2016 is come to an end, and it’s time to take a look back and
offer some first impressions (more solid impressions, of course, requiring time
for the books to filter and settle where they will).
Overall, I would say 2016 was a good year. Not great, not average, good. That bland pronouncement can be spiced up by
the fact China Mieville made a strong return, releasing two of the best books
he’s ever written. Tim Powers likewise
published two novels/novellas in 2016, one of which at least proved he is still
one of the most pure storytellers on the market. (I have yet to read the other.) A debut novella by Haris A. Durrani made an
impression for the strong interplay of the fantastical and personal). Paul Kearney abandoned epic fantasy to return
to his roots of literary fantasy—and made it a welcome return. Don Delillo dipped into science fiction in
glacial, existential form. The
ever-unpredictable Bruce Sterling brought us retro-Futurism in contemporary,
politically relevant form. And Kij
Johnson revised Lovecraft in solid fashion that goes against some of the grains
of contemporary gender discussion, while going with others (natch). In the short fiction arena, I got my hands on
several quality anthologies and collections, which as a whole had a bit more
shine than those I read from 2015. The
curated effort by Jacob Weisman Invaders,
Jeffrey Ford’s A Natural History of Hell,
Neil Williamson’s Secret Language,
Ken Liu’s Invisible Planets, and
Michael Swanwick’s Not So Much, Said the
Cat—all made for a refreshing break from the gushing wealth of vanilla available
on the market these days.
But there must be a “best”, and for novel/novella in 2016, as
close as the competition was, I’m going with Dexter Palmer’s Version
Control. Portraying 21st century
western existence like no book I’ve yet encountered, Palmer digs into the
psyche of social media and big data in a time travel story that is anything but
time travel. The characters are drawn
from real life. The technological
concerns are in direct relation to the evolution of society, culture, and
individuality. The meaning of science is
brought into focus in a way beyond good and evil. And above all an existential questing for
identity and understanding in this milieu is examined. Palmer touches upon a dearth of issues
redolent in contemporary life without trivializing emotion or appearance,
getting to the heart of life in the West in the process. A couple of the characters are slightly
larger than life, the core, however, were plucked direct from the
street—quirks, scars, motivations, confused beliefs, egos, and all as they deal
with life as it currently exists in the US.
Choosing the “best” collection/anthology was likewise tough,
but ultimately I’m selecting The
Unreliable Guide to London edited by Kit Caless and Gary Budden. An anthology purporting to be an account of
the lesser-known corners and alleyways of England’s most (in)famous city, what
the reader gets is a wide variety of vignettes and scenes, character portrayals
and weekend accounts, all of which stray ever so slightly beyond the fuzzy
bounds of reality in locales Sherlock Holmes, Ebenezer Scrooge, and Dr. Who
never set foot upon. Most of the writers
who provided content are young, up-and-coming Brits with an eye to avoid
familiar styles and form, all of which results in some off-kilter, literary,
sometimes experimental, and always engaging fiction that indeed presents a view
to a place many people know from fiction and media, but certainly not from the
points of view portrayed.
I didn’t read Catherynne Valente's superb 2015 Radiance until 2016—a pity as it would have given
the books I chose as best of 2015 a strong run for their money. This leads me to look over the books I didn’t
get to in 2016 and ask: will I regret not reading them sooner? I remain curious about Alexander Weinstein’s Children of the New World, Tricia
Sullivan's Occupy Me, Kai Ashante
Wilson’s A Taste of Honey, Christopher
Priest's The Gradual, and Sofia
Samatar's The Winged Histories. And I'm sure there are others that will pop
up on the radar only after the close of the year. Regardless, the following are brief summaries
of the books I read published in 2016, broken down by rating, first novels,
then collections/anthologies:
Novels and Novellas
4.5
******************************************************************
Zero
K by Don Delillo – Another dark, foreboding novel from Delillo, this
time the author examines the eccentric wealthy’s fascination with cryogenic
freezing, and the hope for a return to life at some unknown point in the
future. About the son of a man who
perfected the program for enticing such people, the chilly mood complements its
concepts as Delillo parses out mortality in the face of existence.
This
Census-Taker by China Mieville – Largely unquantifiable, This Census-Taker straddles a lot of
lines. From its position within genre
(horror? fantasy? Weird? A new category?) to style (Concrete? Abstract? Magic
realist? Just plain Weird?), Mieville tills fresh ground for himself, and
possibly even for literature, in the memoirs of an incarcerated man regarding
his time as a boy in a strange home on a hill with a seemingly abusive
father. All perpetually a fingernail’s
breadth away from making replete sense, Mieville really pushed the envelope for
his own skills and produced a truly unique piece of fiction.
Pirate
Utopia by Bruce Sterling – Futurist-punk with amazing artwork, Tachyon
pulled out all the stops for this novella, choosing to include not only story,
but also wonderful (and relevant) graphics and a handful of essays on the
various ideas influencing the story.
About a mini-anarchy on the Adriatic Sea in mid-20th century (rooted in
real world history), Sterling conjures his now singular style to toss peanuts
at certain political movements.
4.0
*********************************************************
The
Dream-Quest of Vellit Boe by Kij Johnson – Lovecraft’s “The Dream-Quest
of Unknwn Kadath” revised for the 21st century, Johnson (unfortunately)
imitates Lovecraft’s prose, but chooses to break the original’s mold from a
gender perspective. About a traditional
woman coming to terms with the modern generation, Johnson’s conclusion is sure
to please and upset, depending who you ask.
(Me: please).
The Wolf in the Attic
by Paul Kearney – After several years of writing epic fantasy, Paul Kearney
returns to his literary roots in 2016’s The
Wolf in the Attic. Set in Oxford
post-WWI, a young immigrant named Anna and her father try to scrape a living
together. Involved in a bizarre
occurrence out late one night, Anna’s world begins to spin—closer and closer to
primitivism as Gypsy legend and her father’s secret work collide. While there is surely a wide audience for
epic fantasy, The Wolf in the Attic
is a welcome return to literary fantasy from Kearney.
The
Technologies of the Self by Haris A. Durrani – In my original review I described
Durrani’s debut novella as Lit Fic 101 with elements of the fantastical
twisting the shape. I stick by it. Post-colonialism from the point of view of a
Dominican-Pakistani-Muslim, Durrani sublimates any political or social agenda
into a personal story of a young man trying to understand his identity in
contemporary East Coast US.
The
Last Days of New Paris by China Mieville –An s-bomb has been set off in
Paris, and the creations of the surrealists wander the streets. A man and a woman try to survive the chaos
that erupts, while the Nazis try to rein in the strange phenomenon for their
own evil plans. Mieville’s homage to
French surrealism, this is probably a novel that bubbled in the author’s boiler
for some time.
3.5
************************************************
Ninefox
Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee – Space opera done up in tight, rigorous prose that
pops off the page in colorful imagery, the novel appears to tackle power
hierarchies in intelligent fashion, but being only the first in a trilogy, cannot
be fully esteemed.
Down
and Out in Purgatory by Tim Powers – Powers a consummate tale-teller,
his 2016 novella Down and Out in
Purgatory perpetuates the idea.
About a man who goes beyond death to track down his lover’s killer, what
he finds is as interesting as it is representative of humanity at large.
The Great Ordeal by R. Scott Bakker - While it's possible my opinion of this novel may improve with the release The Unholy Consult in 2017, for the moment, it remains the most dense, grinding affair in the Second Apocalypse series to date. In fact the first half of a novel too large for publishing as a single volume, once again readers are left on the edge. But there remains plenty of pay-off. Earwa hangs in the balance....
The Great Ordeal by R. Scott Bakker - While it's possible my opinion of this novel may improve with the release The Unholy Consult in 2017, for the moment, it remains the most dense, grinding affair in the Second Apocalypse series to date. In fact the first half of a novel too large for publishing as a single volume, once again readers are left on the edge. But there remains plenty of pay-off. Earwa hangs in the balance....
3.0************************************
Central
Station by Lavie Tidhar – A fix-up with considerable time having been
spent to integrate the individual elements, the sum, unfortunately, is still
not greater than the parts. A view into
the lives of multiple characters populating a spaceport in futuristic Tel-Aviv,
Tidhar attempts to portray some human reality in a pulp scene. On some occasions he succeeds, largely due to
complementary mood, but in others can’t quite pull it off. For what it’s worth, the collection/novel
does remain relatively unique for the effort Tidhar put into integrating the
parts.
Children
of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay – Largely Guy Gavriel Kay on
autopilot, this (yet another) quasi-historical fantasy about lovers and
painters, dukes and pirates in the Adriatic has all the elements that have
built Kay’s reputation thus far with little to no change in mode. Style making the novel seem sophisticated
(Kay can write beautiful sentences), but any close scrutiny of the pomp reveals
polyester and cheap stitching.
The
Arrival of Missives by Aliya Whiteley – Rearin’ to go, this fist in the
air for women’s power (Power!!!!!) has quality story, but contains elements
that don’t quite sum into a coherent view upon completion.
The
Four Thousand, the Eight Hundred by Greg Egan – A return of sorts for
Egan (that is, to accessible fiction), the novella does not require pen and
calculator to understand its portrayal of Bentham’s utilitarianism. A setting where life on two close asteroids
comes to a head, one choice will change the fate of either side, drastically.
2.0**************************
The
Big Sheep by Robert Kroese – Humor a fickle beast, perhaps this story
about a kidnapped, sentient sheep will fall into other readers’
wheelhouses. It didn’t mine.
The
Drowning Eyes by Emily Foster – Dead-horse storyline written with
unsophisticated technique, it includes superficially portrayed elements of
cultural diversity, and is thus sure to win sympathy, somewhere, but contains
little if any substance beyond.
Anthologies &
Collections
4.0***********************************************************
Invaders
ed. by Jacob Weisman – A curated anthology, Weisman brings to the table
twenty-two short stories from writers typically associated with literary
fiction but who dipped their pens into areas commonly considered science
fiction. The difference with mainstream
sf noticeable, there is significantly stronger technique, substantive content,
and human content. Containing some high
quality stories, the so-called outsiders’ perspective proves, perhaps, a
guiding light instead?
Invisible
Planets ed. by Ken Liu – A compilation of short Chinese science fiction
translated by Liu, Invisible Planets
proves itself to be a diverse collection of tales providing a window into
what’s happening in the Middle Kingdom today. From hard sf to dystopias, some
things almost fantastical to light cyberpunk, there is a lot of good,
interesting material, as well as a few essays on science fiction and China at
large.
3.5 ****************************************************
Not
So Much, Said the Cat by Michael Swanwick – Where most writers stick to
certain furrows and grooves, the world is Swanwick’s oyster, and in Not So Much, Said the Cat, Swanwick
proves he is still one of the most unpredictable, engaging writers of short
fiction on the market today.
Secret
Language by Neil Williamson – An unheralded collection from an up and
coming writer, Secret Language takes
quotidian life and allows the fantastic and science fictional to intrude ever
so slightly. The lives of ordinary
people changed or surprised by bits of the paranormal or near-future tech, one
will not find flashy genre tales, rather carefully composed stories,
occasionally with affected style, and almost always with more than one layer of
meaning.
A
Natural History of Hell by Jeffrey Ford – Like Swanwick, Ford is a
writer who never contents himself to write what the market expects, and in A Natural History of Hell he continues
to prove himself one of the top contemporary writers of short fiction.
The
Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume 10 ed. by Jonathan
Strahan – Strahan continues to proclaim diversity in his year-end best-of
introductions all the while including the same fold of writers year in, year
out. That being said, the anthology does
take in a wide spectrum of speculative fiction, and for this is largely
representative.
3.0 *********************************************
Further
Adventures of Langdon St. Ives by James Blaylock – The second omnibus
from Subterranean collecting the middle period of Langdon St. Ives adventures
(plus a new, previously unpublished story), once again the stories are fully
complemented by the artwork of J.K. Potter in all St. Ives, and his pals,
steampunk glory.
Bridging
Infinity ed. by Jonathan Strahan – Too much typical hard sf (focus on
daydreaming from science textbooks rather than quality prose, realistic
characters, organic plotting, etc.), there are a couple good pieces, but by and
large this is an anthology worth notice only for readers who don’t mind stories
that pay little attention to the art of writing.
2.5 *********************************
Drowned
Worlds ed. by Jonathan Strahan – An anthology brought low by the
repetitiveness of the settings (yaaaaawn,
yet another near-future Earth with high ocean waters…), there are a few
quality tales, but in order to be truly appreciated it should be picked and put
down often, and by doing so the perhaps the theme will not bore…
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