Lucius Shepard (1943–2014)

This book has sat, unread, on my shelf for probably twenty years, on the strength of Shepard's novel Life during Wartime. I finally worked my way around to it, and I'm sad to say that I was not overwhelmed. All the stories dated from the late 1980s or early- to mid-90s, and most show their age.

The (Nebula-winning) title story starts out with something of an Expanse-like vibe but was spoilt for me by the pov character and others purporting to be British but talking in appalling Mockney accents, and Shepard thinking that Manchester is in the Midlands. I also quickly began to stumble over Shepard's stream-of-consciousness 100-word sentences. As an occasional device, this could be excused; but not as a habit, especially when they appear in the internal narrative of a character who otherwise presents as an "ordinary bloke". There were also a lot of elements in this story which seemed to have been lifted wholesale from Peter Hyams' 1981 film Outland.

Two of the stories weren't remotely science fiction; one, Beast of the Heartland, a boxing story, might qualify as borderline fantasy, or fantastic realism. Interestingly, both of these stories first appeared in Playboy. Of the others, one (All the perfumes of Araby) is set in the aftermath of the first Gulf War, and although it refers to an early 21st century that never quite happened, it does reflect the current real-world political concerns of the Middle East in a recognisable way, including war in Syria (although Shepard's knowledge of the practice of Islam is a bit lacking). For me, this story and Human History were the stand-out stories of the collection. Human History relates a story of a marginal settlement in Arizona in the aftermath of a (historical) socio-environmental catastrophe. Shepard leaves the backstory open to speculation, which was probably the right thing to do even if I found it mildly unsatisfactory.

The Sun Spider seems to be about a pop philosopher/physicist who discovers life on the surface of the Sun, but is also about interpersonal relationships and revenge. Set on a space station in a close solar orbit, the story has a creepy and villainous administrator who runs the station as a personal fiefdom without anyone turning a hair; in any case, the station seems more like a posh hotel and the whole thing does not convince. And there is a nasty tale, A Little Night Music, which uses a science-fictional idea (a resurrection process for the recently-dead which has the side effect of making the resurrectees into strange jazz musicians) as a framing device for an urban tale of infidelity which turns into misogynistic violence.

Indeed, much of the writing seems to be predominantly masculine, and some modern readers will have difficulty with this. For me, two good stories out of seven doesn't make for a ringing endorsement.… (mere)

If one can imagine Coppola's Apocalypse Now, dressed up in a sci-fi garb and with the level of insanity cranked up, that's the best way I can think of describing Life During Wartime. It is a(n almost) plotless, unpredictable, ethereal nightmare that nonetheless paces itself well (at least during its beginnings) and sucks you deep into the allure of its horror.

There's some really nice writing, and I think it was originally published under the label of "literary fiction"; which is interesting because I think the genre elements really swallow it as the book goes on, and in a way that even made me cringe a bit. I did like quite a lot about Life During Wartime - initially I was drawn to its trippy, war-time atmosphere - but I was less keen when more plot entered the scene and it almost began to feel like a sophisticated, adult X-Men. The more it drifted into its themes of psychological warfare the more disinterested I became, because I just didn't find the whole "war within a war" element compelling at all. I also thought the development of the romance was poor, especially as the main character just seems like a moody git who wants to screw anything that walks (the forced eroticism gets tedious). Funnily enough, by the end it almost seemed like a core theme of the book was "love" and that it was perhaps intended as some kind of romance novel in part. That didn't really work for me either.

Not a bad book, and possibly worth reading, but ultimately it felt a bit messy and unsatisfying. Joe Haldeman does much better with "military sci-fi meets romance" with his novel, The Forever War.… (mere)

La asamblea celebrada en el castillo Banat aquella noche de 1860 llevaba más de tres siglos planificándose, aunque sólo se había dedicado un esfuerzo mínimo a los aspectos ceremoniales de la reunión. No: la mayor parte del tiempo y la energía se había invertido en la crianza y cruce de determinadas líneas de sangre mortales con el fin de producir la más excepcional de las esencias, una cosecha de inigualable sabor y buqué: la Dorada. Los miembros de la Familia habían acudido desde todos los confines de Europa con el objeto de participar en la Decantación. Entre ellos, Michel Beheim, antiguo detective de la policía de París recientemente vampirizado, que tendrá que recurrir a sus talentos humanos cuando un crimen inimaginable sacuda a la comunidad de los no-muertos.… (mere)