40. Starship Summer by Eric Brown

Writer:  Eric Brown

First Publication:  2007

Summary (from Amazon):
This is the story of David Conway and his new life on Chalcedony, a planet renowned for its Golden Column, an artifact that is mysterious and strange, no one knowing why it is present there. Conway meets some locals in the town of Magenta Bay and buys an old star ship from Hawksworth, who runs a scrap yard in the town full of old and disused star ships. Conway sets up the ship on his land and uses it as his home, but the presence of what can only be described as an alien ghost starts a string of events that lead to a revelation that will change everything for humanity.

Comments:

Eric Brown is another author who I have heard about and wanted to read for a long time.  This short novel/novella seemed like the perfect place to start.  The author has written one story for each season.  All four are collected into one volume.

I liked the authors ideas and characterization.  The one problem I had with this story was that it starts out at a very slow pace.  It does convey the sense of what Conway's life is like now that he is retired.  This pace continues until the alien ghost comes into the picture.  Then the ending seems very rushed.  I think the author could have written a better story if he paced it differently.  It might not be as much of a problem when it is collected with the other stories.

Even though I was not thrilled with this story, Brown demonstrated enough to bring me back for more.  I am not sure if my next foray into his writing will be the second story in this series or "Helix" (a book that looks very good and has been sitting on my shelf far too long). 

"Draw" by Pati Nagle

First Printing:  Isaac Asimov's SF Magazine, September 2007

Sometimes you read a short story and just know that it is in a particular magazine.  While reading "Draw" I had to keep double checking the cover to see if I had picked up Analog.  It reminded me of a typical Analog problem solving story.  It is not an insult.  Personally, I enjoy Analog.

"Draw" seems like it was inspired by the old Winston Science Fiction series.  It features a young protagonist in a strange environment.  He is worried that his father will not survive if he waits for the authorities so he takes matters into his own hands.  This is a classic science fiction plot.  The author does a good job with it.  It is not the kind of story that will win awards but it is fun to revisit this style.  I would like to see more stories like this.

Cenotaxis by Sean Williams

Cenotaxis was my first time to read a Sean Williams story.   Some of the reviewers I follow liked this short book so I thought it would be a good one to try.


This story follows Imre Bergamasc's trip to Earth.  He is trying to force Earth to join in the quest to discover the source of the "Slow Wave" that devastated the galactic civilization in an earlier book-Saturn Returns.  To his dismay, he runs into a rebellion led by Jasper, a man who claims to be God.  Jasper does not live his life in a linear fashion.  His future occurs before his past.  While he is not omniscient, he is able to sense events before they happen.


Jasper and the way he lives his life is an interesting character.  Along with Jasper the other fascinating idea is the Apparatus.  It seems to be an A.I. that Imre is trying to track down.


Without having read Saturn Returns, I found this story to be interesting but lacking.  It was hard to connect with the characters.  It was never explained why Earth is so important to Imre's plans.  The other mystery that is never explained is the true nature of Jasper.  Maybe future books will answer these questions but the explanation was not given in this story.


I will have to go back and read the other books and see if this story works better as part of the series. 

Short Story Sunday-February 7, 2010

1.  "The Astronaut" by Brian Plante
First printing: Analog, May 2007

Brian Plante has crafted a touching story about a boy whose family moves to Texas. His only escape is watching the Mars channel. It is following the latest ship to Mars. Davy dreams of growing up to be an astronaut. Life is boring until he befriends the beautiful older woman next door. Their friendship and combined with Davy's dreams make for compelling reading. The author has tapped into the desire to be an astronaut that is experienced by many young people when they read science fiction. Most readers can remember back to their younger days when they had a crush on a grown up. The ending takes your emotions on a roller coaster ride. The best compliment I can give it is that Davy seems like a real person. Recommended. 

2.  "The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories" by Gene Wolfe

First printing:Orbit #7, 1970

A young boy, Tackman "Tackie" Babcock lives with his divorced mother.  Her boyfriend buys him a book called "The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories".  As they prepare for a costume party the characters from the book start appearing and talking to Tackie.  The characters tip off Tackie about what is really going on in the house.

I will not reveal any more of the plot because I don't want to ruin the story for anyone who has not read it yet.  Wolfe uses a pulp story to help the boy understand the real world.  What is real in the story?  Like many of Wolfe's stories, it is open to interpretation.  I found this to be a fascinating, initially confusing, story that is well worth the effort.  Track this one down and read it.  If you like stories that spell out everything, avoid this one.  On the other hand, if you like challenging stories that make you think, this tale is highly recommended.  

Patrimony by Alan Dean Foster

I remember reading Foster's The Tar-Aiym Krang when it was first published. At the time, I thought it was great. It led me to read various other adventures of Pip and Flinx.

Flinx was an orphan gifted with the ability to read other people's emotions. Pip is a flying snake known as a minidrag. The 2 have had many adventures during the last 30 years.

In this book Foster is letting Flinx discover the truth about his father. I picked this one up for that revelation. Unfortunately, either Foster is not as good a writer as he used to be or my tastes have changed since my early teens. Patrimony was a disappointment. It seemed to take forever to get to the end of this 255 page story. It would have been a better story if he had focused on the main story. Instead, we were given many pages of details that were not necessary. The revelation at the end was well done once you get to it.

I do not plan on any more Foster books in the near future. Sometime I might go back and reread Midworld and some of his earlier books. But for now I have enough other authors to read. Alan Dean Foster will remain a favorite from my early years of reading sf but not part of my current must read list.

Rating: 2 out of 5.