DO YOU KNOW THIS CHARACTER?

For fifty thousand springs, Silverhair and her kind, the last of the woolly mammoths, have lived in a remote tundra, rimmed by ice and sea and mountain. Soon to be a mother, Silverhair looks to the future with hope. But even as her life begins, the world she loves is ending. A new menace, more vicious than any enemy, is descending upon the snowlands -- a two-legged creature that kills for joy. Desperate to save their kind, Silverhair and the matriarch, Owlheart, must travel across the glacial torrents, beyond the saw-toothed mountains. There they will seek help from the distant cousins who found their destiny in the sea, and from an enemy -- an ice-faced menace known as...the Lost.

Silverhair is the first book of the Mammoth Trilogy by Stephen Baxter. It was first published in Great Britain in 1999. The cover was illustrated by Chris Baker (Fangorn).

Locus magazine have released their 2023 recommended reading list, and there are so many wonderful Gollancz titles there!

Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon, Wole Talabi

The Sinister Booksellers of Bath, Garth Nix

The Blue, Beautiful World, Karen Lord

Hopeland, Ian McDonald

Airside, Christopher Priest

A Fire Born of Exile, Aliette de Bodard

Creation Node, Stephen Baxter

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Lemon Jelly. Creationism. Fight Club. The cinema of Hal Hartley. All this and more will be touched upon in the Dale's Ramblings Sixth AnniVARsary Spectacular, as we look at the last of Virgin's Decalogs.

Book review

The long Cosmos by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter

Great conclusion to the series. Really loved everything that was there, just really missed the stuff that wasn't. Things like the perpendicular Long Mars and stepping in a new direction, these were all great setups that just weren't expanded upon nearly enough. I need more of this universe!

RIP Terry Pratchett

Christopher Eccleston spam → part 15/∞

The Second Coming. 2003

Watch this powerful speech on Youtube.

‘Go ahead, Mr Lobsang.’

Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter, from The Long Earth

Not Your Classics Challenge

day 23: Brave New World

...or rather, a whole (infinite?) series of new worlds.

This week, I have been mostly reading ‘The Massacre of Mankind’ by Stephen Baxter, published in 2017.

There have been many unauthorized/unofficial sequels to HG Wells’ War of the Worlds. One of the earliest, Edison’s Conquest of Mars, was published less than a year after Wells story. Its notable for being an early example of space opera, and ‘Edisonade’ has become the subgenre of sci-fi in which an inventor creates something that saves the world (I’m surprised Elon Musk isn’t paying more people to write him as the hero… actually shut up – don’t give him ideas). Anyway, Baxter’s novel I believe is the only sequel approved by Wells’ estate.

To get you caught up; toward the end of the 19th century, explosions were seen on the surface of Mars. This it transpires was a fleet being launched to invade Earth – well, actually just the south of the England. I guess it's that Dr Who thing of aliens calculating that all human resistance will crumble if they first make an example of Woking. Which the Martians do, then knock over a few other small towns and villages on their way into London while kicking the butt of the army and navy (one thing I do like in the original story is that the Martians aren’t invulnerable – they just have slightly better tech than the humans, and when one of their machines is destroyed they regroup to come back with a new weapon, allowing the humans to have hope before dashing them). Then the Martians all catch flu and die.

Baxter’s story starts 14 years after the original invasion and the Martians are back, but this time they’re vaccinated. Humans have looted and reverse engineered some Martian technology making for a slightly more even fight, but its still the Martians that have the edge. This is sci-fi, but the science is still rooted in late 19th / early 20th century understanding of the cosmos. I guess its in fact steampunk. In any case, the conflict does go global this time and there are some good bits showing people across the world reacting to the invaders. Baxter also does a good job imitating the period style as well, and there are indeed little references to the aforementioned Edison’s Conquest of Mars, and the infamous Orson Welles radio adaptation of the original story, and more. Can’t say I cared much for the ending though. Like the original, humans never actually defeat the invaders – it takes some other intervention. I don’t want to spoil it – I just thought there were a few holes in what happened.

Wholesome news for a Friday afternoon! This gent here is Stephen Baxter, a bit of a legend of SF writing. He's got a PhD in Engineering, he's a Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society, he's co-written books with Arthur C. Clarke and Terry Pratchett (another honorary graduate of the Open University), has written Doctor Who novels, and the only authorised sequel to H.G. Wells' The Time Machine. He's a Vice-President of the H.G. Wells Society, former President of the British Science Fiction Society, and won multiple international SF awards, including the Philip K. Dick Award, The John W. Campbell Award and the Seiun Award.

This picture is from when he received his honorary doctorate from the Open University, a UK University designed to help make higher education more accessible. They awarded him the honorary doctorate in recognition of his services to science fiction!

On 31 March 2023, in the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, UK, Stephen Baxter was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of the University by the Open University. This was in recognition of "Services to the Arts and Sciences", and in particular to celebrate Stephen's "extraordinary contribution to science fiction writing . . . His works . . . have no doubt been responsible for sparking the imagination of scientific researchers."

Stephen, in all his splendour, advised me on sending me the news "Take care on opening the photo. To me I look like I'm graduating from Zombie High."

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‘What’s important is the [third] rule, which is: Do good.'  He looked down at his mother now.  'That sounds a little bland, right?  Kind of Mom-and-Pop instructions for when you’re about seven years old.  But the question is, how should you do good?  After all the right path isn’t always clear–everybody knows that, you face dilemmas about that every day. 'Well, if you’re faced with some situation, some dilemma, remember the other rules of thumb.  Apprehend.  Try to understand the problem, the people involved, as much as you can.  Be humble in the face of the universe.  Make sure you don’t screw things up further, at least. 'But you can do more.  Do the good that’s in front of you.  If somebody’s hurting, or about to be hurt, try to save them.  Figure out who’s vulnerable, in any situation.  Who’s got no power, no choice?  It’s a good bet that you won’t go wrong if you help them.  Even so, there may be situations where that’s not clear.  So there’s a much older rule I came across, which some call–or versions of it–the Golden Rule: do as you would be done by.  Would you want THIS done to you?  Would you want to be saved from this situation?  If so, do it.  If you’re not sure, don’t.'  He shrugged.  'You’re not going to get it right every time.  It’s impossible to get it right every time.  We live in a chaotic universe, remember?  Be humble.  But I figure it’s worth trying to get it more right than wrong…’

Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter, “The Long Utopia”

A Journey to Amasia by Stephen Baxter

I've just started reading some short stories from Stephen Baxter's collection Obelisk. For those unfamiliar with this work: he mostly writes hard sci-fi and speculative fiction, usually more concept-driven than character-driven (which isn't to say he doesn't write compelling characters!). If I remember correctly, the first book he wrote I read was The Long Earth, a collaboration with Terry Pratchett (!!!) that continued for five books, and which I can absolutely recommend. His solo work is a bit more dry, but for fans of concept-driven sci-fi (such as Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of ... series) it might be something to give a chance.

The first four stories in the collection are set in the same world as his books Proxima and Ultima, and having finally read the latter a few months ago, I was ready to read these. The first one, On Chryse Plain, was a bit boring to me. The second one however, A Journey to Amasia, is absolutely fantastic. It's about one of the main characters in the books, Earthshine, one of three massive AIs that control most of Earth, and dives into the nature of this character in a way that the main books don't. The story can absolutely be read on its own, so if the mind (/cyber?) space of a massive AI being sounds like something that interests you, give this one a try!

Robert A. Heinlein: The Door Into Summer (1957)