Reading Notes: 2312

This post is part of my commitment to read and review as many nominated works in the Hugo Awards (Science Fiction Awards) as possible before the prize announcements in early September.   Today I am looking at the second of the five nominated novels: Kim Stanley Robinson's 2312.

Kim Stanley Robinson is, in my opinion, one of the most literary of all science fiction writers, contemporary or otherwise. His work deals with politics, humanism, technology and futurism in ways that are complex, intellectual and often quite demanding.  His written style, while not impenetrable, is fairly dense; it's not unfair to consider it highbrow, in the same way that literary fiction is highbrow.  2312, his latest work, is, if anything, the most advanced exemplar of this literariness that I've encountered in his work, and I have read several of his previous books (most notably his justly renowned Mars trilogy, which are, in fact, prequel to the world that 2312 explores).

I make this observation at the outset partly in admiration, and partly as a cautionary note.  I found 2312 quite a slog, much more so in fact than the Mars books, and this is at least in part due to the very descriptive, very technical, and very meta style that Robinson employs. Some of his devices are equal parts intriguing and offputting - the interspersion of stream of consciousness "lists", for example. The overall effect of the book, to me, is cool - detatched - impersonal, which is odd given the passion that Robinson clearly wants us to feel from and for some of the central protagonists.

Indeed, it is the key characters themselves that failed to sit well for me, and this is the most important reason that I found this book less attractive than the Mars books. In the Mars trilogy, vibrant, interesting characters abounded, both ones with whom readers could identify and bond (such as my own favourites, Arkady, Nadia and Sax) and excellently nuanced irritants and villains (such as Phyllis, to a lesser extent Maya, and for some people, Frank).

In 2312, the action, such as it is, focuses around Swan Er Hong, a native of the human settlement on Mercury (in the rolling city of Terminator), and Fitz Wahram, "the Frog", a native of Titan who Swan works with to uncover a conspiracy that was suspected by her deceased grandmother Alex, the director / boss of Terminator. I think - I'm pretty sure - that Robinson wanted Swan to be a flawed but ultimately relatable hero, but to me, she isn't at all. Perhaps it's just my reading, but, despite Robinson's interest in and exploration of sexual dimorphism, Swan exhibits a lot of classic "over emotional / hysterical woman" tropes. The ways the other characters deal with her is very much in terms of controlling her erratic reactions and hosing down her ladyfeels. The fact that she is a gynomorph doesn't impact for a second the fact that she is written, and read, as "She", and all that seems to be shorthand for.

Even putting aside the typecasting, Swan is just not a great character, in my view. She's petulant, selfish, immature (no mean feat, and not particularly believable, in a woman over 150 years old), and not always overly bright in her assumptions and interactions, which is inconsistent with what we are constantly told about her brilliance. This would all be fine if counterbalanced by other factors, but I didn't feel that it was. I get that part of Swan's failings were meant to be down to Pauline (no spoilers, read the book to find out what Pauline is!) but I still didn't find her a successful character in any way.

Ultimately, I felt Robinson's valiant and largely successful attempt to craft a vast, scientifically complicated interplanetary world in the solar system is not well supported with characters of sufficient verve and presence, or a plot that was organic enough to the environment, to create a compelling, readable story. I feel like a Philistine for writing this, but when it comes to any fiction - but perhaps especially speculative fiction - there is such a thing as being *too* clever. When unpicking an impossible knot of social / scientific / political complexity becomes more focal than actually making people or having stuff happen, a lot of readers get left behind. And while I did finish this book, and remain admiring of it as an achievement, I didn't love it - I didn't always even like it - and I'm certain I'd not read it twice.
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Novellas are done. Three novels to go, plus all the novelettes! Next up will be the novelettes as a set - all 5 if I can get hold of the last one, or the 4 I have found if the elusive "Rat-Catcher" remains unobtainable.

With the remaining novels, Blackout will be next, sometime next week, followed by Captain Vortpatril's Alliance, which I'm reading now. I'm undecided what to do about Throne of the Crescent Moon, because I really don't like it and don't want to finish it, but then should I review it? Not sure. We'll see.

Other Hugo reviews can be found here:
Short stories (all)
On a Red Station, Drifting (novella)
After the Fall, During the Fall, Before the Fall (novella)
The Emperor's New Soul (novella)
Redshirts: A Novel and Three Codas (novel)  
San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats (novella) 
The Stars Do Not Lie (novella)

Winter staycation

Last week was the first week of the winter school holidays here in Melbourne, and it was the occasion of a long-anticipated week off work for both G (my husband) and I. Having been away in February (to Warrnambool) and in the Easter holidays (to Sovereign Hill), we decided not to go away to stay, but rather had a planned home staycation. It turned out to be really fun.

The big plan for the week was to finally achieve an outcome we've been promising the kids for a while now - clearing out the garage and creating an outdoor play / family room. This was always going to be a big job but it was one we really wanted to undertake, for our sake as well as theirs. So I got a skip delivered on the Friday night of the week before, and with the kids' help, we spent Saturday merrily chucking out junk and doing several runs to local op shops to donate still-useable goods.

We had a busy Sunday out and about, and then the real transformation bit began, after my Mum collected the three kids on the Monday afternoon to take to her house for a 2-night sleepover. G and I immediately tore off to Beacon Lighting, to buy the one new item we needed for the new room (a standard lamp) and to JB Hi Fi because we NEVER get to browse at the shops and we wanted to :-) We did a bit more moving stuff around on Monday, but mostly enjoyed some downtime. I made a favourite spicy beef salad for dinner and we watched a movie (Thor, which was OK, although not brilliant).

On the Tuesday we worked our butts off, cleaning, clearing, moving furniture, setting up shelves, going through more boxes of junk that had remained unopened since we moved into this house 9.5 years ago. I reckon we lifted and hefted stuff around for about 8 hours all up - well, G did, I took a 2-hour break at lunchtime to send some emails and do dishes & laundry - so by the time we collapsed with our pizza at 7pm, we were exhausted and muscle sore.

It was all worth it, though, to see the looks on the kids' faces when we brought them home Wednesday afternoon and showed them their new room. To say they were (and are) excited would be a massive understatement. They *love* it and it's already getting heaps of use. We've set an old TV up out there that can play DVDs and the XBox, but gets no reception, so the kids can watch an occasional movie or (as is more their wont) play Harry Potter Lego or Toy Story on the XBox from time to time. There are books, puzzles, games, scooters and hobby horses; dress ups, play doh, painting supplies and a craft table. It feels like a friendly place and woo hoo! it even gets wifi. All very good.

On the Thursday we spent the morning in the family room then went to the movies and saw Epic, using tickets I'd got with my Fly Buys, and did a little shopping. Then on the Friday, we went on the train into the Melbourne Aquarium, again using passes I'd got from Fly Buys. This has really been the Holiday of The Fly Buys - I saved over $150 on entries / tickets thanks to them, and I reckon it's a terrific use of points. After the Aquarium, which we all enjoyed, we strolled over to Southbank for ice cream at Trampoline, then home again on the train and straight back to the family room for the kids - they are still very enamoured :-)

Saturday we went to swimming as usual but planned extra playtime afterwards, spending the entire morning at the pool having fun. A little light gardening, some crafts, reading, game play and walk with the dog rounded off the rest of the weekend, before G's return to work yesterday.

It was a lovely week - an almost perfectly balanced staycation, with out and about activities, productive tasks that have made our home more useable and less cluttered, hanging out time, whole-family time and couple time, grandparent time for the kids. I think I cherished all the more knowing that, once I start fulltime work on 30 July, such opportunities are going to be very rare for a few years. This will be a good week too - I have lots of fun stuff lined up with the kids - but last week was pretty awesome for all of us.

On the expansion of clans

I am the eldest of the cousins on my Dad's side; all told, my Dad and his three siblings had 12 children, who now range in age from myself at 40 down to my youngest cousin, who's 19. There are four of us bunched up together at the start of the birth order, myself and my late brother and two female cousins who are all within 3 years of each other. Then there's a bulge of boys, 6 of them all up, about 7-10 years younger than me, and the clan is tailed by two more female cousins who are a fair bit younger again.

Of this coterie, I was the first married by a long margin (the next wedding after mine was 7 years later); I had my three children at ages 30, 32 and 35.5, at a time when it seemed like I was going to be not only a trailblazer but possibly a lone ranger. No one else, including the close-age married cousins, showed any inclination to childbearing. So my girls, who were never realistically going to have close-aged first cousins (given that my surviving brother is 7 years my junior) were also looking unlikely to have close-age second cousins.

However, this trend was reversed with the birth of one of my close-age cousins' daughter, 3 years ago next month (she's 18 months younger than my youngest, C). As is often the way, a trickle has turned into a modest flood - as well as the soon-to-be-Miss 3, there is a Mr 2 (son of one of my Perth cousins), a Miss 14 months (daughter of my closest-age cousin, who's only 9 months my junior) and a brand new little boy, a brother to Miss 3. And I just heard from my Mum that at Christmastime there is going to be another new baby - my cousin who was married last year is expecting a child with his wife in December.

I wonder if our pattern is somewhat typical of changing family expansion these days, size and all. With the one anomaly of my Perth cousin, who was 27 when his son was born, we've all been in our 30s when beginning families, as compared with our parents, who were all in their 20s when having us.

We've all had sizeable gaps between marrying and reproducing, on average 5 years, whereas all of our parents had their firstborns within 2 years of marriage (in all but one case, within 18 months).

My Grandma (Dad's Mum) was one of three children, but was raised by her own grandparents in amongst their family of 9. My Dad, her second son, was one of a family of four. While each of my Dad and his siblings had 3 children, and at least two of them would have had more if medical circumstances had not precluded it, in my generation I am the only three-child parent (this, of course, may change, but of the 4 cousins who are thus far parents, all have expressed firm committments to stopping at one or two children. With the younger ones, who can say?)

For me, more than three children was not an option - 3 caesarean sections is all that one body should be asked to endure in a lifetime, and I would be frightened to go through another year like the one I had after the anesthetic accident at C's delivery. I am more than happy to be at this point where I can focus on parenting a preteen, an 8 year old and a preschooler (although I will admit to being a little melancholy at the idea that C will be a school kid next year). Especially as I am going back into fulltime work, another pregnancy now would devastate me - both of us, I think. So it's lucky that this will not happen, really!

I do think that I *think* about it - family planning, pregnancy, birth, childrearing - differently to how my parents and their siblings did. (I intentionally did not get into the family tree on my Mum's side - she of the 5 siblings with 20 combined offspring ...)  I get the sense, from listening to my Mum and aunties talk, that childbearing was not necessarily less intentional, but perhaps seen as less discretionary - if you could, you did, and that was that, for women and men of their background and interests, anyway. The painstaking planning that so many members of my own generation put into timing and number of children didn't seem as prevalent for them.

I am, of course, mindful of the privileges that my parents and my aunts and uncles had - they are all married, heterosexual, reasonably able bodied, fertile, white and Australian born. My Dad and his siblings were also from a well off home and had private school educations (my Mum's background is very different, and could fairly be described as wandering between  "working class" and "working poor"). Just as they were privileged, so too are we their children - we may have varying levels of financial stability and careers, but none of us are disadvantaged in any meaningful way.

I note this just to say that I am not trying to universalise our family's story or make sweeping sociological generalisations based on such a small sample. I do think it's an interesting vignette though, to observe how one particular family's approach has changed within three or four generations.

Reading Notes: The Stars Do Not Lie

This post is part of my commitment to read and review as many nominated works in the Hugo Awards (Science Fiction Awards) as possible before the prize announcements in early September.   Today I am looking at the last of the five nominated novellas: Jay Lake's The Stars Do Not Lie.

The first thing to be said about this novella, for me, is a warning: if steampunk isn't your thing, I don't think you'll like this. It's not a classic steampunk formulation, although it does have the obligatory airships; this novella isn't set (necessarily) on earth and isn't tied to any real historical period. However, the whole - for want of a better word - mouthfeel of the text is very steampunkish. Technology and repression, bizarrities and futurism, the red-gold antiquarianism of it; it's all very Alan Campbell to me.

I am neither a booster nor a hater when it comes to steampunk. I have loved some notable works in the genre (Perdido Street Station, The Difference Engine, and recently, Jean-Christophe Valtat's Aurorarama) but I have also disliked or been bored by quite a few others. For me, it's a chancy genre - do it well and it's awesome, but stuff it up and the fall is very far.

I've not read anything else by Lake, although my friend Professor Google tells me he is prolific (I may have some catching up to do!) One thing this novella immediately makes clear, though, is that he is a practised and clever practitioner of steampunk. This story is smooth as glass in the way it integrates technology and machinery into the plot, and the aesthetic it achieves. I found Lake's style engrossing and mellifluous, which made the story enjoyable to read.

The plot of this novella hinges on a theme that could fairly be described as An Oldie But a Goodie in speculative fiction - the conflict between science and religion. The discovery by a scientist of what appears to be an orbital spaceship, and the implications he draws for the belief system of the world, leads to the kind of frantic religious flailing that would have been quite familiar to, say, Galileo. Indeed, although Lake makes up a religion (based around worship of the Increate) for his story, it is an extremely thinly veiled fictionalisation of the Renaissance Roman Catholic church. So fine is the distinction that when I mentally substituted clerical ranks from the Catholic church for the names in Lake's story, it made even better sense.

The story is well executed, but I thought ultimately non compelling. I have read many, many other versions of this theme in speculative fiction, a lot of them more engagingly rendered than this one. I also thought the novella came to a very vague and unsatisfying ending - it almost felt like it stopped halfway, which is a risk of course with novella but one that the best works avoid.

All in all, it's worth a look if you like steampunk, but to me it's not the category winner.

So now I have read all five novellas, which one should win, in my very irrelevant opinion?

I'd give it to either On a Red Station, Drifting or The Emperor's New Soul. Both of them are excellent works that show brilliantly the virtues of the novella form rather than its shortcomings. Both are original, engaging, moving and vivid. If I had to pick one, I'd go with On a Red Station by a nose, only because I love the world creation so much in that story. But the Sanderson would be a good winner too.

There is a free copy of The Stars Do Not Lie available for download at http://www.asimovs.com/pdfs/Stories/The_Stars_Do_Not_Lie.pdf

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So - that's a wrap for the novellas. Four novels to go, plus all the novelettes! Next up will be the novelettes as a set - all 5 if I can get hold of the last one, or the 4 I have found if the elusive "Rat-Catcher" remains unobtainable.

Then on to the novels. I'm almost finished 2312, so it'll be next - hopefully next week sometime. I may not do a full review of Throne of the Crescent Moon because I'm not enjoying it enough to finish it, and I think reviewing a book you haven't finished is a bit dubious. I'm halfway through Blackout, which I will review, but haven't found either an ebook to buy or a library copy to loan of Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance yet.
 
Other Hugo reviews can be found here:
Short stories (all)
On a Red Station, Drifting (novella)
After the Fall, During the Fall, Before the Fall (novella)
The Emperor's New Soul (novella)
Redshirts: A Novel and Three Codas (novel)  
San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats (novella)

Changes

About 6 weeks ago, I applied for a job that I saw advertised. I did it, pretty much, on a whim. The organisation, which is a university, is one I like a lot, is very local to me; the job parameters and description lined up very closely with my past professional experience; and the level and conditions sounded good. I thought, hey, I could do with the practice of writing a job application again, especially as my freelancing work has been on a steady slowdown and I’ve been contemplating whether salaried employment might be a better bet for me once C is in school next year.

The thing is, I like freelancing. I like working on different things and having a lot of flexibility about how I deliver work. I like fallow periods and I cope (although not always well) with the flipside, ridiculously busy periods. But the truth is this – the instability of the income and the unpredictability of the market has been hard on me. In a broader sense, it’s been hard on my family, who barely got anything useful from me in terms of time and attention in the last 6 months of last year (but we had pots of money!) and have felt a financial pinch again this year as my workload has been patchy and slow, and the stresses that creates.

So a return to salaried employment was something I’d been seriously considering for a few months now, and I envisaged myself starting to look around properly after the summer holidays, once C was settled in school. This job would be a good little practice exercise for me; a chance to clean up my CV and remind myself how to write application letters.

Thus, I sent off my application in very early June, was quite happy with the text I’d put together for it, and promptly more or less forgot about it. The long weekend came and went; my freelance projects wound towards their end, with no new bookings in sight; and I did my parenting thing.

Then, two weeks after applications closed, I got an email asking me to come in for an interview. I found this galvanising; being shortlisted for interview was a serious boost to my flagging confidence, and I prepared thoroughly for my interview, still not expecting anything to come of it.

The interview went well and I was happy with how I’d acquitted myself, which did not keep me from being shocked when called for a second interview on the Friday of the same week. 

To cut a very long story short – a week ago I was offered, and accepted, the position. While it was advertised as a fulltime role, my new employer was very receptive to my request to work partly from home in the 6 months remaining before C starts school. Until the second week of February, I’m going to be working one day of my time from home, with two normal length days and two timeshifted days (with early starts and early finishes) in the office. We’ll re-evaluate how that’s going in March.

I have a combination of grandparent care, partner moving to a 4-day working week, and a babysitter one morning and one afternoon a week in place to cover the gaps this year. And, importantly for me, I’m keeping my Thursdays – my Mummy and C day, when C has no kinder and we can really enjoy time together – as my home day. Although I’ll still need to work during that day, my employer is happy for me to fit this in time-wise around C’s needs. So I am aiming to try to get a solid 3 hours done early in the morning by getting up at 5am, allowing me to buy back some quality daytime hours to spend with C, and if necessary I can also carry over hours to complete at the weekend, if there are times when C needs my attentiveness most of the day.

This is kind of a high-powered job. If I am honest, I don’t think I really expected to get a job at this level of seniority ever again; not after 10 years of career taking a backseat to parenting. (A choice I have never regretted, and feel thankful for every day). I am going to need to really put my back into it, and there will be a lot of late nights and a lot of learning in my future as I get a grip on what’s required. I’m sure the delicate ecosystem that is our family life will need to adapt, and that might not always be comfortable.

But this is a really good job. It’s interesting, it’s significant, it’s challenging but still uses my expertise so I don’t start from scratch. The conditions are first rate, it’s local, and one of my friends already works there. And it means my income is known and secure, and we can plan and budget on that with confidence.

I start in my new role on 30 July. I will be heavily occupied in the next 3 weeks with school holidays, completing current freelance obligations, trying to do some more Hugo reviewing, and preparing the family for change. I’ll then be trying to learn my new role. I am also firmly committed to completing my blog novel, The Ark at the End of the World, and keeping up my fortnightly Interleaves column at The Shake … and there is only so much a person can do, if that person wants to still focus on being a present parent. 

As a result, when my job starts I am putting this blog on weekly posting only - probably Sundays, I think - and bowing out of my beloved but timesucking Twitter on weekdays as well. I’ll also be ceasing reading other blogs for now. So if you are not a weekend social media reader, and it thus should chance that we do not cross online paths for a while, please allow me to wish you and yours all the very best for the weeks and seasons to come. It’s been an absolute pleasure.