"Darkchild" by Sydney J. Van Scyoc (1982)

"Yet this boy stood beside her in flesh of bronze, studying her with eyes as black as the stone of her mother's throne.  Threatened by the mystery of him, she pushed her sleeve down.  'I know you came in a ship,' she said sharply.  'I've heard of ships before.'"

Sydney J. Van Scyoc, like the recently discussed Michael Bishop, was an American science fiction writer who passed away last year.  She wrote short stories during the 60s and 70s, and moved into novels during the late 70s and early 80s.  One gets the impression from her Wikipedia entry that science fiction was something she did for fun, and that her main source of income was the jewelry she made in San Francisco.

Like the recently reviewed Eyes of Fire, Darkchild is another book centered around both a clone and the idea of extrasensory perception.  In the case of Darkchild this clone is a juvenile visitor deposited on a very medieval world, a planet replete with queens, castles and magical beings.

Unlike Eyes of Fire, which is a more anthropological take on alien civilizations, Darkchild is a more introspective affair, focused on the inner conflicts of a modest number of characters.  At the forefront of the narrative is Khira, a young princess in line for her mother's throne.  In the course of a lonely winter Khira meets the titular Darkchild, a clone sent to her world on a surveillance mission.  There's also Khadura, Khira's telepathic grandmother, who helps Darkchild understand his mysterious past.

The interplay between Khira and Darkchild reminded me a bit of Wuthering Heights, but this isn't to say that the novel is derivative in any way.  It's a surprisingly well written book by an author I was previously unfamiliar with, and I enjoyed its various twists and turns.  It's rare to find a science fiction novel this inward-looking, and a more "feminine" take on the genre was very welcome.  It's not a perfect book, but I think it was very, very well done.

I only have two issues with the story, these being the use of "magic" as a plot device and Khira's state of indecision throughout the book.  The inclusion of magic halfway through the novel in some ways undermines the scientific basis upon which it proceeds, and Khira's extreme moodiness throughout her and Darkchild's adventures grows a bit tiresome.  Sure, she's 12 and a certain level of moodiness is to be expected, but toning this aspect of her personality down would have made her easier to empathize with.

But these are small complaints.  If you can locate a copy of Darkchild I highly recommend it.  It's a thoroughly conceived novel that holds up well.  It would, for that matter, make a good movie.

I'll be moving on to Cloudcry, another book by the same author, after this one.  If it's even half as good as Darkchild I'm sure I'll enjoy it.

Related Entries:

"Eyes of Fire" by Michael Bishop (1980)

"Frontera" by Lewis Shiner (1984)

"Redshirts" by John Scalzi (2012)

"The Ministry for the Future" by Kim Stanley Robinson (2020)

"Eyes of Fire" by Michael Bishop (1980)

"Gaidu's eyes bejewel the darkness of my dream, but still she keeps her peace, letting Mwezahbe accuse and chastise."

Michael Bishop, an American author of science fiction, passed away last year.  He won the Nebula Award twice, and was also nominated for several Locus and Hugo awards.  Eyes of Fire was one of his "anthropological science fiction" novels, of which he wrote many between the late 70s and early 80s.  He was never that famous within his chosen genre, but he is and was regarded as extremely influential.

In Eyes of Fire a human clone living on an alien world is sent as an envoy to a mysterious civilization several light years distant.  Throughout the course of his mission several cultures come into conflict, and in the midst of their squabbles he comes to question both the nature of his employment and his own identity.

It's a floridly written novel that brought Frank Herbert's Dune series to mind, though comparisons between Herbert's books and Eyes of Fire are not always to Eyes of Fire's disadvantage.  Frank Herbert was probably a better editor of his own work, more able to cut a story down to its essential elements, while Michael Bishop shows more facility with his characters.  Herbert was better able to "cut to the chase," while Bishop was better with personalities.

Overall I think Eyes of Fire is a good early effort by an author who probably wrote better books later in his career.  It's burdened with a lot of backstory -- the kind of backstory that Frank Herbert would have reduced to "aphorisms" in his more effective novels -- but I can't fault it in terms of plot, pacing and characterization.  Readers less devoted to science fiction will probably find its opening chapters somewhat obtuse and turgid, but if you can get through these early chapters the larger narrative and its attendant "twist" are both rewarding.

Related Entries:

"Frontera" by Lewis Shiner (1984)

"Redshirts" by John Scalzi (2012)

"The Ministry for the Future" by Kim Stanley Robinson (2020)

The Alien Franchise

"Frontera" by Lewis Shiner (1984)

"Kane raised his hands, palm out.  'Truce,' he said.  'As far as I knew, we were only coming here to sift through the ruins.  Nobody's even told Morgan that there's anybody alive up here yet.'  He gave in to a yawn.  'Besides, we're not really in any condition to overthrow your way of life.'"

 

Lewis Shiner is an American writer of science fiction.  Frontera was his first book.  He went on to write several other novels and short stories, many of which have been described as cyberpunk.

 

In Frontera a group of Terrans journey to Mars in search of what they assume is an abandoned colony, finding instead a secret worth a great deal to the corporation responsible for their mission.

 

In terms of plot it's pretty standard given the genre.  Abandoned (or seemingly abandoned) colony, "one last mission" for part of or all of the crew, rumblings of some kind of superweapon based on a newly discovered technology, female crew members and sexual tension, etc., etc., etc.  

 

While reading Frontera I was reminded of Kim Stanley Robinson's Green Mars, another book which details the workings of a Martian colony, and also Andy Weir's Artemis, which traverses similar territory.  Robinson's book offers a more insightful look at what terraforming the Martian surface might involve, while Artemis is a more detailed take on how how a Martian colony might work.

 

This said, the two issues I had with Frontera weren't that Robinson and Weir covered similar ground more effectively, my two issues were with how the story was told.

 

1. Characterization

 

The biggest problem with this book is its characters.  They're all badly drawn and their actions don't always accord with who they are.  You've got a guy whose apparent goal is a suicide mission to another part of the galaxy, another guy who's only interested in advancing his corporate career at others' expense, a third guy who's inexplicably "Japanese," and an assortment of female characters who only seem to exist for the sake of sexual liaisons with the male characters.  None of these characters' various motivations are explained to anyone's satisfaction, and their character arcs are far from complete.  The worst example of this problem is "Curtis," the leader of the colony, who seems more a generic bad guy than an actual person.  He's only present in the story to give other characters reasons for their heroic sacrifices, nothing more.

 

2. Narrative Structure 

 

The story moves backwards and forwards in time, and also switches between several characters' points of view.  This facet of the novel is fairly standard stuff, but most of the backward motion (i.e. the backstory) takes place in the first half of the book, making it hard to tell when a particular event is taking place.  The switches between characters only exacerbates this issue, particularly with respect to "Reese" and "Kane," two characters who are extremely similar.

 

Layered over all of the above is a mythological discourse informed by Kane's mental conditioning.  The dreams or hallucinations he experiences really needed their own chapters, if for no other reason than to minimize confusion.

 

Taking into account the problems with characterization, narrative structure and Kane's personal mythology discussed here, truly addressing all of Frontera's issues should have resulted in a book twice as long.  This hypothetical Frontera would have been, I think, a much stronger story, full of interesting twists and turns.  But apparently no one at Baen Enterprises, the book's publisher, saw it this way, and the result is a novel I struggled to finish from the very first chapter.

 

This isn't to say, however, that I think Lewis Shiner is a bad writer.  Despite its glaring flaws, there are a couple interesting passages in Frontera, even if these passages, like everything else in the book, could have been expanded upon further. 

 

Related Entries: 

 

"Redshirts" by John Scalzi (2012)

"The Ministry for the Future" by Kim Stanley Robinson (2020)

"The Wanderer" by Fritz Leiber (1964)

"Driftglass" by Samuel R. Delany (1971)

Some Other Movies From 2023 (2)

Most of these movies are the awards winners from last year, minus Oppenheimer and Barbie, which were reviewed in the Some Other Movies From 2023 entry.  I'll list some of the awards they received under each title, though this entry is far from comprehensive.

 

 

Excellent

 

1. Rustin

 

(Somewhat) closeted homosexual and civil rights leader Bayard Rustin helps organize the March on Washington.  Colman Domingo's portrayal of Rustin deserved the praise it received, but what really sold this movie for me was how successfully it showcases Martin Luther King Jr.'s magnetism.  Up to this point several films have attempted to use King as a character, but their interpretations usually come up short.

2. Perfect Days 

Cannes - Best Actor, Prize of the Ecumenical Jury

The life and times of a janitor living in Tokyo.  Perfect Days is a very understated movie from director Wim Wenders, but the awards buzz it generated makes perfect sense.

This movie will remind you how "stuck in the 90s" Japan is technology-wise.  I've visited various parts of that country, and yeah, this part of the movie feels very accurate.

3. Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie 

BAFTA - Best Documentary

Documentary on Michael J. Fox's struggles with Parkinson's.  The director, Davis Guggenheim, has been doing quality work for a while now, and the subject of this movie is very candid about both his condition and how it's played into his personal circumstances.

Fun Fact: Davis Guggenheim is married to actress Elisabeth Shue.  Shue appeared alongside Micheal J. Fox in Back to the Future Part III.

4. American Fiction 

BAFTA - Best Adapted Screenplay, Academy Awards - Best Adapted Screenplay

Jeffrey Wright: one of my all-time favorite actors.  He's in Rustin (above) for a bit, but it's in American Fiction that he really shines.

This film offers something of a running commentary on what it means to be a black writer in America, and also how expectations with regard to the Black Experience often fall short of the reality.  On one level there's the author Jeffrey Wright plays throughout the course of the film, and on another level there's the author he's pretending to be.  On the whole it's a clever and involving story, and I take my hat off to Cord Jefferson, the writer of the screenplay.

5. Ferrari

Enzo Ferrari stakes the future of his company on the outcome of a single race.  And no, it's not the race featured at the end of Ford vs. Ferrari, though the two movies do share some of the same characters and events.

Ferrari is a Michael Mann film, so yeah, it's not likely to disappoint.  Adam Driver is masterful in the lead role, and Penelope Cruz is also excellent as his scheming wife.  It's possible that some dismissed this movie after Driver's performance in House of Gucci, but Ferrari is another kind of film altogether.

And keep your eyes peeled for Patrick Dempsey.  He all but vanishes into his role in this movie.

 

Fun Fact: Before Driver's casting Christian Bale and later Hugh Jackman were set to star in this film.

 

6. The Iron Claw

 

Four wrestling brothers seek their domineering father's approval.  Zac Efron is excellent in this movie, and it's a much less derivative take on the oft-explored world of professional wrestling. 

7. The Zone of Interest 

Academy Awards - Best International Feature Film, Best Sound, BAFTA - Best Sound, Cannes - Grand Prix, FIPRESCI Prize, Soundtrack Award, CST Artist-Technician Award

Domestic Bliss outside the walls of Auschwitz.  That scene with the flowers... damn.  I heartily approve of the Oscar for Best Sound.  This film also won many other awards and deserved them all.

I haven't seen 2004's Birth, but Jonathan Glazer's other two films, Sexy Beast and Under the Skin, are worth seeing.

 

Weird and Worth Watching

1. Dream Scenario

Nicholas Cage mysteriously appears in people's dreams and the results, for him at least, are disastrous.  Dream Scenario is in some ways the kind of movie that Infinity Pool (below) is trying to be.  Both movies aim for a certain surrealism, but where Infinity Pool attempts to distract the viewer from a weak premise with sex, violence and "body horror," Dream Scenario communicates its ideas without resorting to such tricks.  Anyone who enjoyed Cage in Adaptation will also enjoy Dream Scenario.

2. May December

I swear Julianne Moore is the queen of unsettling, depressing movies.  In this one she stars alongside Natalie Portman as a woman romantically involved with a MUCH younger man, and in director Todd Haynes' hands both of their performances lead to a predictably disturbing conclusion.  I particularly enjoyed the soundtrack, which keeps everything slightly off-kilter.

 

A Rough Watch, but In a Class by Itself

1. 20 Days in Mariupol 

Academy Awards - Best Documentary Feature Film

Documentary on the Russian siege of Mariupol, a city on the Ukrainian coast.  Given the conditions in which it was filmed, it's not fair to judge this film with respect to editing, camerawork and the like, but suffice to say it's a difficult if powerful hour and a half.

 

Some Good Ones

 

1. Jules

An extraterrestrial befriends a circle of senior citizens.  The great Ben Kingsley heads up this effort, with Jane Curtin (!) and Harriet Sansom Harris as his two friends.  It doesn't go anywhere that 1985's Cocoon hasn't been already, but it's a cute movie full of engaging performances.

2. Knox Goes Away

Michael Keaton directed and starred in this film about a hitman facing a rapid decline in cognition.  The critical response was muted, but I think it's a well put-together movie that builds to a satisfying conclusion.  The exchanges between Keaton's and James Marsden's characters are -- if you'll excuse the slight pun -- very memorable.

 

3. The Holdovers 

Academy Awards - Best Supporting Actress, Golden Globe - Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress

 

A young man "held over" at a boarding school comes to terms with his past with the help of his eccentric teacher.

 

...what, not "Excellent?"  I dunno, I found some of the dialogue in this film somewhat anachronistic.  It's pitch perfect in terms of characterization, yes, but I'm not sure that it fits into the time period.   I'm still a big fan of both Alexander Payne and Paul Giamatti, but I wouldn't put this movie on the same level as Nebraska, Sideways or About Schmidt.

But hey, it was nominated for five Academy Awards and won one of them, so feel free to disagree with me.

4. Killers of the Flower Moon 

Golden Globe - Best Actress

The Osage Nation finds itself at the mercy of outsiders seeking oil money.  It has a great opening sequence, great performances, and a memorable ending, but at 3+ hours it's a big ask.  Lily Gladstone deserved her Best Actress win, but I walked away from this film wishing it had been shorter and more to the point.

5. Anatomy of a Fall 

Cannes - Palm d'Or, Palm Dog Award, Golden Globe - Best Picture - Non-English Language, Best Screenplay, BAFTA - Best Screenplay, Academy Awards - Best Original Screenplay

I'm completely mystified by the French criminal justice system.  The Santa Claus robes, the conversational approach to cross-examination, the treatment of witnesses... it's all very foreign to me.

In Anatomy of a Fall a woman is tried for the murder (or at least manslaughter) of her husband, and the result is a debate over truth vs. the perception thereof.  It's a well executed film that tackles some big ideas, but I wasn't entirely convinced by the son character.  It could be that French children are more mature than the kinds of kids I've taught in junior high school, and it could be that French law works differently with respect to juvenile witnesses, but I found his testimony and the way in which he arrives at this testimony more frustrating than believable.

Sandra Huller, the star of this movie, also stars as the domineering housewife in The Zone of Interest above.

6. Society of the Snow

Mmm... people meat!

In Society of the Snow a Uruguayan rugby team struggles to survive after a crash in the Andes.  It's a good film, but DAMN it's depressing.  The event which inspired this film has inspired several other feature films and documentaries, but I think it's safe to say that Society of the Snow will remain the authoritative version for some time.

 

Not Bad, Just Not My Thing

 

1. The Color Purple

 

Rustin's Colman Domingo again, this time as Celie's abusive husband.  It's a good movie, but I liked the original more.  Watching people burst into song after a woman's been forced to give up the child she had by her father is jarring to say the least. 

This might be the most-nominated movie of 2023.  It didn't win any of the big awards, but it sure was nominated a lot.

 

Uh...?

1. Infinity Pool

Things take a turn for the weird after several tourists encounter a foreign country's criminal justice system.  Brandon Cronenberg directed this one, with Alexander Skarsgard starring as a man in deep, deep trouble.

 

A Bad One

 

1. The Family Plan

Road Trip!  Ex-"government assassin" Mark Wahlberg takes his family to Vegas by car after his cover is blown.  Even relative to other action/comedy movies, pivotal scenes in The Family Plan are incredibly contrived, to the extent that it's all but impossible to focus on this film past its initial five minutes.  It was probably intended as a mashup of True Lies and National Lampoon's Vacation, though The Family Plan falls far, far short of either movie.

 

Related Entries: 

 

Still More 60s Movies

Still More 70s Movies 2

Still More 70s Movies

Some Other Movies From 2024

Three Books by Two Bass Players

Exhibit A: Geezer Butler's Into the Void (2023), about the Black Sabbath bassist's career up until his retirement.

 

Exhibit B: Geddy Lee's My Effin' Life (2023), about the Rush bassist's career up until his retirement.

 

Exhibit C: Geddy Lee's Big Beautiful Book of Bass (2018), which I'm not going to read, but which I did flip through.

As far as the two autobiographies go, they follow similar trajectories.  They start with the obligatory "growing up" chapters, and from there progress to early influences, learning how to play, early bands, the formation of their (most famous) band, building up a name for themselves, early domestic tours, fame in America, early international tours, and finally to the various factors which led to the end of their best known musical collaborations.

Geezer's story starts much earlier than Geddy's, in the wilds of Birmingham, England, after the Second World War.  He discusses his early life as an Irish immigrant living in England.  He reminisces over attendance at various concerts.  He talks about the formation of Black Sabbath and their various lineups over the years.  There are a couple (?) typos in Geezer's account, but overall it's very readable.  While reading it I often felt like an old friend was telling me what he'd been up to for the past several decades.

Lee's book hearkens back to the Holocaust, and his family's experiences in Poland prior to their immigration to Canada.  His book is a much deeper dive, involving as it does questions of identity, philosophical speculations, and a much wider discussion of people he crossed paths with during Rush's 40-year career.  As you might expect, the closing chapters of Lee's (much longer) book are more somber, relating the last years of drummer Neil Peart's life and his personal tragedies.  While I ended Geezer's book wishing I could buy him a beer, Lee's book left me feeling that he'd be fun to talk to, but not as fun to talk to as Geezer.

Some of my opinions on these two books, by the way, might have something to do with my attitude toward each of the two bands they represent.  I still listen to and love most of the Sabbath albums, whereas I don't listen to Rush nearly as much as I used to.

Even though Rush was, for what it's worth, the first band I genuinely liked.  The first two cassette tapes I ever bought were purchased in the Warrenton, Oregon Fred Meyer, and these two cassette tapes were Rush's first album and Power Windows (back when it was their newest release).  Rush was my gateway to the entirety of rock music, and for this reason I will be forever thankful to them.  This said, I can only really listen to their first album now.  In 2024 I do find a lot of their songs (and especially their lyrics) pretentious, even if I heartily admire all three of them (especially Alex Lifeson) as musicians.

As I get older (I'm 49 now), I suppose I just prefer my rock music free of "big messages."  A rock singer trying to impart the meaning of life?  No thanks, I'll pass.  A rock singer "talking" about banging chicks, doing drugs and SATAN?  Yeah sure, why not?  

 

My feelings about Rush in this regard are similar to my feelings about Iron Maiden.  I used to like the "depth" both bands offered, but in 2024 I'd rather they just wrote songs about realer, more immediate things.  Less philosophizing, and more raw emotion.

This aside, I genuinely enjoyed both books and learned a lot from them.  The Big Beautiful Book of Bass, for that matter, is also fun to thumb through, but I'm not enough of a bass player (or collector) to want to read it cover to cover.

Related Entries:

"Me" by Elton John (2019)

Albums That Changed My Life 10: Everything Else

Albums That Changed My Life 10: The Late 90s

Albums That Changed My Life 9: Other Alternative Bands

Albums That Changed My Life 8: Grunge and the Seattle Sound

Albums That Changed My Life 7: "Rust in Peace" and Other Thrash Albums