Beast of the Heartland | |||||
Lucius Shepard | |||||
Four Walls Eight Windows, 292 pages | |||||
A review by Greg L. Johnson
The stories in Shepard's latest collection, Beast of the Heartland,
range from full-blown science fiction to modern day realism with a touch of
fantasy. All contain an element of horror, but the horror lies not so much
in what happens to the characters, as in their common realization that they
are capable of horror themselves.
The Hugo Award-winning "Barnacle Bill the Spacer," the story of an
attempted mutiny on a space station, is a good example. The narrating
character, Johnny, is a security guard who finds that he is willing to
"protect against all enemies with no thought for moral fall-out." The
"moral fall-out" lands mostly on William Stamey, the Barnacle Bill of the
title, a mentally handicapped man who is the station pariah. How Johnny's
actions both save and ruin Bill make this a story of tragedy in the face of
triumph, and it richly deserved its award.
Similarly, Carnes in "Sports in America" is a man who finds out
just how far he is willing to go. Down on his luck, he returns to his old
neighbourhood in Boston and is hired by a local crime boss to kill a man.
Carnes wrestles with the situation and his newly found lack of a
conscience, all the while maintaining a running commentary on the foibles
and blunders of the Boston Red Sox. In "All the Perfumes of Araby," a
small-time smuggler is granted a vision of the future that compels him to
change his life, and become more serious about what he does. Again, as in
Barnacle Bill," the crux of these stories lies in the characters' discovery
that when placed in a situation where they must do something horrible, they
can.
There really isn't a weak story in this collection. "Human History"
is a post-apocalyptic adventure story, with a hint of decadence. "The Sun
Spider" starts as a romance, turns suddenly violent, then returns to
romance, this time with a gothic twist. No Shepard collection would be
complete without a music story, and "A Little Night Music" fits the bill
here. Anyone who has ever completely lost themselves in a piece of music
will recognize the inspiration for this one. Finally, the title story
portrays a boxer at the end of his career, lured back into the ring with
the promise of one last big payoff. As he struggles with failing eyesight
and visions of demons, Bobby Mears fights his way to the closest thing to a
happy ending in the book.
There are few science fiction writers, actually there are few
writers of any kind, whose words are worth reading for the sheer beauty of
the prose. Lucius Shepard belongs near the top of that list, yet his prose
style, from the noir of "Sports in America" to the narrator of "Barnacle
Bill" who promises to tell the "beauty that inspires anger... and provokes
struggle," to the romantic language that infuses "The Sun Spider," always
serves the needs of the particular piece. Shepard's prose first entrances
us with its beauty, and then pulls us wholly into the character's heart.
It's that combination of words and insight that makes each separate story
in Beast of the Heartland a work of art.
Reviewer Greg L. Johnson searches for words and insight while living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His reviews also appear in the The New York Review of Science Fiction. |
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