I just got back from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Club at my local Borders. This month we've been reading Dark Space by Marianne de Pierres. Of the five of us there this month, we were unanimous. This exchange opened the discussion:

"Not got a lot to say about this"
"Is it four letters and start with 'c'?"
"No, starts with 's' and has 4 letters"

From there we launched into a bitchfest about why this was not just a bad book but a truly awful atrocity on literature.

Be warned, here be spoilers.

For me, it started on page one with the quote that adorns this post - "Gluttoned with knowingness." 'Gluttoned' I could let past if it wasn't for that god-awful travesty of 'knowingness'.

So, where do you go from page one? Well, we can continue with the awful language theme. She litters supposedly Italian words all over the book (some sound more Spanish than Italian) which she hopes illustrate the culture she's wanting to portray. Errr.... not so much. The most common Italian word she uses is "familia" which has, in the English language, got connotations of the Mafia. Is the culture she presents based on the Mafia? Errr... not so much - it's aristocrats and nobles vs commoners.

Part way through the book I described it to a friend as trying to do political intrigue but have one major disadvantage - it isn't Dune. But oh, how she tried - the desert planet which is the only place a particular desirable mineral can be found is called 'Arakis'... wait... no... 'ARALDIS'.

And then there was the parallel stories. which part way through the book she reveals aren't actually parallel - they're consecutive. The "twist" had no real purpose. It wasn't needed. The only thing it added was a bitter feeling. That's not something I want when reading a book.

Then there was the world building.

Oh, and how can I forget the characters. From the guy who gets hard at the idea of a desert planet (and everything else) to the other guy who gets hard from carrying an injured alien (which he is incredibly predjudiced against) and later rapes someone else despite professing a love for the alien. Then there are the women who seemingly only exist to show the world.

And what an unbelieveable world it is. It's got aspects of Handmaid's Tale (women are pretty much completely subservient - so much so that the men decide when the woman will be fertilised. The only role that women have is childcare. Even when the Baronessa is leading the women it's all about protecting the baby she rescued from her sister's semi-illicit orphanage.

This is a society which has uprooted itself to this newly bought desert planet within the last few generations. They relied on one of the lesser noble familia to pilot their biggest, partly sentient/organic ships which they have now completely sidelined and downsized to the point where there are only two left.

Then we can look at the logic. When planning an invasion of planet by guerilla tactics and I was looking at unleashing a load of violent creatures onto a desert planet, my first thought would not be to look for a creature that normally lives in the sea and has to be modified into something which sounds like a beetle/scorpion cross breed.
I struggled to find the enthusiasm to read this book. I just didn't care about the characters. I couldn't believe the world building. The logic was completely devoid of... logic. It was just awful.

Alex
x x ( )

The premise: Baronessa Mira Fedor is on the run after she learns that her innate, inborn talent to fly ships (really? ANOTHER ONE? What IS it with women writers and this particular device?***). Her flight finds her in the middle of a planetary invasion, one that she isn't prepared to stop, not by a longshot.

My Rating

Wish I'd Borrowed It: it's not quite a waste of time, but I understand why, at least as of now, the book hasn't been cleared for American audiences. The characterization, especially of the heroine, was a far cry from believable, let alone practical, and I'm not sure how many US readers would be able to parse through all the Italian mumbo-jumbo. Not that I have any disrespect for the language--I was an opera singer once, and Italian was my favorite to sing in. I just don't like how de Pierres is using it to build her culture and its language. It's clumsy and annoying, and only distances the non-Italian speaking reader more. And for readers who like strong heroines in their SF, don't be fooled by the cover. Just put the book down and back away slowly. I promise, you won't regret it.

The full review, which contains rather ranty spoilers, may be found in my LJ. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome.

REVIEW: Marianne de Pierres' DARK SPACE

*** = Not that I haven't enjoyed the ones I've read. But I never paid attention to this plot device until someone told me how overused it was when Grimspace was released, and then I realized that Catherine Asaro uses it, as does Kristin Landon, and now I see it everywhere. Every time I consider an SF written by a woman, it uses this device. So you have my permission: if I EVER resort to this device in my own writing, please shoot me. No offense to those wonderful writers who USE the device: I'm just tired of seeing it and at this point in my reading, I'm finding it a cliched convention. ( )

A mining planet mission from God?

This book sets up a series, and is initially told from the point of view of several characters, not all of whom intersect as yet (shades of Peter F. Hamilton without the spider killing size).

Based on an Italian descended mining planet (yes, rest assured, in the far future you will still be able to get your tortellini fix).

1) One female aristocrat with the genes for ship piloting.

2) One male aristocrat heir-in-waiting to running the place, in the doghouse, but his dad wants him to take the abilities of 1) above.

In space

3) One wastrel party boy who made money from finding a big scary space entity, and

4) One avatar priest of a big scary space entity.

The situation on the planet goes to hell as outside interests move in, for some reason, using dumb but tough alien shock troops. There are hints of conspiracies on the planet, mostly involving the distaff, of which there may be more than one faction. This includes an aunt of 2) dealing with 4).

Very obviously a continuing story, so don't get it if you want a standalone.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2007/08... ( )

Loved this book! The action doesn't let up for a second, but there are still plenty of characters to identify with and cheer for as the death toll mounts.

There's some big conspiracy going on, but when God's involved, it would have to be big... ( )