m actually a little tired at this point of unimaginative, slavish reboots/remakes/sequels; I’m okay with the idea of this being a “spiritual sequel” to the original. I’ll suspend judgement for the moment.

Graeme said:

My ratings of the three Matrix movies.

#1: An instant classic. Wonderful, flawless.
#2: Just Ok, some parts are very good.
#3: Abysmal.

I'm concerned by the quality ARC for what this portends for #4.

Yeah, I agree with pretty much all of what you said.

Lena said (in part):

Looks like Matrix 4 is happening.

I’ve heard bits and pieces about this project since late last year. While I wouldn’t go quite as far as calling this venture a cynical cash grab, I nevertheless have the sinking feeling that — in spite of the involvement of one of the Wachowskis and some of the actors from the trilogy — this movie is doomed to be an aesthetic failure.

I recently caught up (finally) with a couple of 2019 “franchise” films, the most recent attempt to resurrect the Terminator, Dark Fate, and what is allegedly the last episode in the Starwars Skywalker saga, The Rise of Skywalker. Frankly, both were letdowns, Dark Fate the moreso since Cameron’s involvement (along with a pretty spiffy teaser) had led me to hope that someone was finally going to breath new life into what had become a moribund brand. Unfortunately, the film turns out to be a (view spoiler)[more-or-less competent, but thoroughly unoriginal semi-remake of Cameron’s Judgement Day. (hide spoiler)]

I don’t even know where to begin with Skywalker, so maybe I’ll just say that I’ve always viewed Abrams as a reasonable director but a poor writer and, unfortunately, his fingerprints are all over this script.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, J. J. Abrahms (2019) ✭✭½
Terminator: Dark Fate, Tim Miller (2019) ✭✭½

A few other recent viewings:

Drums Along the Mohawk, John Ford (1939) ✭✭✭
San Antonio, David Butler, Robert Florey, & Raoul Walsh (1945) ✭✭
Driving Miss Daisy, David Esbjornson (2014) ✭✭✭✭

I doubt that this news tidbit will have much resonance with many in the group, but...

I somehow missed the story from earlier this month that jazz keyboardist Lyle Mays passed away on 10 February “after a long battle with a recurring illness”. Mays had quit playing professionally as of 2011, but in his heyday he was one half of the old Pat Metheny Group. I was able to see him perform as part of that ensemble a couple of times back in mid to late 90s.