The Folding Revenusia
Mar. 15th, 2010 11:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bluegargantuaHey,
So this weekend I finished up a couple of books.
The first was The Folding Knife by K J Parker. The writing in this book was really good, but I had a tough time reading through it for some reason. I think because it's a "rise and fall" kind of book and I'm less interested in reading about the fall.
Bassianus Severus is given a folding knife by his mother when he turns 10. His mom got the knife off of a thief who was trying to rob her when she was pregnant with Bassianus (or Basso as he's known throughout the book). Basso keeps the knife with him as he becomes a powerful businessman and then First Citizen of the Vesani Republic. Basso is a bit like Scrooge McDuck in that he has an uncanny knack of turning disasters into lucrative triumphs.
But eventually his good fortune runs out and his many accomplishments all come undone at a stroke. I've heard rumblings that there might be a sequel for this and Basso does escape a harsher fate so it's possible, but I doubt that there will be any return for Basso.
Like I say, the writing is strong, but it's not what I want from a story so it was tough going.
On the other hand, Venusia by Mark von Schlegell was fairly easy to read through and also quite well-written. It's definitely a more "arty" sort of sci-fi book. I was put in mind of the fever-dream narrative of Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany. The colony of Venusia on Venus is a wonderful place. Twice a day, everyone goes down for the Feed -- a sort of group orgy/drug trip mediated by these native flowers you eat. Not partaking in the Feed can have serious psychological consequences, mostly in the form of vivid hallucinations.
Rogers Collectibles has been off the Feed for several days now. He's got a business to run and a valuable book to sell. But the hallucinations are getting worst and he winds up at Dr. Sylvia Yang's office to have his mind examined by n-scope. But Roger's appointment is broadcast by Martha Dobbs, reality TV personality. This alerts Niftus Norrington that Roger should come in for re-education and Dr. Yang should be arrested for not doing the re-education. This starts a chain reaction where all of them go off the feed.
And things get rapidly trippy from there. The book delves deeply into stoner logic land where "what if we're the only reality there is?" kind of stuff happens. As befits hallucinations, the stuff that should be specific is vague and the stuff that's vague is rich with detail. It's not trying to answer those questions so much as it wants to paint a psychedelic landscape.
It ventures deep into artistic, stylized sci-fi and that's not usually where I hang out, but it was well put together and I feel if you like Delany or Mieville you might like this as well.
later
Tom
So this weekend I finished up a couple of books.
The first was The Folding Knife by K J Parker. The writing in this book was really good, but I had a tough time reading through it for some reason. I think because it's a "rise and fall" kind of book and I'm less interested in reading about the fall.
Bassianus Severus is given a folding knife by his mother when he turns 10. His mom got the knife off of a thief who was trying to rob her when she was pregnant with Bassianus (or Basso as he's known throughout the book). Basso keeps the knife with him as he becomes a powerful businessman and then First Citizen of the Vesani Republic. Basso is a bit like Scrooge McDuck in that he has an uncanny knack of turning disasters into lucrative triumphs.
But eventually his good fortune runs out and his many accomplishments all come undone at a stroke. I've heard rumblings that there might be a sequel for this and Basso does escape a harsher fate so it's possible, but I doubt that there will be any return for Basso.
Like I say, the writing is strong, but it's not what I want from a story so it was tough going.
On the other hand, Venusia by Mark von Schlegell was fairly easy to read through and also quite well-written. It's definitely a more "arty" sort of sci-fi book. I was put in mind of the fever-dream narrative of Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany. The colony of Venusia on Venus is a wonderful place. Twice a day, everyone goes down for the Feed -- a sort of group orgy/drug trip mediated by these native flowers you eat. Not partaking in the Feed can have serious psychological consequences, mostly in the form of vivid hallucinations.
Rogers Collectibles has been off the Feed for several days now. He's got a business to run and a valuable book to sell. But the hallucinations are getting worst and he winds up at Dr. Sylvia Yang's office to have his mind examined by n-scope. But Roger's appointment is broadcast by Martha Dobbs, reality TV personality. This alerts Niftus Norrington that Roger should come in for re-education and Dr. Yang should be arrested for not doing the re-education. This starts a chain reaction where all of them go off the feed.
And things get rapidly trippy from there. The book delves deeply into stoner logic land where "what if we're the only reality there is?" kind of stuff happens. As befits hallucinations, the stuff that should be specific is vague and the stuff that's vague is rich with detail. It's not trying to answer those questions so much as it wants to paint a psychedelic landscape.
It ventures deep into artistic, stylized sci-fi and that's not usually where I hang out, but it was well put together and I feel if you like Delany or Mieville you might like this as well.
later
Tom
