Schrodinger's Bookshelf

What do body-possessing aliens, mind-destroying drugs, Nazi occultism and reincarnation all have in common? They’re the disparate threads of Ian Watson’s visionary new novel, Mockymen, a truly bizarre tale of life, death, betrayal, and jigsaw puzzles.
It starts out innocently enough, when an aged Norwegian hires a young British couple to make some very specialized jigsaw puzzles, involving nude pictures of themselves with a certain statuary garden in Oslo. When they discover that this odd commission relates back to Nazi war crimes and a little-known occult line of defense, their lives are thrown into chaos and disarray, ending with a betrayal and an ominous look to the future.
Come the future, and aliens called Mockymen have arrived on Earth, bringing proprietary technology, and a drug which destroys the minds of some who use it, leaving them ripe for temporary possession. Interstellar teleportation has become commonplace, if agonizing to the user, but there’s always someone willing to risk pain for the offered pay. Naturally, there are plenty of secrets afloat in this strange new world, and one woman, Anna Sharman, is determined to put the jigsaw pieces of the mystery together. It all ties back to a certain now-dead Norwegian, a young man who recovered from something he shouldn’t have, and the true purposes of the Mockymen.
Mockymen is, by all standards, the sort of book you just don’t see everyday. Multi-layered, surreal, convoluted and complex, it weaves together a series of different themes to tell a memorable, unique story. It has the same forward-thinking, no-holds-barred, barriers-shattering narrative as a good Philip K. Dick novel, and really takes the concept of consciousness to a new level. That said, it’s not an easy read, nor run of the mill by any means. I wouldn’t suggest trying to read this one before bed.

There are two ways of dealing with living in space. In one, there’s always enough room for everyone, supplies are plentiful, and gravity is a constant. We’ve all seen that sort in Star Wars, or Star Trek. In the other way, space is cramped, claustrophobic, incestuously tight, and supplies are at a premium. With In the Company of Others, we have a case of the latter. Julie Czernada’s latest book tells a story of a human expansion aborted at the last minute by an alien encounter gone so horribly wrong that the newly terraformed planets were placed off-limits, the Earth system prohibited to incoming traffic, and the thousands of colonists already enroute stranded on space stations far too small to handle them all.

Years later, the situation has only gotten worse, with the crowding on places such as Thromberg Station so bad that people live, work, and sleep in shifts to accommodate the lack of resources, and tensions are always at a fever pitch. But Thromberg holds a secret. Aaron Pardell, perhaps the only human to ever visit one of the Quill-infested planets, planets which kill any human who sets foot on them, lives a secretive life. Unable to touch anyone because of his unique medical condition, he represents the most claustrophobic aspect of the living arrangements, someone surrounded on all sides by people he can’t touch, lest they, or he, die. But while his life isn’t perfect, at least it’s his to live.

That is, until Earth scientist Gail Smith comes to Thromberg seeking him, in the hopes that by studying Aaron, she might cure what is now called “The Quill Effect” and reopen all those planets to colonization. In doing so, she’ll tear Aaron and his friends away from the only home they’ve known for years, reveal long-lost secrets about his parentage, and discover the astonishing secrets of the Quill, a formerly harmless race who somehow turned deadly.

There are plots within plots, as everyone has his own agenda. Aaron, his best friend Malley, the old spacer Rosalind Fournier, Gail Smith, the crew of the experimental starship Seeker, they all have their goals, and in far too many cases, what they want is going to come in violent conflict with what they get. The fates of the Seeker’s crew, Aaron, Gail, Malley, the thousands of colonists, and the Quill are all tied together in the secrets buried in the soil of the forgotten planet called Pardell’s World, named for Aaron’s lost family.

In the Company of Others is a rich and believable book, with extremely strong characterization, and a tense plot that wouldn’t let me go. Without a doubt, this is Julie Czernada’s best work to date, and a good sign for the future. I could feel the cramped, claustrophobic corridors and rundown nature of Thromberg Station, as well as the combination of promise and terror held by Pardell’s World, and the nifty-keen technology of the Seeker and its crew. This is what science fiction is all about: the characterization, plot, setting, and technology play off of each other in a well-balanced manner. It’s definitely worth checking out.

Robert Sawyer concludes his Neanderthal Parallax trilogy with this book. Contact between a world where humans were the dominant evolutionary path, and a world where Neanderthals survived instead continues to heat up, as the two worlds share aspects of science, culture, history, and more. Ponter Boddit, the first Neanderthal to cross over to our world, continues his growing love affair with human geneticist Mary Vaughan, and the two begin to plan ways to be together permanently, and ways to signify their union with a child of both races. Meanwhile, a shadowy faction sees the world of the Neanderthals as a valuable resource, virgin territory that could be used for so much … if only there weren’t those pesky inhabitants already there. Another group of researchers seeks to answer the ultimate question concerning the nature of religion and the existence of God. Finally, one man’s search for revenge and redemption could save, or destroy, both worlds. All of these stories intertwine as the story moves to a fateful climax.
Let’s face it. While there is an underlying plot to the trilogy, The Neanderthal Parallax is clearly Sawyer’s way of exploring a whole host of questions, and postulating the “what ifs?” of history, society, and technology. His fondness for the imagined world of the Neanderthals is evident in the near-Utopian society he’s devised, though even that society proves to have some dark clouds to it in the name of the greater good. Thought-provoking and intricately-suggested, the alternate world is almost wistful in its portrayal, especially compared to our own messed-up one. Sawyer uses the alien presence of Ponter to explore a number of issues, including religion and morality, sometimes to the detriment of the story. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed Hybrids. Sawyer rarely disappoints, and this is certainly no exception.

Acclaimed author Robert Sawyer begins a daring new trilogy with this tale of overlapping alternate histories. When a quantum-computing experiment in one world meets a neutrino observation post in another, things go horribly wrong. Scientist Ponter Boddit is thrust into our world, and stranded. The problem? In his world, Neanderthal man survived to form a near-idyllic society, quite different from ours. Now he has to come to terms with a new world, while his partner back home is accused of Ponter’s murder. Geneticist Mary Vaughn is just one of several experts who will first verify the impossibility of Ponter’s existence, and help him to adjust. But only if they can crack the barrier between worlds open again, will everything be fine. One thing is certain: neither world will ever be the same again, once a mutual existence is revealed. Sawyer once again delivers cutting-edge science and believable characterization in one of his best books to date.

Sharon Shinn’s latest novel delves deep into the nature of love and racism, setting the age-old concepts on a world where three separate races must manage to coexist without letting their underlying distrust of each other destroy them all. For the caste-driven matriarchal indigos, it’s a question of keeping everyone else in their place, the males of their own race most assuredly second-class citizens. For the hot-tempered patriarchal guldenfolk, it’s the women whose place is in the home. And balancing them out, the intelligent and relatively peaceful albinos mind their own business. But in one particular city, all three of them mingle freely, though always one step away from violence and hatred.

Nolan is an indigo, a scientist whose fiancée and family are sure he’ll get over his silly little notion of having his own job and independence, and will settle down soon enough. Uncomfortable with the ways of his race, increasingly more comfortable with the interracial spirit of unity that he finds at the Biolab in which he works, he finds himself heading straight into a moral and ethical dilemma that could cost him everything.

Kit, a higher-caste indigo woman, has her own problems. Her lover, one of the guldenfolk, is under arrest for his terrorist activities. Her grandmother terrorizes her, and she too is increasingly dissatisfied with the ways of her race. She will soon be forced to choose between love, duty, and what is right. The wrong choice could doom an entire race.

Their paths collide violently one day when Nolan uncovers a deadly secret. His research, and that of the others in the Biolab, has been co-opted by a coworker, and twisted to create a virus that could kill millions. Unless he turns against his friends, and enlists the unwilling aid of Kit to invade the very heart of the guldenfolk territory, the fragile peace will be destroyed. But the guldenfolk have no reason to like him, and even less to trust him. Only with Kit’s aid can he prevail. But will she side with the guldenfolk, one of whom she loves?

Heart of Gold is a story that never forgets it’s about people first and technology second. Even the setting takes a backseat, as I can’t even remember the main city in which the action takes place being called anything other than ‘the city.’ No, the narrative focuses squarely upon Nolan and Kit, and their friends, and the growing tensions between indigo and guldenfolk which edge ever closer towards full-blown hostility and genocide. The blue-skinned indigos are portrayed quite believably as a matriarchal society, where the women have all the power and prestige, and the men have little responsibility. The gold-skinned guldenfolk are their exact opposites, portraying a fierce, proud, highly independent society where adult males have all the power, and those under the age of twelve might not even exist for all they matter. Is it any wonder that these two cultures clash so often and so messily? Their skin colors only make it all the easier to draw lines between them.

All in all, I greatly enjoyed Heart of Gold, primarily for the way it told the story, and conveyed a message without dropping into heavy-handed lecturing. The characters had genuine choices to make, and authentic reactions. What’s more, the setting could likely lend itself to future revisiting.