More Books: The Alchemist and The Executioness, The Third Bear

First, I finished The God Engines last night. I had some questions about some things that Scalzi did with his narrative (namely never revealing whether the “rooks”–think “companions” in Firefly–are male or female – he used no pronouns and no revealing gender-specific body parts during a somewhat graphic sex scene), and it was quite dark, but I enjoyed it and it made me think. Recommended.

The Alchemist and the Executioness: This is not on the pile of books, as it’s Audible-only, but it’s worth a mention. I’ve been looking forward to this novella set since I heard about it, and it’s not disappointing at all. I interviewed Tobias Buckell and Paolo Bacigalupi about it so you’ll hear from them on a later podcast. But I am well into it, and it’s amazing. They both are excellent storytellers, and while I enjoy the beautiful worlds they create, and the fantastic job the narrators do, I feel a slight despair that I’ll never be that good.

This is two interwoven novellas, The Alchemist written by Bacigalupi and The Executioness written by Buckell. (From Audible:) It is a world where magic is forbidden – yet practiced in secret every day. But each small act of magic exacts a dreadful price – for it brings the bramble, which chokes farmland, destroys villages, and kills with its deadly thorns. In this world, an alchemist believes he’s found a solution to the curse. But will the cure be worse than the disease? And a woman is forced to take up the mantle of her father, the Executioner. But it will not be the only death that she faces.

I’m not done yet, but I am always looking for the next opportunity when I can listen-it’s not for kids, but mostly because it’s a grown-up story, not because of sex, bad words, or violence (yet) – although the Executioness’ first execution is rather graphic. I am starting to think that a master storyteller is one who can make you care about anything. Most fantasy writers think that they need to put a HUGE threat such as a dragon or an evil wizard in their books, but it’s the true master who can bring forth the threat of a malevolent thorny bush and make us care. Interestingly, often the dragon or the evil wizard is a higher class trouble, while the bramble touches everyone, affects everyone, and is harder to kill than one dragon or one wizard. (Of course, I live in the US South, and we watch kudzu choke our vegetation at a rate of one foot a day, so even though bramble is much more dangerous, I can relate.) Recommended.

Jeff VanderMeer is a magnificent, surreal fantasy writer. The Third Bear is his latest short story collection. I haven’t had a chance to dive in yet, but knowing what I know of his work, I won’t be ignoring this one. From Tachyon: Highlights include “The Situation,” in which a beleaguered office worker creates a child-swallowing manta-ray to be used for educational purposes (once described as Dilbert meets Gormenghast); “Three Days in a Border Town,” where a sharpshooter seeks the truth about her husband in an elusive floating City beyond a far-future horizon; “Errata,” following an oddly-familiar writer who has marshaled a penguin, a shaman, and two pearl-handled pistols with which to plot the end of the world. Also included are two stories original to this collection, including “The Quickening,” in which a lonely child is torn between familial obligation and a wounded talking rabbit.

Chimerical and hypnotic, VanderMeer leads readers through the postmodern into a new literature of the imagination.