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Reading Rescue, June 2012: A Summer of Science Fiction and Fantasy
 By
Anne Allen
It is hard for us to believe, but the idea of writing
the "Reading Rescue" column was born seven years ago. Back in 2005, the
library was encouraged to have a monthly article in the Penn-Trafford
News and this is the result. What we've always tried to do is
recommend materials (typically books or films) that are readily
available at the library, that we believe will inform, stimulate or
entertain our readers. Old or new, popular or undiscovered, our mission
has been to highlight items that have interested us and, we hope, will
do the same for you.
If this is a month to reflect on unbelievable things, it
must be time to take a look at the science fiction and fantasy books
that have intrigued us lately. We've recommended Connie Willis before,
but she's a writer we're happy to mention again, especially her Nebula
and Hugo award winning time travel books. In 2060 Oxford, graduate
students in history are encouraged to literally visit their periods of
interest, using the time travel network. These historians are assured
their actions cannot affect the past or the future, so they are free to
interact and observe at will. In Blackout and its follow-up
All Clear, Merope Ward, Polly Churchill, and Michael Davies are all
headed back to World War II. There have been some glitches recently with
the time travel apparatus and questions about the time travelers'
influence on events, but none of them is willing to delay their
departure. The trouble begins when Michael, who was headed for Pearl
Harbor, finds himself at Dunkirk, in time to assist with the evacuation.
Merope is in the English countryside, working with city schoolchildren
who have been sent there for safety, and Polly has chosen to observe
London shop girls during the Blitz. As the three find that their escape
portals back to 2060 are closed and no rescue teams appear, they have to
wonder if they are truly stuck in the past. Willis has done extensive
research on England during the Blitz and has crafted an amazing story.
From amateur plays staged in the London Underground to scenes at
Bletchley Park (the code breakers!), the Dunkirk heroics, V1 and V2
bombs, you are sure to be enthralled. A word of warning: expect tears at
the end!
Our next choice, China Mieville's science fiction novel,
Embassytown, is a 2012 nominee for both the Hugo and Nebula
awards. Set in the future, on the planet Arieka, Avice Cho Banner has
grown up in Embassytown. The Hosts (the indigenous inhabitants) have
provided this place for the representatives of the planet Bremen, where
humans and other alien races can survive in a hostile environment (air
they can breathe and food they can eat is provided). The Ariekei are not
humanoid and, in fact, they possess two mouths and use both
simultaneously when speaking. Another difference is their inability to
verbalize anything that has not happened (lying is impossible for them).
Avice interacts with them as a young girl, when a strange man, Bren,
approaches her with a request from the Hosts. Years later, after a
career spent navigating in deep space, Avice returns to Arieka with her
language scholar husband, just in time to witness the arrival of a new
ambassador from Bremen. Mieville has a great time playing with language,
as it is used to obfuscate, to communicate, to enthrall, but what truly
stands out with this book is the reader's inability to predict where it
is going. Surprise is piled upon twist, with disasters and triumphs in
store. Be warned that there is some graphic violence and disturbing
images.
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi is classified as
a young adult book, but don't let that prevent you from reading it. Set
in a future where the coastal cities have been destroyed by hurricanes,
Nailer Lopez and his crew survive by tearing down the old ship hulks in
the Gulf Coast. Nailer is small enough to clamber through the guts of
the ships, searching for copper wiring and other salvageable items,
pushing to meet his quota every day. After a storm sweeps through the
settlement, Nailer and his friend Pima discover a beautiful clipper ship
capsized nearby. Loaded with food and valuables, the ship is the "lucky
strike" they all dream of, the find that will make them rich. But there
is a problem: custom demands that wrecked ships be either abandoned or
have no survivors before they can be plundered. And there is a survivor
on the Wind Witch, a young girl named Nita. With vivid characters such
as Nailer's crazed father Richard, the half-man Tool (augmented with
genes from dog, hyena and tiger), and Sloth who is willing to abandon a
mate to death for personal gain, Bacigalupi depicts a society on the
verge of collapse. Nailer himself has to decide where his loyalties lie
and what constitutes family. Is it his surrogate sister Pima and her
mother, his drug addict father, or the rich girl, Nita Patel, who is
trying to stay alive and return to her own family? Fast-paced, dark, and
compelling, this is a book that will stay with you!
Mark your calendars for the Friends of the Library's
next used book sale. It is scheduled for July 27 and 28, during regular
library hours. Donations are welcomed! Miss Pat is busily planning the
Summer Reading program. This year's theme is "Dream Big" and, as always,
there are lots of fun events in store.
View other Reading Rescue articles
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