Book Review: West of January

Book Review: 'West of January' by Dave Duncan

3 / 5 Stars

‘West of January’ (343 pp) was published by Del Rey in August 1989; the cover artist is uncredited.

On Vernier, the planetary rotation is so slow that a single day lasts for centuries. Instead of longitude and latitude, territory is measured by months and weeks, respectively. One-half the planet – equivalent to the distance spanned by six months of longitude - is bathed in sunlight, and is the Day Side. The other half is spanned by six months of longitude and is in darkness – this is the Night Side. Monday is the same latitude as the northern poles; Wednesday the Equator; and Sunday the southern poles. As Vernier slowly rotates about its axis, the dayside months shift eastwards into twilight, and the darkside months shift westwards into sunlight.

[The book provides maps at the end of every chapter to help orient the reader to this peculiar feature of Vernier’s astronomy.]

The descendants of the Terrans who colonized the planet several thousand years ago have splintered into various races scattered around the daylight side of the planet: herdsmen who wander the vast grasslands, wetlanders who live in proximity to the swampy areas, snake men who dwell in the jungles, and sea folk, who live amid the waves, camped on giant rafts of floating vegetation.

Technology has atrophied to a stone-age level. A small but influential group of learned men, the ‘angels’, dwell in an encampment called ‘Heaven’ near the twilight side of the planet. 

From their redoubt, the angels venture outwards on large, wind-powered carts, to periodically urge the tribes – ignorant of their world’s astronomy - to move ever West, staying out of reach of the ever-advancing, devastating solar Equinox, in which sunlight strikes the surface at a perpendicular angle, with merciless intensity, for decades.

‘West of January’ is narrated in the first-person by its protagonist, Knobil, the undersized son of a herdsman. Over the course of the novel Knobil grows to adulthood, and experiences various adventures among the tribes populating Vernier.

In many ways, the episodic narrative of ‘West’ mimics, in a readable way, the traditional Burroughsian fantasy adventure in which a doughty swordsman sets out to make his mark across his strange and colorful world.

However, Knobil is not the typical Burroughsian hero. Author Duncan takes pains to cast Knobil as a more ordinary hero than most, someone lacking in imagination, and thus, our protagonist is regularly subjected to use, and abuse, by the less-friendly inhabitants of Vernier.

These passages of mayhem and misery help propel the story along, and in their abeyance, the narrative tends to drag; for example, I found the chapters dealing with Knobil’s sojourn among the Seafolk to be rather slow and rather dull.

‘West of January’ is a competent, if not particularly memorable, sf adventure novel. The premise of the centuries-long Day is worked into the machinations of the plot with some skill, and Knobil, despite his faults, is a likeable character. Readers with a willingness to be entertained by a novel with a deliberate, gradual approach to storytelling may find ‘West’ worth their while.

'The Hunter' by Martin Springett
from the January, 1983 issue of Heavy Metal

Father Shandor: Demon Stalker in 'The Devil's Dark Destiny'
from Warrior (UK), Volume 1, Number 3, July, 1982

Book Review: Spock, Messiah !

Book Review: 'Spock, Messiah !' by Theodore R. Cogswell and Charles A. Spano, Jr.

3 / 5 Stars

'Spock, Messiah !' (182 pp) was published by Bantam Books in September, 1976; the cover illustration is by Gene Szafran.

As the novel begins, the Enterprise is in orbit around the planet Kyros, conducting a survey of Kyrosian culture and civilization. There is a novel twist to this particular mission: via use of 'telescan cephalic implants', Away Team members are able to telepathically link with an unsuspecting Kyrosian citizen, not only adopting that individual's persona, but accessing their memories, and fluency in language, as well. This technology allows the Away Team to investigate a foreign culture with as little artifice as possible.

As is typical for Star Trek scripts and novels, Something Bad takes place to put the ship in dire danger. This time it's a massive radiation storm of unknown origin, emerging from deep space and heading for the Enterprise. It's time for the ship to leave orbit before the storm fries the crew.

However, when the warp drive fails to engage, Kirk and Scotty make a dismaying discovery: the trilithium crystals have been removed from the engines, and the Enterprise is unable to generate enough power to leave orbit.

To make matter worse, it seems that Spock has stolen the crystals (!) and retreated to Kyros. It emerges that the Kyrosian with which Spock has entered into telepathic communication is one Chag Gara, a barbarian from one of the more primitive tribes of the planet. 

Thanks to the cephalic implant, Spock has mind-melded with a fanatic. No longer a Vulcan science officer, Spock is now a revolutionary with a Messiah complex, a revolutionary with few scruples about forcibly converting the entire population of Kyros to a new religion.

With time running short before the radiation storm strikes the Enterprise, Kirk and McCoy beam down, posing as Kyrosian healers.

Their desperate mission: find Spock, subdue him, and retrieve the dilithium crystals.

But Spock has no intention of relinquishing his Holy War and the amazing array of emotions roiling within his new personality. Kirk and McCoy will discover that even when insane, Spock is not one to be trifled with.....

'Spock, Messiah' was just the second Star Trek novel released by Bantam, 'Spock Must Die !' being the first. 

Looking back nearly 40 years later, it's hard to believe, but it took well into 1976 before Paramount and Bantam came to the realization that Star Trek fans, having read and re-read the James Blish novelizations of the series scripts, just might be hungering for all-new content.

'Messiah' is one of the better ST novels, and its origins as a mid-70s novel have much to do with this. The book is filled with politically incorrect references and attitudes, things forbidden in contemporary novels, but placidly part of the pop culture landscape in 1976.

For example, the female crewmembers are depicted as beset with repressed sexual desires for Spock, something the mentally unstable Vulcan is quite happy to alleviate (!)  An attractive Ensign is not only the regular target of sexist remarks from chauvanists Kirk and McCoy, but contributes to the away mission by using nude dancing to seduce besotted Kyrosians (!)

The novel doesn't shy from overt violence; Kirk severs an opponent's hand, and Spock's legions of fanatics aren't shy about using force to Convert the Uncertain.

And, the novel doesn't shy from referencing Mohammed and the rise of Islam as apt parallels for Chag Gara's rise to power on Kyros.....try inserting that meme into a modern ST adventure !

Whether you're a Trekkie or not, 'Spock Messiah' is worth picking up if you can find a copy on the secondhand book shelves.

'Heavy Metal' magazine, January 1983

 

The cold days of January 1983 unfold…. . and in the latest issue of Heavy Metal, Joseph Chiodo provides the front cover, and Douglas Beekman, the back cover.

In the 'Dossier' section, Rok Critic Lou Stathis holds forth on Art Rock, while Merle Ginsberg rhapsodizes over every hipster’s icon of early 80s affection, the since-forgotten Laurie Anderson. 

Samuel Delaney (resolutely referred to here as ‘Chip’ Delaney) is the Interview subject. Disney’s newly opened Epcot Center gets a less than stellar review. Captain Beefheart, another obscure musician beloved by the 80s rock hipster set, gets some favorable coverage.

 

Some good material in the pages of the January issue; new installments of ‘The Ape’, ‘Yragael’, ‘Freak Show’, ‘Starstruck’, and ‘Den II’. 

Also appearing are several very good one-shots. One is Charles Burns’s Heavy Metal debut, 'Robot Love', featuring El Borba, posted below.

 

   

'The Wizard's Castle' (El Castillo del Brujo) by John Howe
from Metal Hurlant (Spanish language edition) No. 32

As this army of demons learns, attacking a wizard's castle can have its downside....especially if the wizard is an acolyte of the Great Old Ones.....

Some great artwork from Canadian artist John Howe.

(my translation is paraphrased)

 The Wizard's Castle (El Castillo del Brujo)

This is how the legend goes: the sun rose slowly, like a wineskin full of blood, fog on the horizon thickening, as if to heal the wounds of dawn. The black birds took flight heavily after the earth rumbled....with a slow, rumbling cadence....

 The demon lord: "Alba blood ! A good omen !"

His lieutenant: "Yes, and this day will be scarlet. Look! Our goal is in that eternal sea of ​​mist....."

The lieutenant: "The  castle !"

The demon lord: "There lives the Wizard ! I can sense it.....I can sense his spell..."

His lieutenant: "Magic is an evil weapon !"

The demon lord: "No magic can resist a well-tempered steel weapon !"

"Look ! In the tower !"

"It's him !"

The demon lord: "Shoggoth !"

"You'll pay dearly for your insolence ! Forward !"

"Charge ! I want his head !"

"A hundred gold pieces to whomever brings me his head !"

"What about the fog...! I expect you to get up and move !"

The lieutenant: "No ! It is useless to try !"

The lieutenant: "They'll never get up! Pftaghn! Spells...a cowardly weapon! But nothing will avail him by the use of his spells!

The demon lord: "Forward !"

(fading out...)

So is the legend, that no army has crossed the walls of that castle, that no invader has trampled their feet upon the white tiles of its vaulted halls, since the wizard chose that place to be like home.

Newton and the Quasi-Apple

Book Review: 'Newton and the Quasi-Apple' by Stanley Schmidt

2 / 5 Stars

‘Newton and the Quasi-Apple’ was first published in 1975 as a Doubleday / SF Book Club hardbound book; this Popular Library paperback (188 pp.) was released in June, 1977. The cover artwork is by Carlos Ochagavia.

Chet and Tina Barlin are Federation anthropologists who covertly observe and explore alien cultures, while taking measures to avoid violating The Prime Directive.

Their subject is the planet Ymrek, a world populated by the Kengmorl humanoids, who are at a medieval / early Renaissance level of culture. The city of Yldac, in the country of Yngmor, shows particular promise of birthing a civilization that ultimately may discover the industrial age, atomic power, and spaceflight.

However, when Chet and Tina witness an attack on Yldac by a barbarian race known as the Ketaxil, it looks like any burgeoning civilization in Yngmor is going to be snuffed out before it can have a chance to develop. With the reluctant permission of a Federation official, the Barlins lead a field team to Yldac.

Their goal: pose as a troupe of magicians, and, with the aid of novel ‘quasimaterials’ and aircars, give the Kengmorl an edge in their fight against the Ketaxil.

Once on Ymrek, however, the Barlins discover a complicating factor. A young monk named Terek – the Ymrek equivalent of Isaac Newton and Galilieo Galilei – has independently discovered the laws of physics governing falling bodies. His discoveries are met with some hostility by the clergy ruling Yngmor, but Terek, firm in his beliefs, refuses to recant.

When the Federation team arrives in the city and use quasimaterials in their magic show – little plastic disks that levitate – Terek surmises that these are no ordinary travelling magicians. However, the senior cleric is only too happy to argue that the quasimaterials invalidate Terek’s theories.

It’s up to the Barlins to find a way to see that Terek follows the path opened by his discoveries…without angering the high cleric. But the Ketaxil are learning about new technologies, too, and time may be running out for any rescue of the civilization of the Kengmorl…….

‘Newton’ is a middling-quality sf adventure. The concept of a Federation covertly intervening in alien affairs certainly isn’t novel in the genre, and reincarnating the Galilieo – Church controversy in an alien setting doesn’t show much originality, either.

That said, author Schmidt writes reasonably well, avoiding New Wave temptations in terms of his prose style. However, too many passages are literary filler material, devoted to internal monologues on the part of the Barlins as they agonize over whether they are Doing the Right Thing. Deleting these passages would have made the novel a good 20 pages shorter and the narrative more focused.

‘Newton and the Quasi-Apple’ isn’t worth searching out, but if serendipity leads you to find it on a shelf, it may be worth picking up.

'Heavy Metal' magazine, January 1979

January 1979, and in heavy rotation on the AOR FM stations are singles from Toto’s debut album, including ‘Hold the Line’. Setting aside the band’s cutesy name, their album contained a number of good songs, including ‘Georgy Porgy’, ‘Rockmaker’, and 'Take It All Back’. 

The front cover of the January 1979 issue of Heavy Metal was ‘Rocking Centaur’ by Jo Ellen Trilling, with Kevin Johnson providing the back cover, ‘Three Men’. 

Lots of good material in this issue; the concluding installment of Duillet’s ‘Gail’, and ongoing episodes of Corben’s ‘Sinbad’, Bilal’s ‘Exterminator 17’, Macedo’s ‘Telefield’, McKie’s ‘So Beautiful and So Dangerous’, and Montellier’s ‘1996’. 

Enki Bilal also provided a neat little tale about interstellar diplomacy gone wrong: ‘The Ultimate Negotiation’, which I’ve posted below. 

Hunter episode 6 from Eerie No. 57

'Hunter' from Eerie magazine (Warren)
episode 6
from Eerie No. 57, June 1974

This is the final episode of the first incarnation of the 'Hunter' character in Eerie.

This episode sees our hero in a do-or-die confrontation with the demon who fathered him. An elderly Schreck offers what aid he can.

The Hunter character proved to be so popular that Eerie soon brought the character back in the 'Hunter II' series....which I will be posting here at the PorPor Books Blog.

Book Review: 'Universe 1', edited by Terry Carr

2 / 5 Stars

‘Universe 1’ (250 pp.) was published by Ace Books in 1971; the cover illustration is by Davis Meltzer.

In his Introduction, editor Terry Carr declares that the ‘Universe’ anthology series is dedicated to science fiction, and “….there’ll be no ‘speculative fiction’ at all.” 

This is untrue, unfortunately, as most of the contents of ‘Universe 1’ are indeed speculative fiction pieces. This isn’t so surprising, as 1971 saw the New Wave movement in sf operating at full throttle.

Brief summaries of the entries:

‘West Wind, Falling’ by Gregory Benford and Gordon Eklund: inter-generational conflict among the colonists living inside the hollowed core of a comet. Benford would return to this theme in fuller form with his 1986 novel Heart of the Comet.

‘Good News from the Vatican' by Robert Silverberg: a group of people of varied religious backgrounds idle in Rome’s stylish cafes, as they await word on the advent of the first robot to be named Pope. A slight tale, if anything at all.

Edward Bryant contributes two stories. ‘Jade Blue’ is New Wave through and through: a plotless story about a young boy, his nightmares, and a talking puma. 

‘The Human Side of the Village Monster’, on the other hand, is the best entry in the anthology. It’s set in a decaying, near-future New York City, with a real ‘Soylent Green’ vibe. ‘Human Side’ shows that when he avoided contrived efforts at Speculative Fiction, Bryant could produce memorable, ‘traditional’ sf tales.

‘Nor Limestone Islands’ by R. A. Lafferty: a ‘fabulation’ about floating islands of limestone; the inhabitants offer philosophical insights. Mediocre.

‘Time Exposures’ by Wilson Tucker: a murder mystery, featuring a camera that can take pictures of past events. Imaginative, even if discerning readers are liable to figure out Whodunit very early on.

‘Mindship’ by Gerard F. Conway: on board a starship, a retiring individual serves as the vital psychic masseuse for the ship's pilot, a group mind comprised of individuals submerged in a fugue state. A promising concept, but one gradually overwhelmed by the author’s too-frequent use of overwrought, figurative prose. Conway expanded the story into a novel, published by DAW Books in 1974.

‘Notes for A Novel About the First Ship Ever to Venus’ by Barry N. Malzburg: brief tale, dispersed in one- or two- paragraph chapters, about a spaceship venture to the eponymous planet. As many sf authors were wont to do during the New Wave era, Malzburg tries to imitate an existing ‘literary’ style, in this case something reminiscent of Dos Passos, with…….. unimpressive…….. results.

‘Poor Man, Beggar Man’ by Joanna Russ: the ghost of his murdered general haunts Alexander the Great. Devoid of genuine sf content, and consisting of lengthy conversations, the best I could do with this entry was scratch my head at editorial attitudes of the New Wave era.

‘The Romance of Dr. Tanner’ by Ron Goulart: another effort at sf humor by Goulart; this time, pipe-smoking lizard men highlight the domestic neuroses suffered by a TV ad executive. It’s the worst story in the anthology.

‘Mount Charity’ by Edgar Pangborn: talking animals – who are the assumed forms of aliens – muse on human foibles over the ages. A readable story, infused with the philosophical attitudes of the ‘hippy’ generation.

‘All the Last Wars At Once’ by George Alec Effinger: uneasy satire about what happens when contemporary American social conflicts are solved with overt violence.

Summing up, ‘Universe 1’ is unwavering, early 70s New Wave sf. Most entries have aged quite poorly. Modern readers will find little to engage them here, save for the stories by Bryant, Tucker, and Pangborn.