Wertzone Classics: Hyperion by Dan Simmons

Few books come as universally-applauded in the genre as this one. It was getting to the point where people seemed to be questioning my fitness to blog about SF since I hadn't read Hyperion, so I thought it was time to take the plunge. For those likewise ignorant of the book, Hyperion is the first in a four-volume sequence known as The Hyperion Cantos, consisting of Hyperion (1989), The Fall of Hyperion (1990), Endymion (1996) and The Rise of Endymion (1997). The sequence is heavily influenced by both the poetry of John Keats and the work of Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales is the clear structural inspiration behind the first novel.


The 28th Century. A war is brewing between the Hegemony of Man and the Ousters, a race of 'barbaric' humans living in arkships drifting in the depths of space. As the war drums sound, seven individuals are summoned to the remote frontier world of Hyperion by the Church of the Shrike, the godlike entity who roams that world killing people for unknown reasons or hanging their still-living forms on its giant mechanical tree. As the seven pilgrims journey through space to Hyperion, then on a gruelling ground journey across the planet even as the Hegemony and Ousters do battle in orbit, they tell each other the tale of how they came to this place and the reason for their interest in Hyperion and the Shrike.

It's a pretty straightforward structure, and indeed the book comes across as a collection of linked short stories with a prominent framing sequence. What is unusual is that Simmons varies his style slightly between each story, so the Priest's Tale is a mystery (albeit a mystery enlightened by electricity-spewing trees); the Soldier's Tale is a war story; the Poet's Tale is one of hubris; the Scholar's Tale is an almost heartbreaking tragedy; the Detective's Tale is a thriller; and the Consul's Tale is a romance told across decades. Simmons' writing skills here are extraordinary, with some stunning imagery and moments of emotional intensity transmitted through clear-cut but often evocative prose. Each story is a contained narrative in itself, but also contributes to the whole.

Hyperion (*****) is simply unmissable for anyone interested in the genre. It is available from Gollancz in the UK, either by itself, as part of the Future Classics range or in an omnibus with its immediate sequel, The Fall of Hyperion. It is also available in the USA from Bantam Spectra.

This Forsaken Earth by Paul Kearney

This Forsaken Earth is the second novel in Paul Kearney's Sea Beggars sequence, a planned four-volume nautical fantasy that was unfortunately cut short by Bantam's inexplicable decision to drop the series. Whilst Paul Kearney has said the series will eventually be completed - the third book, Storm of the Dead, was well on the way to completion - that will have to wait until the rights revert to him from Bantam. This is a shame as this is an excellent series and the second volume does end on something of a cliffhanger.

Rol Cortishane is now a seasoned brigand, his ship - the Revenant - and its crew delighting in destroying vessels belonging to the nation of Bionar. However, Bionar is divided in a bitter civil war between Rol's half-sister and the incumbent king. When his sister calls upon Rol's aid, Rol reluctantly agrees to help her and embarks on a dangerous journey into the heart of a war-torn country.

This Forsaken Earth is notable for being a nautical epic fantasy where a good 90% of the action takes place on dry land (the source of much criticism for this novel). Well, yep, that's a shame for those expecting some Patrick O'Brien-with-wizardry antics, but on the plus side we still get a damn good story to make up for it. Kearney has lost none of his formidable skills for depicting large-scale warfare or bloody sieges, and his desperately flawed protagonists (Rol is not a very nice person at all) almost literally act like fishes out of water as they deal with the challenge of land-based combat. At the same time Rol's shadowy origins are becoming clearer and we get some hefty clues towards the end of the novel that Kearney was headed somewhere truly apocalyptic with this series.

I think that will probably be the deciding factor for many people whether they wish to read this book and its immediate predecessor, The Mark of Ran. This is an excellent book, not quite Kearney's best but still very solid, filled with action, some great plot twists and some decidedly twisted character development. But it is clearly the second act of a much bigger story, and we have an indefinite period of time to wait for the next part of the story. If you don't mind waiting, definitely check out these two books ASAP.

This Forsaken Earth (****) is apparently going out of print by Bantam, but copies can still be found in the UK and the USA.

Update

I'll be moving back across to the UK from Ireland over the course of this week so I may be offline for a while. Hopefully I should be back on by Thursday afternoon at the latest. However, I hope to put up a review of Paul Kearney's excellent This Forsaken Earth beforehand.

Currently reading: Hyperion by Dan Simmons. A book generally considered to be the greatest slice of SF since Dune. It doesn't quite live up to that hype, but it is an exceptionally fine novel. Looking forward to reviewing this one!

Galacticawatch 5: Season 4, Eps 1-5

We left Season 3 of Battlestar Galactica on a whole slew of cliffhangers. Gaius Baltar has unexpectedly been found not guilty of being a traitor and a collaborator, but his life is in danger from many of the people oppressed during the occupation of New Caprica. Some sympathisers have whisked him off to safety, but who are they? What is their agenda?


Meanwhile, the Galactica and its attendant refugee ships have finally reached the Ionian Nebula after a grueling trek of some thirteen thousand light-years from the Temple of the Five, but instead of finding a clearly-marked signpost on the way to Earth the entire fleet momentarily loses power. When it is restored, a Cylon taskforce is bearing down on them. Unable to jump due to the power outage, the fleet is forced to prepare for a grim battle against the odds.

Colonel Saul Tigh, pilot-in-training Sam Anders, Chief Tyrol and President Roslin's aide Tory Foster have suddenly discovered that they are Cylons, four of the 'Final Five' who are held in near-mythical awe by the other Cylon models (who don't know anything about them and are programmed not to think about them, which is why Three's obsession with them last season was seen as such a crime). They themselves don't know what this means, nor have they suddenly gained any new memories or knowledge. They just know now what they are, but not what they must do.

Finally, as the battle kicks off, Lee Adama is rather shocked to find himself flying alongside Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace, who was last seen being incinerated in a fireball far above a gas giant planet hundreds of light-years away. And a Kara Thrace who was claiming to have been to Earth.

Say what you like about the troubled third season, it sure as hell went out with a bang. And we come back in on one. The season opener, He That Believath In Me, immediately picks up the story where we left off. Starbuck's return has floored everyone, but Roslin is convinced it's a Cylon trap. There is no time to dwell on that as the Cylons launch their assault, and for the first time we see killer dogfights in and around the civilian vessels of the fleet (something that actually was more commonplace in the original series). Things look bad for our heroes, who are grossly outnumbered and unable to protect the six or seven dozen civilian ships in the fleet (the viewer winces as a tighly-packed refugee liner is blown to pieces by indirect friendly fire), until one of the Cylon Raiders scans one of the Vipers...and suddenly the Cylons call off the entire attack and jump out. Our heroes are left stunned, especially the pilot who was scanned: Anders.

It's an amazingly strong opening sequence featuring - and this is no hyperbole - the finest CGI ever assembled for the small screen. Some of the CGI last season was ropey to say the least, but the stuff in this episode blows it away. But, as always with BSG, the stunning visuals take a back seat to the drama. The rest of the episode focuses on Starbuck's predicament. Is she who she says she is? Is she a Cylon, resurrected and now back to lure the crew into an ambush? There are no easy answers here and viewers may feel frustrated as Starbuck responds to some very logical questions with just vague assurances that she knows the way to Earth. However, things perk up a lot more as Baltar discovers that his rescuers are part of a cult of monotheists who have been outcast from the rest of the fleet. His belief in the One Cylon God attracts their attention and he soon finds himself in the position of being their de facto leader. Given that apparently 80% of the cult consists of attractive, young, generous, sharing women aged between 19 and 25, Baltar obviously sees the advantages in his new situation. Although the viewer's suspension of disbelief may feel somewhat tested. Anyway, a great opening episode that really raises the stakes for the season ahead.

The second episode, Six of One, opens with Starbuck holding Roslin at gunpoint and, reasonably, asking why it is that Roslin's visions get treated with respect when Starbuck's are dismissed out of hand. Roslin agrees that life is unfair and tries to shoot Starbuck in the face. Adama thinks they may have misjudged Starbuck and gives her a ship (albeit a rubbish one) and some crew to go search for Earth. Whilst watching the episode, this feels like a credible plot progression, but when summarised it does appear to be lacking in the logic department. Once again, some rather obvious BSG plot holes are paved over by incandescently good acting from the cast, particularly Edward James Olmos on top form as Adama. Elsewhere, James Callis does some absolutely hilarious work when 'Head Baltar' (previously only seen with Caprica-Six) appears to him and encourages him to seduce Tory (who herself has been asked by Tigh and Tyrol to 'feel out' Baltar to see what he knows about the Final Five), which he does with aplomb. Then it's time to catch up with the Cylons, who are divided over the revelation that the Final Five are among the human fleet. Cavill, Doral, Simon and, shockingly, Boomer are all for lobotomizing the Raiders and forcing them to resume the attack against Galactica, whilst the Sixes (led by a new individual named Natalie), Leoben and the rest of the Eights are dead against it. The debate ends in a shockingly violent conclusion that has severe repurcussions for the rest of the series.

Given the magnitude of the revelation of the Final Five, it's a bit odd that the reactions of the Four to their predicament has taken a back seat to the Starbuck plotline. The Ties That Bind refocuses attention on this story, as Cally becomes suspicious over Tyrol's absences to meet with Tory and Tigh, who are all struggling with their revelation (Anders is on the Demetrius with Starbuck and co). This is a busy episode that also takes in Lee's burgeoning political career as the new spokesman for Caprica in the Quorum, the Demetrius mission and also the Cylon situation, which is now devolving into full-scale civil war between the opposed sides. It's also a seriously negative episode, delving into Cally Tyrol's slide into depression, with the brutal ending proving that at least one of the Four has embraced their Cylon nature a little too readily. Incredible stuff with haunting music.

Escape Velocity starts off with a funeral and ends with the birth of a new religious movement. Baltar's group is attacked by a fanatical group known as the Sons of Ares, leading to a massive debate in the fleet about religious freedom. Unfortunately, both the Sons' use of violence and Roslin's unsubtle attempts to use the attack to force through draconian new anti-assembly laws end up bolstering Baltar's position and popularity, especially when he is rifle-beaten by an overzealous marine in front of dozens of witnesses. Elsewhere, Caprica Six and Tigh find an unusual bond building between them. This is rather odd, offbeat episode. Baltar's increasing religious popularity seems to be developing quite quickly, but with only sixteen episodes to wrap up the whole season that may be unavoidable. The Six/Tigh stuff is downright bizarre, and hopefully a result of some unconscious Final Five stuff because otherwise it is seriously messed up and disturbing. To some degree, a quieter episode than others of late but without something more forceful driving it, the cracks in BSG's storytelling are more apparent than ever.

The Road Less Travelled refocuses attention on the Demetrius mission as it stumbles across a crippled Cylon Raider containing a Leoben, who wastes no time in getting into Starbuck's (and Anders') head. As the Demetrius crew contemplate mutiny, Starbuck finally realises how divisive her actions have been, but still can't seem to find a way of turning them around. Back on Galactica, Baltar attempts to reach out to Tyrol. This is a more dramatically satisfying episode, anchored by Tehomah Penikett's excellent performance as Helo. Helo has been badly served by the writers since early Season 2, with no real consistency as to where he is used or how, being bounced around from Raptor pilot to Galactica temp XO with no rhyme or reason. And the less said about his signature episode from last season, The Woman King, the better. Here he finally gets some good dialogue and development as his position as Starbuck's best friend and 'rock' finally comes under the strain. Very good stuff, and it bodes well for his forthcoming major new role in Joss Whedon's new project, Dollhouse. Back on Galactica things are less dynamic, but Callis and Douglas turn in solid performances during some very angry, intense exchanges that lead to an intriguing ending.

So, BSG Season 4 has opened very promisingly. The search for Earth is back on and now a higher priority than ever. Very subtle clues throughout the episodes (most notably the appearance of the constellation of Orion in several background shots) show that the search is indeed approaching its end, whilst the civil war amongst the Cylons was an inevitable new development which sets things up for huge confrontations down the line. In terms of dialogue, the show has found its feet again, with logical, obvious questions being asked and the actors all working at the top of their game. However, some plot developments still feel forced or illogical, and the choice of at least one of the Final Five, Tigh, still feels like a retcon too far.

401: He That Believath in Me ****
402: Six of One ***
403: The Tighs That Bind ***½
404: Escape Velocity ***½
405: The Road Less Travelled ***½

Forthcoming: Faith (09/05/08), Guess What's Coming to Dinner (16/05/08), Sine Qua Non (23/05/08), The Hub (30/05/08), Revelations (06/06/08)

Shadow Gate by Kate Elliott

This is the second book in the Crossroads series, and the middle volume of the first story arc, reportedly a trilogy (preceded by Spirit Gate, which I reviewed here, and to be succeeded by Traitor's Gate, due in 2009).

In Spirit Gate, a number of outlanders arrived in the Hundred to find the land beset by troubles. Armies of vagabonds and cutthroats have appeared out of nowhere to challenge the justice of the reeves, the giant eagle-riding police force who have ensured the rule of law in the land since the disappearance of the Guardians many decades earlier. The outlanders, led by Captain Anji and his wife Mai, joined forces with Reeve Joss and the militia of the city of Olossi to defeat one of these roving armies and build a safehaven in the south-west of the Hundred. However, all are troubled by rumours of beings wielding supernatural powers and riding winged horses - as the Guardians were said to have done - apparently leading the invading armies.

Shadow Gate is a worthwhile and enjoyable follow-up to the first book, mostly because it works on two levels. On the one hand, it is a direct sequel, following up on the adventures of Joss, Mai, Anji, Shai and others following the Battle of Olossi. On the other, it is also parallel novel to the first, explaining a great deal of the mysteries in the first volume. One of the key weaknesses in the first book, I felt, was that the nature of the winged horse-riding beings and some storylines, most notably that revolving around the wandering envoy-priest and the bizarre antics of the slave Cornflower, were decidedly under-developed, to the point where their inclusion seemed to be extremely confusing. In this second volume you get the answers to those questions, told in an accessible and intriguing manner. Any thoughts that this was going to be a simple good-versus-evil struggle go out the window as we learn more of the nature of the Guardians, the rules they operated under and some explanations as to why they disappeared (although the full story, I suspect, will have to wait until Book 3).

At the same time, we get to meet some new characters, such as Nallo, the refugee who is chosen to become a reeve but whose training is complicated when the main reeve base comes under siege, and Avisha, a simple village girl who attracts Mai's favour and has to sort out a complicated love life as well as caring for her family. The new additions to the cast generally give us new and interesting outlooks on the world and the plot, and don't slow the story down too much. The pacing is also good, but arguably the conclusion is not as strong as it might be. Just as the Battle of Olossi seemed to happen very quickly at the end of Book 1, so the two big set-piece battles at the end of Book 2 also get short shrift, but arguably this is less important this time around as revelations about characters and several dramatic scenes between major characters form the meat of the finale, which does a better job of leaving the reader wanting to pick up the next volume straight away.

Spirit Gate (****) is a notably superior book to the first one, and actually makes the first one more enjoyable as well (a full re-read of the first book after the series is completed will pay unexpected dividends, I suspect). The book is published by Orbit in the UK and by Tor in the USA.

Wertzone Classics: StarCraft

This year marks the tenth anniversary of two of gamings iconic series: the Half-Life series celebrates ten years since the original release in October, whilst the StarCraft series recently passed its tenth anniversary with significant fanfare. Ten years on, with just under 10 million copies sold, StarCraft is one of the biggest-selling computer games of all time and had a tremendous impact on the multiplayer gaming scene. It became the 'gold standard' for all real-time-strategy games to follow, a position it did not arguably lose until Company of Heroes was released in 2006.

The game is set in a remote corner of the Galaxy known as the Koprulu Sector, starting in the year 2499. Several centuries earlier, a host of undesirabls and visionaries left Earth to settle another star system, but a hyperspace mishap saw them travel instead to the far side of the galactic core, out of easy contact with Earth. Many factions rose and fell before the Confederacy asserted control. A somewhat repressive regime, the Confedracy showed its might by crushing any challenges against its rule with savage force (such as the nuking of Korhal when that world rebelled against its control). That said, the Confederacy's manpower is not enough to maintain total control over its territory, and the outer worlds have a degree of autonomy.

One of the outermost systems comes under attack by a strange race of animal-like creatures who nevertheless seem to move with purpose. In the wake of these 'Zerg' come a much more powerful, terrifying alien race with weapons far beyond human technology, the Protoss. Wherever the Zerg are to be found, the Protoss respond with lethal force, wiping out entire planets to ensure that the infestation is curbed. The initial stages of the game see the player resisting Zerg attacks on under-defended settlements and then frantically trying to evacuate the outer worlds ahead of the Protoss advance, at the same time as a mass-uprising against the Confederacy, years in the planning, finally erupts. As the game advances the player switches to controlling the Zerg, a hive-mind species based on organic technology serving the all-powerful Overmind, whose mission is to find Aiur, the homeworld of the Protoss, and destroy it. Once the invasion is launched, the player switches to controlling the Protoss, as they frantically try to stave off the invasion and destroy the Overmind.

StarCraft's genius at the time was in providing three sides (rather than the traditional two) and giving them each an individual feel and level of technology whilst ensuring that they were balanced against one another. So rather than give the Protoss, Terrans and Zerg all their own tank, for example, the Protoss get a long-range artillery unit that has to constantly build its projectiles, whilst the Zerg get a huge, Starship Troopers-esque rhino-like creature which can absorb punishment and smash through enemy ranks, and the human tank has to deploy in order to fire, limiting its maneuverability. All three are vulnerable to air attacks, so anti-air units must accompany them at all times. And so on. This balancing of the sides was and remains pretty unique (even Blizzard's later RTS, WarCraft III, merely replicated units between sides more often than not). Also, the somewhat stylised gameplay and art style allowed the player to empathise with the characters, arguably for the first time in a strategy game, and allowed the storyline to unfold in a gripping manner. StarCraft's storyline was also fairly dark and cynical, with the final victory coming only at the cost of millions of lives and leaving much of the sector in ruins.

A year on from the game's original release, an expansion named Brood War emerged. Picking up the story a few days after the original game, the Protoss empire is in ruins from the invasion and Aiur is overrun by millions of mindless Zerg. The Protoss are forced to evacuate to the refuge of Shakuras and a temptestuous alliance with the Dark Templar, an offshoot of their civilisation banished centuries ago for heresy but who provided the weapon needed to destroy the Overmind. This reunion is not a smooth one, and is complicated by the arrival of a fleet of warships from Earth. The United Earth Directorate has been keeping tabs on events in this sector for decades, and the lure of advanced Protoss technology and Zerg bio-tech has seen them desptach forces to conquer the region. Obviously, neither the Protoss, the new Terran Dominion which has replaced the Confederacy nor the newly-emerging Zerg factions are happy with this idea and an alliance of convenience is formed to fight the invasion. Brood War is even darker and more nihilistic than the original game, and the twists and turns in the storyline, the brutal betrayals and murders and the vast levels of destruction unleashed against countless worlds is both compelling and somewhat depressing. The emergence of a possible fourth side of the game is also extremely well-done and disturbing. Brood War is also insanely hard, with the final mission being known to send grown men away weeping in frustration.

The StarCraft series has had to wait a long time before its story can continue, but a year ago Blizzard confirmed that StarCraft II is in development and they hope to release it before the end of 2008 (given Blizzard's infamous delays, it may be optimistic to expect them to achieve this). Although it has updated visuals, the emphasis is once again on the story, characters and three balanced sides to allow frantic multiplayer games. With the possible exception of Half-Life 2 before it came out, StarCraft II is the most eagerly-awaited computer game sequel of all time.

StarCraft's influence on multiplayer gaming has been colossal. Battle.net, Blizzard's online multiplayer service, grew by 800% after the game's release, and several million people play the game regularly even today, giving it a serious claim to have the greatest longevity of any game ever released. In South Korea, where the series has shifted 4.5 million copies, it is the multiplayer online game of choice, and televised championship games are a massive audience draw. The most successful StarCraft players are celebrities with half a million or more people in their fan clubs.

Given its age, StarCraft (*****) is easily available at budget price with its expansion pack, Brood War, included. It is available for the PC (UK, USA) and, if you can hunt around for it, the Apple Mac and the N64 as well. Graphically, it's certainly showing its age (argh! Unchangeable resolution!), but the gameplay and story remain as compelling as ever.

Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson

The 17th Century. The birth of the modern age. The monarchies of Europe are being overthrown, starting in England. A new nation is being born across the Atlantic. The old order is beginning its slow, two-hundred-year-long death. Science is revolutionising the world every bit as dramatically as war. In Europe the scientific war is being fought between the two inventors of calculus, Newton and Leibniz, a battle which will end with one being hailed the father of modern physics, the other reduced to a historical footnote. Taking place from 1655 to 1713, Quicksilver is the story of individuals scattered across Europe and the Thirteen Colonies, all being hurled by science, progress and history into the brave new world is dawning, the information age.

Quicksilver is the first in a monumental trilogy and is in itself a dense, multi-layered work featuring hundreds of characters divided into three plot strands, roughly summarised as 1) the friendship of (fictional) Daniel Waterhouse and Isaac Newton, also incorporating the Restoration and the Great Fire of London; 2) the adventures of the Shaftoe brothers and various others in Vienna, Paris, Versailles and the Dutch Republic; and 3) the Glorious Revolution and the continuing adventures of Waterhouse and co. in England. The second plot is action-packed with battles, fights and political intrigue. The other two are more restrained with lots of scene-setting and historical information. The book cannot be described as a fast-paced page-turner by any means, but what it is is a tremendously deep and vivid exploration of an interesting (but underrated) period of history. Stephenson's writing skills are impressive, with an amusing sense of humour and a perhaps a bit too colourful ability to describe the more dubious practices of 17th Century science (dog-lovers may find one chapter in particular to be nearly unreadable).

Quicksilver is an astonishing accomplishment (it won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Novel in 2004), although perhaps a bit long-winded at times. The biggest criticism is that the Shaftoe storyline ends on a major cliffhanger but I supposed that inevitably is to lead into the next book. Some may also find the first part of the book (Waterhouse in England) rather tedious, as Stephenson is building and depicting the world here rather than furthering the plot. However, those with an interest in 18th Century history may find this the high point of the text.

Quicksilver (****) is the first volume of The Baroque Cycle and is followed by The Confusion and The System of the World. It is available from Arrow Books in the UK (with another gorgeous cover) and from Harper Perennial in the USA.

Wertzone Classics: Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson

Sometimes a book comes along that leaves the reader dazed with the author's vision, scope and ambition. Neal Stephenson has done this a few times with his work, but arguably never better than in Cryptonomicon.

The novel follows two stories in parallel. In WWII, a group of cryptologists based at Bletchley Park are struggling to crack the German codes so the British and Americans can more effectively combat the German U-boat threat. In the present, a group of businessmen are attempting to build a data haven in the (fictious) Pacific state of Kinakuta. Both plotlines draw on codes, cryptology, cryptoanalysis and the blurring of the genres of science fiction and historical fiction (a line which is even further muddied by the subsequent Baroque Cycle, which serves as a quasi-prequel series to this novel).

It is difficult to describe the book. It's scope is huge, sprawling across Europe, America, the Phillippines and other parts of the world in two different time periods, incorporating dozens of major characters of note and very effectively educating the reader about the science of codes and puzzles (far more effectively than the amateurish Da Vinci Code) before the two storylines very effectively come together at the end of the book. Stephenson's style is very readable, occasionally dense, but often very funny. There are longeurs and apparently unrelated episodes in the book which are masterfully re-incorporated into the greater narrative to form a cohesive whole. It's a book about secrets, what it costs to hold those secrets, and the consequences when those secrets are revealed. It's a war story and a techno-thriller at the same time. It's an adventure story about the hunt for lost treasure and also a book about the value of information. It is a unique work.

Cryptonomicon won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2000 and unquestionably deserved it. If The Separation was the first truly great SF novel of the 21st Century, than Cryptonomicon is almost certainly the last great SF novel of the 20th, and one of the few works that I would apply the label 'genius' to.

Cryptonomicon (*****) is available from Arrow Books in the UK (with a gorgeous cover painting) and from Avon in the USA.

America Unchained by Dave Gorman

This is a bit of a first: my first non-fiction review on the blog. As I've said before, whilst the blog is dedicated mainly to SF&F on screen, in print and in gaming, if I like something else enough, it's going to go on here as well.

I first encountered the comedian Dave Gorman some years ago thanks to his TV series, The Dave Gorman Collection, in which Gorman recounted how, after a drunken bet with his friend Danny Wallace, he ended up travelling the world searching for other people with the name Dave Gorman. The TV series and the accompanying book were both hilarious, as Gorman's quest to find 52 other Dave Gormans took him on some very odd adventures (including an extremely awkward moment when he had to explain to Israeli airport security why he wanted to visit their country). He followed this up with Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure, in which he tracked down owners of 'Googlewhack' websites, where two words are combined to create a unique website with only one result returned on Google.

This third TV/book pairing opens with Gorman recovering from a particularly soul-crushing four-month tour of the USA, during which he criss-crossed the country several times but didn't see much more of it than the soulless interiors of chain motels. After getting back to the UK Gorman decided he wanted to see the 'real' America, the small towns with local businesses run independently of 'The Man'. And to do this he would cross the country from coast to coast and not once stop at a chain-owned motel or petrol station. Obviously, with local businesses rapidly becoming extinct in the USA, this is not as easy as it sounds.

The plus points first: like his earlier two books, this is a very funny and at times uplifting book. Gorman's writing style is engaging and, despite some parts of his plan being totally bonkers, he pulls you into his story and makes it all seem to make sense, even when a week after setting out from San Diego and having covered a thousand miles he has somehow ended up in Portland and is actually further west than when he started out. The stories of the people he meets along the way, such as the delightful owners of Taylor's Soda Fountain in Independence, Oregon, are also well-told. I suspect the owners of the treehouse resort in Takilma, Oregon and the Giant Beagle Hotel (a hotel in the shape of a huge dog) in Cottonwood, Idaho are going to see an upsurge in business as a result of this book. Gorman is quite honest about his own failings during the journey, such as his near-breakdown upon reaching Moab, Utah. The book also delivered an educational lesson about Mormonism. Prior to this book I hadn't looked at Mormonism at all and simply assumed it was just another Christian denomination (albeit one which had some odd ideas about marriage). Dave's rather disturbing encounter with the religion in Salt Lake City proved to be a bit of an eye-opener, to say the least.

Onto the downside. Whilst Dave's journey is highly enjoyable and informative, there isn't much depth to his mission. He never really analyzes why big chains are taking over from small businesses, even when he champions those small businesses who chase the big chains out of town or survive in the face of fierce competition from them. Also, there is a feeling of repetitiveness throughout the book. Because of the scarcity of independent petrol stations, there is a constant fear of the car running out of petrol, but the number of times that this is brought up borders on the tedious. Similarly, the number of times the car breaks down is as frustrating for the reader as it presumably was for the driver. These occurrences are often told well and usually lead to a great story about the kindness of local strangers or a similar event, but the reader can be forgiven for occasionally being hit by deja vu during the narrative. Slightly odder is the very abrupt end - the final few hundred miles are summarised in just a couple of lines - and some hyperbolic publicity for the book. Contrary to the back cover blurb, Dave is never held at gunpoint by anyone, although someone clearly intending to scare him off does show him his gun. Also, because the book ends the second the journey does, we don't really get to see any conclusions Dave draws from his journey.

The result is a very entertaining book which will hold the attention and is even fairly educational, but it is light on analysis.

America Unchained: A Freewheeling Roadtrip in Search of Non-Corporate USA (***½) is available now from Ebury Press in the UK and the USA.

Author Profile: Alastair Reynolds

Alastair Reynolds is a Welsh science fiction author. Born in 1966 in Barry, he lived and studied in Wales, Cornwall, Newcastle before graduating with a PhD from St. Andrews in Scotland. He then went to work for the European Space Agency in the Netherlands, leaving in 2004 to pursue writing full-time.

As a teenager he wrote two novel-length stories, A Union World and Dominant Species, which were never published but gave him ideas about writing discipline and what ideas he wished to pursue in his SF. In particular, he vowed not to employ cliches such as faster-than-light travel, magically Earth-like planets or easily-relatable humanoid aliens again. His first short story, Nunivak Snowflakes appeared in Interzone, where much of his short fiction would appear over the years. His second published story, 'Dialation Sleep' (1989, published in 1990, reprinted in the 2006 collection Galactic North), rejected such concepts and is also the earliest work set in his signature Revelation Space universe. Interestingly, despite a steady stream of short fiction sales in the following years, Reynolds did not revisit the setting for seven years, until the short stories 'A Spy in Europa' and 'Galactic North' were developed in parallel to Reynolds' first two novels, Revelation Space and Chasm City.

Having established himself as a reliably entertaining short story writer, Reynolds made the leap to writing full-length novels with the rapid appearance of his first two novels, Revelation Space and Chasm City. Revelation Space established the presence of a threat to humanity, a machine-based intelligence known as the Inhibitors who had rendered many thousands of races extinct for reasons unknown. Curiously, despite ending with several plot threads unresolved, Reynolds' next novel, Chasm City, actually stepped back before the events of Revelation Space and told a different, self-contained story mixing hard SF and thriller elements, with a very minor character from Revelation Space as the main protagonist. Both novels were highly acclaimed and Chasm City in particular warmly received.

Reynolds proceeded with two direct sequels to Revelation Space, named Redemption Ark and Absolution Gap, and two self-contained novellas set in the Revelation Space universe (Diamond Dogs and Turqoise Days, later issued as an omnibus by Gollancz).

The Revelation Space universe is a dark, disturbing and often brutal place. Humanity has spawned numerous factions and sub-races, none of which particularly like one another, where cybernetic militants find themselves opposed by religious fanatics. Faster-than-light travel is impossible, so humanity is restricted to a sphere of stars just a few dozen light-years across, with huge ships known as lighthuggers providing interstellar trade and commerce across journeys of years or decades. Yet even in this restricted area of space, humanity keeps finding the ruins of various alien civilisations that were obliterated by unkown forces centuries or millennia ago. Riven by occasional wars, mankind is then threatened by the outbreak of a biogenic virus known as the Melding Plague which infests numerous worlds and habitats. Yellowstone, one of the richest and most powerful of the colony worlds, is particularly hardly hit, its orbital band of space stations, the Glitter Band, reduced to a dark, impoverished place known as the Rust Belt and its capital, Chasm City, becomes a twisted and grotesque mockery of its former ultratech self. But, whilst the human factions squabble between them, a darker threat emerges in the Delta Pavonis system when a belligerent machine intelligence known as the Inhibitors is inadvertantly made away of mankind's existence, plunging humanity into a desperate war for survival...

Although the Revelation Space universe was very popular, Reynolds had already moved away from it in his contemporary short fiction and followed suit with his next two novels, Century Rain (a hard-bitten noirish detective story partially set in 1950s Paris and partially in the remote future) and Pushing Ice (a gleefully-told 'big dumb object' SF novel), and a short story collection called Zima Blue. Reynolds returned to the RS universe with Galactic North, a short story collection, and The Prefect, a new novel set before the Melding Plague and substantially earlier than any of the prior RS novels in a brighter time long before the emergence of the Inhibitors. Sequels further exploring this period before the dark times of the plague, and perhaps chronicling the arrival of the plague itself, have been promised.

Alastair Reynolds is one of British SF's most reliably entertaining talents. His hard SF ideas are combined with deft characterization and sometimes impressive action sequences and draped in atmosphere, ranging from noir to the gothic to the baroque.

Alastair Reynolds maintains a website here. Myself and Pat from Pat's Fantasy Hotlist interviewed Reynolds here.

The Revelation Space Trilogy
Revelation Space (2000) ****½
Redemption Ark (2002) ****½
Absolution Gap (2003) ****

Other Works in the Revelation Space Universe
Chasm City (2001) *****
Diamond Dogs, Turqoise Days (2003) ***½
Galactic North (2006, collection)
The Prefect (2007) ****

Stand-Alone Books
Century Rain (2004) ***½
Pushing Ice (2005)
Zima Blue (2006, collection)
House of Suns (2008)