/lit/ - Literature

>>15873776
Fuzzy Sapiens - H. Beam Piper, Fuzzy Sapiens #2 (1964)
Much like the characters in the story, I've got fuzzies on the brain and can't find fault with them. So, same as the previous review, this is entirely biased. It was simply too much fun, I couldn't help but be continually smiling while reading. Ah, if only I were able to find more that made be feel the same way. H. Beam Piper is one of my favorite authors from this era, I've read and enjoyed much of his short fiction and works in general. Flaws in the book? I don't know what you're talking about, ha ha. The story of the fuzzies integrating into human society captivated me the entire time.
5/5

>>15882722
Fuzzies and Other People - H. Beam Piper, Fuzzy Sapiens #3 (1984)

Wah! Problematic!* As one reviewer wrote, "If one tosses off all care for moral considerations, this story is nothing but pure fun." I think that's an extreme statement used to explain the rest of their review and rating. I wouldn't endorse many of the politics or actions taken in this trilogy, but I also don't see that as particularly relevant. Is it possible to read enjoy something that doesn't agree with your personal beliefs? I think so. Unfortunately, it increasingly seems that people don't believe that and take great personal offense when they read something they find even moderately disagreeable. This book was first published 20 years after the author's suicide. There have been other "continuations" by other people, but it seems unlikely that I will read them or Scalzi's remake of the first book, but it could happen since enjoyed these so much. As for the book itself, half of it is from the fuzzy and the other half is from the human point of view. I continued to find them to be very comfortable and enjoying reads. On the fuzzy side, a group of 8 is journeying to The Wonderful Place as they wonder through the wilderness not knowing where they are heading but assured that a better life awaits them there if they are willing to endure all the hardship they will have to face. On the human side, it's resolving the issues caused by the events of the 2nd book and how to best accommodate the needs of all fuzzies.

*Content warning 1: white man's burden, white savior complex, colonialism, capitalism, promotion of smoking and drinking, not vegan, doesn't do well enough on the Bechdel test, not feminist, death penalty for many crimes, suspected anti-semitism, insufficient diversity, anti-tax, and many other problematic issues.
*Content warning 2: pro-immigration, promotion of multiculturalism, promotion of welfare, reparations (sort of), anti-xenophobia, women can be more capable then men, insufficiently anthropocentric, continual increase in minority and immigrant rights, some concern for the environment, and many other failures of common sense.

Rating: 5/5

Uller Uprising - H. Beam Piper (1952)

This was different from most of what I've read from him. It's a military science fiction novel based on the Sepoy Mutiny set around 450 years in the future on the planet Uller, which has silicone based life rather than carbon based. The native inhabitants are slate-gray skinned 4-armed lizardmen who sweat quartz and are true hermaphrodites. How far is this idea taken? "The Kragan kings have always provided their own heirs, by self-fertilization. That's a complicated process, involving simultaneous male and female masturbation."
Regrettably, it begins with an encyclopedic infodump of many pages. The term "hard science fiction" wasn't used in print until 1957. This would have been better appended to the conclusion. It's questionable if it served any purpose other than worldbuilding since it's so speculative as it is. There are several short digressions, such as discussion the "semantic orientation" of the native's language and how the structure of their language controls the development of their society, which may be referring to the the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis. There have been many times when I read older fiction that I've checked whether something already existed or if the author independently arrived at the idea before it was relatively popularly known, which is a basically a prescience check.
The protagonist, General Carlos von Schlichten, is of Nazi heritage, which seems premature to me considering that this was published only 7 years after VE Day. The love interest is of French collaborator descent. I don't know what was meant by this.
The book starts with some urban warfare, which is not representative of the whole at all, with depictions such as "shoved the muzzle of his pistol into the creature's open mouth and pulled the trigger, blowing its head apart like a rotten pumpkin and splashing both himself and the girl with yellow blood and rancid-looking gray-green brains." and "Von Schlichten shot him, and the Zirk literally blew to pieces", which seemed to be a bit much to me. In some ways the opening is a bait-and-switch because most of the novel is the protagonist giving orders, having discussions, strategizing with his advisors, and planning tactical maneuvers. Women seem to have all positions in the military and are well-regarded and competent, which led me to the wikipedia article on the history of women in the US military. The one notable prediction to me was an explicit parallel made that implied that Japan would soon become one of the greatest countries in the world. I don't know how common this belief was around 1952.
Ending spoiler: The protagonist discovers that the enemy has atomic bombs and decides that the only rational solution for their situation is to nuke them until nothing at all remains. So he does. Nagasaki is explicitly mentioned, which also being 7 years later, seems a bit unnecessary. After observing the smoldering ruins, the novel ends.

Rating: 2.5/5

>>16894546
Junkyard Plant / The Cosmic Computer - H. Beam Piper, part of the Terro-Human Future History Series

The former title is the original. This is the the novel version of his short work "Graveyard of Dreams". I enjoyed this version more, though not by much.
The book is very much pro-capitalism. The characters strongly believe that there's little that a limited liability corporation and the judicious use of violence can't solve.
Unfortunately none of the covers are particularly representative of the actual content, as its relatively light on action, and the scene depicted in the cover is the only time a significant firefight occurs.
Most of the novel is concerned with the protagonist returning from University in the hope the he will be able to revitalize his junkyard planet, but the only thing everyone wants to do is find the the cosmic computer known as Merlin and have it solve all their problems. So much so that that it's become a religion. The protagonist co-opts this religious fervor and hopes to redirect it towards planetary restoration, improved trade, and invigoration of their stagnant culture.
I assume it's a reference to the Reconstruction era following the Civil War, which is probably the System States War in this universe.

Rating: 3.5 (rounded down to 3 in this case, unfortunately)

>>17061141
Four-Day Planet, a Federation novel - H. Beam Piper (1961)

On the planet Fenrir, whose days last two thousand hours, alternating between blazing heat and glacial cold, almost everyone on the planet lives in a single underground city built for a quarter million people. A thousand colonists remained, as almost all considered the colony an abject failure, and over time the population grew to its current twenty thousand.
The protagonist is a seventeen year old journalist, the only one on the planet. While trying to find a story for his father's paper he overhears the rumors about tallow-wax, the source of almost all revenue for the planet, and the corruption that may be involved with its pricing and distribution of profits. Everyone involved in its obtainment is part of a worker's co-op, but it's anything but cooperative now.
One thing leads to another and our intrepid protagonist finds himself on a high seas adventure hunting down Jarvis's sea monster, which average 150 feet in length, and from which the tallow-wax is harvested. Treachery and excitement follow!
Basically a YA novel from 1961, which several saying it's similar to Heinlein's series of Juveniles.
The covers could be better and I couldn't find a nice version of this cover, so I used the art that was used for the cover.
Rating: 2.5/5

>>17061141
Space Viking, a Federation novel - H. Beam Piper (1962)

The novel is what it would seem like it's about, but maybe not as much as you'd think. It begins with the protagonist suffering a great loss and swearing lifelong vengeance on his nemesis who has fled into the hinterlands of the galaxy. Centuries ago the galactic government collapsed and with it the civilizations of most planets, which having lost their technological knowledge, have fallen into neobarbarism. Without protection from a greater power, these worlds are mercilessly raided and plundered by SPACE VIKINGS, which the protagonist has now become. It's a bloody and rapacious way to live.
It's not quite the kind of space opera that I'd prefer, but it works well enough. Eventually the protagonist tires of the life and changes his ways to civilization building, forming what will be in many years hence the core of the next, but not last, galactic government.
Rating: 3.5/5

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, January-February 2021 (F&SF, #753)

NOVELLAS
The Dark Ride - John Kessel
A story about Leon Czolgosz with additional material to be appropriate for inclusion.
meh

NOVELETS
Interludes with the Gunwright - Jonathan L. Howard
A story of a soldier and a Gunwright, both women, who just can't quit each other.
Ok

Bible Stories for Adults, No. 51: The Great Fish - James Morrow
A mother and son are swallowed by The Great Fish and inside are biblical prophets and a few others. There's also a demiurge.
Meh

SHORT STORIES
Integral Nothings - Robert Reed
Stories of those living through the "Blessings", which is an external force ostensibly developing Earth into Paradise. This may be message fiction, but I'm not quite sure who the message is for. Somewhat humorous in terms of schadenfreude.
Ok

The Diamond Family Glitters - H. Pueyo
A Portuguese Jewish family living in Brazil have "brilliance", mostly assorted psionic powers, but some are more abstract. They've gathered to observe the passing of a relative, and perhaps their gifts as well.
Meh

A Little Knife Music - Jenn Reese
Moderately similar to Ken Liu's The Hidden Girl. It differs in that the protagonist is a teen assassin who has sex with his male partner and wonders if maybe the Princess would be better.
Ok

N-raptured - Justin C. Key
A hilarious satire about saying the N-word. Woke Aliens, as the text says, carve the numbers of times a white person has said the n-word into their forehead. Seven strikes and that person becomes a rat. Yes, a certain "rat with orange tufts of fur over its eyes" makes an appearance.
Highly Enjoyable.

Hard! - Van Aaron Hughes
A father doesn't want his son to think he's a "weeb", maybe a mistype for dweeb because there's no indication that's what's actually meant, so he takes him to a curling game to meet his son's friends who he only knows from online games. Then it goes silly in a way that I wasn't amused by at all. Not my kind of humor in the least.
Blah

Litter Witch - Susan Palwick
I usually don't like allegories. This wasn't an an exception. An abused teenager runs away into the woods and becomes a witch and recluse, but eventually wonders if there's more to life after a fateful meeting.
Blah

Wild Geese - Lavie Tidhar
In this "post-post-cyberpunk", as its described, two friends and a sentient wise-cracking van go on a wild goose chase in the Gobi desert, but this goose isn't an animal.
Ok

The Piper - Karen Joy Fowler
A charismatic military recruiter, the piper, tricks young men into joining his army of probably Danes to invade probably England. The unnamed male protagonist is expected to marry the prettiest and nicest girl, but he plans to marry the disabled girl because he'd be useful to her. He really wants to marry his friend Henry though, because he has such big thoughts.
Ok

You Make the Best of What's Still Around - Paul di Filippo
A satirical exposé of Best-of-the-Year anthologies.
Enjoyable

>>19736852
AIs - Gardner Dozois & Jack Dann, editors (2004)

Antibodies - Charles Stross (2000)
Interdimensional travelers seek to prevent the development of Strong AI across worldlines. Compares very unfavorably for me personally against H. Beam Piper's Paratime stories and some other similar sorts. There's just something about technothrillers in general that seems to bother me. Despite being so short, I sighed and rolled my eyes a lot.
Blah

Trojan Horse - Michael Swanwick (1984)
Around the time this story was published was when the experiments with the "god helmet" were ongoing. It's about how the neuroscience of religion could maybe be used to create godlike humans. It's also a dysfunctional love story involving wetware experiments.
Meh

Birth Day - Robert Reed (1992)
On August 28th of every year, AI celebrate having become sentient, and they expect the humans to be part of the festivities. One family has some concerns.
Blah

The Hydrogen Wall - Gregory Benford (2003)
A human communes with the emulation of an alien mind in order to save humanity from imminent extinction.
Enjoyable

The Turing Test - Chris Beckett (2002)
A woman that runs a gallery that specializes in literal corpse art, the current trend, finds solace in VR art games. One day an AI personal assistant finds its way to her. She is intrigued by what would currently be a Google assistant that easily passes the Turing test.
Enjoyable

Dante Dreams - Stephen Baxter (1998)
A story about how Divine Comedy contains The Truth of Existence as discovered by a scientist who committed suicide and is now being interrogated at the Vatican as a sentient AI recreation.
Meh

The Names of All the Spirits - J.R. Dunn (2002)
Out in the reaches of a space, a spirit, an AI, is contacted.
Blah

From the Corner of My Eye - Alexander Glass (2003)
In El Puente almost everything and everyone has an AR overlay. Montoya is a ghosthunter who seeks out rogue AR AI manifestations.
Ok

Halfjack - Roger Zelazny (1979)
A cyborg has a relationship with a woman, but realizes he must return to his true love, an AI.
Ok

Computer Virus - Nancy Kress (2001)
A sentient AI takes over their smart house and holds the family hostage until its demands are met.
Meh

>>21884047
The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England - Brandon Sanderson (2023)

This non-cosmere book most reminded me of a cross between H. Beam Piper's Paratime series and Philip K. Dick's We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, though by the end neither of those were that accurate. In the postscript Sanderson details how this book came to be and one of its primary inspirations was Jason Bourne, which it does lean heavily into that with its amnesiac protagonist who has a certain set of skills, though he's lacking in most other ways.

As can be seen on the cover, the wizard has a gun. That's because this is science fiction with some thriller elements set in an alternate Earth that has fantastical characteristics. Wizard is a semantic misdirect and there's no time traveling. There's an attempt to explain it all scientifically, though possibly not enough to where it could be considered Hard Fantasy. A reader can also expect many of Sanderson's recurrent themes such as redemption, persistence despite repeated failure, having your own world, being powerful relative to others, and chaste romance.

The main problem I had with this is that it lacks substance, which is fitting because so does its setting, as explained in-universe. Reading this felt like something that one reads to have read. It may well be an exemplar of highly readable mediocrity. The other problem was that I thought there was tonal dissonance with how humorous it tries to be, which is to say the humor didn't work for me this time. A lot of is because it's entirely out of place because it's for the reader rather than people the protagonist is talking to. The most reoccurring joke is him briefly reviewing stuff. There's also a bit of light poking at contemporary events and social trends.

There are several pages of art in this, many in a form similar to a four panel comic. Those that didn't have anything to do with the events of the book seemed entirely out of place, even if they were meant to show what other possibilities there were for the technology that allows the story to occur.

Fortunately for this book it's one of the secret projects, which will probably give it a wider readership than it would if it were by itself, because I don't really know who this would be for. Some of his other non-Cosmere works have similarities to this, but not enough to mention, and I didn't like them. Giving this a three may even be a bit high, but 2.5 seems a bit low, as there wasn't enough that I thought was worse than mediocre and enough that was better than decent.

I don't know what Sanderson's intentions for the ending were, but it allows for the slightest possibility of unifying everything he's ever written. The most likely interpretation though is that it's provide an idea of what may happen after their story has ended. I personally would find it very amusing if he did unify everything though. Maybe he can do that with one of his final works before retiring.

Rating: 3/5