science fiction

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Rec160: The End Times of Markusz Zielinski, by Keith Stevenson – a race to the end

Novel

Title: The End Times of Markusz Zielinski

Author: Keith Stevenson

Publisher: self-published @ https://www.keithstevenson.com/books/end-times/

In which the Australian writer and publisher turns from the enjoyable space opera of his Lenticular books to harder science fiction, portraying the mad scramble to save a last outpost of life from a collapsing universe. Once again, Stevenson provides a living culture, enough details of the factions and entities to make the world believable without bogging down in details. Indeed, there’s not much room for minutiae, as the story unfolds apace, the conflict driven by a political agenda of greed, ego and self-interest. The titular Markusz, a mathematician who may just be able to save what’s left if given the chance, has the clever foil of a ‘ghost’ of his dead wife as well as a strong supporting cast to contextualise the science clearly enough to allow the reader to follow along. And then there’s the question of the strange haven deep within the planet itself, and the mysterious connection to the force devouring the universe. It’s a blast.

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Rec160: The Ministry of Time, by Kaliane Bradley – time well spent

Title: The Ministry of Time

Author: Kaliane Bradley

Publisher: Sceptre/Hachette, 2024

If you were to pick up The Ministry of Time, you may wish to flick straight to chapter 5, which opens thusly: “September found me in Pimlico, on a bench with Margaret Kemble*. The air was bisected by an iron hinge of autumn cold. Sparrows guested along the kerb, waltzing with the limp yellow leaves.” The “I” is the civil servant assigned to help Antarctica explorer Graham Gore acclimatise to life in the near future after he has been plucked from his own time (detailed in inserts). This is, as the name suggests, a time travel story, in which the pair are caught up in a beautifully presented attraction and dastardly deeds. As the quote shows, the writing is gorgeously descriptive, adding to superb character work and an engaging premise. But this excerpt should be enough to send you back to the start of this accomplished debut, and continue on, which is kind of what time travel is all about.

* We love Margaret (aka 1665). She is a fabulous character.

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Rec160 – Companion

Film

Title: Companion
Director: Drew Hancock
Stars: Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid

When it comes to robots being given a rough deal, Companion is right up there with Blade Runner. As with the recent M3gan, Companion poses a question about the role of robots in our society, but where M3gan devolved into a simplistic string of killer robot set pieces, Companion sticks the landing, never abandoning its underlying themes. The only misstep is the announcement at the start about who kills whom. Sophie Thatcher is eminently watchable as Iris, caught up in a plot about which the less said the better so as to enjoy this proficiently composed thriller of reveals and hurdles. It kicks off with a group of friends arriving for a stay at an isolated mansion, whereupon schemes come undone and secrets are unveiled, all with a resultant and refreshingly banal body count as pressure mounts. With shades of Westworld and I, Robot (of course), Companion impresses with its intelligence and focus that would easily reward a second viewing.

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rec160: Godzilla Minus One

MOVIE

Title: Godzilla Minus One

Studio: Toho Studios, Robot Communication, 2023

Director: Takashi Yamazaki

Starring: Kamiki Ryunosuke, Minami Hamabe

Japanese with English subtitles

If you want to know how to invest a creature feature with heart, you could do worse than turn your attention to this Japanese kaiju film. While it taps the lore of the long-running Godzilla movies and rewards the big screen with sound and visual effects, it invests its story with a surprising degree of emotion for the genre. Pilot Shikishima is struggling with the aftermath of World War II, during which he encountered the yet-to-be mighty monster in a prelude to the core story. For Shikishima and his fellow veterans, especially being on the losing side, the war is hard to shake. Add the bold Noriko and an orphan baby to Shikishima’s world, and the three make an unconventional unit of survivors. Then, of course, there’s the monster and its offer of redemption amid the destruction. The anti-war theme is pointed but not overblown, the final salute to a vanquished foe speaking volumes. A fabulous addition to the canon.

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rec160: Traitor’s Run

NOVEL

Title: Traitor’s Run: The Lenticular, Book 1

Author: Keith Stevenson

Publisher: Coeur de Lion, 2023

It’s been a few years since I first spied an early draft of this space opera, and my, isn’t it taller! The story is an accomplished presentation of interstellar empire building, pictured through the eyes of Udun and Rhees. Udun is regarded as a misfit among the empathic Kresz due to his adventurous spirit. He is presented in first person, our entry into the physiology, culture and planet of his insular people, who face world-changing rivalries among their Houses. As Earth’s Hegemony seeks to spread its influence into the Kresz’s chunk of space, known as the Lenticular, Rhees, a disgraced human fighter pilot, is thrust into a conspiracy of epic proportions. Their points of view sufficiently described the setting that a data file on the Kresz and glossary felt almost superfluous. Rather, I was on board for the ride as events pile pressure on both characters, leaving the story poised for the middle book of the trilogy. Sign me up.   

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rec160: Neon Leviathan

COLLECTION

Author: TR Napper

Title: Neon Leviathan

Publisher: Grimdark Magazine, 2019

Aussie Napper’s excellent 36 Streets won a Ditmar award at a recent Canberra convention, where I picked up this handsomely presented collection of 12 stories offering similar Asian-infused cyberpunk goodness (two original to this volume, the longer penultimate piece thoroughly Orwellian). The stories range from the 2030s to a dystopia more than a century on, revolving around battlers of various ilks trying to keep their heads up, street criminals and soldiers trying to stay alive. Memory, (virtual) reality and identity are common themes in the gritty collection that notably draws on Napper’s experience in Australia and Asia – Vietnam in particular is a strong influence. As Adrian Tchaikovsky notes in his forward, several conjure a familiarity through the common use of the evolving Kandel-Yu device and memory pins, and characters also reappear. While a couple of stories lighten the mood with touches of sly humour and surrealist elements, the collection presents a satisfying journey through the dark roads of the future.

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Prometheus: crash and burn

Prometheus, Ridley Scott’s latest movie:

  • dodgy science
  • unbelievable, and unbelievably stupid, characters
  • questionable narrative

    • In other words, it’s as unsatisfying as the Creationism it appears to espouse. So bitterly disappointing in so many ways, the nicest thing I can find to say about it is that it looked nice. Ben Peek offers a more detailed analysis.
    Me, I’m off to watch Alien, when Ridley knew how to tell a story with heart, and then Aliens, to be reminded how you can actually give a damn for a multi-character movie.

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    GenreCon for Sydney in November

    From the Queensland Writers Centre bulletin, a great event for genre writers:

    The Australian Writer’s Marketplace is proud to announce GenreCon!

    Rydges Paramatta, November 2-4th 2012

    GenreCon is a three-day convention for Australian fans and professionals working within the fields of romance, mystery, science fiction, crime, fantasy, horror, thrillers, and more. One part party, one part celebration, one part professional development: GenreCon is the place to be if you’re an aspiring or established writer with a penchant for the types of fiction that get relegated to their own corner of the bookstore. Featuring international guests Joe Abercrombie (Writer, The First Law Trilogy, Best Served Cold, The Heroes), Sarah Wendell (co-founder, Smart Bitches, Trashy Books), and Ginger Clark (Literary Agent, Curtis Brown).

    For more information, visit GenreCon.com.au. Early bird rates available to the first 50 registrations.

    The event looks to have a strong industry and networking focus, and the ticketing system includes mention of pitching opportunities.

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    Calling out for best of 2011, and launching Anywhere But Earth

    Ticonderoga Publications have opened for submissions to their next year’s best of Australian and New Zealand fantasy and horror. Stories published this year are eligible; deadline to sub is January 20.

    Anywhere But Earth, Coeur de Lion’s science fiction anthology in which I’ve gone all godbothering vampire conquistador, is launching at a spec fic fest in Sydney in November — sad to miss that. The day includes an opportunity to pitch to ‘an industry professional’.

    And there’s more about the e-format for Aurealis at the Aurealis website. Looks as if my Aussie werewolf yarn will be available in the Feb or March issue, which is, I believe, still going to be free to download.

    Oh, oh: Louise Cusack is returning to the world of MS assessments — briefly. Catch her while you can; she gives great feedback.

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    Review: Engineering Infinity

    engineeering infinity by jonathan strahan (ed)

    Usually, mention of ‘hard SF’ would make my eyes glaze over. I’m the kind of tech-zombie who is happy to just press the button and have the machine do its thing, without too much thought for the how. It’s only when it doesn’t work that I start to ponder, and even then it’s a case of hard Fs rather than hard SF. So when Engineering Infinity (Solaris) landed in my mailbox and editor Jonathan Strahan started talking about hard SF in his introduction, I started to sweat. But whew – as Strahan says in summarising his anthology, these aren’t necessarily hard SF stories in the classic mould, though they do all have humanity and technology bumping heads and seeing what happens. It’s a superb collection of 14 well-crafted and quite varied yarns. One of the most technical — Peter Watt’s ‘Malak’ — was one of my favourites, along with Greg Benford’s serial killers meet time travel yarn and Charles Stross’s space zombies. Definitely a book to keep an eye out for, regardless of whether you like your SF hard-boiled or runny in in the middle, with that tasty side of humanity. My rather more considered review is up at Asif.