Dreamsongs: Volume 1 by George R.R. Martin

Dreamsongs: Volume 1 by George R.R. Martin. New York: Bantam Books, 2007. ISBN: 978-0-553-80545-1

Once an author becomes (presumably) rich and famous, and publishers are hanging onto his every word—or so it seems, sooner or later the author feels the need to publish all of his or her work, early, late and middle—good, bad, or indifferent, in a collection. Short stories, and some not so short anyway, the kind of thing that can be readily anthologized. And for some odd and unknown reason, recently I've been awash in these self-selected collections. I've just finished (look back on the blog!) reading and reviewing collections by Orson Scott Card, L.E. Modesitt, Jr., and Neil Gaiman. And I've already finished reading, but haven't yet gotten around to blogging a similar collection from David Gerrold.

So here's the first of two, not just one, mind you, from master fantasist, George R.R. Martin, whose “Song of Ice and Fire” cycle has all of his fans twitching in anticipation for the next and fifth volume, A Dance with Dragons, due for release in September. Martin must be extremely and exceptionally prolific in the short story genre, since his “Books by” page lists no less than seven (7!) previous short story collections by him.

This is the first that I've read, I must confess, at least so far as I can recall. At least, none appear on my blog, which covers pretty much everything I've read since August of 2003, including Vol. 4 of the “Song of Ice and Fire,” A Feast for Crows.

What makes this volume interesting is how it showcases Martin's work from its earliest feeble beginnings (said with tongue firmly in cheek, since none of them are particularly feeble), on into his maturing in his craft as a writer. His introductions are an essential part of this journey, explaining as they do how he first got started by telling himself stories as a child, reading the “funny books” (comics), and then starting to write himself for the fanzines of the early sixties.

Interestingly enough, even these very earliest stories, while admittedly somewhat naive in their conception at times, are well written, and entertaining to read. Even when the ideas behind them are a little on the shallow or trivial side, they still keep you turning the pages. What's amazing to me is that by just the second batch of stories, Martin already pens one, “With Morning Comes Mistfall,” that get nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula awards! I didn't win, but it got nominated. I'll admit it's a good story, but I wouldn't have thought it was THAT good, personally.

By the third batch, he actually DOES win a Hugo, this time with “A Song for Lya,” which, again, was nominated for both the Nebula and Hugo, but only won the Hugo. And it IS a darn good story, even if I knew what was going to happen well before it actually comes to pass. Can't be helped, I suppose. This section also has “And Seven Times Never Kill Man,” which is a truly disturbing story. Aliens against human religious fanatics, with an ending in this case NOT anticipated, at least not by me. Martin is really catching his stride with stories of alien worlds, alien artifacts, aliens embracing human religions, humans embracing alien religions, and more.

Next comes a section of fantasy stories, and these are very well done also. I think I actually liked them better than the scifi stories. Then come the horror stories, and these I don't like quite as well, but I can't deny their power. I'm just not a horror fan, even though these stories can also be considered fantasy, or in the case of the often-anthologized “Sandkings,” science fiction. I think “Sandkings” is the only story that remember reading before, and probably more than once, but then, it's a story that once read, is not likely to be forgotten. The stories in this section are also some of the longest in the book. “Nightflyers” is another scifi horror tale, involving as it does, interstellar travel, and a most strange alien lifeform.

Well, I've already written way more about this book than I intended, while not saying all that much that is really helpful to the potential reader. I definitely recommend this collection for anyone who is a fan of Martin's work, and for that matter, for anyone who wants to read elegant, evocative, slightly twisted tales of wonder and the macabre.

Keeper of Dreams by Orson Scott Card

Keeper of Dreams by Orson Scott Card. New York: Tor, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-7653-0497-1

I am a huge Orson Scott Card fan. I’ll read anything he’s written. This collection of short stories being no exception. This is by far and away the best of the several collections I’ve read recently. By definition, and by experience as well.

Card has divided his collection into five sections, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Literary, Hatrack River and Mormon Stories. The Hatrack River stories are the best, of course. Kind of like eating dessert. Anyone who’s read any of The Tales of Alvin Maker will want to read these two stories. In one of them Alvin and Arthur Stuart run into Davy Crockett a-grinning a bear. That one is quite funny. The ending especially, had me literally really truly LOL (laughing out loud).

In the other one they meet up with Jim Bowie, Stephen Austin, and more importantly, Abe Lincoln. According to Card’s comments about the story, which is titled “The Yazoo Queen,” it is actually the beginning (Chapter Zero, so to speak) of The Crystal City, the penultimate book in the Alvin Maker series. But because it was specifically written for Robert Silverberg’s second Legends anthology, and was under exclusive contract for that collection, it couldn’t even be reprinted as part of Crystal City. So it’s definitely a must read for all Hatrack River/Alvin Maker fans.

But I’ve given you the good stuff first (not really) and there are several other stories worthy of a mention. The very first story in the book, “The Elephants of Poznan,” is a very good post-holocaust kind of story, with a totally new and unexpected variant on why and how mankind is vanishing off the earth.

The next story, “Atlantis,” is one of my all-time favorite Card stories. I’ve read it at least twice before, but that didn’t stop me from reading it again here, once I came across it, nosirree. This story purports to tell the true tale of the original Noah, the person, people, and events that formed the basis for all of the ancient flood tales, from the one in the Bible, to the one in the Gilgamesh epic, not to mention all of the Atlantis legends. And it’s a most persuasive version. If it’s not really true, it SHOULD be. If you’ve not read it yet, you’re in for a treat. For those who read all of Card’s stuff, it is worth mentioning that “Atlantis” is connected to his novel, Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus.

In the fantasy section of the book, “Dust,” is definitely worth a mention. It’s the kind of fantasy story I always enjoy, in which someone stumbles through an unusual doorway, or portal of some kind, and ends up in fairly land, or some other reality. This one is as good as any of them, incorporating elements of the Fisher King or related stories.

“In the Dragon’s House” was another favorite. It involves one of the more unusual dragons you’re ever likely to meet. It’s also a wonderful childhood to adolescence coming of age kind of story, which has always been one of my favorite genres.

There are two “literary” stories, and “Feed the Baby of Love,” is a bona fide winner, another of the truly outstanding stories to be encountered in this collection.

Finally, Card ends the book with four “Mormon” stories. I’m glad he included them, because they help to show the real man, the person who’s at the heart of all of Card’s writing, and it’s a man you can’t help but respect, even though you may not agree with all of his views and opinions about issues. Not that there is really anything in these stories themselves to disagree with, mind you. That’s not what I meant. One of them, “Christmas at Helaman’s House,” is, indeed, a Christmas card kind of story. As is “Dust,” incidentally, back in the fantasy section. Someday, Card may have to put out a collection of “Christmas Card” stories (pun intended), since the one I recently reviewed on this blog makes at least the third one that I’m currently aware of, and I don’t doubt there may be others.

All in all, this book is a treasure house of stories waiting to be unlocked. I’ve mentioned my favorites, but there weren’t any that I aggressively disliked. Highly recommended for all fans of Mr. Orson Scott Card, long may he live and prosper, and continue to give us excellent stories like these.

Viewpoints Critical by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

Viewpoints Critical: Selected Stories by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. New York: Tor, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-7653-1857-2

Here’s another short story collection by an established author much more known for his novels. In fact, as the author tells us in his brief introduction, “this collection has been a long time in coming,” since “the first story in this volume was published more than thirty years ago.” In other words, it’s taken him a long time to come up with enough short stories to fill up a publishable collection.

Modesitt is a prolific writer of science fiction and fantasy, but one I have hardly gotten around to reading. I started reading The Spellsong Cycle years ago, and enjoyed the first two volumes very much, but somehow never got around to reading the rest. I don’t know if they had yet to be written and published at the time, or if I just somehow never got around to finding and reading them. Then I reread the first volume recently (link), but my library has no copies of the second volume, so I guess I’ll have to break down and buy a copy. I need to reread it before I go on to the other three volumes.

These are all competently written, more or less entertaining stories. Which is to say that none of them were really that compelling. The best were actually the stories set in the author’s existing universes. “Black Ordermage,” for example, which is set in the Recluse universe, and explains how the character Cassius ended up there. Even though I’ve never read any of the Recluse novels (the more shame on me!), I very much enjoyed this story. Likewise “Sisters of Sarronnyn, Sisters of Westwind” which is another Recluse story.

“Beyond the Obvious Wind” was another story I liked, and it’s the story from which the entire Corean Chronicles originally sprang, even though it goes off in a different direction entirely, according to the author. I have to take his word for it, because, again, I’ve never read any of the novels in question. There are, to misquote that immortal old saw, just too many books, too little time.

So, Modesitt fans will definitely want to read this book, if only for those stories alone. Definitely recommended for his fans; others can take it or leave it, depending on the level of interest and the amount of time available.

Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman

Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders by Neil Gaiman. New York: William Morrow, 2006. ISBN: 978-0-06-051522-5

I’ve been reading several short story collections recently, and this is just the first of them. Short stories are not my favorite genre, but when the author is someone known to me, particularly someone whose novels I enjoy, and especially in the science fiction and/or fantasy genre, I will generally read their short story collections, not only just to see what their stories are like, but also because they often include some stories based in one or more of their fictional universes that I have already enjoyed.

For example, Neil Gaiman includes a story set in his “American Gods” universe, a story that he originally wrote for one of Robert Silverberg’s justly famous Legends compilations. So anyone who is a fan of American Gods (which I’ve read and reviewed on this blog) or Anansi Boys (which I’ve not yet read or reviewed, but mean to as soon as I get around to it) will want to check out this Fragile Things collection if for no other reason than to read “The Monarch of the Glen,” unless, of course, they’ve already read it in Legends.

As for the rest of the collection, as with nearly every short story collection I read, it’s a mixed bag. Some of the substantial stories, such as “Closing Time,” “Bitter Grounds,” “Goliath,” and “Good Boys Deserve Favors,” I really enjoyed.

Others, not so much. I didn’t particularly appreciate the turn-around ending for “A Study in Emerald,” even though it (the story) won a Hugo award AND got Gaiman inducted into the Baker Street Irregulars. “Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Secret House of the Night of Dread Desire” was just plain silly, although I suppose that was probably the intent. I could complain about some of the others, but to what point? The point is that anyone reading this collection will like some, dislike others.

Some of my favorites were actually some of the shortest, quickest little stories, the ones you can read out loud to someone you’re with, and it will only take 5 or 10 minutes, short enough that they probably can be persuaded to listen that long. Examples include “Other People,” “Locks,” “Instructions,” “In the End,” and “The Day the Saucers Came.” Several of these, some of my favorites, are actually poems. Or at least, written in verse.

So, if you’ve read and enjoyed any of Neil Gaiman’s work, you’ll probably want to read this short story collection as well. You’re sure to like some of them; you may not like some of the others; some of them may be disturbing, annoying, depressing, or even abhorrent, but that’s the way it is when you read a collection like this.

Oh, don’t overlook the introduction, in which Gaiman explains how each came to be written. You may want to read it after the fact or along with each story, but don’t leave it out altogether. Why? Because he actually embeds a very short story into one of the introductory comments, which you won’t want to miss. I have to say, I would have preferred the introductory materials to have been printed with each individual story, instead of grouping them together at the beginning, as that it would have made it easier to read each one with the associated story.

Definitely recommended for Gaiman fans.

Hunter's Run by Martin, Dozois, and Abraham

Hunter's Run by George R.R. Martin, Garner Dozois, and Daniel Abraham. New York: Eos (HarperCollins), 2008. ISBN: 978-0-06-137329-9

This is nitty gritty SciFi at its best. Our protagonist, one Ramón Espejo is an uneducated, roistering, hard-drinking, hard-living, blue collar kind of a guy who finds himself in an untenable situation, and makes the best of it. He's an independent prospector on the lam from the law, after a drunken spree in which he brutally murders a visiting gringo muckety muck, who while out in the wild unexplored reaches of the planet, stumbles onto an alien secret that is definitely too big for him.

Not only that, but he realizes that he is actually a clone of himself, slaved to the aliens he's discovered, and tasked with finding and preventing his real self from getting back to civilization to report what he's found. By killing himself (his other self), if that's what it takes.

The basic scenario is this: human kind finds itself somewhat adrift in a universe where alien races seem to have the best real estate already locked up. These aliens, at least some of them, are happy to use human kind as their worker bees. Espejo, along with an entire mining crew, ships off to a frontier planet to help in its development and exploitation.

While out prospecting, he inadvertently stumbles onto ANOTHER alien civilization, carefully hidden away, and determined to remain so. Apparently humans are mere pawns in a much larger game of high stakes, in which one alien race is trying to wipe out another, for reasons poor Espejo is not equipped to fathom. But he IS willing to play whatever limited cards he has, in hopes of first surviving, then bettering his situation.

“Gritty” is hardly an adequate description of this story. Suspense there is too, in plentiful supply. Definitely recommended for anyone who enjoys a universe which doesn't assume that humans are always on top, or even remotely NEAR the top in the fight for survival. But still, we humans persist. We struggle on. We refuse to give up, even in the face of overwhelming odds.

Influencer by Kerry Patterson, et. al.

Influencer: The Power to Change Anything by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-07-148499-2

This book purports to provide a method by which you can change the world, or at least, yourself. It claims to be that lever Archimedes so famously postulated, long enough to shift the entire earth. Is it? I'm not sure. At the end, it all seems to come down still, to talk. Just find the right words, and you can persuade people.

It's a lot more complicated than that, of course. There are six sources of influence which you must master. None of them work alone. All of them are essential to the process. The six elements are presented grid fashion, in two rows of three each.

Motivation

• Make the undesirable desirable
• Harness peer pressure
• Design rewards & demand accountability

Ability

• Surpass your limits
• Find strength in numbers
• Change the environment

The three cross patterns are:

• Personal
• Social
• Structural
  

In other words, the first item under each of the original two categories, motivation and ability, fits under the personal category, while the next item on each list fits under social, and the final item on each list fits under structural.

The book's many authors tell many stories about masters of this process who have changed entire cultures and made enormous improvements in people's lives. Some examples: eradicating the Guinea worm in Africa (Dr. Donald Hopkins and The Carter Center); helping addicts turn their lives around (Dr. Mimi Silver and the Delancey Street Foundation), preventing HIV infections (Thailand), enhancing literacy in Mexico and elsewhere (TV producer Miguel Sabido), and many more.

Unfortunately, even after reading the book, I had difficulty in seeing how I could (or would) apply its principles to any of the real-world situations in my particular job. I've never been much of a believer in business solution type self-help books, and this one left me unconvinced also. I'm just not much of a “believer,” period. I'm a skeptic. An optimistic skeptic. Now there's a contradiction in terms, for you! But then, I'm also a Libra. A Libra who doesn't believe in astrology. Another contradiction!

The governor of our great state of Washington, Christine Gregoire, was apparently so impressed by this book that she gave out free copies to everyone who attended one of her leadership seminars. That's how I heard about the book, as one of my co-workers attended.

I could also never figure out if this system was supposed to be about changing your own life (like losing weight, or adopting a more healthy lifestyle), or about changing masses of people (like the examples I cited above). Supposedly it's about both, but I never could quite figure out how that works. It may well be that these techniques really do work, but the system is still too complicated for me. Marginally recommended for anyone who needs to change the world. Or themselves.

Touchstone by Laurie King

Touchstone by Laurie King. New York: Bantam Books, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-553-80355-6

Ah, another novel from one of my favorite contemporary authors, Laurie King! What a pleasure it is to be caught up once again by her inimitable style and perfect touch. Touchstone is another standalone story, not part of her Martinelli or Mary Russell series. That's its only drawback, if drawback there is to be found here. Fortunately for us, a note at the end of the book informs us that Ms. King is currently at work on the next Mary Russel novel, which will be her ninth. I can't wait!

This story takes place in Great Britain, in that transitional period between the two World Wars. The coal miners are about to strike, and a general strike has been called in sympathy. Labour has the government, but could fall. A decisive clash of ideologies and interests is possible. Will England turn communist? Or fascist? Or will some middle ground of rationality be preserved?

Into this volatile mix comes FBI agent Harris Stuyvesant, seeking an itinerant bomber, a Brit who has traveled three times to the U.S. leaving bombs in his wake, one of which killed Stuyvesant's fiancée, giving him a more than slightly personal interest in the case. He has a suspect, Richard Bunsen, currently high in the strikers' council, formerly a demolition expert in the first World War. And now he suspects that Bunsen's American bombs were mere practice for his ultimate target, the top leaders of Britain, in an act intended to foment terror, and topple traditional British society into anarchy.

Tracking Bunsen takes him into the company of Laura Hurleigh, duke's daughter, and the inner circles of British aristocracy. His “in?” Bennett Grey, who grew up with the Hurleigh's, and was even engaged to Laura, until his injuries in the Great War made it impossible for him to associate with people in a normal fashion. He was almost blown up by an artillery shell, should have been killed, but instead, somehow lived, but with a new kind of sense and sensitivity. His entire nervous system and sense of consciousness was somehow turned inside out. People affect him directly and intolerably. He can read their body language, their emotions, their real thoughts behind what they say, in an almost supernatural way. And this sensitivity is like 10,000 times worse than the proverbial fingernail scratching a blackboard. It is absolutely intolerable to him, and forces him to flee to the very tip of England where he lives in virtual solitude.

Grey's sister, Sarah, works with Laura Hurleigh and Richard Bunsen. Sarah is an attractive young woman, and Harris naturally falls in love with her. All of these lines fall a bit too close for reality, but we're willing to suspend our disbelief at least a little, especially for Laurie King. She makes it all seem plausible enough, if not downright inevitable.

The plot hurries along to its dramatic and ever intensifying conclusion, but not without at least one significant twist to the plot that will most likely catch you by surprise. I've left out some of the complications, but I don't have time to list them all; how Stuyvesant gets "in" with Bennett Grey being one of them. But if you care at all for King as an author, you'll be reading the book for yourself!

As usual, highly recommended!

Empire Rising by Sam Barone

Empire Rising by Sam Barone. New York: William Morrow, 2007. ISBN: 978-0-06-089246-3

This is the sequel to Dawn of Empire, which I reviewed back in April of 2007. It's a good read, and if you enjoyed Dawn, you'll probably want to read Rising. But it doesn't have the same compelling drive to it that the original did.

In Dawn of Empire, we read about one of the first cities to raise a wall in its defense. This is a civilization-building effort that truly revolutionized society when it occurred, and to encounter a fictionalized account of how that might have occurred makes for truly compelling reading.

In the sequel, there is lots of backing and filling. The city and its leaders are out restoring order in the surrounding area, making their defenses even stronger, and beginning the building of a dynasty which they hope will extend to their children and grandchildren. All very important activities, no doubt, but just not as compelling as the motive behind the original story. It becomes just another story of ancient people going about their lives.

Sure, the author dreams up another attack on the city, this one launched by stealth from inside, and provides plenty of drama and suspense, but this story could have happened to any ancient town in any ancient time period, and there is nothing to raise it to that level of necessity that propelled its predecessor.

So, definitely recommended, especially if you enjoyed Dawn of Empire, but not essential reading, by any means. And don't read it if you haven't read Dawn. It won't make much sense. The author's web site implies, without providing any specifics, that there will be more to come, and I'll probably read those too, just not expecting the same kind of buzz I got from the first one.

Opening Atlantis by Harry Turtledove

Opening Atlantis by Harry Turtledove. New York: Roc, 2007. ISBN: 978-0-451-46174-2

This is another alternate history novel by Turtledove, the acknowledged master of the genre. He imagines a smallish continent, naturally named Atlantis, out in the middle of the Atlantic, sort of halfway between Europe and North America. He tells us the history of this land, from its initial discovery and settlement by Europeans in the 1450's, on down to about the time of the American Revolution, when the British and French fight for dominance of the island, as an adjunct to their American and European wars.

The story is as well-told as any Turtledove book. If you enjoy his style, you'll undoubtedly enjoy reading this book. But my essential reaction was, what's the point? I need more than just another lackadaisical idea to motivate me into reading Turtledove. When he asks INTERESTING alternate history questions, like “What if the South won the Civil War?” or “What if aliens invaded in the middle of World War II?” then I'm interested enough to follow the story for book after book.

But in this case, there's just a new land mass where there wasn't one before. No magical creatures live there, just different ones (kind of like Australia or Zanzibar). The island is uninhabited when Europeans get there, which is improbable in itself. Surely it would have been previously settled by indigenes from somewhere! People from the Americas, if nowhere else.

So, British, French and Spanish settlers colonize the island. There is an interregnum period in which pirates control the western half of the island, and have to be eradicated. Sad. Pirates are always more fun, if more dangerous, than regular society. And then the war for dominance, which the British win, of course. My ultimate reaction? So what? Why should I care? I don't care. So I won't be bothering with any sequels. Sorry Harry. You struck out with this one, so far as I'm concerned.

The Spiral Labyrinth by Matthew Hughes

The Spiral Labyrinth: A Tale of Henghis Hapthorn by Matthew Hughes. San Francisco: Night Shade Books, 2007. ISBN: 978-1-59780-091-4

This is the second time I've encountered the doughty Henghis Hapthorn, discriminator extraordinaire. I reviewed a collection of short stories by Hughes, several of which featured Hapthorn, back in July of 2007, not quite a year ago.

This tale is quite a bit more satisfactory reading than were those stories. The novel length format provides a more expansive space and time (both literally and figuratively) for the sometimes hapless Hapthorn to operate within, and for me, at least, this gave the character and his adventures more depth and play, making the reading more entertaining.

Hughes is another of those clever writers who has thought up a way to bridge the gap between science fiction and fantasy. This book is definitely written as science fiction, since initially we find ourselves in a far future milieu, in which hundreds, if not thousands of planets are settled, and starships traverse the interstellar byways.

But our intrepid adventurers find themselves unaccountably thrust into an even much farther and further future, in which some great shift in the cosmos has taken place (it being implied that similar shifts may have occurred in previous aeon's) where magic and will power are the dominant factors, having replaced the technology-based period of the past.

Hapthorn and his inimitable companions find themselves in a seemingly almost hopeless battle against an intelligent and symbiotic organism, a fungus which fills many caverns on a distant, desolate planetoid. Will they ever make it back to their own time, place and space? You'll have to read the book to find out. And it's well worth the journey. Recommended for all SciFi and/or fantasy fans.