Outside of a Dog

Allen Shull reviewed The Outward Urge by John Wyndham

The Outward Urge is a science fiction fix-up novel by British writer John Wyndham. It …

Generational SF, but Limited

3 stars

Having now read this, I can see why it’s not listed as one of Wyndham’s classics, especially mere days after reading The Midwich Cuckoos.

However, there’s good stuff here. It’s a generational, in the same way that Cixin Liu would much later do much better. From 1959, it’s limited by an understanding of certain technical aspects, but those don’t really matter, because Wyndham doesn’t really care about the different kinds of Venusian life.

Most of the focus is on the relentless drive the characters have—the eponymous “outward urge.” That’s what makes it both grounded “hard” SF and also space opera: these are what test pilots are like, but also the numinous sense of the grander scale of the universe is indeed operatic.

If I were Wyndham’s editor, though, I’d say, “John, great stuff here, but it needs to be more than a fix-up book. And I don’t mean ‘just …

Having now read this, I can see why it’s not listed as one of Wyndham’s classics, especially mere days after reading The Midwich Cuckoos.

However, there’s good stuff here. It’s a generational, in the same way that Cixin Liu would much later do much better. From 1959, it’s limited by an understanding of certain technical aspects, but those don’t really matter, because Wyndham doesn’t really care about the different kinds of Venusian life.

Most of the focus is on the relentless drive the characters have—the eponymous “outward urge.” That’s what makes it both grounded “hard” SF and also space opera: these are what test pilots are like, but also the numinous sense of the grander scale of the universe is indeed operatic.

If I were Wyndham’s editor, though, I’d say, “John, great stuff here, but it needs to be more than a fix-up book. And I don’t mean ‘just put frames around things’ like Asimov does. You need to weave these stories together more. That gives not only a greater scope and mission, but also a greater unity—a purpose.”

Allen Shull reviewed Paths in Utopia by Martin Buber

Paths in Utopia (1996, Syracuse University Press)

In this work, Buber expounds upon and defends the Zionist experiment - a federal system …

Perceptive toward the past

4 stars

…yet haunted by the future. Buber’s perception of the anarchist and coöperative movements through the advent of Marx and Lenin, are invaluable. However, having just read his epilogue which trumpets the success of kibbutzim, I am sad to see what Buber couldn’t: the dismantling of these collective agrarian movements by urban, individualistic, liberal capitalism of the 1970s.

Still, in a world divided between secular collectivism and religious individualism, Buber offers a clear alternative to both. Even for those who aren’t religious, Buber’s religiosity is conceptual and motivational rather than repressive. We need, though, a Buber for Buber.

Allen Shull reviewed The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham

The Midwich Cuckoos (Hardcover, 1999, Buccaneer Books)

In the sleepy English village of Midwich, a mysterious silver object appears and all the …

Creepy, with something to say

4 stars

There’s definitely something here about nature vs nurture, about determinism vs free will, about open vs closed societies, about science vs tradition. It holds up—save for a few moments about other societies—remarkably well.

Allen Shull reviewed The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester

The Stars My Destination is a science fiction novel by American writer Alfred Bester. Its …

As Operatic as Space Opera Gets

4 stars

Content warning CW: Spoilers, Violence

Undeniable to see why this book is a classic. At the same time, it is problematic as all get out. The main character is terrible; at least, Bester seems to be saying, he knows he’s horrible. You’ll see people comparing this to The Count of Monte Cristo—but does that main character commit rape in the first 30 pages, and then halfway through kidnap his victim in order to force her to obey him? Everyone in this story is utterly out for revenge.

And yet, the imagery and the invention is so particular. The grandeur of scenes is arresting. There is pure spectacle—not mere garishness but also interesting and strange and fascinating images. There’s so much going on in the occasional details. A man builds train tracks to make a grand entrance. A street hustler sells photos of Christians offering illegal prayers. A space colony of stoics is kept in shelves like sardines. A woman who is blind to the visual spectrum but sees above and below it delights in the flashes of an orbital bombardment. And of course I’m not even mentioning the ending. I’ll say this: I don’t know how this book works as an ebook, strictly because of the typesetting.

Is it worth it? Dostoevsky can show terrible people doing terrible things with a good message to the reader; just because the main character is a monster does not mean the main character is a hero. We do not want to identify with Gully Foyle, and we readers can tell that everyone who judges him is right. But still, I just don’t know.

Allen Shull reviewed Walden Two by B. F. Skinner

Very deliberate utopia

4 stars

Unlike most utopias, Walden Two is set in the present, in an intentional community. It also is openly aware of utopias from Plato and More through Bellamy, Butler, and Morris. Skinner proposes actual experimentation, but allowing for freedom of movement in and out of the community. However, he proposes this society also expand to include all humanity, which hurts that last proposition. Also, Skinner assumes there can be government without power games.

Allen Shull reviewed The Culture Series of Iain M. Banks by Simone Caroti

The Culture Series of Iain M. Banks (Paperback, 2015, McFarland & Company)

This critical history of Iain M. Banks' Culture novels covers the series from its inception …

Review of Caroti

4 stars

The only negative of this volume that I can count against it is the fact that it leans on plot synopses too much. It DOES bill itself as a Critical Introduction, but I wish it were more critical and less introduction. A good amount of space is devoted to secondary scholarship, but there’s also more than a little that’s left out; it feels like more space is devoted to non-scholarly book reviews; but then why would they be so highlighted in a critical introduction? Still, good exploration of the series as a whole.

Allen Shull reviewed The Cruel Stars by John Birmingham

Review of 'The Cruel Stars' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Consciously in the shadow of other works—Banks’s Culture, clearly—but with less edge and more fun. It’s well-plotted, but it’s not deep. Fun.