It was a
strange year for science fiction, at least for me. Many of my most memorable
reads released in 2010 were either reissues (Metatropolis edited by John Scalzi,
The World Inside by Robert Silverberg, The Word for World Is Forest by Ursula
K. Le Guin, etc.) or works of nonfiction like William H. Patterson, Jr.’s Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century: Volume 1 (1907-1949):
Learning Curve.
It was also a year filled with pleasant surprises – one of my favorite crime fiction authors, Charlie Huston, released a thought-provoking post-apocalyptic thriller entitled Sleepless; Terry DeHart’s debut novel The Unit was exceptionally good; paranormal fantasy luminary Rob Thurman dipped her feet into the science fiction pool with Chimera; Mark L. Van Name elevated his Jon Moore saga to another level with Children No More; 62-year old debut novelist Jack Eason released a small press gem with Onet's Tale; etc.
But for me
the biggest surprise was the news that Jon Armstrong was (finally) releasing
another novel. Back in 2007, Armstrong released his debut novel Grey – which I
described as “nothing short of a science fiction masterwork. A Clockwork Orange
for the 21st century…” – a gloriously stylish and visionary work about fashion
and fame and superficiality that promptly went unnoticed by most science
fiction readers. I was excited to see what Armstrong had up his (well-tailored)
sleeve in his second novel Yarn – and, again, was blown away by his insightful
vision of the future. Yarn, a prequel of sorts to Grey, is set in a world where
the affluent elite live their lives for deviant sexual gratification and
keeping up with the latest bizarro fashion trends – and all the rest are
virtual slaves to keep the machine running…
Out of all of the Year’s Best lists I’ve compiled for 2010, this one was the hardest. There were so many high quality releases – it was virtually impossible to narrow it down to just a baker’s dozen – in the end, I just had to go with my gut. The list below constitutes the releases of 2010 that not only entertained me but also moved me in some way. For me, science fiction is ideally about enlightenment – changing the way I look at myself or the world around me – and all of the releases below succeeded in not only entertaining me but illuminating me as well.
And before I get inundated with emails, all vampire and zombie powered science fiction releases (like Mira Grant’s Feed and Justin Cronin’s The Passage) were featured in the Year’s Best Zombie Releases and Year’s Best Vampire Releases lists.
So, without further ado, here is my (what will surely be contentious!) list for best science fiction releases of 2010. Enjoy!
1. Yarn by Jon Armstrong
2. Shine: An Anthology of Near-Future Optimistic Science Fiction edited by Jetse de Vries
3. He Walked Among Us by Norman Spinrad
4. WWW: Watch by Robert J. Sawyer
5. The Netherworld trilogy (Pleasure Model, The Bloodstained Man, and Money Shot) by Christopher Rowley
6. The Double Human by James O’Neal
7. Hull Zero Three by Greg Bear
8. The Evolutionary Void by Peter F. Hamilton
9. Geosynchron by David Louis Edelman
10. Ark by Stephen Baxter
11. Sleepless by Charlie Huston
12. Surface Detail by Iain M. Banks
13. Brain Thief by Alexander Jablokov
Paul Goat Allen has been a full-time book reviewer specializing in genre fiction for almost the last two decades and has written more than 6,000 reviews for companies like Publishers Weekly, The Chicago Tribune, and BarnesandNoble.com. In his free time, he reads.
I won the book on Goodreads. It is the first in a series of twelve books. For those of you who might be interested, I wrote the following review:
Although the book seems to be written in a simplistic style and is presented in a way which makes it seem to be more appealing to preteens and young adults, it is, according to the author, not even meant for young adults, since as the series progresses the books grow darker and darker. It is good to be forewarned so the appropriate target market can be reached. I am giving it four stars because it has great promise as a series and it was very creative and original. If you read the first one as kind of an introduction, you will have a different sense of appreciation for it.
Since this is the first book in a series of twelve, it basically sets the stage for the future, introducing the characters, creating the setting and preparing the reader for possible problems that might arise for the Norcinites and the Commen as they try to coexist peacefully. As you read, the book gets more and more exciting and draws you into the mysterious world of the New Race.
The opening scene takes place in an orphanage where Daniel Regal has lived for pretty much his entire life. He has no idea who is parents are and is essentially friendless and truly alone in the world. On his 12th birthday, he is attacked by the resident bully, Tommy, and his thoughts turn violent in his anger. He has no defenses against the bully and he thinks to himself how nice it would be if he could “just set Tommy on fire”. To his utter surprise, the bully is engulfed in a ball of flame.
This event leads to Dan’s discovery by the Norcinites (The New Race), a group of people with special powers. They believe he is one of them and wish to take him into their school, Snisnar, (founded by Steven Noricin) to train him to control these powers. There he will learn to move objects with his mind, create protective shields, control his own thoughts and read the minds of others. Since he has few options in the world, and would have to submit to frequent episodes of mind control if he refuses to enroll, he eventually decides to go. From here on in, his life is changed. He has friends (as well as enemies), he has a place to live that he enjoys, he has good meals and a comfortable bed, an interesting roommate and seems to feel happy for the first time in his life. He has a sense of belonging somewhere, finally. Soon, Dan, Mike and Shelley develop a friendship and become a triumvirate, a working team who care for each other.
At Snisnar, the school for the New Race, Nevar Loeren is the principal. While he is there, Dan begins to have nightmares and is attacked on several occasions by an unseen enemy. Apparently, at one time, there was a group of Norcinites who believed they were superior to the lesser race of Commen (the Old Race) and they wanted to eliminate the lesser race, including those Norcinites who married Commen and their children, and Margatheans who did not directly descend from Steven Noricin, believing that they were inferior. They were led by a man dubbed “The Scorpion”, who was thought to have been destroyed by Mr. Loeren. The book is about what could possibly be the resolution of that conflict or the foreshadowing of more to come.
I had some confusion with a few of the terms and the setting and I hope in the following books it will be more clearly developed. For instance, are we meant to believe that the book takes place in the present time, in the USA, without our being aware of it? How do the Norcinites keep track of all the children who come of age at 12, with powers, when there are so few of them? What is the difference between the Commen and the Comman? Do any Commen realize that the Norcinites are actively training others? Is there any angst in the Commen community, concerning them? A book that makes you question and think, is generally a good one.
On the other hand, I found the confusing name of the principal to be an enigma, that probably would have been appreciated by Steven Noricin. The name sounds very much like a play on words and I thought long and hard about whether it was a positive or negative play…Nevar Loeren=never learn…is that a good thing or a bad thing? Does it imply remaining childlike, hopeful? Does it imply their secret must never be learned?
The book was rather easy to read and in a book group or online discussion, it could lead to conversations on several controversial subjects: on dealing with differences in each other, how to deal with loneliness, being different yourself and how to respond appropriately to bullying and peer pressure at any age, how to respond to problems in peaceful ways rather than violent, vengeful ones, (a problem so prevalent today), and perhaps as a side effect, this book could help enhance our younger and older generation’s ability to respect the rights of others. It could be used as a tool to teach teamwork and to encourage hard work in order to achieve or accomplish a goal.
At the end of the book, I would have liked to have been baited a bit stronger to read the next one with some hint at what was coming down the pike at Daniel. As we read, we encounter some violence (not yet over the top), and an occasional use of foul language and sexual inference. The book is exciting as super powers are explored, secret passages are discovered and puzzling riddles are solved which the reader will enjoy, as well. However, I am conflicted a bit, because on some level, the kind of naïve presentation and sort of “innocence” of the theme, makes one feel it should be for younger readers. Make no mistake, the author says the main character may be twelve, but the reader should be a great deal older. I hope it is marketed properly so it reaches the right audience and can be enjoyed in the way it was meant to be and not lost in the shuffle of misunderstanding.
