Books: Forced Perspectives By Tim Powers (2020)

 

“In book one, Sebastian Vickery and Ingrid Castine had come together and been driven to cross over from ordinary reality into a nightmarish afterlife known as the labyrinth, a world populated by deceased or never-born spirits. They managed to return and close the gateway between these two worlds, but they also returned with the unique ability to perceive time differently.

Former Federal Agent/LA cop Sebastian Vickery is hiding out Barstow, while Ingrid Castine is back on the East Coast trying to live their lives. But both are still sensitive to the ghosts that haunt the modern Los Angeles highways, byways, and secret nooks and crannies, and are soon reunited and as they are plunged into the supernatural secrets of the vast city and its history—from the fallout of Satanic indie movies of the Sixties, to the unquiet La Brea Tar Pits at midnight, to a haunted sunken city off the coast of San Pedro seeking to rise again.

They may be old hands at dealing with the spirit world, but they have never been in a pursuit so deadly with the stakes so high. For, if a ghost-addicted Silicon Valley guru has his way, the lost souls of a million Angelenos could be drawn into the creation of a predatory World God guaranteed to bring about the end of life as we know it. And Vickery and Castine are all that stand between it and California-sized destruction.”

Forced Perspectives is the second of three tales featuring Vickery and Castine. Once again, author Tim Powers gives us another frenetic urban fantasy that blends Egyptian mythology, alternate Los Angeles history, and modern technology. One thing about Powers books is they can become a travelogue –all the locations, street and freeway names are real. One could navigate around LA using a Tim Powers book.

Anyways, if you like secret histories, like why Cecil B. DeMille really buried the Pharaoh’s Palace set after he filmed The Ten Commandments in 1923, stories filled with ghosts and Catholicism, and other supernatural high jinks, then this is the book for you! I felt the second book was a bit better than the first, the characters are fuller the set pieces more developed with Vickery seemly falling in love with Castine (though I’m not sure she is yet), but it does go on a bit too long. Still, Powers continues to bring a lot of weirdness with a ton of enjoyable quirks to this series. I’m still not wholly keen on this sub-genre, this Urban Fantasy arena, but at least I like these books.

Books: Alternate Routes By Tim Powers (2018)

 

“Something weird is happening on the Los Angeles Freeways—phantom cars materialize, lanes appear from nowhere, and unmarked off ramps lead into another world known as the Labyrinth of Forever. As a driver for a supernatural-evasion car service, it’s Sebastian Vickery’s job to avoid these anomalies. But when a secret government agency tries to have him killed for knowing too much, Vickery must plunge headlong into that plane of ghosts, myths, and legends. There he’ll discover that he has much more to fear than death: something lurks in that otherworldly realm—and it has designs on our world.” 

While not a huge fan of Urban Fantasy, I generally do dip my toes into the genre from time to time. Tim Powers is by far the weirdest writer of these books, though. Alternate Routes is mostly set within Los Angeles and surrounding cities, his prose is strong, vivid, and captivating. He’s also very original, which is not something I can say a lot about fantasy writers these days. As usual, Powers mixes a lot of ideas and genres, like history and mythology and poetry (the works of John Dryden play important role here, as does Ovid and Greek legends of Daedalus). But this tale of ghost uprising that is tied the American highway system (locally, the 110 and 710 freeways), while underneath it all, is the Minotaur's Labyrinth proves Powers can command a image.

Vickery and woman who helps him, Ingrid Castine, are great, quirky characters –sort of proto-type Mulder & Scully without all the sexual tension—but because of this, lacking this  emotional connection, does distract me, the reader, but I still found the book worth reading (and sequel, which is up next).

Books: Quicksand By Steve Toltz (2015)

"Liam is a struggling writer and a failing cop. Aldo, his best friend and muse, is a haplessly criminal entrepreneur with an uncanny knack for disaster. As Aldo's luck worsens, Liam is inspired to base his next book on his best friend's exponential misfortunes and hopeless quest to win back his one great love: his ex-wife, Stella. What begins as an attempt to make sense of Aldo's mishaps spirals into a profound story of faith and friendship."

Absurdity abounds in Steve Toltz second novel, as Quicksand is so much more than a dark satire about faith, fate and obligation to friends and what an artist owes his muse. Much like A Fraction of the Whole, this witty novel has a million weird thoughts and ideas that could fill out multiple books. It’s also about words and psychology of the human soul. It took me a while to really into it, start liking Aldo a bit more, like his ideas, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention this not a book for everyone looking for a plot or even a story; again, it seems to be a jumble of weird, dark, funny ideas. But the one liner’s are pretty funny, and it can be very engrossing. Books like this are great when you have a bit of time on your hands, as you might feel the need to go back again and again to catch the sentence or actions again. I mean, everyone should take a chance with satire, even if Toltz can’t sustain it all the way through. But there are enough laugh-out-loud bits as it takes on the absurdity of our modern world and even (maybe) a fairly interesting conversation with God (?). So, yeah, it may not be a beach read, but it’s still a worthy novel to drown yourself in. 

Books: The Last Emperox By John Scalzi (2020)

 

"The collapse of The Flow, the interstellar pathway between the planets of the Interdependency, has accelerated. Entire star systems—and billions of people—are becoming cut off from the rest of human civilization. This collapse was foretold through scientific prediction… and yet, even as the evidence is obvious and insurmountable, many still try to rationalize, delay and profit from, these final days of one of the greatest empires humanity has ever known. Emperox Grayland II has finally wrested control of her empire from those who oppose her and who deny the reality of this collapse. But “control” is a slippery thing, and even as Grayland strives to save as many of her people from impoverished isolation, the forces opposing her rule will make a final, desperate push to topple her from her throne and power, by any means necessary. Grayland and her thinning list of allies must use every tool at their disposal to save themselves, and all of humanity. And yet it may not be enough. Will Grayland become the savior of her civilization… or the last emperox to wear the crown?"

As I mentioned in the review of the first book, I read somewhere this series was supposed to be two volumes, not three. I think it should’ve stayed two books. Part of the problem lies in how many times Scalzi reminds the reader of the plot and while less obvious, here than book two, there still remains an over-reliance on the expository narrative trope –he tells too much of the story instead of showing it. Once again, the books ideas will resonant with modern times -the story isn't very subtle as we see greedy capitalists trying to save themselves and their fortunes and are willing letting the rest of the humans die a horrible death. Of course, not all are evil.

Despite some of my nitpicking, the three female leads are pretty fun, even if they all seem self-aware. Kiva is the best, though.

Books: The Consuming Fire By John Scalzi (2018)

 

"The Interdependency―humanity’s interstellar empire―is on the verge of collapse. The extra-dimensional conduit that makes travel between the stars possible is disappearing, leaving entire systems and human civilizations stranded. Emperox Grayland II of the Interdependency is ready to take desperate measures to help ensure the survival of billions. But arrayed before her are those who believe the collapse of the Flow is a myth―or at the very least an opportunity to an ascension to power. While Grayland prepares for disaster, others are preparing for a civil war, a war that will take place in the halls of power, the markets of business and the the altars of worship. The Emperox and her allies are smart and resourceful, as are her enemies. Nothing about this will be easy... and all of humanity will be caught in its consuming fire."

As with all middle books within a trilogy, everything must be set-up for the conclusion. The Consuming Fire is good, a fun space opera filled with interesting characters and some clever storytelling. But Scalzi relies too much on exposition here and amazing convenience. Everyone knows everything and vomits it out at a drop of hat. The Memory Room is used too much to explain the plot points for readers who’ll read this book in front of the TV or between vids on TickTok. So in the end, this middle book becomes all explanations with little plot. 

The there is the arrival of the mysterious walking holo dude (woman?) Tomas Reynauld Chenevert, who either holds the keys the Interdependency survival or has some other plan to bring it to its knees.

Some reviews claim to think this is Scalzi’s Dune, but this series is not as dense or complex as Herbert’s work. And while it features conspiracies, this series is seemly more an espionage thriller with humor, a lot of fucking, a lot chewing at the scenery. Still, at its heart, I continue to see the many parallels of modern America here. Here Scalzi makes it obvious that it was written during the most divisive time in our modern history.

So onto book three…

Books: The Collapsing Empire By John Scalzi (2017)

"The universe is ruled by physics and faster than light travel is not possible -- until the discovery of The Flow, an extra-dimensional field we can access at certain points in space-time that transport us to other worlds, around other stars. Humanity flows away from Earth, into space, and in time forgets our home world and creates a new empire, the Interdependency, whose ethos requires that no one human outpost can survive without the others. It’s a hedge against interstellar war -- and a system of control for the rulers of the empire. The Flow is eternal -- but it is not static. Just as a river changes course, The Flow changes as well, cutting off worlds from the rest of humanity (as happened with Earth some thousand years ago). When it’s discovered that The Flow is moving, possibly cutting off all human worlds from faster than light travel forever, three individuals -- a scientist, a starship captain and the Empress of the Interdependency -- are in a race against time to discover what, if anything, can be salvaged from an interstellar empire on the brink of collapse."

While John Scalzi’s latest space opera is bit complex –the science is real, and he tries not to dumb it down, but it does hurt the brain- the fun part is the characters, the politics and the sheer audacity of the whole series. At its core, though The Interdependency series (apparently originally two books, but was expanded to three) is about the fall of a civilization and the realization that that it can’t be stopped. Thus the flow (if you’ll excuse the phrase) of the tale is about who’ll control End –the evil or the semi-evil. I also felt the best example of understanding The Flow was make them wormholes like the one seen on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine mixed with the Barzan wormhole from the TNG episode The Price and its semi-sequel episode featured on VOY episode, False Profits. 

As with Scalzi’s other writings, it’s a witty book full of characters who, while charming, are all basically assholes. Of course, some are worse than others, and there are a few morally good folks, but all of them have potty mouths and use sex as political points. Political machinations abound here, and while I’m not fond of these themes, it still handled rather well here.

What works –beyond the humor- is that despite everyone not giving a “fuck” about anything, despite the politicking, despite the fact that there is no one really good here, you end up rooting for the House of Wu to win it all. We’ll see with book 2, coming up next.