The darker side of perfection, and the brilliance of us all.

Apr 04, 2007

Iteration 04/04/07: Books

James Alan Gardner, a science fiction author, went onto my “buy on sight” list in 1997 when I picked up the book Expendable. It sounded interesting, and had a lead-in recommendation from another of my buy-on-site authors, Robert J. Sawyer. The known universe was united under a governing body known as the League of Peoples. There is no war. There is no crime. All life is sacred, and all people are valued. Most any disease, including congenital birth defects, can be easily corrected, ensuring healthy, happy people...except for those people who show an early promise, an early tendency toward self-reliance. They're the ones whose birthmarks are left glaringly visible. They have speech impediments. They have nervous tics. They're 'eccentric'. They're given special training that allows them to have a little more initiative than the average Technocracy citizen. They're the Explorers. (See, someone saw how hard crews took it when a popular, well-liked crewmember was killed. But if someone who were less perfect died...they may grieve, but they weren't crippled by depression. Productivity wasn't impacted. And an unspoken caste system was in place.)

Gardner's Technocracy universe draws parallels and makes comparisons between social conventions, economic and political systems, philosophies, and religions. The books don't just deal with the story of the main character, but the history of their world...and of our own. I love books that do that without beating me over the head with the Obvious Stick, and these books do a wonderful job of taking a particular idea or thought further along in its evolution, then letting the reader examine the resulting society from inside and out. It's very cool (at least, I thought so.) Here are excerpts from four of the books: Expendable, Vigilant, Hunted, and Trapped. The links above lead to Powell's, an independent book store chain headquartered in Oregon.

1. From Expendable: Chee blinked at all of us for a moment, then waved his hand dismissively. “Piss on saluting. I'm here incognito. I don't haveto salute if I don't want.” “Of course not, sir,” Yarrun said, smoothly changing his salute to a hand extended for shaking. “Welcome to the Jacaranda. I hope the ride over was pleasant?” “The only fun I've had in thirty years. Can I do it again?” “I'm afraid not...”
2. From Expendable: “The other Explorer is dead,” I answered softly. “He was very old, and he just—” “He is not dead!” The woman was suddenly on her feet, glass fists clenched in fury. “Do you think you are sacred? Do you think you are holy? Fucking Explorers are not such things as can die!” And she stormed over to Chee's corpse and kicked it hard in the side.
3. From Expendable: “Do you feel sad when you look at me, Oar?” “I am not such a person as cares how others look,” she answered. “But there may be people who see you and feel like crying, because it is wrong for the only nice Explorer to look so damaged.” Ouch.
4. From Vigilant: I want to tell you everything, everything at once. I want to explode and leave you splattered bloody with all the things I have to say—kaboom, and you're covered with me, coated, dripping, deafened from the blast. A flash of instant knowledge: knowledge, not information. Burning hot. Blinding bright. Blasting down the walls of carrion-comfort cynicism. How can I do that? How? The peacock can show its whole tail at once; but I can only tell you a story.
5. From Vigilant: “Dipshit is a technical term...at least, I'm trying to make it one. Short for diplomat. Officially, these gentlemen belong to the Diplomatic Corps...which is mostly a cover for the High Council's dirty-tricks brigade.”
6. From Vigilant: “The family drew lots,” Lynn explained as she poured. “Who would keep poor Faye company in quarantine? I won.” “You always win when I'm not there to watch you.” “Not always. Only when I want to.”
7. From Hunted: The more I thought about it, the more I saw what was really going on: the Mandasars here weren't just twenty-something-year-old kids, they were children. No matter how grown up their bodies got, their house was like a tree fort filled with a hodgepodge of valuable junk they'd pulled out of trash heaps or bought for a penny. None of this was sad or pathetic, or even noble; it was just what youngsters did while rehearsing to own adult things. (Even if a Queen Wisdom table was still tacky, tacky, tacky.)
8. From Hunted: Every now and then, a puff of breeze brought the burning-wood smell of Musk B. The warriors behind me were keyed up, just itching to fight something. If I were a worker or a gentle, I'd be heading fo rhome real fast—warriors would soon be swiping at trees just to work off their tension. It wouldn't surprise me if they hauled the escape pod out of the canal and tin-snipped it to ribbons, with so much musk in the air, they'd be looking for anything to fight.
9. From Hunted: “Come on, Kaish, cut the inscrutable alien crap. Either give me a straight answer or stay on Jacaranda.” “Sorry,” Kaisho replied, “but the Balrog loves watching lesser beings get smacked in the face with surprises. Just between you and me, I think the damned moss really gets off on human astonishment.”
10. From Trapped: “Are you sure it's safe?” Annah asked. “A girl alone at this hour...” “I'll take my sword,” Fatima said. She turned back to me. “Can I take my sword?” “As long as you don't stab the town watchmen. You'll recognize them; they're the ones asleep in the gutters.”
11. From Trapped: “Our psionics teacher says Sebastian can talk to the world: as if land, sea, and air are full of happy puppies, eager to fulfill the boy's tiniest wish. So his powers cover the whole spectrum.” “The boy talks directly to nanites? And he's headed for Niagara Falls?” Dreamsinger's voice had gone shrill.
12. From Trapped: “Has anything unusual happened today?” “No, sister, it's been some quiet. You're the first folks who weren't regulars.” “I wasn't asking about your tavern,” Impervia said, making an obvious effort not to sound snappish. “The town in general. Anything notable? Fires? Fights? Sorcerous explosions?” “No, sister, nothing like that ever happens here.” Under her breath, the Caryatid said, “The night is still young.”

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Keywords: | Wednesday | science fiction | memes | James Alan Gardner | books |
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