Book Review—Neuromancer by William Gibson

Case is a former computer hacker who stole from his boss and had his central nervous system corrupted by mycotoxin as punishment. Unable to enter the computer matrix that was his source of income and his preferred habitat, he has resorted to hustling in Chiba City, Japan, in the near future where he hopes the black clinics will be able to heal his nervous system so that he can once again enter cyberspace. His hopes are seemingly met when a potential new employer offers to have him healed in exchange for his services.

Neuromancer not only put Gibson on the map but also sparked the cyberpunk subculture in literature, its mix of “high tech and low life” inspiring a host of other writers and film makers. This mingling is most effectively executed with the two worlds Gibson creates. First is the 'real world', a menagerie of the damaged and the predatory, with these often being indistinguishable. This is contrasted with the high tech dream scape of the cyber world where the clutches of the real world are challenged and transformed. But those that traverse the landscapes of this world are the real energy of the novel. These are the new romantics, who bring new life through the electrical impulses of cyberspace and extend these visions into warped reality.

A seminal mindbender, Neuromancer is a world warping thrill ride.
Andreas

Book Review—American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Shadow Moon is an ex-con who, through a series of unusual events, becomes the body guard and errand boy of Mr Wednesday, better known as Odin of Norse Mythology. Along with other old world gods and mythologies we are introduced to new divinities of American culture. Mr Wednesday, wanting to reassert the power of the old gods, rallies the old deities to take on these new gods in battle.

The novel is very enjoyable, with Gaiman playfully and effectively bringing the old deities into the modern world, and conjuring new ones with a keen eye on modern life. It is by no means realistic, but like his other works, exists in a fascinating world where high technology, seedy characters, dark underworlds, the mundane and magic all intermingle.
American Gods is a supremely fun read with many interesting turns, twists, and reinventions.
Andreas

Speculative Fiction....more than the undead.

It can be easy to dismiss speculative fiction as purely asteroids and "zombie lit" and while there is an element of that (and that is OK and very enjoyable!), there is oh so much more.

Speculative fiction encompasses not just the bio-engineering fuelled post apocalyptic nightmare that is found in Justin Cronin's The Passage but also the laugh out laugh universe of Adams Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Asimov's robot riddled futures.

As a genre it is one I have returned to many times. In early high school while other young teenage girls were enjoying the Sweet Valley High Series (Bubblegum pulp) I was enamoured with Kelleher's Taronga, a post apocalyptic adventure set in Sydney's Zoo where the main character can communicate telepathically (thankyou to my high school English teacher for that one).

Later high school, saw my introduction to The Handmaids Tale, Atwoods exploration of female subjagation at the hands of a theocracy. Not only did it set of the biggest exam hissyfit in my academic life (I walked out as I hadn't prepared properly and didn't understand the question), it asked a 16 year old to examine doctorine, equal rights and the wisdom of using butter as moisturiser.


Over the ensuing decades (of which there have been a couple), I have enjoyed so many different sc-fi, paranormal, alternate history (some of the many genre's that seem to fit within this one) that it hard not to list them all. Sara Douglass and her twists on Greek mythology and time travel (The Troy Game) kept me thrilled right to the last page. Suzanne Collins Hunger Games made me cry (and quite possibly neglect my children "Shhhh, mummy's reading") and the Time Traveller's Wife was simply one of the best pieces of writing I have come across (just don't get me started on the movie).

Too many people presume that these books aren't literary, or are just for children. Other's think they should "grown up and read a proper book". I support wide reading.  I support reading outside your comfort zone. i also support reading whatever you like, and with so many different themes in speculative fiction, there is alot to like.

So give me vampires, zombies, robots and cyborgs, take me to worlds where war never happens or is never ending and let me indulge in my fantasies of what the world would be like if time travel was possible.
And don't ever tell me (or your kids, spouse or next door neighbour) , that what I read isn't educational, interesting or literary.

(Oh, and if you do enjoy "zombie lit" check out our blog supporting the Narella Zombie Apocalypse.! )

Narellan Zombie Apocalypse  - April 13 2013

Stacey

Hugo Awards

The Hugo Awards

for SciFi/Fantasy

have just been announced -

check out the website

for more details.

Briefly these are

annual awards for excellence

voted on by fans!

Wendy