Gold | Foragers | Wordwar: Tilting the Balance | Fisherman's Hope

Gold

"Even death it seems, won't stop us..."

• Gold
• by Isaac Asimov
• edited by John Silbersack
• HarperPrism
• $5.99/$6.99 Canada
• Paperback, Feb. 1996

old is a posthumous collection of works by Isaac Asimov, the old grand master of science fiction. Collected for the first time in book form, these 15 stories and 39 essays all spring from Asimov's final years of writing, before his death in 1992. The book is divided into three parts, including short stories (some of them short shorts), essays on science fiction and essays focusing on writing science fiction. (See a short summary of the essays and stories.)

The stories themselves do not seem to have an overriding theme; however, computers and robots show up with regularity. Interestingly enough, a couple of stories also deal with writers and writing. One showcases a robot who longs to be a writer, while the other deals with a computer who becomes so expert at writing that his owner becomes practically useless. The title story is an intriguing tale set in a time when plays have become compu-dramas that are enhanced by the latest technological wonders. A writer offers real gold in exchange for immortality.

The second and third parts of Gold are all essays, most having previously appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. The insights on the art of writing science fiction are particularly telling. In one essay, Inventing a Universe, Asimov even predicts his own posthumous collection, in a manner of speaking, with the quote, "Even death, it seems won't stop us..." Ironically, he was referring to the practice of posthumous publications.

Avid Asimov fans, upon hearing of Gold, probably all had a similar thought flash through their minds: Is this collection on a par with past Asimov offerings? And the answer to that question is yes and no. There are several good, clever stories, most notably Cal, Hallucination and Kid Brother.

Kid Brother is a classic example of the Asimov genius at work. Through the use of a sardonic father and a loving and kind robot who serves as a caring brother to a bratty child, Asimov carefully builds the story towards a conclusion worthy of Hitchcock. But overall the stories are disappointing, and some are even downright difficult to comprehend. Goodbye to Earth and The Nations in Space are examples of the latter.

It's the essays that are the real gems in this book. They offer startling insights into the world of writing science fiction. For instance, The Robot Chronicles describes the fascinating story of how Asimov's robot stories came about and the history behind them.

Despite some sub-par pieces, the book is well worth acquiring for a few of the short stories and for the excellent essays, particularly for those who are contemplating writing their own science fiction.

I was lucky enough to become interested in Asimov when he came out of his self-enforced period of dormancy with the creation of Asimov's Science Fiction, a magazine born in 1977, the year I graduated from high school. I have the charter issue of that magazine and treasure it greatly.-- Steve

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Foragers

A sophisticated update of the alien anthropology novel

• Foragers
• by Charles Oberndorf
• Bantam Spectra
• $5.99/$7.99in Canada
• Paperback, April 1996

From this complex beginning, Foragers presents the reader with a multi-layered account of human/alien contact. Foragers is a fictional novel, written by anthropologist Pauline Dikobe after living among a lost colony of "primitive" slazan for a year. It tells the tale of Esoch, a human soldier who grew up in an artificial hunter/gatherer colony and who is sent to an isolated slazan colony to rescue a missing anthropologist. It also contains the corresponding point-of-view story of I, a slazan healer whose life is changed forever by her contact with the humans. In addition, the novel is supplemented with the "true" account of Pauline Dikobe, who, at the height of the war, accepts a secret military mission to study a lost colony of "primitive" hunter/gatherer slazans despite grave doubts about the ethical nature of the study.

Despite its space opera setting, Foragers turns out to be an amazingly detailed and sophisticated alien contact novel. Informed by current anthropological thinking but not limited by it, the story delves deeply into the many levels on which humans interact with the proverbial "other." For any reader who has ever thought human/alien communication might be a little more difficult than resetting the translator disk, Foragers offers up a host of challenges to mutual understanding across cultural and species lines. Difficulties range from the obvious problem of language to more subtle incompatibilities of morality and physiology.

Foragers is by its nature a slow and thoughtful read. There is little in the way of linear action, particularly as the fictional novel narrative (Esoch's rescue mission) is broken up with Dikobe's notes. Rather, the story progresses inwardly through layers of understanding and misunderstanding as each contact between human and alien resonates within the larger context of human/human, slazan/slazan interaction.

At times this lack of forward movement is frustrating, and occasionally the crossover points of novel/notes are confusing (as is the conceit of naming a character I). However, the writing is excellent, and Oberndorf brings a convincing grittiness both to his aliens and to the equally "alien" future humans. (Find out what else Oberndorf has written.) The overall effect is to create a powerful and compelling reality in which understanding becomes the reader's goal as much as the characters'.

Reminded me of LeGuin's Hain stories in its complex treatment of an alien culture. -- LRC

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Worldwar: Tilting the Balance

The nations of Earth continue their struggle against alien invaders

• Worldwar: Tilting the Balance
• by Harry Turtledove
• Del Rey Books
• $6.99/$7.99 Canada
• Paperback, Feb. 1996

This is the second of three reviews covering Harry Turtledove's Worldwar Saga. In the first volume, an alien invasion during World War II forced Earth's fractious governments to unite against reptilian invaders known as the Race. While the aliens' superior technology seemed almost insurmountable in the beginning, by the end of the first volume the humans had started winning some battles.

n Worldwar: Tilting the Balance, spring is returning to the northern hemisphere. With the changing weather, the advantage in battle shifts back to the Race. The aliens come from a world drier and hotter than Earth, and even in summer they are uncomfortable. The winter was almost unmanageable.

But with the warmer weather, the Race finds itself facing other difficulties. Since the aliens planned for a fast conquest against medieval warriors, they find the unexpected resistance quickly draining their supplies. More importantly, they find themselves battling corruption within their ranks. To them, ginger is a highly addictive drug which creates a sense of overconfidence, and an underground drug trade has developed. Aside from the basic disciplinary problems, soldiers under the influence frequently commit blunders leading to human victories.

In the first book, the Russians and Germans managed to steal some plutonium from the Race. Polish Jews forced the German courier to give up half the German share, which they smuggled to the United States. No country yet understands how to make plutonium, and now only the Russians have enough to make a bomb. But Japan learns some key details from a captured alien pilot, and the other countries are progressing. The Race has already used nuclear weapons to destroy Berlin and Washington. Now the world waits to see which country will be the first to use nuclear weapons against the Race.

Turtledove's huge cast of characters is the focus of the second Worldwar volume. At this level, the novel is quite eventful. Turtledove gives readers an unfortunate love triangle that arises when one of the principals is mistakenly assumed dead. He also adds a major nuclear accident and the subsequent scapegoating, a subplot around unrequited love, several characters who go into hiding, and some effective use of real historical persons. He even kills off a couple of major characters.

Meanwhile, Turtledove's portrayal of individuals from the Race is commendable -- he manages to make them different from humans, but with analogous positives and negatives. Unfortunately, until an eventful final chapter, little of this seems to effect the global situation.

A larger problem with the ongoing saga concerns the motivation for the conquest of Earth. The aliens repeatedly complain about how wet and cold it is. Presumably their probes were sophisticated enough to report this. So why are they bothering? Turtledove emphasizes how carefully and deliberately they make their decisions, often taking centuries. Yet they've already sent a colony ship to a world unsuitable for them. Perhaps Turtledove can justify this, but after two volumes, it looks like a major plot flaw.

There is still much to like in Worldwar: Tilting the Balance, and Turtledove has plenty of time to overcome the present flaws. If he doesn't, at worst he will still have created an interesting work.

Despite my critical comments above, I am enjoying this series. Even where it seems padded, Turtledove still makes it entertaining. -- Clint

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Fisherman's Hope

Captain Nicholas Seafort betrays his beliefs to save Earth

• Fisherman's Hope
• by David Feintuch
• Warner Aspect
• $5.99/$6.99 Canada
• Paperback, March 1996

isherman's Hope is the concluding volume in the four-part Seafort Saga, in which author David Feintuch shows what heroes are really made of. The first three volumes, exciting adventures in themselves, take protagonist Nicholas Seafort from midshipman through some chaotic captaincies. Eventually he is appointed, at age 25, commandant of the Naval Academy.

As commandant, Seafort has hundreds of adolescent cadets in his care, and his childhood and academy days return to his thoughts: his best friend's accidental death, his father's teachings of an unforgiving Lord God, and his growing trust in naval traditions. Seafort is an angry young man, and a lonely one, but he tries to be fair to the cadets while instilling discipline. The task is made more difficult by his constant inner turmoil...he never forgives himself for the slightest transgressions, and worse, he is convinced that the Lord God will never forgive him either.

Seafort and the cadets become Earth's hope of salvation as the aliens, nicknamed "fish," that have been attacking human colonies for years turn their attention to the home system.

In Fisherman's Hope, Feintuch provides space-opera adventure in the pure vein. The aliens are pure menace, the FTL drives are pure fantasy and the plot is pure roller-coaster. His writing style is workmanlike and mostly non-intrusive (except for the underclass dialect of the "trannies"), getting the job done but with little flair. What sets this series apart is his development of Nicholas Seafort's character.

Consider: What makes a hero? Seafort is fast-thinking, doesn't lose his nerve and gets the job done despite negative consequences for himself. He believes in the greater good. But he falls short of Indiana-Jones-style heroism principally in that he is not lovable. He is quick to chastise his underlings for their imperfections, and he despises himself for his own. He is constantly forced by circumstances to make decisions that flout naval traditions and regulations.

But these same traditions have shaped Seafort's personality, and abandoning them sets him apart from his naval peers. He must lead -- there is no one else who can. But every command decision takes him further into isolation. Feintuch beats this drum until it bursts in a devastating climax. Feintuch gets full stars for action/adventure, and merits attention for creating a space opera that explores the issues of leadership, isolation, and trust.

I couldn't stop reading, but I was glad when it was over. -- Blaise

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