Galaxy Science Fiction, October 1955

A fairly nice issue: some stories were very good, some were mediocre.

A Ticket to Tranai • novelette by Robert Sheckley
A well-known classic about a man who hears about a nice planet where life is really free. There are no taxes, there are ample opportunities for everyone, and all of the women are young and beautiful. But it turns out that there are some catches. And then some more catches. And then even more. An excellent, ironic story. One of the funniest and best science fiction novelettes ever. *****
The Discovery of Morniel Mathaway • short story by William Tenn
A mediocre artist and his friend survive mostly by shoplifting and living frugally. One day, a man appears from a hole in a wall of their room and announces that he had come from the future to meet the greatest artists that has ever lived. But he doesn’t recognize any of the paintings the artist has at home, and they are not even close to the quality they are supposed to be. A fun little time travel and time paradox story. ***½
Bolden's Pets • novelette by F. L. Wallace
A man falls ill while trading with the inhabitants of an alien planet. They give him a pet as payment - a nice and friendly creature. Before returning to his base, he must wait out a storm and he feels much better. But after he confines the creature and lands on the base, he starts to feel really sick. It takes a lot of pages before the protagonists figure out what reader already knows. Not a bad story, in spite of that. ***+
Jack of No Trades • novelette by Evelyn E. Smith
A man is severely handicapped. He doesn’t have any psi talents when everybody in his family, and almost everyone in the world, has. He feels very useless, as there is no occupation he could manage to do. But then there is a war and he can easily treat wounded, as he doesn’t feel what they feel. And it turns out he has a talent after all. But, finally, the wars end. A pretty simplistic story, with poor characterization, but it is surprisingly readable, in spite of that. **½
The Lights on Precipice Peak • short story by Stephen Tall
A group of men goes to the mountains, see some strange lights, and meet an alien who must come to a cold climate to cool down. A minor twist at the end, but there is not much else to the story. It is overlong and there is little actual plot. *½
The Game of Rat and Dragon • [The Instrumentality of Mankind] • short story by Cordwainer Smith
Spaceships are attacked by “dragons” whose closeness either kills everyone onboard, or at least turns survivors irreversibly mad. They can be chased away by bright beams of light, but they are too fast for human reflexes. Luckily there are “Partners” who can form a sort of symbiotic and telepathic bond with humans, and together they are able to defeat the dragons. The “partners” are apparently cats. Very nice writing, but the story itself doesn’t really make much sense. ***

Haruki Murakami: Norwegian Wood

A very good book about a student life in Japan at the end of the sixties, examining the relationships of a slightly oddball student and especially his love with Naoko, a former girlfriend of his friend who committed suicide in his late teens. He and Naoko are still bound by the memory of the dead friend and aren’t really able to connect. An excellent book that is written in very clear, even deceptively clear, language. A book I loved.

Keski-ikää lähestymässä oleva mies kuulee lentokoneessa Beatlesin Norwegian Wood kappaleen, joka vie hänen muistonsa aikuistumisen kynnykselle, jolloin hän aloitteli yliopisto-opintojaan. Jo ennen yliopistoa hän, Toru, oli tuntunut Naokon hyvin, sillä tyttö oli ollut hänen parhaan ystävänsä, Kizukin, tyttöystävä ja he olivat viettäneet paljon aikaa kolmistaan. Ystävän itsemurhan jälkeen hän ja Naoko tapasivat enää vain muutaman kerran ja ilmapiiri heidän välillään oli vaivautunut. Vuosi myöhemmin Toru ja Naoko tapaavat sattumalta metrossa. Tästä alkaa erikoinen suhde, joka päätyy yksisuuntaiseen rakastumiseen ja lopulta tragediaan. Kumpikaan, ei Toru eikä Naoko ei ollut päässyt yli Kizukin kuolemasta. Kirja kuvaa päähenkilön hiukan tempoilevaa suhdetta Naokoon ja muihin naisiin. Tärkein heistä on Midor, joka on lähes Naokon, hiljaisen ja vetäytyvän tytön vastakohta ja täynnä energiaa ja lähes maanisuutta. Mies itse vaikuttaa hiukan ulkopuoliselta, eikä muutamaa poikkeusta lukuun ottamatta oikein opiskelijariennoissa viihdy ja tuntuu hiukan ajelehtivan elämässä eteenpäin ja suhteesta toiseen eikä pysty kunnolla päättämään kumman naisista valitsisi.

Kirjasta tulee osittain mieleen äskettäin lukemani Westön Rikinkeltainen taivas. Molemmissa oli hiukan samantapaista lähes ylenpalttisen liiallista teiniseksiä ja ihmissuhdesäätöä sekä kuvausta hiukan itsensä ulkopuoliseksi tuntevan nuoren miehen kasvamisesta. Erotuksena on vain se, että tämä kirja oli suunnattoman paljon paremmin kirjoitettu ja ihmiskuvaus oli reilusti parempaa. Kirja on realistisin lukemistani Murakameista - tässä ei ollut mystiikkaa tai maagista realismia, vaan tarina kerrotaan niin kuin se ainakin olisi voinut tapahtua. Ihan täydellisesti en tosin kirjan henkilöhahmoihin luota, välttämättä se miten päähenkilö tapahtumat muistaa ja ainakin esittää ei ehkä ihan ole miten ne ”oikeasti” tapahtuivat, myös aika vahvasti herää epäilyä siitä että kaikki muutkaan kirjan henkilöt eivät aina puhu aivan totta, eivätkä ehkä välttämättä edes ole mitä esittävät. Oliko edes mies, jota Midor väitti isäkseen hänen oikea isänsä?
Kielellisesti kirja on hienolla, selkeällä ja jotenkin ”kuulakkaalla” kielellä kirjoitettu, ehkä hiukan jopa harhauttavan yksinkertaisella kielellä – kielestä tule mieleen eleetön japanilainen sisustus, jossa on suoria viivoja eikä mitään ylimääräistä koukeroa missään. Juonellisesti kirja oli myös hieno ja jotenkin haikean kaunis jättäen asioita auki jotenkin aivan sopivalla tavalla ja juonen pienet sävyt ovat jääneet päiviksi ja viikoiksi mietityttämään. Loppu oli avoin, mutta ilmeisen vertauskuvallinen. Tai sitten ei. Mitä negatiivista kirjassa oli: ehkä sitä seksiä olisi eineen vähemmän voinut olla, vaikka toisaalta nekin kohtaukset olivat kylä aika perusteltuja.
Murakami on selkeästi muodostumassa mielikirjailijakseni – sellaista minulla ei oikeastaan ole pitkään aikaan ole edes ollut koska lukemiseni on ollut sen verran laaja-alaista, että yksittäiseen kirjailijaan en ole ”ehtinyt” kiintyä.
Kirja oli kirjanpiirin kirjana luettu, ja pääsääntöisesti piiriläiset pitivät kirjasta, tosin joidenkin mielestä kirja oli jotenkin yksinkertainen ja tavanomainen eikä välttämättä maineensa arvoinen.

426 s.

A Stainless Steel Rat is Born by Harry Harrison

I read all the Stainless Steel Rat books years ago, most of them several times. I probably only read this one once or twice at most, and when I happened to come across it on my bookshelf, I decided to reread it. It was light and fun, as I remembered. Considering the internal chronology, this is the first of the series. In writing order, this is one of the later ones, and perhaps not at the same level as some of the earlier books (to be sure, I might have to read a few of them, also).

This book tells the story of the early days of the master criminal, James Bolivar diGriz. The earlier books tell of his exploits robbing banks and saving the universe at the same time, along with his beautiful wife and handsome sons, but this book takes place before that. James is born on a rural and very peaceful planet. His childhood ambition is to be a criminal. He purposefully gets himself put in the prison, as he hopes to learn the secrets of the trade from hardened criminals. Unfortunately, he soon learns that the crooks who are in prison are mostly very stupid. As there is nothing to learn there, his must escape the prison. After that is easily accomplished, he finds out that there is one legendary criminal, Bishop, who never got caught. What would be an easier way to find him than staging a major heist in his name? After that, there was one tight situation after another, but nothing is too tight for the Stainless Steel Rat.

A fast-moving and entertaining book: not great literature, but entertaining. The format is very similar to the other installments of the series – at least as much I can remember them.

219 pp.

The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi

This is a pretty standard space opera style of a book.

A sort of parliamentary monarchy has been in power for thousands of years. The hereditary ruler is an Emperox, who apparently has the final word in all decisions. The current Emperox dies at the beginning of the book. His son has died earlier in an accident and the ruler will be the illegitimate daughter of the former ruler, who comes to the position of power fairly unprepared.

The human worlds (which all except one are space habitats, not planets) are connected with a “flow,” a fairly poorly understood natural phenomena which enables faster-than-light travel, but it appears that there will be changes coming and the flow will no longer behave like it has behaved for thousands of years. And if you think about the name of the book, you might have an idea of what will most likely happen. As all trade depends on interconnectivity and monopolies, it is very likely that most of the habitats will not survive separately. Will this be the end of humanity?

This book is, to a great degree, the setup for what will happen – but a lot happens in it also. There is action, deaths, drama, humor, and interesting personalities. The writing wasn’t the best I have seen, not as eloquent as in most of last year’s Hugo nominees, but this style of book doesn’t need the most literary style at all. I'm waiting for the next parts.

336 pp.

Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, August 1976

Due to a long serial, there were only three stories in this issue. All were pretty bad and past their prime.


Render Unto Caesar • short story by Eric Vinicoff and Marcia Martin
At first, there seem to be two storylines: one about someone sabotaging a spacecraft and another about Mercury. The plot lines eventually converge: due to high metal prices, the private miners of Mercury are facing a U.N. “invasion,” so they kidnap 100 children of powerful families. You should apparently feel sympathetic for the Mercurians. This was also a pretty badly written story. **+

The Tomkins Battery Case • short story by Bud Sparhawk
A lawyer is visited by a very affluent looking woman. It turns out that she is the wife of a man who was awarded a very substantial reward in a very unusual trial – he got the first fully mechanical legs and a substantial monetary award. But she isn’t looking for divorce; she has something else on her mind. This was short and very stupid - almost a shaggy dog style of story. **

The Far Traveller • novelette by A. Bertram Chandler
Apparently, this story belongs to a very long series I am not familiar with. There is some plotting and scheming on a planet with little or no space capability when a spaceship made from gold – actual gold, not gilded – lands. As the setting and the characters were completely unfamiliar to me, I didn’t get into the story at all. I did not finish this story. *

Vesa Sisättö: Tuhansien mokien maa - Tunaroinnin Suomen historia

Pretty fun essays of the biggest mistakes in Finnish history. The first is about how some extremely stupid forefathers and –mothers came to this dark and cold country. The others are more recent but most fun – or at least entertainingly presented.

Otsikon mukaisesti Suomen historian suurimmat erehdykset viihdyttävästi kirjoitettuna, alkaen siitä kuka kumma ajattelit että tänne pohjoiseen pimeään olisi hyvä idea muuttaa. Sävy kertomuksissa on mukavan kevyen ironinen. Osa mokista on todella äärimmäisen surkuhupaisia, ja niin uskomattomia että tarinana kukaan ei niitä uskoisi. Älyttömämmästä päästä on tarina suomalaisista, jotka yrittivät toimittaa aseita Englannista Venäjän vallankumouksellisille ja jotka olivat varustautuneet hienoilla peitehenkilöllisyyksillä ja jopa hankkineet jonkun esittämään laivan omistajaa, joka mukamas on vain huvimatkalla Itämerellä. Kaikki suunnitelmat menevät pieleen, kun laivalla sattuu olemaan reilu varasto alkoholia. Koko porukka ryyppää siinä määrin, että pahimmillaan on harhaisia ja lopulta yrittävät upottaa laivansa tullia pelätessään, eivät onnistu edes siinä. Yksi koko maan talouden kannalta ikävämmästä päästä on tarina Nokiasta, joka menetti mahdollisuutensa sisäisen mokailun vuoksi. Tarinassa ei ollut mainintaa Nokian aikaansa edellä olevista nettitableteista (esim N800), joissa oli muuten kaikki tarvittavat ominaisuudet (ajallensa hyvä kosketusnäyttö, kohtuullinen käyttöjärjestelmä, wlan jne) mutta jostain täydellisen käsittämättömästä syystä ei ollut puhelinominaisuutta. Siinä olisi ollut IPhonen etukäteen tappaja jos joku, mutta se oli eri osaston tuottama kuin puhelimet, eikä ylin johto antanut lupaa puhelinominaisuuksiin. Käsittämätöntä. Kirjaan palatakseni ihan viihdyttävä Hesarin ilmaiskirja kumminkin.

356 s.

Analog Science Fiction and Fact, January-February 2018

A pretty nice issue with some very good stories. There seems to be a light theme of artificial intelligence running through some of the stories.


The Journeyman: Through Madness Gap, Michael F. Flynn, Novelette
Continuing from an earlier story. Two friends work as mercenaries, and train troops for an upcoming battle. There is a pass between mountains which would enable a more efficient troop deployment, but the pass is supposedly cursed. There is a lot of banter between characters, but little science fictional or fantasy content until the end. The story belongs to a subgenre I am not a fan of - a colony world which has fallen to medieval level. I haven’t been a great fan of any other installments in this series, and I didn’t really care for this one either. Solid writing, though. ***
Hobson’s Choices, Mary A. Turzillo, Short Story
A family moves to a new housing complex, Goodenought Housing, which promises satisfaction through offering fewer choices - in everything. Why would you need several different car brands, if you can choose from five different good enough ones? That describes the philosophy in everything. A nice, pretty amusing story. ***½
Ten and Ten, Alan Dean Foster, Short Story
A scientist tries to teach sign language to a cuttlefish, with very poor results. Her grant is running out, as is the short lifespan of the fish. A well-written story, but it is too short and the main point was lacking. ***
One to Watch, Andrew Barton, Short Story
An expedition to a tiny moon finds something that appears to be a relic of another spacefaring species. There is a short period when the leader of the expedition thinks about suppressing the find for some philosophical, but stupid reasons. A short and fairly stupid story. **
Home On the Free Range, Holly Schofield, Short Story
People are farming on a new colony planet. They have invested heavily in their farm, and if there is trouble they could lose everything. When all seasons last several Earth years, and apparently there have been no pre-colonazation studies done at all - unbelievably stupid - there is a good chance of problems. Writing and even plotting was fairly good, but the stupidity was a bit too much: surely there would be observations even for one local year before bringing in the colonists? ***+
Endless City, David Gerrold, Novelette
Someone comes to see a detective in a virtual world. She wants that the detective solves a murder – hers - happening in the real world at the same time. The murder turns out to be very gruesome and she turns out to be a he – just the avatar was female. The murderer must have had extreme skill to be able to do what he did, and it may even be that the one who tries to solve the murder is in danger. A very good sci-fi detective story, with good writing and an interesting spin. ****-
When the Aliens Stop To Bottle, Ian Watson, Short Story
Totally invincible aliens have arrived and invaded Earth. All weapons stopped working, missiles imploded, and every country surrendered. Except North-Korea, which doesn’t exist anymore. South-Korea now has a border with China. The aliens capture and bottle people. What is going on and why? A pretty good story with only partial answers. ***+
Two Point Three Children, Marissa Lingen, Short Story
Parents have a custody battle of their AI child. There are accusations of neglect and so on, but there are some choices which are possible for AIs, but not for real children. A pretty good story, but too short. ***
Air Gap, Eric Cline, Short Story
Someone is going to a compound with ancient 21st century technology. Cars run by internal combustion and weapons are firing actual bullets! Everything is behind extremely high-class security, but without any computers. There are a few surprises. An excellent story. ****½
The Dissonant Note, Jeremiah Tolbert, Short Story
Sisterhood of AIs, or descendants of uploaded persons, are studying a planet. Everyone is a copy of her mother, but there is some variance thrown in. One “low-level” daughter aspires for more and conspires to get involved in more interesting research. An OK story, but the backstory might have been more detailed. It wasn’t easy to get into it.***-
Blurred Lives, Adam-Troy Castro, Novella
Continuing from an earlier story. two high-class spies, a man and a woman, travel together to try and find some of their former employers, as they want revenge for a few things they have done. The spies have a strange love-hate - almost sadomasochistic - relationship. They find one such man, who seems to perform cruel scientific experiments on people. He is dying from old age and might be willing to give the names of the people at a higher level. But there is a challenge before that. A fairly good story, but not as good as the previous instalment. I had a hard time understanding the motivations of the characters, especially the female’s. The writing was pretty good. ***½