FACT SF Reading Group

April 1999

April 6: A King of Infinite Space by Allen Steele

Eight people attended the discussion, including one we hadn't seen for several meetings. Steele's book concerns a rich young man from the 20^th Century who awakens from a cryogenic hibernation several hundred years in the future, where he tries to find a place for himself in the interplanetary civilization he discovers.

This book was the first futuristic space adventure we'd discussed all year, and we welcomed the change after several historical novels. Most of us had read Steele's work before, so we began with a discussion of his prior body of work. Generally we'd liked earlier books but not loved them, so were curious to see whether this book represented a change.

We liked the story's premise and felt that Steele's engaging narrative voice got the book off to an excellent beginning. The world building of the future society was well thought-out. Steele cleverly worked in several references to his favorite band, The Grateful Dead. Several people enjoyed seeing the spoiled rich kid forced to do manual labor to support himself financially. The futuristic gangsters who play a large part in the story were an innovate touch.

The author couldn't quite pull off some things successfully in the narrative. The protagonist is neither likable nor smart, which poses problems for a book written in first person. We have a hard time caring what happens to him. The character is so clueless that he goes through most of the book without understanding what is going on. Since he is our window into the story we are in the dark too. When a couple of characters actually sit him down in the end and explain the big truths, we feel cheated and manipulated.

We enjoyed reading a space story, and we appreciated Steele's ambition in trying challenging narrative feats. While we thought that this book was flawed, we ultimately felt that it was worth reading.

April 20: Jack Faust by Michael Swanwick

Eight people attended the discussion of Jack Faust, and one person submitted comments by e-mail. One of ArmadilloCon's co-chairs and her daughter dropped in briefly at the beginning to consult on fannish matters.

Jack Faust is a science-fictional retelling of the Faust legend, previously recorded by Marlowe and Goethe. It involves a 16^th Century scholar who makes a deal with Mephistopheles in exchange for knowledge. He uses this knowledge from a wide variety of fields (physics, math, engineering, economics, business, etc.) to gain wealth and power.

Unfortunately for our discussion, the only person who found much to like about this book was the one who'd e-mailed in comments. He liked the portrayal of human greed and ambition, which was softened by biting satirical humor. He also felt that applying 20^th Century science to the Faust legend was a thought-provoking exploration of the implications of dangerous knowledge.

The rest of us found this book disappointing. We felt that it contains a lot of skillful writing, but it does not improve over Marlowe or Goethe. All the scientific advances have little impact on the course of European society, which we found to be lazy world building. We wanted this book to be as good as Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court or deCamp's Lest Darkness Fall, but it fell far short. One person summarized the book as a "heartless literary exercise."

We appreciated Swanwick tackling such an ambitious project. We hope that his next book is a greater success.

--A. T. Campbell, III