Lauren Beukes is a South African novellist and journalist,Zoo Cityis her 2nd published fiction Novel, after the dystopian Moxyland. It has won the Arthur C. Clarke award, and was also nominated for a BSFA and a World Fantasy award. In contrast to its predecessor it is not SF, but rather in the currently fashionable genre of 'Urban Fantasy', which she manages to pull off, even if some of the pacing is uneven, and some ideas and threads in the story remain undeveloped/resolved.
The story follows Zinzi December, who now ekes out a living in Zoo City since she caused the death of her brother and was thus paired with a symbiotic sloth. Together with the sloth kame her special 'magical' skill (mashavi), which is to be able see connections between people and their lost things. Becoming 'animalled' appears to be some kind of karmic debt, impacting on the current instead of future lives; mainly due to murder (although not in all cases it appears). It's a different, and fragile life for those with AAF (Acquired Aposymbiotic Familiarism) – a fancy term for having a symbiotica anmial which you cannot survive without – you separate, or your animal dies, and the Undertow comes for you. No, it's not really explained in the story, either, so I won't try here... Anyway, Zinzi makes a (minimal) living finding people's lost things, and tries to pay off her pre-sloth, pre-jail drug debts by writing 419 scam stories, at which she's rather good. This all works until one of her well-paying customers get murdered, and she subsequently is forced to take on the kind of job she likes the least – finding a missing person. In this case it one of the twins from iJusi; a (manufactured) twin pop sensation – beautiful, wholesome, young – and in the hands of Odysseus 'Odi' Huron, a producer with the magic touch, who is making yet another comeback. But all is not as it seems, as you might have suspected...
This is a most gorgeously drawn series, following the adventures of a boy (who has problems fitting in) in a parallel fantasy world - so far so vanilla, but very nicely done indeed!
If you're new to this then I'd suggest you start with Chapter 1, and if you enjoy it why not support the artist (who has just put out 3 month's work for free!) by getting something from his print shop, or buy the Wormworld iPod/Android app?
Here's my original, quick review of Gridlinkedby Neal Asher, a fast paced and rather entertaining Space Opera featuring Secret Agents, conspiracies, and extra-galactical bio-technical intelligences (it's a multi-book series, as a substrand of Asher's Polity series meanwhile)
Ian Cormack is a Secret Agent, working for ECS, the Earth Central Security agency. He’s legendary, or, as some people believe, mythical. Just as a good Secret Agent should be. We find him on Cheyne III, infiltrating a separatist cell, and making a right royal pickle of it, the reasons for which transpire in due course…
Cormack has been Gridlinked for 30 years. Gridlinked is the term for those people who are linked into the all-encompassing network the Artificial Intelligences running humanity’s course maintain. This Gridlink provides him with all the real-time and historical information a Secret Agent could wish or dream of, downloading it directly into his memory, displaying it on his optical nerve. Neat, no? There is a downside, or course. The upper safety margin for being Gridlinked is roughly 20 years, after which you start losing more than just some manual skills. You start losing your humanity, if not your sanity. Cormack does not appear (is not?) human enough, thus his failure on Cheyne III. His access, his Gridlink, is disconnected, in an attempt to revert the damage, and make him more human (and thus more useful) again. And he’s put on a new case: somebody sabotaged the Runcible (Faster-than-light-travel portal for humans and small cargo) on the planet Samarkand. A traveller arrived at near-light speed, and his energy was not absorbed. The resulting explosion was the equivalent of a 30 Megaton blast. His job is simple – find out who, what, how, and why. Not easy, given the circumstances, the near-total destruction of Samarkand, and with Dragon, an enigmatic, extra-galactical, bio-technological entity playing his games with him, too.
Do I need to introduceTerry Pratchett? Thought so. Do I need to introduce his bestselling Discworld series, now running to 38 books? Nope, neither. I Shall Wear Midnight is the latest instalment in said series, and is also the 4th Tiffany Aching novel. These are, according to the publisher, aimed at the YA market (hey, that’s where the money is these days, apparently), but are in my opinion just as readable for older adults who are young at heart. But enough about me …
I Shall Wear Midnight is a bit of a coming-of-age novel. Yes, that was exactly my reaction, too, but do come back please, it’s not that bad. Whilst the book contains teenage romance, alienation, loneliness, and other standard tropes which could have become very very tiresome indeed it – eventually – manages to raise beyond the usual sludge which is published under these pretences. So Tiffany has ‘grown apart’ from Ronald, who is about to marry his Letitia, the daughter of the formidable Duchess of Keepsake. Tiffany is lonely – no real friends, no other witches on the chalk, and no love interest (no, it’s not phrased as such, but it transpires clearly enough). And people are starting to become hostile to witches, as her deed in sending back the Wintersmith in the book of the same name has wakened some ancient evil, known to witches as the ‘cunning man’ (some kind of metaphysical, archetypal witchfinder general who turns people’s minds against witches). Cue another battle of wits and skills…
I've been made aware of a short 'Muslim SF' story, by the Malaysian writer and medical doctor Fadzlishah Johanabas bin Rosli (published earlier this year, it looks) in COSMOS Magazine; concerning the difference between humans and robots, the ability of having a 'soul' and being able to believe of the latter, and the human's reaction to any such claim.
Overall well written and enjoyable, even if it treads ground Isaac Asimov quite comprehensively covered with (especially the later) Robot stories; albeit not in terms of religion and from a Muslim perspective.
The full story, called Act of Faith, can be read here.
Here's an older review of The Tale of Murasaki byLisa Dalby, a University lecturer and author, trained as a Geisha. The book is a mix of classic Japanese poetry, life during the Heian Period (11th century), Rituals and Gossip from the Imperial Court, and the story of the first Bodice Ripper in the history of literature, all wrapped up in one eclectic and fascinating story.
This is an unusual book to show up on my reading pile but then again, stories from a real life court make a nice change from all the imaginary ones ;-)
This book spans a huge number of topics – Heian period life in Japan, rituals, beliefs, court life, politics, classic poetry from that period, and, more in the story-within-the-story and the book itself, a bodice ripper/romantical fiction/chick-lit story. Fascinating stuff (besides the last bit, of course…)
The story follows “Murasaki” (a name she took on after one of her characters in her book) Shikibu, of the influential Fujiwara clan. It is written from the viewpoint of her daughter, who, after Murasaki’s death, finds her diary and other writings, with the actual story told in diary form, ie in the first person. The story is based on what remains of Murasaki’s diary, her poetry collection, the Tale of Genji which she wrote (all of which available in translation), and a number of historical sources. It depicts the history of most of her life, her family and their travels, her affairs with other women, her marriage, and her appointment to court as one of the Ladies-in-waiting to the Empress.
