Reviews

Reviews Editor: Liz Grzyb

 + The Journal of Professor Van Helsing  : :  Russell B. Farr
 + The Last Motel  : :  Kate Armitage
 + Eclipse  : :  Liz Grzyb
 + A Feast for Crows  : :  Lev Lafayette
 + The Fiction Factory  : :  Russell B. Farr
 + Priestess of the White  : :  Trish Farr
 + Fantasy Magazine #2  : :  Kyla Ward

Note: Click here for regular version.

The Journal of Professor Abraham Van Helsing   :   Professor Allen C. Kuepfer

Forge, 2005
ISBN: 0-765-31012-0
204 pages
RRP: AU$16.95
Review by Russell B. Farr

The Journal of Professor Abraham Van Helsing is based on one of those premises that, if done correctly, just might make a fantastic story. Kupfer begins with the assertion that, while cleaning out his deceased grandmother's abode, he stumbled upon a journal entrusted to his grandfather by Van Helsing. This journal documents the period around the time the events of Dracula unfold, as told by the vampire-slaying Professor.

The journal commences with Van Helsing in the Ukraine, where he meets Hungarian Dr Borescu and learns of vampires. Following Dr Borescu back to Hungary, near the Transylvanian border, Van Helsing has his first encounter with vampires. What follows is a bloodbath across Europe, climaxing in Persia, as Van Helsing battles the spreading plague of vampirism. At various parts of the narrative, Kupfer and his grandfather Daniel assert their presence through comments and footnotes, clarifying and adding additional voices, in a manner reminiscent of Stoker's novel.

The Journal of Professor Abraham Van Helsing is let down in many places by the narrative and in some places by a lack of research. However, my favourite passage that an editor should have picked up starts on page 73, as Van Helsing and a priest bury a vampire's head at night:

"After I had been digging for several minutes, and had achieved a hole approximately two feet in length, two feet in width, and two feet in depth, he took the spade from me and dug straight down into the earth, at least another three or four feet.... so with the sole of my boot I pushed and guided the head into the hole....
"...He muttered something, dropped the spade, knelt down before the hole, and reached inside it. I stepped forward to see what he was troubled about. Carefully, meticulously, he turned the head, which sat in the hole faceup, so that its eyes, nose, and mouth were buried in the dirt."

Has the writer ever tried digging a hole to those specifications? How long are the priest's arms? How did he manager to see the bottom of a six foot hole at night?

Later on, Van Helsing remarks about a new invention, the typewriter, however these were fairly commonplace by the time the story is set, 1886 (the QWERTY layout had been around since 1874, and commercial production of typewriters commenced in the 1870s).

Confronted by such oddities, I found it difficult to get into the novel's setting. I couldn't feel the 1880s coming off the page in any measurable way. It is this that relegates The Journal of Professor Abraham Van Helsing to a league well below the likes of Kim Newman's Anno Dracula.

For all of its flaws and inaccuracies, The Journal of Professor Abraham Van Helsing is a good read, almost in spite of itself. I spent as much time grimacing as I did wanting to know what the next page would hold in store for the unfortunate Professor. I really don't know how I derived so much pleasure from this novel; it's an inexplicably enjoyable read.

The Journal of Professor Abraham Van Helsing is available from Dymocks Online.

The Last Motel   :   Brett McBean

Biting Dog Press, 2005
ISBN: 0-9729485-3-8
276 pages
RRP: US$16.95
Review by Kate Armitage

I am not a fan of horror in any shape or form. I am the person in Silence of the Lambs who takes her glasses off so she can't see what is going on. If I had been able to read this novel without suitable visual aids I would have. However, I am quite pleased I braved the pages of The Last Motel by Brett McBean with crystal clear vision. This is despite the fact it left me feeling rather queasy in parts and looking furtively over my shoulder in others, to see who could read what I was reading and therefore jump to the conclusion that I was some sort of deviant. Believe me, this is that sort of novel.

I shan't go into the details of the plot here because with so many interlocking characters and plotlines, some of which are rather far fetched, it is too convoluted to describe. Despite some heavy handedness in this respect, for which McBean can be forgiven as a debut author, this novel still emits a chilling atmosphere from the start. The concept of multiple, apparently unrelated, characters, meeting at a motel with sinister results has a feel of the film Identity about it and the mood of this film with its dusky bleakness often came to mind. The scenes of pain and torture in this novel were far more graphic than that film however, as they often are in prose.

McBean, with his very earnest dedications and afterword, seems an unlikely mind from which the horrors of this novel spring. It is a gripping story although it is somewhat unpolished and laborious in parts. I have to say that found myself wanting to read on despite my aversion to the graphic description. However, I can assure you that should this novel ever be brought to the silver screen I shall have my glasses off from the first scene.

The Last Motel is available from Biting Dog Press.

Eclipse   :   K. A. Bedford

EDGE, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-894063-30-2
311 pages
RRP: US$14.95
Review by Liz Grzyb

Eclipse is K. A. Bedford's second novel, published by EDGE. It's already been awarded an Aurealis Award for Best Novel, even though it was only recently released in Australia. It's set in the same universe as Orbital Burn, Bedford's first novel, although significantly further in the future. I was looking forward to reading Eclipse, having enjoyed Orbital Burn, and I was not disappointed.

Eclipse is the name of the starship where most of the action takes place. After surviving the Academy, James Dunne, the protagonist, is posted to the Eclipse. The ship is setting off to the edges of explored space, ostensibly to trawl for habitable planets to expand the humans' grip on the universe. Instead, they come across a seemingly abandoned alien ship. The ship itself, a state-of-the-art vessel when originally designed, is totally eclipsed in the novel, by the bigger, better, faster ships being manufactured. It is also overshadowed by the otherness of the aliens they encounter and the vastness of unexplored space.

This appeal of this novel, similar to Orbital Burn, is mainly in the characters. The world is similar to ours in some ways, significantly different in others, but the characters are completely believable. Dunne is sympathetic and idealistic without being too much of a goody-two-shoes. He doesn't fall into the trap of some protagonists, travelling unscathed through horrific experiences, but instead he realistically loses some of his idealism in the process.

The antagonist, Ferguson, is utterly, utterly repugnant. He is a slimy, corrupt, perverted individual who takes great pleasure in tormenting our hero. He is the embodiment of the Interstellar Space Service, personifying the shady side of the Service, while still hiding behind the rules and his dress uniform.

The main female character, Sorcha, is a believable character for here and now, but her personality and Dunne's relationship with her seems somewhat out of place in Bedford's world. We are carefully informed during the exposition that equality between the sexes is an absolute joke; women are tolerated "as long as they didn't get in the way". However, Sorcha is a rebel with a penchant for activism, behaviour that seems implausible in the society we find her in. Dunne reveals that he is intimidated by her, another idea that doesn't sit well with the totally patriarchal society Bedford has created.

The other character who does not quite crystallise is Admiral Caroline Greaves. As with Sorcha, she is too independent to survive in the society she lives in. It is also suspect that she could have risen to the position of Admiral and have the influence she wields while being an agitator, albeit one working behind the scenes.

The plot is intriguing, covering themes such as aliens, the social positions of men and women, power, corruption, leadership and rape. There are some disturbing scenes and the allusions to male and female rape enough to make me flinch. The biggest flaw in the plot is the deus ex machina ending, however it follows the trend from Orbital Burn, so is relatively consistent within the universe.

Eclipse is an Australian SF novel that is well-worth a read.

Eclipse is available from EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing or Slowglass Books.

A Feast for Crows   :   George R. R. Martin

HarperCollins, 2005
ISBN: 0-00-224742-9
774 pages
RRP: AU$32.95
Review by Lev Lafayette

He is known and loved in the world of science fiction and fantasy; we all loved the Wild Cards series, right? The fan community have paid their respects and have dished out several Hugo and Nebula awards for his contributions. Clearly inspired by this, several years back George R.R. Martin started writing A Song of Fire and Ice, an enormous multi-novel fantasy series which has spawned trading card and roleplaying supplements. The most recently published A Feast for Crows is a several hundred page trade-paperback brick. It is the fourth contribution to a series that spans 8000 years of history with dozens of major characters with at least another three planned. "What can I say? It's a BIG story, and a cast of thousands," Mr. Martin remarked.

Having marched wearily through the several hundred pages, I throw my hands up in despair. Please Mr. Martin, stop. Just stop this pointless adventure in typing. Yes, the parallels shown with medieval Europe indicate a substantial degree of knowledge of the period. Yes, the complicated ties and marriages and connections between the various Houses do indeed create an setting of intrigue. Yes, there are notable parallels between the the events in War of the Roses and those in this 'epic'. Yes, the characters are somewhat realistic insofar as they are largely motivated by a complex combination of self-interest, loyalty, and principles, which is a change from the generic good versus generic evil (although it must be mentioned it certainly isn't within a medieval mode of consciousness; it belongs more to the late Renaissance). These are all useful contributions, but it doesn't change the fundamental flaw that this book in particular, and possibly the series as a whole, is simply awful to read.

As usual, the tired-old comparisons with Tolkien are brought out, just as they were with Stephan Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant and even Terry Brookes' Shannara trilogy, and as usual they are quite inappropriate, with the possible exception in this case of the utter improbability of the lay of the land. "The Green Fork" is an item of particular note. It apparently flows from a low-lying seaside swamp a significant distance southwards (no scale of course), past two towns (The Twins — one on either side of the river, see?) to exit to the ocean. In other words, it flows without gravity. Such is the magic of the land apparently.

As for the story itself, well, it's a little hard to discern at best. The book focuses on a chapter-by-chapter approach with points of view according to the narrator as indicated in the chapter title. Apparently, these characters are considered to be "non-central", or if they are major characters, acting incognito. In other words, it's a side project of characters which deals with the numerous unfinished storylines that arose in the preceding novels and new rebellions and the manic attempt to acquire power. The shifting viewpoints has become almost standard in many third-person narratives and it is worth mentioning that the novel keeps a consistent pace. The problem is however, with such radical changes to the narration and with each character considering their PoV equally important, the overall plot is lost. There are so many events, dialogues and actions that it is almost impossible, unless one wishes to be a scholar of this narrative, to work out what is incidental and what is critical.

It is impossible to recommend this novel in good faith. Even though fans of the series have waited five years for publication and apparently it has sold extremely well on this basis, it is, in a word, just awful: a murderous waste of aborean life. Resist the temptation, put it back on the shelf, and find something better. Perhaps in the future A Feast for Crows will be recognised as ironically prophetic; the crows will indeed feast on the corpus that was A Song of Fire and Ice — and this book killed it.

A Feast for Crows is available from Dymocks Online.

The Fiction Factory   :   Jack Dann (and pals)

Golden Gryphon, 2005
ISBN: 1-930846-36-3
310 pages
RRP: US$24.95
Review by Russell B. Farr

Unlike the stories in Jack Dann's rather excellent new collection from the inestimably grand folk at Golden Gryphon, this review is being written by just one person. There's no "third head" as Howard Waldrop has said about collaborations, writing this review, nothing "mysterious and magical" as Dann puts it in his introduction, just a guy in front of a computer trying to work out what the hell he's going to say about a collection of collaborations... If I was a writer cranking out a grubby apartment story, I'd write about a protagonist getting up to get a dram, but instead I just got up and now have a dram of 10 year old Glenmorangie in front of me. Now where was I?

The title is one of those ironic in-jokes the genre is full of, harking back to a period where Dann collaborated extensively with the likes of Gardner Dozois and Michael Swanwick, a frenzy of creativity that produced stories that sold to the slickest, highest paying markets of the day. I've met Jack Dann on a number of occasions, and I can't see him as part of an assembly-line putting the screws or nuts or widgets on a product as it rolled past him. Nor do the stories read like assembly-line fodder, instead combining some of the best writing by some of the best writers: this isn't a collection of Model-Ts but a garage with Aston Martins, Porches, Rolls Royces and the occasional twenty-foot limousine.

The collection opens with "Touring", with Swanwick and Dozois, a kick-your-head-in killer of a story of the sort that emerge when three exceptionally talented guys sit around bullshitting (if I was a management consultant I'd describe it as "brainstorming"). Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens die and end up on tour with Elvis and Janis Joplin. And that's it, except it's not. It's a literary masterpiece, demonstrating the ability of keen writers getting into a story and creating something special.

"Niagara Falling" and "Ships" are very dark stories. The first, "Niagara Falling" with Janeen Webb, takes the reader into a near-future world where the rich-poor divide as increased, cool technology is available for the privileged and yuppie-equivalents still suffer from boredom. Newlyweds Helen and Kostas Donoussa are no strangers to the privileged life, and choose to spend their honeymoon at the story's eponymous waterfall so the can experience a genuine, semi-controlled environment and possibly some excitement. What eventuates certainly becomes too exciting for Kostas. Dann and Webb weave an impressive vision of the future, strong characters and instill an incredibly dark sense of fucked-upness into this tale.

Next to "Ships", "Niagara Falling" is the proverbial stroll in the park; it is a dense, macabre and quite disturbing-if-you-let-it-be piece of sf. Swanwick and Dann have excelled themselves with this tale, pushing the boundaries of the genre almost to the point of, dare I say it, literature.

"High Steel" with the late Jack C. Haldeman II, is good, wholesome, old fashioned character-driven sf, right down to the zero-g setting. At the same time, Haldeman and Dann successfully instill the story with a sense of respect for Native Americans (both writers have had extensive exposure to Native American life and culture).

I found the strongest stories to be those among the middle of the collection, and "Down Among the Dead Men" is no exception. A story idea waiting to be written but requiring the right, warped minds to do the task well, this story can be summed up as "the Jewish vampire in a concentration camp" and the right collaborator on this one was Gardner Dozois. It's a controversial story centring on the question of identity, and exceptionally well crafted.

When you get a bunch of like-minded writer-guys together, namely Messrs Dann, Swanwick and Dozois, and add alcohol, a story like "A Change in the Weather" is eventually inevitable. A pun, and not a great one at that.

"Yellowhead" demonstrates clearly the knack collaborations have for extending writers. Written with George Zebrowski, it exudes a separate style to those collaborations involving Dozois and/or Swanwick which, while quite different, seem to have a similar sense of conveying the idea. "Yellowhead" oozes style and radiates language, and is really about New York's subway system. It is an amazing piece of work.

"Slow Dancing with Jesus", once more written with Dozois, is a densely packed four-page charmer about an unpopular girl going to the prom. It should be used as an example in teaching writers about their craft. There's not a word out of place and it concludes with an amazing emotional punch.

Again, those good folk at Golden Gryphon have produced an impressive looking, extraordinary reading collection. Their excellent hard covers look and feel exactly like books should look and feel, and deserve much praise, respect and filthy lucre for their work. The cover art, by J. K Potter is immediately intriguing, and both sets and captures the tone of the collection impressively, with the smoke of ideas billowing out of chimney hats like a deranged, Victorian-equivalent of Devo. This is expanded on the back cover, bringing in colour and additional intricacies of design.

Jack Dann is an enviably talented writer, at times without peer in the genre through possessing a uniquely well-developed sense of style. On his own he has produced a treasure bag of notable quality works, both short and long. The Fiction Factory collects 18 amazing examples of how talented Dann can be when he gets by with a little help of some equally talented friends. Every story is different, yet each is an unfettered ride through the combined headspaces of writers of the highest calibre. Buy it, own it, read it.

The Fiction Factory is available from Golden Gryphon or Slowglass Books.

Priestess of the White   :   Trudi Canavan

HarperCollins, 2005
ISBN: 0-7322-7869-4
622 pages
RRP: AU$19.95
Review by Trish Farr

Five mortals chosen by the five gods to rule and maintain order in the lands are know as "the White". Once chosen as a "White", the gods bestow upon them immortality and magical powers.

The story is centred around Auraya, a young woman who hails from a small village and is chosen as the fifth and youngest of the White. Whilst growing up Auraya forms a close friendship with Leiard, a Dreamweaver (healer) from her village. Leiard introduces Auraya to Dreamweaver teachings. Dreamweavers are magical healers who are despised and mistrusted, they are considered to be soulless heathens who do not worship the gods.

Reports are received from outlying villages a group of mysterious and powerful dark sorcerers dressed in black who are wreaking death and destruction. These powerful dark sorcerers claim to worship the only real gods. Auraya is given the task of trying to build alliances with outlying lands as the black clad sorcerers gather their forces for a battle with the White. With Auraya sealing two alliances, the Pentadrians and the White face off in battle.

After reading the novel I was somewhat disappointed with Trudi Canavan's latest offering. The Black Magician trilogy I read in record time and thoroughly enjoyed, so I had high expectations for Priestess of the White. Priestess was a tough read for the first few chapters. Canavan succeeds well in creating a complex new world of mythical lands, creatures and characters. I especially liked her creation of the world of the Siyee; this was very well done.

The similarities between Auraya's character and Sonea from the Black Magician trilogy was a bit too close for my liking to the point where it felt like a Black Magician hangover. In both novels the female characters become romantically involved with their teacher/father figures and Canavan's descriptions in the battle scene were also a bit too similar. The romance and affair between Auraya and Leiard I don't think lent anything whatsoever to the story, and lacked relevance.

That said, I will still be on the lookout for Book Two in the hopes that more is learnt of the Pentadrians and the story is resurrected to Canavan's previous high standards.

Priestess of the White is available from Dymocks Online.

Fantasy Magazine #2   :   Sean Wallace (ed.)

Prime Books, Wildside Press, 2006
112 pages
RRP: US$10 (postpaid)
Review by Kyla Ward

I read the first issue of Fantasy Magazine, and a good read it was: 112 pages of pretty much solid reality-twisting, sliding off into horror and SF around the edges. The first issue of a magazine has to take a stand, saying "I am a fresh concept in short fiction! I promise you (in this case) the best and most exciting contemporary fantasy!" The second issue has to make good the promise — perhaps an unfair burden, but the reader can scarcely avoid drawing conclusions at this point about range, quality, and what she may reasonably expect. Fantasy offers a pretty broad field, but there is the Prime imprint to go by, and patterns have a way of forming.

To my mind, this is the issue of Lost Children. Of the thirteen stories, six involve children adrift or estranged, from parents and/or the world, endangered, dying or dead. The opener, "Nine Tails, Hundred Hearts", by Yoon Ha Lee, is an elegant extrapolation from Chinese/Japanese mythology which stands completely on its own, even if the hero is an orphan.

The centrepiece is Theodora Goss's novella, "Lessons With Miss Grey". Featuring a work by the subject of the issue's interview can only be encouraged, especially when it's as good as this. In 1890s America, five girls undertake to study witchcraft, little dreaming how a summer's diversion will shape the rest of their lives. The writing is truly beautiful, in contrast with the evil, racist and otherwise, underlying this small town. It is interesting to contrast it with "It's Against the Law to Feed the Ducks" by Paul Tremblay, another portrait of a threatened town as seen through the eyes of a child.

For the rest, there is certainly variety of setting and style. I enjoyed Lavi Tidhar's "Children of the Revolution" for what would seem to be the author's memories of an appalling trip to Moscow. As in Issue #1, there is mythology and psychology, a certain amount of experimental work and varying comfort zones. I was less impressed with some stories than others, especially once I hit on the child-motif and could compare them directly, but "The Sphinx and Ernest Hemingway" by Wade Ogletree and Caitlin Kiernan's "Madonna Littoralis" are both stand-out fantasies, taking their material into uncharted territory. "Madonna Littoralis" in particular, is exquisitely crafted, as might be anticipated from the author of Silk and Murder of Angels.

But to my mind, the highlight of the issue is not so much fantasy as an interrogation of ideas of fantasy and reality. For "The Novel of the Holocaust", what the reading public takes as the reality of his war-torn childhood is his fantasy, a glamour cast over a thousand, thousand unsatisfactory details. With the adaptation of the book into a film, another layer of fantasy is being added, and even if he wants to protest, how is this possible? This is one of those rare short stories that truly defies its length — it contains a universe in a nutshell, and one we all know at that. The inclusion of this superb piece demonstrates the willingness of Sean Wallace, as editor, to defy any expectations apart from those of a good read. And in a second issue, I think that's a damn good sign.

Fantasy Magazine is available direct from Wildside Press, Prime Books and in Australia through Cat Sparks.