Category: Reviews

Reviewed by Jamie Marriage

It’s difficult to find a more skilled master of context than was Iain Banks. With simple flashes of the pen he was able to sketch out the undercurrents of a myriad of stories within a single narrative.

The main focus of the story is upon Kit, a young man with near-autistic social difficulties, as he copes with his father’s impending death from cancer.

Truly ironic then that The Quarry was published not long after Bank’s own death from cancer, a fitting final testament to a prolific career of incredible works, creating a context that renders the nature of the novel that much more relevant.

Set in rural England in a dilapidated house due for demolition to extend the local stone quarry, the narrative brings together the long-time friends of Guy, Kit’s dying father, in one final reunion before he passes.

The rest of the cast, a varied collection of prominent business people and social misfits, arrive with the intention of not only enjoying the last of the companionship their ill friend can provide, but also to locate a possibly incriminating videotape recorded when the group were young and reckless. Hol, almost a stand-in mother for young Kit, seems to be hiding something important from him. Paul is willing to pay for first access to the mysterious video. Ali and Rob are using the time away to explore their fracturing relationship. Haze is the drug addled beatnik he always was. Pris is anxious about how the group will respond to her younger boyfriend. And Guy is emotionally abusive in the face of his terminal illness.

The story evolves to include each character’s personal stories, providing material that fleshes out the history of the house and its occupants. Revealing tantalising hints of hidden agendas and further stories never to be told.

Throughout the novel there are questions constantly on the verge of being answered. Who is Kit’s real mother? What will happen after his father dies? Could it really be a sex tape that everyone is looking for?

In true Banks Style, the writing is immaculate and imaginative; setting vivid scenes and believable characters. Dialogue is rich and realistic, often humorous or painfully realistic. And the plot moves at the perfect pace for such a novel; fast enough not to get bogged down in detail, but steady enough that every element gets its appropriate print time.

There is not much more that can be said about this wonderful piece that could give it justice without spoiling the pleasure. As the last work of a great man it is one of his greatest; not the galaxy spanning epics of his science-fiction work, nor the satirical or depressing worlds of his literary work, but something more important.

The Quarry is Iain Banks’s final footprint on this earth. It will remind us of what a great man can do, even at the very end.

Reviewed by Jamie Marriage

If given the opportunity to avoid extinction would you take it? Even if it meant abandoning or even destroying everything you know?

This is the major question that David Brin’s novel Existence doesn’t so much try to answer as investigate from every angle.

During a routine space-junk collection mission astronaut Gerald Livingstone goes against protocol and lassos a crystalline object that has been drifting in Earth’s orbit for longer than anyone imagined. And when the crystal egg begins to speak with the voices of alien entities, welcoming humans to join them, the already precarious balance of Earth society is thrown into chaos.

Existence is a complex entity built primarily CyberPunk and Hard Sci-Fi components, but they aren’t the only elements that have been crafted together to tell this tale, and with stunning cohesion.

Hamish Brookeman, acclaimed novelist and director, is tasked with unravelling a plot that risks the plans of his secret society. And in turn exposes far more than he expects.

Hacker, an eccentric playboy, ends up in an extreme sporting accident that results in falling into a world of strangeness and grants him a new sense of purpose.

And Tor Pavlov, pop-culture reporter extraordinaire, prevents a terrorist bombing and becomes immersed in an online culture of unimaginable proportions.

But these are only a few of the many varied characters intertwined within Existence; each of whom have a vital part to play in the overall scheme of things. The tangle weave of betrayal, suspicion and subterfuge is constantly tinged with the hint of hope and progress. Especially when a second egg is discovered that refutes the grim tale of the first.

The writing of Existence is amazing, the characters flawless in their scope and the setting a fascinatingly erratic ride through worlds often difficult to comprehend, but never hard to picture with this level of storytelling. But be warned, this is a dense parable; filled from end to end with twisting points of views and narrators-a-plenty.

It isn’t a fast book, but it is a great book. And one worth taking the time to enjoy.

Reviewed by Joelene Pynnonen

One Small Step is the perfect title for this anthology of stories by some very prominent Australian speculative fiction authors. It offers hope for the future and suggests the possibility of things that mere years ago seemed impossible. When taken in context of the famous quote ‘One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’, there is the sense that though the hope may only be a glimmer, it will grow.

Given the original context of the title, I was expecting an anthology of sixteen science fiction stories. Instead, it is a more eclectic mix of the many genres under the speculative fiction banner. Fantasy and sci-fi dominate, but some of the stories might be classed as horror. The genre differences keep this anthology refreshing as each story is very different in content and context, even if they uniformly take a small step towards something better. There are some incredible stories in this selection and while some are merely a good read, I can’t imagine anyone who would not find that many of the stories in here will stay with them.

The steps that are taken are not only within the stories, I am glad to say. The anthology itself is taking steps away from the comfort of its usual perceived market and target audience. All of these wonderful tales are by women writers and many of them revolve around a female character. The ones that don’t are still markedly female-centric. For a genre that is improving but still lacks women-centred tales, One Small Step is a welcome addition. Stories with people of colour as main characters also feature heavily in the anthology, and not in a way that makes race the central or only focus.

There are too many stories that I loved to discuss them in as much detail as I would like, but Morning Star by DK Mok was one that I wished would go on forever. I would want a whole novel out of it; and then perhaps a trilogy. After that; a movie franchise. Two robots and a boy on a ship, searching for any other sign of human life should not be as hauntingly, achingly beautiful as Mok has made it. While the writing is simple and understated, the story is raw and painful yet almost lovingly gentle. It took me hours after that story, to pick the anthology up again; and I needed every minute of that process time.

Aside from that, you can expect stories of time-travelling party hosts with one very unusual trick up their sleeves, dolls that change the luck of the village they come from, and a new way to greet death within these pages. The ideas are fresh and intriguing; and without fail, incredibly well written. For anyone who loves fantasy or sci-fi or is trying out the genre; One Small Step will be a welcome addition to your library.

One Small Step: and Anthology of Discoveries – ed. Tehani Wessely

FableCroft (May 1, 2013)

ISBN: 9780987400000

Awards

davitt-award  aurealis-award   logo-curtin-university

Peacemaker - Aurealis Award
Best Science Fiction Novel 2014

Curtin University Distinguished Alumni Award 2014

Transformation Space - Aurealis Award
 Best Science Fiction Novel 2010

Sharp Shooter - Davitt Award
Best Crime Novel 2009 (Sisters in Crime Australia) 

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