The Prestige by Christopher Priest

It is a shame but it was my first Christopher Priest reading. Well, I'm impressed.

First of all I must say that it has been a delight to listen to this audiobook, congratulations to the narrator, Mr. Simon Vance (and of course the author, but I will say this later). I had heard a lot about this novel but really I knew little about the plot apart from the rivalry between the two magicians. Also, I have not seen the movie either, which I am told is quite different from the novel. Better this way, I can read it without preconceived ideas, something difficult in a book as well known as this one.

Cover from the Audible edition

About my reading, sorry, about my listening I can say that it has managed to captivate me from the first moment. It is not the typical novel with an intrigue that catches you but the events and how the author narrates them, with so many exquisite details about the time and particularly about the world of illusionism, immediately leave their mark on you. So I have been fascinated by the study of illusionism in itself, with a whole subculture based on perception deception; but more than that, in which the spectators collaborate without realizing it. Really impressive.

One aspect to highlight is the development of the plot. Until almost the end the author does not put his cards on the table -if I may use this prestidigitator expression-, but I must clarify that it is not a question of playing misdirection like a… illusionist; or yes, perhaps it is: so you simply must participate -as a reader- in this (literary) magic show and wait to see what the magician/author pulls out of his hat. Also there is an astonishing ending, which I have been anticipating throughout the novel (you just must read the index) but you can not imagine how it will impact you.

Needless to say, this will not be my last reading of the author.

Spaceling by Doris Piserchia

A curious novel, totally New Wave (first published in 1978).

Synopsis: Adventures and intrigues in which a 15-year-old girl finds herself involved, in a future where some humans can travel interdimensionally. In other dimensions the human body transforms into a totally different being, adapted to the new environment. For example, in a volcanic world uninhabitable for humans, the character becomes a sort of giant otter (see the hardcover edition art below).

It gets a little confusing with all the interdimensional back and forth and also for all the characters and how they come in and out of the story. At some point the story evokes or suggests to me what I assume would be an astral travel or a drug-type experience.

An interesting author, until now I had not read any of her works, but I plan to read more of hers.

Inversions (the Culture series #6) by Iain M. Banks

Inversions meets the expectations of the previous novels set in the Culture, although it presents a different situation than the one the author had accustomed us to in this series. Far from the space orbitals and the magnificent ships -and their insurmountable names-, in this case the author immerses us in a medieval world, a world closer to fantasy -although it falls within the science fiction genre as well-, a world that I would say it evokes the novels of Jack Vance.

In this imagined world, the author concocts a well-developed history of medieval intrigues and only with a few brief notes on the galactic context of Culture, to which he does not allude directly at any time. To highlight the role of women in this story and the criticism of the patriarchal environment, which makes it a very current novel.

The author passed away in 2013, leaving us with no more stories of Culture that he surely had left to tell us. We miss you very much Mr. Banks.

R.U.R. by Karel Čapek

 

On summer holidays I take the opportunity to dedicate myself to some science fiction classics that I have pending to read. I had heard so much about this theatrical play written in 1920 but this has not prevented me from being surprised in some aspects.

The first part of the book is fascinating, I think it is the most worthwhile for today's reader, the creation of robots and their function to serve humanity. This part shows a clear influence of the current of economic thought of Taylorism and in turn it can be glimpsed a criticism of the unbridled production of consumer goods that ultimately, although it would not lead to a robots revolt, would be one of the triggering factors of the Wall Street Crash of 1929.

Also noteworthy, following the aforementioned industrialist ideas of the time -for example, Taylorism had great influence on the development of the Soviet State-, the dehumanized thoughts by the managers of Rossum Universal Robots and, in contrast, the most humanitarian and secondary role, absolutely sentimental, by the only woman in the cast; although in the end these feelings become more important as a path to a future redemption... I think this female role would clearly influence the woman/robot in the novel and film Metropolis (Thea Von Harbow, Fritz Lang, 1925/1927).

About the second and third parts of the book one must accept them as they are: some dialogues seem absurd to me, or at least incomprehensible in today stardards; it looks like an acid sitcom in which humanity ends up extinguished by its own creations.

In short, a worthwhile reading, a work of great influence on science fiction, inaugurating the subgenre of robots. For example, to take into account -with the permission of Mr. Isaac Asimov and his Laws of Robotics- the magnificent development of some of the issues dealt in this book in The Humanoids (1948) by Jack Williamson.

The Universe Between by Alan E. Nourse

I love retrofuturism, so I love classic science fiction that is based on ideas that today may be considered outdated, partially or totally, or in concepts that have evolved to a different vision. A typical example is telepathy, with masterpieces like Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg or The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester. 

In the case that concerns us, the novel deals with… the fourth dimension! Well, as far as I know -I'm not a scientist- today the concept has evolved into a slightly (?) different thing, what we would call alternate realities due to quantum physics, and today -again as far as I know- the fourth dimension it is considered to be time itself. On the other hand, the idea of ​​a multiverse is still very much in vogue today, for example in superhero comics and movies/series.

About the novel itself, it is very entertaining and even with some moments of sense of wonder, and I must warn the reader about certain apparent anachronisms that are not such. So for me, this is one of the "good" classics, that is, worth reading even after seventy years (it was first published in 1951!). It should be noted that the great novel The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov, also about alternative universes and the possibility of exploiting their resources, was written twenty years later than this one.

Crash by J.G. Ballard

"I wanted to write a book in which there was nowhere to hide",’he told David Pringle in 1975. ‘I wanted the reader, once I’d got him inside the book, never to lose sight of the subject matter. As long as he continued reading he was face to face with the subject matter. It would have been easy to write a conventional book about car crashes in which it was quite clear that the author was on the side of sanity, justice and against injuring small children, deaths on the road, bad driving, etc. What could be easier? I chose to completely accept the demands of the subject matter, which was to provoke the reader by saying that car crashes are good for you, you thoroughly enjoy them, they make your sex life richer, they represent part of the marriage between sex, the human organism, and technology’." (from "Crash (English Edition)" by J. G. Ballard, Zadie Smith)

I agree with this and Crash is a great novel. The problem is that now I have changed my driving style.

The Flight of the Aphrodite by S.J. Morden

I had a great time with this novel, it is good to read hard science fiction from time to time. The Flight of the Aphrodite is a more than correct novel about discovery, although the author focuses as much or more on the characters and especially on the problems of a prolonged space travel. I have a question about the plausibility of the argument but I don't know whether to discuss it with an author who is both a rocket scientist and a planetary geologist. Please, more novels like this one!