Bellwether | In the Balance | Looking for the Mahdi

Bellwether

What makes birds of a feather flock together?

• Bellwether
• by Connie Willis
• Bantam Spectra
• $11.95/$15.95 Canada
• Trade paperback, April 1996

Editor's Note: Do you have a question for Connie Willis? Science Fiction Weekly will interview Willis for an upcoming issue, and we're inviting readers to ask the questions in our Interview department. Please feel free to stop by.

r more curiously, what makes them pierce their noses, play mah jongg, buy Romantic Bride Barbie, drink lattes or get their hair bobbed? Sandra Foster, statistical researcher at HiTek, really wants to know. Her current project is trying to determine what causes fads and fashions, but she has made so little progress she is about to pack the whole thing up. That is, until she unexpectedly hooks up with Dr. Bennet O'Reilly, a chaos theorist (and apparent fashion victim) who is having difficulty obtaining funding for a project of his own.

Combining projects may be the quirky but optimal solution, not to mention Dr. Foster's ulterior motive -- discovering just what it is that makes Dr. O'Reilly immune to fad and fashion when everyone else seems to follow trends like, well, sheep. In the meantime, they must fend off the constant interference of HiTek's "personnel achievement optimization facilitator" (a.k.a. Management). There's also the Neibnitz-Grant angling Dr. Turnbull and, possibly the most malicious spirit of all, departmental assistant Flip. Flip leaves a trail of missing photocopies, misdirected mail and trend-induced angst wherever she goes.

In Bellwether, Connie Willis continues her series of short novels that deliver science fiction and social commentary in a lightly comic vein. Here the characters wrestle with chaos -- theoretical and real -- as they try to think for themselves in a world where everything from hairstyles to marriage can be in or out of fashion.

The number of threads Willis manages to weave into the plot is impressive. In addition to the story line itself, each chapter begins with an encyclopedic entry detailing some fad from the past, while the narrator's fad-obsessed eye manages to catch more than a few current fashion obsessions -- and not just related to clothes.

As always, Willis' writing is of the highest quality; the characters are charming and deftly drawn; the musings on chaos theory and statistical probability are convincing -- it would be conceivable to see Foster's hair-bobbing research published in the real Journal of Popular Culture -- and the romance is never sappy. Many of the narrator's observations will bring a smile to any reader who has ever felt outside the fashion mainstream, and there is also one absolutely put-the-book-down-and-laugh-out-loud scene involving, well, sheep.

If the book has any drawback, it's the predictability of the story line which, despite a number of twists and turns, contains no real surprises. Kind of ironic for a book about chaos and the non-predictable quality of change, but not a major problem as the real pleasure here is in the fun, witty ride.

Connie Willis really is the Frank Capra of speculative fiction -- a totally original voice with the ability to entertain, enlighten and uplift an audience without being the least bit manipulative. -- LRC

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Worldwar: In the Balance

Alien conquerors interrupt World War II

• Worldwar: In the Balance
• By Harry Turtledove
• Del Rey Books
• $5.99/$6.99 Canada
• Paperback, Feb. 1995

Editor's Note:This is the first of three reviews covering Harry Turtledove's Worldwar Saga. Next issue Clinton Lawrence will cover the second book in the saga, Worldwar: Tilting the Balance.

t's the early 1940s and World War II is raging across Europe. But in this alternate history, an alien invasion force is preparing to attack and conquer Earth. The reptilian invaders, who call themselves simply the Race, have scouted the human race beforehand and are confident of victory. But they find a world more technologically advanced than their probes of several centuries early have led them to expect -- in the Race's experience, no species has ever advanced as rapidly as humans have. Still, their own technology is far superior and a colonization ship is already underway, so they continue with their plans.

When the aliens attack, the quarreling nations of Earth suspend World War II to defend themselves from the new foes. But tensions and distrust remain high, particularly between the Germans and the Soviet Union. And in Warsaw, the Jews and Poles collaborate with the aliens to free themselves from the Nazis.

At first, the human struggle seems futile against the Race's weapons. But as the humans find small ways to hurt the invaders, it becomes obvious to both sides that the aliens are slow to adjust to new tactics. Although the Race is still winning the battles, human innovation on the battlefield is taking its toll. And research into the development of nuclear weapons is proceeding as fast as possible...

In Worldwar: In the Balance, Harry Turtledove follows the actions of numerous groups of characters, both human and alien, as the overall invasion story unfolds. Eventually, the characters from the different groups will meet each other as the plot comes together. But while many of these characters have interesting traits in themselves, the interactions between the different cultures contain very few surprises. Turtledove consistently emphasizes the obvious prejudices, ultimately rendering them little more than caricatures.

On the other hand, Turtledove's characters seem much more real in the various humorous scenes and observations he sprinkles effectively throughout the novel. For instance, the Race can barely conceive of government not led by an emperor, leading to a hilarious analysis of the various human governments, especially the "anarchy" of the United States. These episodes usually result in Turtledove's most effective social commentary.

Another weakness is that Turtledove jumps too quickly into the alien invasion. It would be a more effective and meaningful alternate history if he had first firmly established the global situation before the invasion. Instead, the connection between the events here and the real World War II seems tenuous at best.

But on the whole, Worldwar: In the Balance works reasonably well. The first volume of a series, it ends with a good mix of closure and anticipation, making up for its weaknesses with intelligent speculation and real tension.

I think the basic premise that makes this novel work -- the different rates of innovation among species -- is both interesting and underexplored in science fiction. -- Clint

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Looking for the Mahdi

A reporter and a genetically engineered bodyguard are caught up in espionage and politics in the near future Middle East

• Looking for the Mahdi
• by N. Lee Wood
• Ace Books
• $12.00/ $17.00 Canada
• Trade paperback, Feb. 1996

ooking for the Mahdi starts when Kay Bee Sulaiman, former Middle East field correspondent, is coerced into returning to the dangerous country of Khuruchabjan to deliver a "package" to its assassin-plagued leader. The package is actually John Halton, a biogenetically engineered bodyguard known as a "fabricant." Even if Kay Bee didn't hate the idea of transporting a walking, talking, biological weapon for her government's secret service, she has personal reasons for not wanting to go back to the place that nearly drove her insane 10 years before.

But return she does, arriving in Khuruchabjan only to be reminded that, when dealing with Middle Eastern politics, espionage and even her own memories, nothing is as it appears to be. Attacked by unknown enemies shortly after arriving, betrayed and manipulated by the very people who sent her, Kay Bee finds herself in a strange alliance with Halton, who claims to want more than biological bondage to his creators. But whether she can trust a creature whose every neural impulse has been created in the service of international espionage is a question she must quickly answer, as powerful forces drive them to discover the nature of a conspiracy that seems intent on re-igniting the powder keg of religious war.

In Looking for the Mahdi, N. Lee Wood has created a near-future thriller that is exciting, intelligent and full of raw emotional power. Part of the excitement comes from the well-developed story elements -- a convincing day-after-tomorrow political landscape; relentless pacing; and an intricate plot where the layers of intrigue unfold subtly and in surprising directions. But the driving emotional force of the book is the surprising relationship that develops between Kay Bee and Halton -- two outcasts from humanity, each with perfectly good reasons to never trust another soul, who somehow manage to make an emotional connection with one another.

The story is told in the first person, in the tough, bitter, funny and opinionated voice of Kay Bee herself, a totally engaging character. The fabricant, Halton, is an equally complex creation, not just an emotionless android or cyborg. He's another kind of human -- as Kay Bee says: Cro-Magnon to our Neanderthal. There are a few snags -- overlong flashbacks and digressions into the prevailing nature of Middle East and U.S. politics, religion and the role of media interrupt the flow of action at times. One major plot point is robbed of lasting consequence for no apparent reason, and once all the major crises are resolved, the denouement drags on a bit longer than necessary.

All in all though, this was an exhilarating read -- suspenseful, blackly humorous in places and very moving.

At a certain point I found I couldn't put the book down, staying up until 5 a.m. to finish it, literally propping my eyes open with my fingers because I cared so much about the damn characters I had to know how it all worked out. -- LRC

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