(Fantasy) Old Venus contains stories set on the dangerous, watery, jungle-covered Venus of the old pulp stories. (203,900 words; Time: 11h:19m)
Rating: ★★★★☆ 2 RSR-recommended stories + 7 others out of 16
Showing posts with label Old Venus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Old Venus. Show all posts
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Greeves and the Evening Star, by Matthew Hughes
Old Venus, 2015; ~11,700 words
Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, story Recommended By: SFRevu:4
Bartie (accompanied by his accomplished butler Greeves) is shanghaied to Venus by an old school friend who is studying the local wildlife and needs a bit of help.
This is done in the style of P.G. Wodehouse's "Wooster and Jeeves" stories. Start with Carry On Jeeves, if you're interested in the original.
Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, story Recommended By: SFRevu:4
Bartie (accompanied by his accomplished butler Greeves) is shanghaied to Venus by an old school friend who is studying the local wildlife and needs a bit of help.
This is done in the style of P.G. Wodehouse's "Wooster and Jeeves" stories. Start with Carry On Jeeves, if you're interested in the original.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: If you're a Wodehouse fan, the voice of Bartie (for Bertie) is pitch-perfect. The endless classical allusions are hysterical. The plot is straightforward: Bartie wants to solve Baldie's problem so he can return to Earth; once the problem is solved (albeit not the way Baldie wanted it solved) and everyone is on the ship back, the story ends. It's a great twist that Baldie's great love is a great newt, but that all she sees in him is food for her young. As expected, Greeves is the real hero.
Con: If you are not a P.G. Wodehouse fan, the narration is likely to drive you nuts. (If not, definitely consider reading "Carry On Jeeves.) Stripped of the connection to Wodehouse, the story loses most of its magic and just seems silly.
Con: If you are not a P.G. Wodehouse fan, the narration is likely to drive you nuts. (If not, definitely consider reading "Carry On Jeeves.) Stripped of the connection to Wodehouse, the story loses most of its magic and just seems silly.
Planet of Fear, by Paul McAuley
Old Venus, 2015; ~11,300 words
Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, story Recommended By: Locus
On an alternate Venus, communist Russians investigate mysterious disappearances and worry that the Americans are behind it.
Lois Tilton recommended this story, partly on the grounds that it would be pure hard SF if you moved the setting to a different planet.
Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, story Recommended By: Locus
On an alternate Venus, communist Russians investigate mysterious disappearances and worry that the Americans are behind it.
Lois Tilton recommended this story, partly on the grounds that it would be pure hard SF if you moved the setting to a different planet.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: This one is modeled after Cold War thrillers like Gorky Park. Katya and the Captain both come across as real people, committed to their views but not actually evil. The story arc is clean, progressing from "what happened" to "here's what happened." Katya's a good protagonist, takes direct action, doesn't get pushed around too much.
Con: It's a linear story, and there are no early clues that enlighten the later action. There's no hint that the pigs are a red herring, for example. Also, the Captain's paranoia against the Americans gets to be hard to believe.
Con: It's a linear story, and there are no early clues that enlighten the later action. There's no hint that the pigs are a red herring, for example. Also, the Captain's paranoia against the Americans gets to be hard to believe.
Frogheads, by Allen M. Steele
Old Venus, 2015; ~12,400 words
Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, story
Ronson is a PI from Earth hired to track down a tycoon's son, who has gone missing on Venus.
Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, story
Ronson is a PI from Earth hired to track down a tycoon's son, who has gone missing on Venus.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: Ronson definitely does find the kid, even if he doesn't bring him back. And a rough sort of justice is done, although Mikhail's fate is a surprise. The gloomy atmosphere comes through very clearly.
Con: So how did the kid get into this? And why was the water person at the platform unable to escape, once it decided it didn't want chocolate anymore? For that matter, why did the Tycoon send only one man--a man who didn't speak Russian?
Con: So how did the kid get into this? And why was the water person at the platform unable to escape, once it decided it didn't want chocolate anymore? For that matter, why did the Tycoon send only one man--a man who didn't speak Russian?
The Drowned Celestial, by Lavie Tidhar
Out of cash and out of luck, Colt is playing cards in a Venusian saloon when a dying desperado, chased by robots, breaks up the game and gives him a clue about a sunken treasure. (11,200 words; Time: 37m)
Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average
Recommended By: SFRevu:4A Planet Called Desire, by Gwyneth Jones
Old Venus, 2015; ~12,100 words
Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, story
Wealthy John Forrest has himself transported across space and time to primordial Venus, before it lost its oceans and life.
Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, story
Wealthy John Forrest has himself transported across space and time to primordial Venus, before it lost its oceans and life.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: This one attempts to fit watery Venus into the real world. Forrest wants an adventure in a cleaner place than Earth. He has his adventure on old Venus, but learns that it has its own problems. He returns to Earth wiser and decides to spend the rest of his life on Venus, choosing their problems over our own.
Con: Once he's on Venus, the story becomes a tale: a sequence of inconclusive adventures. But for the framing story, it wouldn't be a story at all. Of course this is faithful to a model that was popular 70 years ago (the great white explorer), but there's a reason that went out of style.
Con: Once he's on Venus, the story becomes a tale: a sequence of inconclusive adventures. But for the framing story, it wouldn't be a story at all. Of course this is faithful to a model that was popular 70 years ago (the great white explorer), but there's a reason that went out of style.
Living Hell, by Joe Haldeman
Old Venus, 2015; ~7,300 words
Rating: 2, Not recommended
The narrator attempts a rescue mission for a group of women trapped at a station on the Venusian equator. A recent solar flare ruined a lot of electronics, so he has to fly the old-fashioned way.
Rating: 2, Not recommended
The narrator attempts a rescue mission for a group of women trapped at a station on the Venusian equator. A recent solar flare ruined a lot of electronics, so he has to fly the old-fashioned way.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: The story is very exciting up to a point. The flight across Venus without electronic aids, the hard landing, exploring outside the ship, trying to help the injured crew, going back for the battery--it's all great.
Con: And then suddenly magic happens and the story is all over. Most deus ex machina endings are very poor, and this one is no exception. It's as though he got tired and couldn't be bothered to finish the story.
The science is sloppy too. He says a minimum-energy transfer orbit from Mars to Venus is 6 months, but it's really more than 7 months (217 days). He says a minimum-energy transfer orbit from Venus to Earth is also six months, but it's really under 5 months (146 days). It's as though he couldn't be bothered to figure it out.
Con: And then suddenly magic happens and the story is all over. Most deus ex machina endings are very poor, and this one is no exception. It's as though he got tired and couldn't be bothered to finish the story.
The science is sloppy too. He says a minimum-energy transfer orbit from Mars to Venus is 6 months, but it's really more than 7 months (217 days). He says a minimum-energy transfer orbit from Venus to Earth is also six months, but it's really under 5 months (146 days). It's as though he couldn't be bothered to figure it out.
Bones of Air, Bones of Stone, by Stephen Leigh
Old Venus, 2015; ~11,600 words
Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, story Recommended By: SFRevu:5
Tomio returns to Venus to confront his ex-lover fifteen years after she left him following a diving accident that cost him his legs.
Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, story Recommended By: SFRevu:5
Tomio returns to Venus to confront his ex-lover fifteen years after she left him following a diving accident that cost him his legs.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: This story tells how Tomio put his past behind him, and how he found a new purpose. Avariel's death has finally freed him.
Con: Tomio is so passive he makes an unsatisfying protagonist. Avariel is so self-centered it's hard to understand what he sees in her, even though we hear about her only through his eyes. The story holds few real surprises; from the very start, we're sure Avariel will die in this descent.
Con: Tomio is so passive he makes an unsatisfying protagonist. Avariel is so self-centered it's hard to understand what he sees in her, even though we hear about her only through his eyes. The story holds few real surprises; from the very start, we're sure Avariel will die in this descent.
The Wizard of the Trees, by Joe R. Lansdale
Old Venus, 2015; ~14,000 words
Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, story
Unexpectedly transported from Earth to Venus, Jack helps a prince and princess fight to prevent a race of birdmen from enslaving the world by getting both halves of a magic talisman.
Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, story
Unexpectedly transported from Earth to Venus, Jack helps a prince and princess fight to prevent a race of birdmen from enslaving the world by getting both halves of a magic talisman.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: This adventure story moves smoothly from Jack wondering where he is, to pledging to support the princess, to fighting the final battle and winning the girl. The style echoes the old adventure tales from the 1930s.
Con: Little or nothing unexpected happens. We're sure that Tordo will try to seize both parts of the talisman. We're sure it won't work for anyone but Gar-don. We're sure Jack and the princess are never in real danger. There's no forshadowing, and no twists.
Con: Little or nothing unexpected happens. We're sure that Tordo will try to seize both parts of the talisman. We're sure it won't work for anyone but Gar-don. We're sure Jack and the princess are never in real danger. There's no forshadowing, and no twists.
The Heart's Filthy Lesson, by Elizabeth Bear
(Retro SF) Fun adventure on Old Venus. Dharthi risks her life in an unexplored part of Ishtar Terra looking for evidence of a vanished civilization that would save her career. (10,400 words; Time: 34m)
Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average
Recommended By: RHorton:5 JStrahanBy Frogsled and Lizardback to Outcast Venusian Lepers, by Garth Nix
Old Venus, 2015; ~17,600 words
Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, read Recommended By: SFRevu:4
Fifty-year-old Kelvin has a nice business flying shuttle runs on Venus, but the Terran Navy calls him back to service for a rescue mission in the heart of the Roar, the most dangerous place on Venus. A fun, uncomplicated read.
Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, read Recommended By: SFRevu:4
Fifty-year-old Kelvin has a nice business flying shuttle runs on Venus, but the Terran Navy calls him back to service for a rescue mission in the heart of the Roar, the most dangerous place on Venus. A fun, uncomplicated read.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: The author's Old Venus belongs to a very complex world, with power centers on Earth, Mars, and Mercury. Even the local structure, from Venusport to Venus Above, to the Roar itself seems very logical, and very well-thought-out.
The adventure itself is straightforward but complete. Once Kelvin has escaped the Roar and called off the Rotarua the story is over. Whatever other problems the ship has, we're sure he'll handle them.
Con: The only plot complication is the realization that the Navy only wants to destroy the Jumping Jehosaphat and that there are no rich teenagers to rescue. Not really a fault per se, it points to the fact that for all its length, this is a simple, linear story.
The adventure itself is straightforward but complete. Once Kelvin has escaped the Roar and called off the Rotarua the story is over. Whatever other problems the ship has, we're sure he'll handle them.
Con: The only plot complication is the realization that the Navy only wants to destroy the Jumping Jehosaphat and that there are no rich teenagers to rescue. Not really a fault per se, it points to the fact that for all its length, this is a simple, linear story.
Ruins, by Eleanor Arnason
Old Venus, 2015; ~14,600 words
Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, story
Ash leads a team from National Geographic to see unusual megafauna in the Russian part of Old Venus.
Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, story
Ash leads a team from National Geographic to see unusual megafauna in the Russian part of Old Venus.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: We start with Ash trying to find a good story for National Geographic, and we conclude with her having found a better one than anyone expected, although she suspects some of it may be faked. The subplot of the Russians wanting to replace their council is also well done.
Arkady's character is particularly amusing; he's a communist revolutionary when it suits him, but he's a hard-nosed businessman when it matters. "Capitalists have so much money."
Con: It's a little dissatisfying that we aren't sure whether the CIA was really there or if it was just a hoax. The repeated bits about Earth dying get tiresome when nothing is done with them; they seem to be a purely political statement by the author.
Arkady's character is particularly amusing; he's a communist revolutionary when it suits him, but he's a hard-nosed businessman when it matters. "Capitalists have so much money."
Con: It's a little dissatisfying that we aren't sure whether the CIA was really there or if it was just a hoax. The repeated bits about Earth dying get tiresome when nothing is done with them; they seem to be a purely political statement by the author.
The Godstone of Venus, by Mike Resnick
Old Venus, 2015; ~15,100 words
Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, story
Scorpio and Merlin accept a contract as bodyguards for a man and woman seeking the fabulous, priceless Godstone. Except no one else on Venus seems to have ever heard of it. A fun read.
Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, story
Scorpio and Merlin accept a contract as bodyguards for a man and woman seeking the fabulous, priceless Godstone. Except no one else on Venus seems to have ever heard of it. A fun read.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: The story is about figuring out what's happening. It's fun watching them try, and the various details of the obstacles they overcome are entertaining as well. The matter-of-fact way that they keep the stone as a souvenir is so in-character it's fun as well.
Con: There isn't a lot of logic operating here. Why does Sapphire bring Quintaro at all? Why doesn't she have a better story for Scorpio? Why did she bother to pay them their money or dicker over the value of the van? Why did the god leave them alive? And if Sapphire could control Quintaro's mind, why couldn't she control Scorpio? Better, why didn't Merlin or Scorpio worry about her doing that?
Con: There isn't a lot of logic operating here. Why does Sapphire bring Quintaro at all? Why doesn't she have a better story for Scorpio? Why did she bother to pay them their money or dicker over the value of the van? Why did the god leave them alive? And if Sapphire could control Quintaro's mind, why couldn't she control Scorpio? Better, why didn't Merlin or Scorpio worry about her doing that?
Botanica Veneris: Thirteen Papercuts By Ida Countess Rathangan, by Ian McDonald
★★★★★ Award-Worthy
Lady Ida's visit to Venus was memorialized by the beautiful floral papercuts she made there, but this sensational story reveals the secret of the real purpose of her visit. (13,400 words; Time: 44m)
Recommended By: SFRevu+2 GDozois+2 RHorton+2 NClarke+2 JStrahan+2 Sturgeon+2 LTilton+2
The Tumbledowns Of Cleopatra Abyss, by David Brin
Jonah is a young man in a matriarchal human society hiding at the bottom of an ocean on a far-future Venus whose terraforming seems to be going wrong after thousands of years. (15,600 words; Time: 52m)
Rating: ★★★★★, Award-Worthy
Recommended By: LTiltonMonday, November 9, 2015
The Sunset of Time, by Michael Cassutt
Old Venus, 2015; ~14,000 words
Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, story
Jor, a an exile from Earth, manages the Lens project on Venus. Meanwhile the natives are dismantling their cities and heading out to sea in anticipation of a global disaster they insist is coming.
Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, story
Jor, a an exile from Earth, manages the Lens project on Venus. Meanwhile the natives are dismantling their cities and heading out to sea in anticipation of a global disaster they insist is coming.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: Essentially, the story is about Jor trying to figure out what's going on. Becoming a hero isn't what he set out to do--it just happens. One could also argue that it's about him making the lens work, which he does, albeit not as originally designed.
The mystery that there was no trace of the sunset seems to be answered by reloquere, which carefully removed all trace.
Con: It doesn't really make sense that the lens could be lowered enough to set buildings on fire. Nor is it clear why it was designed to transmit a narrow beam--a big mirror would enable a wide beam that didn't lose much with distance. Anyway, we had no clue it could do that until Jor uses it to alert everyone. For that matter, we had no reason to believe there were shuttles adequate to take everyone up to space in a single trip.
Although a great deal is made about people's exile quotients, nothing is ultimately done with the idea. The fact that Earth has become a theocratic dictatorship doesn't get used for much either. It's also odd that they got to Venus despite a ban on computers.
The mystery that there was no trace of the sunset seems to be answered by reloquere, which carefully removed all trace.
Con: It doesn't really make sense that the lens could be lowered enough to set buildings on fire. Nor is it clear why it was designed to transmit a narrow beam--a big mirror would enable a wide beam that didn't lose much with distance. Anyway, we had no clue it could do that until Jor uses it to alert everyone. For that matter, we had no reason to believe there were shuttles adequate to take everyone up to space in a single trip.
Although a great deal is made about people's exile quotients, nothing is ultimately done with the idea. The fact that Earth has become a theocratic dictatorship doesn't get used for much either. It's also odd that they got to Venus despite a ban on computers.
Friday, March 6, 2015
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)