Jonathan Strahan (editor), Eclipse One (Night Shade Books, 2007)
Eclipse One: New Science Fiction and Fantasy is the first of what seems planned as an ongoing series of genre stories collected yearly by editor Jonathan Strahan. In his introduction, Strahan says that over past years, during his reading and sorting for various "year's best" anthologies (The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, for example), he's become increasingly interested in compiling his own anthology series. He writes, "A number of anthologies are being published at the moment that follow a theme, support a manifesto, or attempt to hark back to some grand moment in the history of science fiction and fantasy; anthologies that . . . have some stated purpose beyond simply delivering a selection of great stories. That wasn't what I wanted to do."
Forget for a moment that the above sounds, well, rather like a manifesto. Concentrate instead on the distilled essence anyone picking up this collection might reasonably expect to find in these particular pages: great stories, and science fiction and fantasy. Greatness, obviously, is largely subjective. I, being the particularly anti-genre type that I am, am especially prone to be forgiving on the definitions of "science fiction" and "fantasy." I maintain these terms are merely useful marketing and categorization tools. In this case, for example, I chose Eclipse One in part because of the promised science fiction. Even I, with my genre-inclusivity, was disappointed in the lack of such.
Great stories? Every editor -- magazine, anthology, year's best compilation -- believes in his or her own selections. This particular anthology is packed full of impressive names, and contains some genuinely impressive writing.
Great stories. Science fiction and/or fantasy (generously defined). These are the only expectations I have going in. The first story, "Unique Chicken Goes in Reverse" by Andy Duncan, has by the time of this review met with great critical acclaim in some genre circles. I have no inkling why this is billed as a great genre story. In it, a priest visits a family with a little girl with a pet chicken. The girl has a strange relationship with this chicken, which eventually leads the priest to an epiphany of sorts. All I can say of this piece is that it did nothing for me, other than to make me wonder what made it great and what made it science fiction. I'm not even sure what made it a story. Definitely not for me. The fact that it was nominated for a major genre award mystifies me completely.
At least the next story, "Bad Luck, Trouble, Death, and Vampire Sex" by Garth Nix is unapologetically genre. The grandson of a badass voodoo/dark magic queen has to solve the mystery of her untimely, unlikely death. He flees dead Sorceress Queen Granny's lair with her pet gargoyle, which turns out to be considerably more than it seems. This was action-packed, more like a roller-coaster ride than a scenic drive. It was a little too crazy for me to thoroughly enjoy; too many bells and whistles and bright lights and flashbulbs popping. People who like car chase scenes with lots of explosions will probably like this one. But it packs a solid whop, has a definite storyline and plot (thank god), a satisfying resolution and a large dose of humor. Nothing here not to like, if this is your bag. Great? Maybe. A case could be made, I suppose. Fantasy? Yes.
Then comes Peter S. Beagle's "The Last and Only or, Mr. Moscowitz Becomes French." A man, Mr. Moscowitz, becomes more and more French (he's from California). This increasing, irreversible, utterly thorough French-ness creates a gap between himself and his wife, himself and his countrymen, himself and France and eventually, himself and reality. I hesitate to say too much about this interesting meander through surreal territory. For me, this wasn't so much a story as a journey. Intense and literary, this piece didn't feel like much of a story when I read it the first time, but long, long after most of the other Eclipse One stories faded from my mind, I remembered this one. It's the one I almost always tell people about first when I'm speaking of the book. Definitely fantasy, and of an unusual stripe. Very clever and memorable.
"The Lost Boy: A Reporter at Large" by Maureen F. McHugh is the next story in line. Written like a journalist's notes for a news story about a boy who seems to have multiple lives, this one was another which left me with a big question mark at the end. I guess if you work hard enough to read mysticism into the lines, this is fantasy? I couldn't muster much enthusiasm for this one, as there didn't seem to be any story in this story. Not for me.
Jeffrey Ford's "The Drowned Life" is dreary and disturbing. It's supposed to be, so that's okay. A man finds himself in a nightmarish underwater (non)reality, and just wants to find his way back to his family. There was enough of a storyline here to support the vivid scenery, the morbid and inexplicable adventures of a creepy un-death underwater adventure down in Drowned Town, "a shabby, but quiet city in a lime green sea." This was a definite fantasy, and was able to conjure up some extremely interesting and unsettling v isuals.
I begin to see a commonality emerging from these stories: they aren't really stories. They all seem to be more like adventures into weirdness of greater or lesser degree; sojourns, really. That sounds good in theory, and can be used to great effect in small doses. Unfortunately, this deep into the collection, only Garth Nix's tale has offered any satisfying sense of story arc. Terry Dowling's "Toother" is the next to do so. Here, investigators run hot on the trail of a tooth-stealing (yes -- out of the jaws of the living) madman and his accomplice. Or is it his boss? Creepy, creepy, creepy for anybody who has ever dreamt about their teeth all breaking out or falling out or being pulled out. "Toother" is the first true horror story in the bunch. I'm not particularly drawn to most horror stories, but I can tell this is a good one. Not so great for me, personally, but only because of the . . . you know . . . creepiness. Some people dig creepiness.
Almost midway through the book -- almost -- and I come upon the first story that makes me sit up, laugh out loud, groan, scoff. It's Eileen Gunn's "Up the Fire Road." I actually didn't have high hopes for this one. I'd kind of gotten into a rhythm of nodding as I read the previous offerings: "Yes, yes, this is very clever, well written, but where is the story?" "Up the Fire Road" has story. Sasquatches, ambiguous sexuality, The Maury Show, paternity tests, otherworldly visitations, multi-generational sexcapades. . . . Man. I don't know. All I do know is I'm still smiling and shaking my head just thinking about this one. This was a great story! I haven't yet caught a whiff of anything even remotely scented like sci-fi, but hope springs eternal.
"In the Forest of the Queen" by Gwyneth Jones is next up. Already, I'm expecting more fantasy than sci-fi in this one. Where's this SF I was promised by the cover? Not here. A modern couple, epitomic of all that is materialistic and commodified in the modern world, press deep into an ancient wood (slated for development) and spend a delightful afternoon rollicking in an idyllic fairyland. There's a comforting old-fashionedness to this one, its images and messages. Structured like a cautionary tale, this seems more like a rumination on believing vs. unbelieving. The ending felt like it was trying to force a mold over the rest of the story, but I didn't quite feel I was led to that ending in an organic way. Like the vast majority of these pieces, I felt there was more cleverness here than actual storytelling.
Ysabeau S. Wilce's "Quartermaster Returns" is definitely a story. First Lieutenant Powhatan Rucker -- Pow -- stumbles through several chapters of a short desert journey: I. Wet; II. Desiccated; III. Dry; IV. Arid; V. Parched; and finally VI. Drink. The structure and the telling of this one are (happily) both clever and entertaining. It didn't suit my personal tastes very well, but was lively (in an undead kind of way) and full of character. If you like desert zombie military humorous drinking sorcery tales, this one's for you.
And at last! I want to sing to the rooftops that I've finally found a sci-fi story in this collection (on page 167 out of about 250). "Electric Rains" by Kathleen Ann Goonan is a dark, gloomy (in a good way) story about a girl, Ella, who has just lost her grandmother. The two of them have been living a tenuous existence in a crumbling grand apartment in a decaying city (Washington), and with her Nana gone, Ella has to for the first time make her own decisions about how to live and where to go. Like almost every other offering in this anthology, we follow a main character through a labyrinthian journey, full of twisty-turny events and a sort of permeable reality. This one, with its brain downloading and electric rains and urban dystopian lushness, certainly delivers the promised sci-fi-ness. Yay!
"She-Creatures" by Margo Lanagan. Maybe that single sci-fi story was an anomaly? "She-Creatures" is a kind of faux-historical fantasy, in which a group of guys sneak up on and observe a gaggle of . . . witches? Aliens? Ghosts? I have no idea, and neither does the narrator. They sneak up on a gang of Scary Things with breasts. I'm back to a sense of confusion. I'm confused about the ending. Confused about the action. Confused about what this story was trying to say. Definitely a fantasy, though, and like all the other pieces in this anthology, well written on a line-by-line basis. Unfortunately, it continues the trend of bafflement, which is not what I look for in my fiction.
"The Transformation of Targ" by Paul Brandon and Jack Dann is considerably more straight-forward a story. Humorous, too, which is nice. A New York therapist offers career counseling to evil beings. A portal, hilariously located behind a Starbucks on Fifth Avenue (I love that!) allows Dr. Hiram Hirsch (of Dr. Hiram Hirsch's Exclusive Evil Consultancy) to entertain clients from other dimensions. In this case, his services are being sought by Mighty Revenant Overlord Targ (we call him Brian), whose Extreme Evilness seems to be slipping. Humorous, definitely fantasy, and entertaining, if not ground-breaking or necessarily deserving of the title "great."
Ellen Klages' "Mrs. Zeno's Paradox" is a delightful surreal romp in under three pages, concerning two women and a dessert. Very cute. Entertaining. Unusual and strangely satisfying.
"The Lustration" by Bruce Sterling swings me back out into confusion land. What the what is he trying to say? And though this one sometimes uses the language of science fiction, it's more a metaphysical creationist myth of some sort. This piece was the most confusing and perhaps the least satisfying for me out of a collection filled with confusing pieces, several of which left me unsatisfied. Here's what I got of the story: protagonist makes a sculpture out of a living termite nest by filling a rotten log with molten metal (very vivid detail here, and some of the most interesting imagery of the entire anthology). Protagonist turns out to live in computer-styled universe, except of wood rather than circuits, and the inhabitants live for tens of thousands (?) of years. Philosophy, ethics, society, divinity are discussed. Otherness, and a potential illumination of the nature of the unknowable. That's about all I could glean, though I'm sure some reading this story will be able to lay a structure of understanding over the thing I completely missed. Basically, this story made me feel alienated and unintelligent. Not my favorite. As always, the writing is excellent. The subject matter left me physically squinting at the page, mentally groping for meaning.
Good thing Strahan chose to end his anthology with a story by Lucius Shepard, "Larissa Miusov." Written from the point-of-view of a young screenwriter, this story about a mysterious (and mystical) Russian beauty, her patron, her patronage, and her eventual disappearance from our protagonist's life, is peppered with evocative images. It contains some beautiful lines and turns of phrase: ". . .this ragged coatsleeve of a life"; ". . .a multi-leveled architectural abomination that, come the apocalypse, would likely resemble a flying saucer crashed into a post-modern church"; ". . .he had the I.Q. of wheat and spent his time skiing or at discos"; ". . .a sunken living room with China white carpeting and sofas rising from it like sculpted snow and a spiral, stainless steel staircase like the skeleton of some curious Arctic beast corkscrewing up past obsidian objets d'art and teak bookcases filled with fake books without titles made of black marble." Beautiful.
Tally? Fantasy stories: twelve. Science fiction stories: one. Stories neither science fiction nor fantasy: two. Great stories: with total subjectivity, I'd say four -- "Up the Fire Road," "Electric Rains," "Mrs. Zeno's Paradox," and "Larissa Miusov." Good stories: pretty much everything else. My least favorites were definitely what has become in my mind "The Chicken Story" (again, it was up for a Nebula, so I'm sure Strahan and Duncan aren't hurting for praise on this one), "The Lost Boy" (perhaps because, as in "The Chicken Story," I missed why this was offered as a spectacular example of science fiction or fantasy), and "The Lustration," simply because I read it twice to try to understand what the hell was going on and still failed. Whether that was me failing the story or the story failing me is a bit of a moot point.
As in all collections of high quality, there's something here for nearly everyone. Unless you're looking for science fiction, in which case don't believe that promise on the cover. Word on the street is Eclipse Two (forthcoming) may make amends.
