Mini-Review: Los Nefilim by T. Frohock

In Los Nefilim, T. Frohock imagines a world where angels, demons, and their human hybrids (nefilim) live and act mostly unnoticed in the world. The focus is on Barcelona in the 1930s and Diago, a unique nefilim with both angel and demon blood. Diago’s family is threatened as angels and demons battle for the future of the world in the face of oncoming war.

Magical battle, torture, betrayal. Yes these things occur and are important. But the soul of the book is in love and relationships. A son and his estranged father, the son a father of a son he does not know, lovers, friends. Add time and betrayal. The sum is greater than the parts where the past must be addressed to accept the present, to know oneself and finally submit to the love all around. To fight without quarter for the ones that are loved. This is Los Nefilim, historic context with consequences for all of humanity, but played out at a personal level.

The foundation of this powerful story is a poetic prose, dark and moody, yet infused with color and music as it embodies hope, love and loyalty. Yes, there is a lot of conflict in that last statement, as is appropriate in a story full of internal and external conflict. It’s the grounded, devoted love that keeps it all together.

As you have probably guessed by now, I really enjoyed Los Nefilim. It’s beautiful, moving, filled with suspense. It kept me up at night because I could not put it down. I want to read more of Diago, Miquel, Rafael, Guillermo, and others. It’s historic urban fantasy, not quite alternative history, and it’s a powerful portrayal of love and family.

Additionally, it’s worth noting that the main family unit at the heart of Los Nefilim is two male partners. The relationship is genuine, heartfelt and simply lovely. I await the day when focus on a same-sex couple is not noteworthy and commonplace, but we aren’t there yet, and it’s books like Los Nefilim that will get us there.

A few logistical notes: Los Nefilim is in reality a print collection of 3 novellas that were initially published electronically: In Midnight’s Silence, Without Light or Guide, and The Second Death. The reality is that the three independent novellas seamlessly work as a traditionally structured novel. Read it as a serial, collection, or single work – it doesn’t matter. But I certainly recommend that you read it.

Los Nefilim: Amazon

In Midnight’s Silence: Amazon

Without Light or Guide: Amazon

The Second Death: Amazon

Mini-Review: Fast Ships, Black Sails Edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer

I review pretty much everything I read, but here’s a case where I’m so thoroughly uninspired to write a review, that I have finally decided to not do (well, mostly). So, I’ll give a few general thoughts here, but I certainly don’t consider it a full review (probably not even a mini-review).

My being uninspired to write much about Fast Ships, Black Sails Edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer (US, UK, Canada, Indibound) actually makes sense because I was quite uninspired while reading it. I found the majority of the stories to simply be uninteresting. I’m not sure why – it could be that the stories tend toward a more literary side than I fully appreciated, it could be that I’m not really into pirates (which I’m not sure is true), it could be that I read this just before (and a bit after) the a book I was very excited to read, and it could be that the stories just didn’t appeal to me. Whatever case is, I simply didn’t enjoy reading most of the stories in this anthology, or I didn’t enjoy them enough to care.

Of course there were a few that I did enjoy – generally the stories that tend towards the absurd (people who know me and my sense of humor well would not find this surprising in the least). “Castor on Troubled Waters” by Rhys Hughes and “Voyage of the Iguana” by Steve Aylett are prime examples of these sorts and they both amused me greatly. I also quite enjoyed “Elegy to Gabrielle, Patron Saint of Healers, Whores, and Righteous Thieves” by Kelly Barnhill. But the rest failed to stand out at all. And one comment that I don’t want to forget – just how many gender-bending twists with surprise female captains are necessary? By the end of the anthology, I couldn’t help but think ‘surprise, yet another female captain’. I understand (and approve of) the idea, but it just felt way overdone by the end.

So, Fast Ships, Black Sails is an anthology that really missed the mark with me (with only a few exceptions out of the 19 stories). Tread at your own risk with this one. 4.5/10

Review: Tides from the New Worlds by Tobias S. Buckell

Short fiction is something I am woefully under-read in. I don’t read or subscribe to short fiction magazines (or e-zines) and I only rarely read collections and anthologies. The reason why is really quite simple – I don’t have the time. My reading time is very limited these days, so I set boundaries – no comics, no graphic novels, little to no non-fiction, etc. However, in reading Tides from the New Worlds by Tobias S. Buckell (Amazon, Wyrm), I am once again reminded (as I periodically am) of what I’ve been missing.

Since the vast majority of my reading is novels, I generally only get to see one facet of an author’s writing, often one that does not express the breadth and variety that any given author truly possesses. Tides from the New Worlds introduces people like me who are familiar with Buckell’s novels to another side of Buckell – actually several other sides – and a greater vision of the writer as a person. Since this collection literally starts at the beginning of his career, we also get to see Buckell evolve and improve through time.

Many readers are well aware of Buckell’s Caribbean origins and mixed-race, and these influences certainly show up in his novels. However, in reading Buckell’s short fiction, just how strongly these origins influence his writing becomes clear. Two themes at work throughout much of Tides from the New Worlds are the infusion of science fiction and fantasy with a distinctive Caribbean, multi-racial feel (including varied, typically non-Western settings) and the clash of the Western world other parts of the world, particularly the Caribbean. To these aims, Buckell utilizes many standard SFF tropes, adding his distinctive twists, with stories revolving around such varied ideas as first contact, slavery, zombies, ghosts, religion, sailing and the sea, ancient gods, dryads, dwarves, mythology, folklore, etc.

As I’ve become familiar with in his novels, Buckell uses characters to drive his fiction. While he can be (too) light on the description, the setting often comes alive through the characters themselves. In combination with this, I felt Buckell’s strongest stories come with a Caribbean-like setting – whether that setting is the actual Caribbean, Africa, or an imagined world sharing much in common with the Caribbean. “Four Eyes” may have been my favorite of the collection for capturing the side of the Caribbean that tourists don’t see. “Toy Planes”, “Spurn Babylon”, “Trinkets”, “The Duel”, “Necahual” and the dark, allegorical tale of “Death’s Dreadlocks” all capture another side of the Caribbean and its people.

Buckell also reveals a fascination with history that caught me off-guard. I suppose it makes sense to explore the past to understand the present, but it serves a reminder to me that the history of the USA is thoroughly entwined with that of the Caribbean, no matter how hard we try to forget that up here. “In Orbite Medievali”, “Trinkets”, and “The Duel” all explore this relationship in one way or another.

Attempting to comment on each of the 21 stories would be madness and not all can be easily lumped with other stories. But, I simply cannot pass by without mentioning “The Shackles of Freedom” (written with Mike Resnick). In this story, Amish colonists on an alien (and deadly world) struggle to survive and a doctor seeking freedom from the greater society agrees to minister to the colony – only the Amish generally choose not to accept his healing technology. The resulting exploration of freedom, technology, and love left me wanting to chuck the computer and cell phone out the window (though to be honest, this isn’t exactly an isolated feeling).

The best anthologies and collections introduce each story and in Tides from the New Worlds, Buckell does just that. We get a brief view into his mind as he explains things from intent and motivations to it being fun to write. It also allows us to see the mentoring and guidance that Buckell has seen from such writers as Mike Resnick and Nalo Hopkinson. And the introduction by Mike Resnick can only be described as fatherly.

All of this is presented in a beautiful, high-quality package by Wyrm publishing in a signed limited-edition. With the limited print, this book is aimed at Buckell’s existing fanbase, but people looking for a bit Caribbean spice injected into their SFF should not allow this one to pass by. If you’re on the fence, check out some of the free stories available on Buckell’s website – as expected there are strong and weak stories and just which one is which will depend on your own perspective, but I enjoyed the look into the whole of Buckell’s writing. 7.5/10

Related Posts: Review of Crystal Rain, Review of Ragamuffin, Interview with Tobias Buckell

Review: The New Space Opera edited by Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan

“science fiction is for real, space opera is for fun”
-Brian Aldiss

The term ‘space opera’ dates to the early 1940s when it was coined by Tucker Wilson to describe “the hacky, grinding, stinking, outworn space-ship yarn”. Through time it has evolved past its derogatory roots to be a general descriptor of wide-ranging adventures in space, often lauding human conquest of the universe. In the 1970s, authors began to reinvent and reinvigorate this aging form and the ‘new space opera’ evolved in concert with cyberpunk, trending toward darker topics, stronger characterization, and the use of new technologigies and infusion of hard sci-fi elements and scientific rigour, while distancing itself from the triumph of mankind style of old. The New Space Opera collects original short stories and novellas by some of the most prolific writers of the new space opera tradition of the past 30 years. Authors include Gwyneth Jones, Ian McDonald, Robert Reed, Paul J. McAuley, Greg Egan, Kage Baker, Peter F. Hamilton, Ken MacLeod, Tony Daniel, James Patrick Kelly, Alastair Reynolds, Mary Rosenblum, Stephen Baxter, Robert Sivlerburg, Gregory Benford, Walter Jon Williams, Nancy Kress, and Dan Simmons.

I feel the need to provide some context for the rest of the review – space opera, new and old, is not a sub-genre that I have much experience with. This doesn’t come from any dislike, just the limits of time and scope on my reading for the past 20 years. Another area of limited exposure is shorter fiction – yes I’ve read and liked quite a bit of it, but the novel is the form I fell for and spend the most time with. I feel the need to provide this context because my over all impression of The New Space Opera sums up best with ‘meh’ and I believe that this is equally a result of my reading background as it is with the stories themselves.

As with most anthology collections, The New Space Opera has both winners and losers. Unremarkable and forgettable are the terms that jump into my mind regarding most of the contents – not one story kept me up thinking late into the night, and very few left any lasting impression. At the same time, I wouldn’t call any stories bad. It could be argued that space opera (new and old) is more often aimed at the entertainment/escapist side of fiction, but then the most entertaining stories can get my pulse racing and stick with me will into the night and beyond.

Another contributing factor is the editorial introduction to each story. In other anthologies these jewels are often as good (or better) than the stories that follow – not so with The New Space Opera. These introductions offer little more than an extended bibliography and leave the impression that the editors don’t have their fingers on the current pulse of the genre, but remain in somewhere in the past.

As I indicated above, there are a few entries that stand above, justifying the time spent reading this book – these are the stories I’ll highlight in more detail. Those stories not mentioned were lost in the mediocrity of the majority.

The first six offerings presented little of great interest to me. ”Maelstrom” by Kage Baker presents a fun look at an eccentric’s goal to bring the art of the theatre to a colonial Mars, but was too jumpy and uncertain in its execution to ultimately satisfy. This sets up the seventh story, “Blessed by an Angel” by Peter F. Hamilton, to shine as the most skilled presentation to this point. We see parallel story arcs where a young woman in a free and fun society has her personal rights violated by a pair of shadowy agents next to the story of an angel spreading his genes in an effort to help humanity evolve to a more enlightened place. The stories meet and the angelic life seems much less angelic, the shadowy agent a little less bad, and the reader is left to wonder if either side has it right.

Ken MacLeod’s “Who’s Afraid of Wolf359” and “Dividing the Sustain” by James Patrick Kelly weave heavy doses of dead-pan humor, with MacLeod shining a bit brighter with his banter between a long-lived human and a spaceship as they encounter an isolated human population. Gregory Benford’s “The Worm Turns” isn’t as successful at the witty banter between human and machine in his first contact story of wormhole wrestling. Though as far humor is concerned, “Send them Flowers” by Walter Jon Williams rules with its short-on-cash rogue-ish captain and his Don Juan companion as they aim to stay one leap ahead of slighted lovers in an inter-dimensional ruckus. This story could have been written by Joss Whedon – thinking of which, isn’t it a shame that Whedon doesn’t write short (or long) fiction?

Robert Silverberg reinvents Arabian Nights in “The Emperor and the Maula” with a fairy tale for the stars and a human race that has found nirvana, only to have it annexed and enslaved by an ever expanding galactic empire.

My favorite installments seem to be the stories that get a bit more ‘political’ and pointed in their aim. “Art of War” by Nancy Kress features the estranged son of a heroic military leader in a time of war between humans and an alien race. Through the recovery of looted art he discovers the key to their enemy’s war, an answer beyond the willingness of the general to accept. The inflexibility of those in power proves deadly in the end. “Minla’s Flowers” by Alastair Reynolds left the longest impression on me in a story of unintended consequences where a man called Merlin chooses compassion against better judgment and helps a primitive human society rapidly evolve to avoid the upcoming unavoidable destruction of their planet. Power corrupts and humanity never seems to change.

Though it wasn’t my favorite, the strongest story is the last –“Muse of Fire” by Dan Simmons. As with much of his writing, “Muse of Fire” is heavily peppered with literary reference and Shakespeare in particular. A troop of players travels part of the galaxy to entertain the long enslaved human race – an unprecedented opportunity to perform for their masters arises. What Shakespearean play will save humanity – King Lear, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet …?

For those that are fans of space opera, old and new, The New Space Opera is a collection you’ll enjoy, and for those that are seeking adventurous stories in fascinating settings afar, this is a collection you’ll enjoy. For me it is too much mediocrity surrounded by too few gems – but those gems just might be enough. 6/10