The Road to Science Fiction | Night Sky Mine | The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

The Road to Science Fiction
Volume 3: From Heinlein to Here

James Gunn offers his view of the evolution of science fiction...

• The Road to Science Fiction
• Edited by James Gunn
• Borealis
• $14.99/$19.99 Canada
• Trade Paperback, August 1996

he 1990s have been a fertile era for huge, comprehensive anthologies offering alternative viewpoints on what science fiction is, who its important writers are and which stories have been most influential. James Gunn, in his projected five-volume The Road to Science Fiction anthology series, presents perhaps the most ambitious of them all, tracing science fiction's roots from the beginning of literature. Volume 3: From Heinlein to Here, now back in print, covers the years 1940 to 1977. (The first two volumes are subtitled From Gilgamesh to Wells and From Wells to Heinlein.)

The anthology begins with Gunn's 20-page introduction, a historical overview of this period in science fiction history. The 34 stories and two novel excerpts that follow are arranged in chronological order, with the exception of Robert A. Heinlein's "All You Zombies," which opens the anthology despite its 1959 publication date. Gunn introduces each author and story with a brief essay, explaining the significance of the story within the context of the editorial influences and artistic movements in science fiction at the time. Though Gunn, in these essays, offers his opinions on what science fiction is and how it works, he primarily tries to chronicle its evolution through its most important authors and stories.

Gunn's choices in The Road to Science Fiction, Volume 3 often seem rather obvious. For the most part, the stories are among the field's best known, by the most highly regarded authors of the period, and most have been anthologized frequently. For Gunn's purposes, however, this is a strength, rather than a weakness.

There's little doubt why these stories are considered among the finest in science fiction history. Even the older stories hold up quite well, despite the shifts in culture and literary sophistication that often make fiction from the 1940s and 1950s seem quaint. A possible exception is the choice of Isaac Asimov's "Reason," which certainly is not representative of Asimov's best work. But Gunn justifies the choice by using it to discuss Asimov's development as a writer, and in a broader context, John W. Campbell's importance in shaping science fiction. The only other questionable choices are the inclusions of novel excerpts, rather than complete short stories, by John Brunner and Ursula K. Le Guin.

Gunn's commentary is both informative and perceptive. While it's certainly possible to disagree with his views, he effectively and confidently explains the literary development of science fiction, and the stories support his analysis quite well. Only once -- in an unconvincing defense of Tom Godwin's "The Cold Equations" -- does he seem to slip.

But for every small flaw, there are a hundred wonderful things about this volume. It belongs on the bookshelf of everyone who loves science fiction.

This is simply one of the best anthologies I've ever read. I'm going to buy Volumes 1 and 2 as soon as I can find them. -- Clint

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Night Sky Mine

Finding your identity is important, especially if you've never had one

• Night Sky Mine
• By Melissa Scott
• Tor Books
• $24.95/$36.95 Canada
• Hardcover, August 1996

he Agglomeration space station supports operations of the Night Sky Mining Company. It is home to citizens from all levels of society, including Management, Union, Transport, Trade, Service, and even Traveller. Travellers are itinerant space gypsies, a group which is tolerated but not accepted by others.

Although the life of Travellers is difficult, it's the preferred lifestyle for 16-year-old Ista and her near-mother, Kelly2. The station has been their home since Kelly2 found Ista as a baby, the sole survivor of an attack against asteroid miners. While discovering her true identity becomes Ista's obsession, she finds satisfaction in her apprenticeship to a respected hypothecary. Because computer code has grown far too complex to understand, programs are represented by visual metaphors on a virtual landscape. Hypothecaries evaluate and manipulate these programs, a profession not without its hazards.

The virtual world is an evolving, predatory environment where programs devour one other for usable code fragments. Excursions into this wildnet require constant vigilance for any sign of the demogorgon, a theoretical program whose existence will signal the development of true artificial intelligence...and the destruction of the virtual world. When two strangers appear on the Agglomeration and begin asking questions about a series of raids against mining platforms, Ista is drawn into an undercover investigation which may help answer questions about her past, but also has the potential to unleash the dreaded demogorgon.

In Night Sky Mine Melissa Scott depicts a future society of intense stratification, with a caste system that tolerates little deviation from the expected norm. She uses this scenario to make observations about gender, race and social class, although her critique of social issues is never heavy-handed. One of the most memorable aspects of this story is Scott's vision of the virtual world. Darwin would have a field day with data that is both floral and faunal, scavenger and predator, and domesticated and feral. With names like crabbit, wallaroo, creeping charlie, and jolly-roger, these programs are difficult to forget, especially when each has a specific nomenclature and function.

It's apparent that a great deal of effort has gone into constructing Ista's world, and sometimes things can get confusing. Scott takes a "sink or swim" approach with readers, throwing them into the middle of the plot and hoping they can stay afloat long enough to figure out what is happening. Those with little patience may find this technique irritating, but ultimately it is worth the effort.

Overall Night Sky Mine offers an intriguing blend of cyberpunk, space opera, and detective novel. Readers who want to spend time with an entertaining author who puts a clever spin on virtual reality need do nothing more than pick up a copy.

This book's virtual reality world lingers in the mind, even to the point of wanting to go back and read about it all over again.-- Susan

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The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

Revolution sweeps the moon in 2076

• The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
• By Robert A. Heinlein
• Tor Books
• $23.95
• Hardcover, August 1996

hirty years after its original publication, Tor Books has issued a handsome hardcover reprint of Robert A. Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

Like most real-life revolutions, the lunar uprising in Heinlein's 1966 novel is rooted in economics. By the 2070s, the overcrowded Earth has come to depend on the grain from Luna's underground farms. The corrupt Lunar Authority keeps the price of that grain artificially low while gouging the "Loonies" for air, power and water.

The situation looks hopeless. But the Loonies have a powerful and unusual ally -- the Lunar Authority's main computer has somehow attained self-awareness. Computer technician and budding revolutionary Manuel O'Kelly Davis befriends this bored and lonely artificial intelligence and recruits "Mike" into a conspiracy to overthrow the Authority.

Mike controls just about everything on the moon, including the electromagnetic catapult used to hurl grain shipments down to Earth, giving the Loonies a potent weapon. But the Lunar Authority is backed by the Federated Nations of Earth, which is prepared to lob nuclear missiles to teach the rebels a lesson.

Heinlein also uses the story as an opportunity to teach readers a few lessons, having his characters expound on everything from ballistics to the virtues of group marriage. But the lecture and chit-chat don't overwhelm the story -- something that can't be said for some of Heinlein's later novels.

All in all this novel has aged pretty well. The technology, of course, sounds a bit creaky today -- Manuel copies a program from "Mike" to another computer by re-typing a printout. But Heinlein's "rational anarchism" will warm the hearts of today's young, cyber-savvy libertarians.

Even if readers don't buy into the author's politics -- Heinlein himself seems to regard a society without government as an unattainable ideal -- it's hard not to get caught up in the story of Luna's struggle against economic and bureaucratic oppression. The revolution even has its own Lafayette, a jaunty, charismatic aristocrat with deep pockets and a gift for propaganda.

But Heinlein doesn't idealize revolution or the inevitable bloodshed that accompanies it. The good guys aren't above using disinformation, censorship and the occasional summary execution to advance their cause. The leaders of the lunar revolt have the good sense to step down before they are overwhelmed by the seductions of power. And, as in real life, there are plenty of bozos ready to take their place.

Characterization was never Heinlein's strong point, and Moon is no exception. The most appealing character, of course, is Mike the supercomputer. Alone among the characters, he experiences true growth, evolving from a childlike prankster to the wise and revered leader of a revolution.

Overall Moon is Heinlein at the crest of his career: He has helped drag science fiction out of the pulp gutter, but he's not yet succumbed to the fatal self-regard that crippled many of his later works.

This is one of Heinlein's very best. I'm glad it's back in print. -- Curt

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