Iceworld by Hal Clement

First published in 1953

Iceworld is a clever story, constructed in a clever fashion. The first chapter leaves the impression that the reader is reading about human explorers in an alien solar system until Clement reveals that the explorers are in fact aliens who are observing Earth. Although that revelation comes so soon that discussing it here won't ruin your enjoyment of the story, I'll refrain from revealing anything else about the plot except to explain that the aliens are on a trade mission, supplying precious metals to a happy human in exchange for a surprising product. Suffice it to say that this is an offbeat and intelligent story, one that depends on thought rather than mindless action -- although there is some pulse-pounding (but nonviolent) action toward the novel's end. Given the glut of novels about interstellar war, it's nice to look back on a novel that imagined alien and human interaction where the species weren't trying to kill each other.

Iceworld was published in 1953, when science fiction was still associated with a sense of wonder. In some ways, the story is surprisingly sophisticated; in others, it is a bit naïve. The naiveté shows in Hal Clement's depiction of alien personalities. His aliens, in thought and behavior, are virtually indistinguishable from humans. This is a forgivable sin, however, because the story's charm derives from that very fact: the conflict between a greedy alien trader and a noble alien scientist is recognizable to its human audience precisely because greed and nobility are human traits. Maybe Clement imagined those to be universal traits, likely to be present in any intelligent species, and maybe they are. In any event, Iceworld is a fun, smart story about aliens who have some of the same problems as humans, despite their vastly different biochemistry.

RECOMMENDED

Bangkok Haunts by John Burdett

First published in 2007

In Bangkok Haunts, we learn that before Sonchai Jitpleecheep married Chanya (a central character in Bangkok Tattoo), he was in love with another of the sex workers employed in his mother's bar, an alluring woman named Damrong. After leaving Jitpleecheep, Damrong ended up starring in a snuff film, her first and last role. Jitpleecheep's investigation of her death leads him to powerful bankers, impoverished villagers, and a Buddhist monk. The investigation is complicated by Damrong's sexually adventurous ghost. (If you haven't read one of these books, this probably sounds like a reason not to, but trust me, it all makes sense in the context of the story.) As Jitpleecheep learns more about Damrong, he realizes that karma will exact a price for the ecstatic days he spent with her, oblivious to her painful past. Eventually he learns more about Damrong, and about himself, than he really wants to know.

Of John Burdett's first three Bangkok novels, Bangkok 8 remains my favorite, but this one is a close second. The plot is less twisty than the first two stories. I appreciate the simplicity because in Bangkok Haunts the story never gets in the way of the characters. And the character of Jitpleecheep is amazing: a complex, burdened man, always conflicted, always battling personal and cultural ghosts, always striving for growth, yet always funny, gracious, endearing, and very human. Some reviewers at this site criticize Burdett's depiction of Buddhism or of the Thai people in these books, but to me the novels are all about Jitpleecheep -- and whether he resembles other half-Thai, half farang Buddhists matters not; he is who he is. Reading about his life and struggles and adventures and fears is inevitably enlightening, amusing, and richly entertaining.

A word of caution: in addition to the usual sex scenes that populate Burdett's Bangkok novels, Bangkok Haunts deals with a certain sexual taboo in a nonjudgmental, even accepting manner. While that approach is true to the novel's theme and to Jitpleecheep's character, it might bother those readers who perceive the failure to condemn such behavior as a sign of moral weakness. Fans of the series, however, are likely to understand the point Jitpleecheep is making about the influence of poverty and horrific parenting upon sexual behavior, and will thus understand the absence of harsh judgment.

Bangkok Haunts blends humor and tragedy into a powerful, compassionate, haunting story. The ending is wild.

RECOMMENDED

The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark

 

First published in 1940

Some readers dislike The Ox-Bow Incident because they expect to find the elements of a traditional western -- morally pure heroes defeating evil outlaws in gunfights -- and are disappointed by their absence. The Ox-Bow Incident does not follow that formula. It is a novel about good (and not so good) men who do an evil thing, men who succumb to a mob mentality, who (in today's language) fear being seen as "soft on crime" and take the law into their collective hands to assure "justice." The novel is in large part a condemnation of vigilantism that, while set in the past, remains relevant to the modern world.

One of the characters in The Ox-Bow Incident complains that "law, as the books have it, is slow and full of holes." The current version of that complaint holds that "criminals have all the rights." People who utter those words forget that those rights protect the innocent from undeserved punishment. The Ox-Bow Incident reminds us that the rights conferred by law do not hinder justice; they are an indispensible component of justice. The men (and one woman) in The Ox-Bow Incident who arrogantly or blindly decide to dispense with the law because "it is slow and full of holes" learn that the law, while imperfect, is more capable of achieving justice than men handing out punishments on their own authority.

Yet The Ox-Bow Incident is more than a condemnation of vigilantism. It's also a psychological study. A reviewer here complained that the plot was too obvious, but this isn't a whodunit or a mystery. The novel isn't so much about what the men do as why they do it. Clark reveals the minds of characters who are afraid to show emotion, who connect with others only in very superficial ways. Most of the characters are constantly worrying about how they look to their peers, always ready to start a fight to defend their honor against the slightest affront to their manhood. They live in dread of their own feelings and are afraid to speak out against injustice if doing so might make them seem weak. 

While some readers find them boring, the novel's philosophical discussions are its strength. Clark didn't settle for a simplistic view of the Wild West that pits good men against evil-doers. The characters are a mixture of good and bad; even when they are basically good, they commit "sins of omission" by failing to stand up for their beliefs. One of the characters likens the posse to a wolf pack, none of its members willing to think independently for fear of being perceived as a lesser man than the rest. Other characters debate the nature of justice. One talks about how much easier it is to have physical courage than moral courage. The narrator (Croft) and another character (Sparks) wonder whether vengeance is God's work or man's.

The Ox-Bow Incident asks compelling and fundamental questions about the individual's role in society. On top of that, it's a well written story. Look elsewhere if you want to read a traditional western, but pick up The Ox-Bow Incident if you want to read an entertaining and thought-provoking novel that has something important to say about human nature.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

The Moscow Club by Joseph Finder

Published by Viking on February 1, 1991

The Moscow Club is Joseph Finder's first novel. It is the work of a writer who hasn't yet mastered his craft. Finder's writing style too often depends on clichéd expressions: a house of cards falls, a character knows something like the back of his hand, and secrecy is for the birds. Chase scenes read like descriptions of the chases in bad television shows. Sex scenes are sophomoric. When those flaws aren't cropping up, however, Finder's style is fluid, making the novel easy to read.

The plot resembles a generic Ludlum conspiracy: the good guy learns something he isn't supposed to know, the bad guys try to kill him, and as the good guy works to save himself by learning the whole truth, everyone who helps him dies. The characters are undistinguished, lacking in personality; Finder spends little time trying to make them interesting. For the most part, the story is credible, although the main character pulls off some James Bond style gymnastics that don't fit well with the novel's general identity, as if Finder is trying to be Ludlum and Fleming and Le Carre all at once.

Setting aside those criticisms, I recommend The Moscow Club to fans of espionage thrillers. The intricate plot is logically consistent, the pace (while a bit erratic) gains velocity as the novel progresses, and the interweaving of Russian and Soviet history adds interest to the story. While much of the plot is predictable, the novel is never boring and Finder rewards the diligent reader with a nice surprise at the end. The Moscow Club is an uneven but worthy first effort by a writer who sharpened his skills in later novels.

RECOMMENDED

Stable Strategies and Others by Eileen Gunn

Published by Tachyon Publications on September 1, 2004

I found Stable Strategies and Others after reading the story "Contact" in the anthology Proteus: Voices for the 80's. The story was so superior to the others in the collection that I decided to look for other works by Eileen Gunn. Stable Strategies and Others is what I found, and all that I found in book form. She does have some other stories, available to read at no charge, on her website.

Stable Strategies and Others collects Gunn's stories through the date of the book's publication in 2004. It also includes a short introduction by Gunn's friend and fellow sf writer William Gibson; a short poetic ode to Gunn by Michael Swanwick; and an afterward by Howard Waldrop. Gunn follows each story with a brief description of its origin.

Gunn shows her amazing range in these stories. Some are wildly funny. The Hugo-nominated "Stable Strategies for Middle Management" is reminiscent of Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" with a comic twist: the narrator wakes up with certain attributes of an insect courtesy of a bioengineering experiment designed to make employees into "a more useful corporate organism." In the alternate history described in "Fellow Americans," Richard Nixon is a game show host, Geraldo is "a respected PBS commentator," and former President Goldwater ... well, you can guess how that turned out. Gunn's uncanny ability to write in Nixon's voice is spooky. To find humor in a bleak future where children grow up to have very close relationships with computer networks or don't grow up at all, Gunn wrote the Hugo-nominated "Computer Friendly" from the perspective of a precocious child. In Gunn's first commercially published story, "What Are Friends For?," alien invaders investigate porn.

Two stories are deeply moving. "Coming to Terms" examines death through the post-it notes the deceased left behind. "Contact" is a beautiful story about first contact with a bird-like alien who is preparing to die.

Two stories are co-authored. "Nirvana High," written with Leslie What, is a funny yet poignant look at the paranormal students attending the Kurt Cobain Magnet School. Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, and computer whiz Grace Hopper all star (L. Sprague de Camp appears in a cameo role) in "Green Fire," written with Andy Duncan, Pat Murphy, and Michael Swanwick. The story begins as an alternate history taking place aboard a naval vessel during World War II before morphing into a tale of time/space/dimensional travel that brings the crew face to face with Quetzalcoatl. That story alone is worth the price of the book.

Gunn's other stories are harder to categorize. "The Sock Story" is "the story of a woman who lost her sock at the laundromat and discovered it contained part of her soul." A girl named Lichen learns how to change a world that has been altered by carp-eyed creatures in "Lichen and Rock." The least successful story, "Spring Conditions," is a horror story that might make you think twice about cross-country skiing. Gunn also included a deconstructed, politically correct recipe for fruit crisp; it's not sf and not a story so I'm not sure what to make of it, but it's amusing.

This is a first-rate collection by one of sf's masters of the short story. I recommend it not only to sf fans, but to fans of quality writing.

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