A quick note about the technical difficulties I’ve been having of late. Again, server problems. All fixed now.
BOOKS.
I recently read Perdido Street Station by China Mieville (2000). A dark, surreal, sci-fi fantasy. One of the liner notes suggests it’s a hybrid of Blade Runner and the London of Charles Dickens. Equal parts epic post-apocolyptic quest, disturbing gothic horror, and sentimental love story. There are robots and cyborgs, and all sorts of advanced gadgets and weaponry – and also medieval magic and alchemy – and coal-powered engines, and steam-driven machines. The main character is a brilliant and eccentric scientist, who is given an unexpected task when an alien being seeks him out. Excellent. This was an example of a book I literally couldn’t put down.
Another one I just finished is The White Bone by Barbara Gowdy (1998). This is the story of several extended families of African elephants, and their desperate struggles to survive both a severe drought and the brutal attacks of human poachers. Ultimately they’re searching for a safe, green place, a sort of mythical promised land. It’s all told from the elephants’ point of view, in particular the perspectives of a few gifted and far-ranging individuals. A detailed, sometimes tragic, and completely believable look at pachyderm culture, rituals, and social roles and relationships. I found this a little harder to get into, at first, which may be due to the invented language and terminology, etc. Regardless, it was worth the effort.