Wed 1 Apr 2015
A Science Fiction Review: ANN AGUIRRE – Wanderlust.
Posted by Steve under Reviews , Science Fiction & Fantasy[12] Comments
ANN AGUIRRE – Wanderlust. Ace, paperback original; 1st printing, September 2008.
I have no idea why I started this, the second in a six book series, before reading the first one, Grimspace, but somehow that is exactly what I managed to do. It didn’t seem to matter, though. Whatever I didn’t understand in terms of what happened in the first one, I ignored and plunged blithely on, and enjoyed myself immensely, surprisingly so.
The leading protagonist throughout the series is a “jumper” named Sirantha Jax, but she’s not alone in her adventures. She has a entire crew of fellow shipmates, each of whom has their own identity and individual contributions to the cause. Allow me to be sketchy on the details, but March, her lover, is a telepath who is always politely in her head, but is left behind partway through this adventure. Others include an genetically enhanced fighter; an alien who wears the skin of a human; an mechanic who may also be an heiress; and another pilot, female, who joins them midway through this one, about the same time March is left behind.
It seems as though Sirantha is the focal point of trouble wherever she goes — and that’s Trouble with a capital T. In Book One, she was responsible for bringing down the Farwan Corporation, which had ruled known space for quite some time, and thus putting the Conglomerate in control. At the beginning of Book Two (this one), they appoint her as ambassador to a planet that is making hints of leaving the Conglomerate.
I have the feeling that the six books are all one long novel, and this is Chapter Two. It begins at Point A, as just described, and continues to Point B, the planet to which Sirantha is sent on her way.
And in between? All kinds of captures and narrow escapes: landing on a emergency space station controlled by vicious man-eating aliens; being trapped in the middle of a civil war on their next port of call, initiated by their own arrival; and being held prisoner by the Syndicate, a science-fictional version of the Mob which thrives on chaos in the galaxy, not peaceful co-existence between worlds.
Sirantha Jax tells her own story in a delightfully sassy and punkish sort of way. Again the details don’t matter all that much. What’s fun is the reading of what’s otherwise a good old-fashioned space opera/romance, gritty but without all of the military trappings so many authors think I’m interested in. I’m not.
PS. A jumper is a space pilot who plugs her mind into the ship’s controls to help guide it through grimspace, an ability that also seems to be killing her in this adventure.
The Sirantha Jax series —
1. Grimspace (2008)
2. Wanderlust (2008)
3. Doubleblind (2009)
4. Killbox (2010)
5. Aftermath (2011)
6. Endgame (2012)
April 1st, 2015 at 9:10 pm
My secret is while I enjoy serious SF, I love space opera. Give me Anderson and Flandry anytime over most to the genre’s literary lights. The rebirth of space opera has produced some remarkable writers, certainly among the Brits, Alistair Reynolds, Neal Asher, David Zindell, the late Iain Banks, Peter Hamilton, and so on, and this sounds like yet another I need to check out.
Back the space ship up to the back door, I’ll be there as soon as I can find my jet pack and old Flash Gordon ray gun.
April 1st, 2015 at 10:20 pm
As much as I’ve tried over the years, most of Poul Anderson’s books bore me. There always comes a time, it seems, especially in his later books, when the characters start telling each other things they should already know. The only purpose is to convey a lot of technical information to the reader in as much time as it takes. Whenever that happens, the story always comes to a full dead stop until the infodump is done, and so am I.
One of the things I liked most about WANDERLUST is that Aguirre told the story as if it were taking place now, with all of the technical things assumed to be everyday items, or parked under the hood where nobody but a qualified mechanic or computer geek would have any need to look. Nothing but action, repartee and camaraderie in this one, plus of course a soupçon of romance, just enough.
Of the other authors you mention, I love Iain Banks’ books. They have a sense of wonder to them unsurpassed by any other SF author I know about. Unfortunately his books are so thick that I make my way only a third of way through them before I forget to pick them back up one evening and then they sit there collecting dust on my night table from that point on for weeks on end.
April 1st, 2015 at 11:12 pm
Reynolds is great. Another Brit worth looking into is Charles Stross. He has good ideas (but unfortunately also a habit of writing in present tense, for which I have a severe distaste).
Steve, I’m impressed by the breadth as well as the scope of your reading!
April 1st, 2015 at 11:56 pm
I’ve been meaning to give Reynolds a try and in fact have stocked up on a handful of his books, but so far that’s far as I’ve gone. Maybe your recommendation added to David V’s will actually prompt me to do something about it.
And I appreciate your followup comment, but as much as I read, I feel like a piker, compared to a sizable group of friends, many of whom contribute substantially to this blog, and I think everybody knows who they are.
April 2nd, 2015 at 6:26 am
Alastair, not Alistair, in case you’re going to look up his books.
April 2nd, 2015 at 7:21 am
Steve
Try CENTURY RAIN, a dimension hopping, time traveling apocalyptic SF thriller by Reynolds part of which takes place in a Paris trapped in the late 50’s early sixties with two jazz musicians who sub as private detectives.
Not his best book, but maybe the best introduction for readers of this blog.
I don’t mention American space opera because it is, sad to say, all military neocon crap badly imitating Gordon Dickson, Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven — not to mention STAR TREK and Horatio Hornblower. You are better off to go back and read Chandler’s Rim novels or Star Trek novelizations than wade through these thinly disguised polemicals. If they were better writers I wouldn’t mind (I didn’t with Heinlien, Dickson, Niven, Anderson, and Pournelle), but John Ringo and his ilk are no Anderson, Dickson, or Niven and their science is as half baked as their politics.
90& is published by Baen if that gives you a hint, whose chief contribution to the genre in recent years has been reprinting people like Keith Laumer and Leigh Brackett. Most of their new works are unreadable regardless of their politics.
Re Anderson you are certainly right about the later books, but I’m thinking more the early van Rijn , and David Falkayn books and the Flandry’s up through ENSIGN FLANDRY not to mention books like the delightful OPERATION CHAOS and fantasy like THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS and HIGH CRUSADE. Those books are short, concise, imaginative, move with great speed, and offer often near poetic writing. If nothing else I hope you read the Hoka stories with Dickson, among the best SF/Fantasy humor since the heyday of the UNKNOWN writers.
But later Anderson like later Heinlien is only for us die hards.
April 2nd, 2015 at 9:05 am
I’ve had a copy of Reynolds’ CENTURY RAIN ever since you reviewed here on this blog almost five years ago:
https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=2014
I just haven’t gotten to it. Sometimes I need a nudge, and this is one of those times.
I agree with you about Baen books. Wonderful reprints, turgid and unappealing original stuff.
April 2nd, 2015 at 9:05 am
Jeff, Comment #5
Thanks for the correction!
April 3rd, 2015 at 8:06 am
Like David V. I’m a big fan of space opera. He’s right about Alastair Reynolds. While I like CENTURY RAIN, it’s a very long book. I usually recommend a much shorter Alastair Reynolds’ book, THE PREFECT, as a place to start. If you don’t like THE PREFECT, you won’t like Reynolds’ 500+ page books.
April 3rd, 2015 at 12:38 pm
Next time I’m in Barnes & Noble I’ll take a few minutes to take a look through whatever books by Reynolds they might have. Not necessarily to buy, but browsing is free — and I do have a 20% off coupon that could come in handy.
April 3rd, 2015 at 5:03 pm
Jeff,
Yes, thank for correcting me on that.
Steve,
THE PREFECT is good too, I only suggested RAIN because of the mystery/private eye angle.
If you like Banks, Reynolds and Neal Asher offer the same wide ranging imagination and true sense of wonder as well as even better science in Reynolds case. On top of that Reynolds and Asher are much easier to read than Banks (I love his work including his mainstream novels —- have to review CANAL DREAMS here someday — but he is not an easy writer by any means)in terms of accessibility.
In some ways they are to space opera what Chandler and Hammett were to the hard boiled novel. Certainly the revolution in space opera the Brits have brought about is the most interesting thing to happen in that genre since E.E. ‘Doc’ Smith set Richard Seaton skylarking through the stars.
April 3rd, 2015 at 9:53 pm
Barnes and Noble didn’t have copies of THE PREFECT, which I don’t have. They only had ones I do have or were well over an inch thick. No need any more to buy books I’m unlikely to read when I have several thousand on hand that I bought specifically to read and never have.
Not yet, anyway.