2024 Book Review #17 – Terra Incognita by Connie Willis

Connie Willis is a name I have heard come up a lot with regard to late 20th century American Science Fiction, but in a slightly odd way. The only thing she’s actually written that I’ve ever heard of is To Say Nothing of the Dog (a delightful-sounding book that tragicall has a multimonth hold list at my library). Instead, I mostly know her from other books’ acknowledgement sections, or semi-mythologized folklore and anecdotes about the culture and community of the era. So I really picked this up as a matter of curiosity, to get a sense of what Willis’ whole deal is.

The book is a collection of three novellas, each basically totally unrelated with only the faintest attempt at a unifying theme to justify bundling the three of them together. Each work is pretty different from the others in everything from length (the longest is something like 3x the length of the shortest), tone, setting and subject matter, the works really. The first is a sort of romcom farce about surveyors charting an alien world that has, well, aged. The second and longest a love letter to classic classic hollywood and movie musicals as told from the POV of a self-hating drunk who pays the bills going through and retroactively editing the studio’s back catalogue to meet the whims of the executive of the day. The third and by far shortest is a lighthearted and very fannish comedy about a teenager getting conscripted to be a space cadet against her own ferocious objections.

The stories are all perfectly modern in, like, structure and pacing, but they still absolutely feel like they were written last century. Part of that is just word choice (the only thing that ages worse that old euphemisms for sex is old attempts to create futuristic slang), but it’s also just a general sensibility. Which is most cringe-iniducing in the first story, both for its portrayal of the native species of the planet being surveyed (directly compared to native americans on a few different times, characterized as relentlessly opportunistic penny-wise but pound-foolish hucksters leaping at the chance to sell their land for cheap imported consumer goods), and also just for a handling of gender and sexuality it’d take more time than I’ve got to really dig into. (I have a sense of where all those tomboy versus girly girl memes ultimately descend from now, though.) The other two more just felt out of time than actually wince-inducing, with the third story especially feeling like an affectionate nod to the fan culture of its time. That said, the second one’s whole horrified preoccupation with a Hollywood that refuses to make anything new instead of just remaking the same sure things from its back catalog forevermore either never stopped or has looped back around to feeling real topical.

Insofar as I’m already reading romances, I admit I do have a real soft spot for the whole ‘idiots compensate for total refusal to communicate feelings or desires with grand romantic gestures and hoping the object of their desires will get the idea. It doesn’t work.’ thing that’s a bit of a recurring beat in two of the novellas though.

Prose and characterization wise, all three were pretty well done – though riffing off tropes and archtypes that I honestly can’t remember the last time I’ve seen played sincerely and unironically, which did always leave me feeling I was missing context on how to read them. Which is pretty much what I was hoping for going in, to be clear – what’s the point of reading older stories, otherwise? Which is nice, because the actual reading experience of going through it was a bit of a slog. The first one was the real trial, but just overall I’d say the book’s more interesting as a cultural artifact than an artistic work. Oh well, c’est la vie.

"Warning Signs Your Machines Are Trying to Kill You!" by TJ Klune

(Legally, I’m required to tell you that when smart phones first became popular, I bought one and then asked for the address of the app store because I thought it was a physical location I had to go to in order to download apps and not something already on your phone. Also, I was recently told I speak like an old person so as a warning, there will not be any slang you youths typically hear, especially on Tumblr. Any slang I’ve learned in the last five years has been against my will. I still don’t know what FOMO means, and I don’t care.)

1. Oh no! You and your family are trying to enjoy a movie night, but Overlord Prime (With Free Shipping) wants a sacrifice at the altar of their god, BeeZos. Should this happen, do not attempt to give Overlord Prime (With Free Shipping) a cantaloupe with googly-eyes on it and say that it is your baby. Overlord Prime (With Free Shipping) knows the difference between fruit and children. Instead, ask the machine to order dog food, and it will forget about eating humans for a little while.

2. If you own a very fancy vehicle that can drive itself, always make sure to carry a brick. That way, when the car locks you inside and attempts to drive you off a cliff into a gas station, you can break the window using the brick. You will then have to jump out, but make sure you do so in time so you can watch the wicked-ass explosion when the car hits the gas station, and you can revel in your victory over your car.

3. This one will hurt. I’m sorry, but it’s true. Chances are, you’re reading this on your phone right this second. To be safe, after you’ve finished reading this post and have clicked on the affiliated links to purchase my books, you should throw your phone into a volcano and then move to South Dakota where there are no machines, only wind and cows. That way, when everyone else gets the 5GZombieVirus that people on Twitter (I’m not calling it the other thing, shut up) seem to think is real, you’ll be safe with your cows on a windy day.

4. Get rid of your air fryer. Don’t ask me why, just do it. Red flags all around. Danger, danger.

5. Do you know of the Clapper? That thing first launched in the late 20th century (I wrote it that way to make me feel old) where the commercials showed cranky old people unable to reach their light switches, so they got a thing called a Clapper that turns your lights on and off when you clap? Guess what? Those will be the first things to try and kill you. If you love your gram-gram, save her from the Clapper. When she asks why you are destroying it with an ax, tell gram-gram it’s because you love her.

6. Do you live in a smart home? The kind where everything is connected to the internet, including your refrigerator? The refrigerator that holds your perishable foods? And oh, would you look at that: how many ice cubes have you kicked under it rather than picking them up when they fall to the floor? A dozen? A million? The refrigerator remembers. And it will spoil your food in seconds. What then? What are you going to eat? Canned food? Not if the refrigerator falls on top of you!

Unfortunately for you, this is where it must end. I hope this has given you enough information to help you survive the inevitable. If you do not heed my warnings, well. Who cares. I’m not in charge of you. Do whatever you want. Just don’t come complaining to me when gram-gram gets the clap.

getting pretty sick of fantasy novels introducing character flaws that are just, “they’re fat. they like to eat sweets, isn’t that awful and stupid of them?” talk about lazy writing

Darlings! I have a new poem out today at The Deadlands! I am really excited for you to read it”Five of Cups Considers Forgiveness,” and I hope you like it!!!

J.R.R. Tolkien - The Hobbit (Ukrainian SSR, USSR, 1985)

artist: Mikhail Belomlinsky

interview answer ever???? (this is from an interview with seth dickinson, best known for the baru cormorant books)

I've tried to read dune twice and failed both times but besides the bigger issues with herbert's writing I hope ppl realize how difficult it is to take a book with epigraphs about/by the mysterious and exalted Muad'dib seriously when thru a combination of his orientalism and your linguistic history, to you that just means The Polite

I'm going to be real with you Tordotcom publishing if I wasn't already committed to reading this then this marketing copy on the jacket might have made me put it down

This advertisement is for In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune. It’s a book that invites you deep into the heart of a peculiar forest and takes you on the extraordinary journey of a family assembled from spare parts.

The art featured in this image is by Rosiethorns88.

WHAT’S IT ABOUT

In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots—fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They’re a family, hidden and safe.

The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labeled “HAP,” he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio. When that past catches up and splits up the little family, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?

Okay, I've just returned from a marathon of Dune 1 and 2. Spoilers for the first book (I've read Dune three times now and never felt the need to read Dune Messiah, but now it is on my tbr pile)

I think that it is fair to say that I loved it. I was shaking through the whole Chani/Paul romance and through the Shai-Hulud riding sequence. Seeing those scenes you know so well from the book being acted out in live-action, phenomenally, that feels orgasmic (or sacred... or just really fucking good). I think I've never seen a SF film adaptation that was thís good (but maybe I haven't seen the good shit). The Giedi Prime arena scene, Margot getting the Good Seed, Jessica's transformation to Reverend Mother, the terrifying transformation of Paul from a kid to a Messiah and a warleader..

There are a few changes to the book. Alia isn't born yet and I get that change. It would be ridiculous for this film to have a super wise baby. Leto II (the Elder) also isn't born, we don't even know if Chani is pregnant. Maybe they deemed him irrelevant because of his near-instant death. I think that the most important change to the book is the change in behaviour of Chani. She seems to rebel against Paul's religious role and his holy war. Maybe that happens in Dune Messiah, I don't know yet.

All in all, I'm mostly overwhelmed and awed by this movie, the whole of Dune, and I think that I'm going to let it sink in for a while. I haven't seen it in IMAX, so perhaps I'll go see it in IMAX in a few weeks.

Well this is definitely yhe most entertaining table of contents I've read this year.

every sapphic book i love → this is how you lose the time war by amal el-mohtar and max gladstone

love is what we have, against time and death, against all the powers ranged to crush us down.

Welcome New Followers!

Since there are quite a few new folks popping in, I figured I’d say hi! I’m a poet, editor, word-nerd, and unapologetic coffee addict. I read tarot cards, and I never met a dog I didn’t want to hug. Or cat. Look, if it’s got four legs and a tail, I’m gonna wanna hug it.

If you’re interested in reading more of my poetry, there is a lot of it up for free online. I’ll link to the free ones below! If you like the poems, and you’re able to, support the mags that pubbed them. But either way, I hope you enjoy the work.

“Six of Swords Becomes The Emperor” in Uncanny.

“Five of Cups Considers Forgiveness” in The Deadlands.

“Knight of Wands, Six of Swords” in Uncanny.

“The Empress Chides the Hermit” in Small Wonders.

“Temperance and The Devil, Reversed” in Uncanny.

“When the Wraith Smiles” in Nightmare.

“The Heart Sings a Siren” in Mermaids Monthly.

“After The Tower Falls, Death Gives Advice” in Uncanny.

“A Meeting Place” and “Secret Keeping” in Mermaids Monthly.

“Of Monsters I Loved” in Uncanny.

“The Devil You Know” in Strange Horizons.

“Athena Holds Up a Mirror to Strength” in Uncanny.

“Three of Swords, King of Cups” in Fireside.

“The Magician Speaks to The Fool” in Uncanny.

“The Year We Got Rid of Our Ghosts” in Uncanny.

“Lorelei” in Uncanny.

“A Lovesong From Frankenstein’s Monster” in Uncanny.

“The Persecution of Witches” in Uncanny.

“From the High Priestess to the Hanged Man” in Uncanny.

Bonus: A Q&A I did with Asimov’s, after the published one of my poems.

the locked tomb is a Hugo Award finalist for best series and nona the ninth is a finalist for best novel!

this makes ntn a double finalist (edit: as in for both the nebula and hugo awards) like gideon the ninth, as well as being the first time the series has been nominated as a whole! winners are announced in october

Coma White - German Woodlands - Oktober 2k21 https://www.deviantart.com/1darkstar1