Interzone, March 2000 | |||||||||||||||
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A review by David Soyka
Another guy often accused of being a bit bent -- in the best sense -- is Paul Di Fillipo. His "Stealing Happy
Hours" is reminiscent of a John Collier tale or a Twilight Zone episode in which the narrator discovers
the unpleasant source of his marital happiness and the drastic steps he has to take to right matters. Another
take on the pursuit of happiness is Chris Beckett's cleverly amusing Grail Story riff, "The Marriage of the
Sky and Sea." Here the existential malaise of a famous planetary travel author, who finds little lasting
satisfaction in the countless adventures he recounts to a home world characterized by complaisance and
risk-aversion, finds unexpected relief in his visit to the watery realm of a fisher king and his tribespeople.
Going past mere ennui to larger questions of death and the meaning of existence, the narrator of Darrell
Schweitzer's "The Fire Eggs" ponders the significance of objects that have appeared on earth that seem to provide
solace to his dying relatives. This is one of those stories you have to work at to sort out what exactly it might
be trying to say, only to find yourself changing your mind every time you think about it. Which, of course, is the whole point.
"Fly" by Susan Beetlestone makes a stab at describing what happens when human consciousness merges with machine,
a longstanding theme of SF that is considerably less speculative than it used to be, but without adding anything
new to that subject in any way that I could see.
The issue's lead story is "Cadre Siblings" by Stephen Baxter, who is described in the tag line as
an "SF superstar," a refreshingly funny comment in contrast to the typical "heir of Arthur C. Clarke" line Baxter
usually gets that makes him sound like an emerging talent rather than the prolific author of over a decade's
body of work. I'm not ordinarily a fan of the hard SF Baxter's noted for -- the type of stuff that's intended
to give you a science lesson as much as it is to tell you a story -- but I find his work very interesting and
thought-provoking. Having said that, this particular story, a parable about how revenge is not necessarily the
best defense against a relentless, scientifically implemented Holocaust, isn't really hard SF in the way I've just defined it.
If hard SF is really what you're looking for, then this issue may not be entirely suited to your taste. On the
other hand, you'd be missing out some thought-provoking entertainment, not the least of which concerns how you treat your dog.
David Soyka is a former journalist and college teacher who writes the occasional short story and freelance article. He makes a living writing corporate marketing communications, which is a kind of fiction without the art. |
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