Futures
edited by Peter Crowther
(Victor Gollancz, £12.99, 320 pages, hardback; published 19 April
2001; contents published as four individual novellas in 2000, and published
in 2002 as two volumes of back-to-back novellas, Binary 3 and
Binary 4.)
Futures assembles new novellas by four of the top  names
in British science fiction: Stephen Baxter, the multiple award-winning
author of The Time Ships (an epic sequel to the Wells classic);
Peter Hamilton, famous for his lengthy space operas; Paul McAuley, whose
most celebrated work is the award-winning cyberpunk novel Fairyland;
and Ian McDonald, a virtuoso literary bricoleur who launched his career
with the ambitious and impressive Martian novel Desolation Road.
As editor Peter Crowther points out in his infectiously enthusiastic
introduction, these are four very different writers. Their accomplishments
testify vigorously to the broad scope of contemporary science fiction
-- as do these four new tales.
Baxter's "Reality Dust" unfolds in the same future history shared by
much of his fiction. It's a radical shift in tone, however, from his
usual blend of science and adventure to a sort of cosmic mysticism reminiscent
of Arthur C. Clarke and Olaf Stapledon. Baxter isn't totally at ease
with this style, but it's an interesting experiment.
McAuley's "Making History" is a plodding tale of political intrigue
set on an alien world. It's by far the weakest piece here.
Hamilton provides a superlatively exciting alternate history in "Watching
Trees Grow." He packs more than two centuries of history, a wealth of
intriguing technological and social speculations, and a compelling and
unusual murder mystery plot into 92 well-crafted pages.
The showstopper is McDonald's harrowing "Tendeléo's Story,"
which combines a Ballardian disaster scenario with post-colonial discourse.
The eponymous protagonist is an African girl caught between a bizarre
extraterrestrial invasion and unwanted interference from Western peacekeepers.
Deftly written, this novella is as moving as it is inventive.
As a bonus, Futures is beautifully designed -- an exceptionally
attractive example of book crafting.
Originally published, in slightly different form,
in The Montreal Gazette, Saturday, 15 September 2001.
Claude Lalumière's Fantastic Fiction
is a series of
capsule reviews first published in the Saturday Books
section of The Montreal Gazette.
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