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Salvation of a Saint by Keigo Higashino 東野 圭吾 (translated by Alexander O Smith)
book
There’s always a difference of emphasis between the written and visual forms of storytelling. An author relies on the reader to create the appropriate images in the mind as a response to processing the words. The director of a film or television episode shows the audience images as an integral part of the storytelling process. Indeed, in many important ways, the visual iconography is more important than the words the characters speak because we get to see the mis en scène, to judge the meaning of the various personal signifiers such as clothing, the presence or absence of visible tattoos, etc., and to observe the behavioural signals. When you put the complete communication package together, the visual medium allows the audience the best chance to judge the credibility of the creative process in bringing the story to the screen.
To understand the relevance of this introduction to Salvation of a Saint by Keigo Higashino 東野 圭吾 (translated by Alexander O Smith) (Minotaur Books, 2012), we need to go back to Tantei Galileo (探偵ガリレオ) (1998) which first introduced Dr. Manabu Yukawa, the amateur detective, to the Japanese public. We now move forward to Yōgisha X no Kenshin (容疑者Xの献身) (2005) a novel which won both Japan’s Naoki Prize and Honkaku Mystery Grand Prize in 2005. It was duly translated and published as The Devotion of Suspect X (Minotaur Books, 2011) In 2007, the television series featuring the university professor often called in to advise the police (sadly only ten episodes in length) was aired as Galileo or Garireo or ガリレオ. Switching back to the novel form, we have Seijo no Kyūsai (聖女の救済) published in 2008 and now published in America as Salvation of a Saint. The publication of the Japanese edition was timed to coincide with the launch of the film version of Galileo: The Sacrifice of Suspect X or Yôgisha X no kenshin (2008). We now come up to date with the first chance to read the next exciting episode in the Galileo series.
To introduce the form of the books, The Devotion of Suspect X is an inverted crime story, i.e. we see the death in the first part of the book and are therefore focused on the way in which the “mastermind” constructs an alibi. It’s a remarkably inventive book and an even more powerful film. As to the puzzle of the alibi, I can’t recall reading or seeing this particular method of deflecting the police investigation before (although it’s quite common in forward planning a murder). In Salvation of a Saint, we come back to the conventional police procedural format. Shumpei Kusanagi and Kaoru Utsumi draw what could be a suicide case and, when it seems more likely to be a murder, they disagree on whether the deceased’s wife is the best murder suspect — one obvious alternate suspect is the deceased’s mistress. The problem for them to resolve is simple. Over the weekend when the death occurred, the wife was clearly in a completely different part of Japan. Given the number of witnesses who saw her during the time she spent away from home, it would be impossible for her to have returned to administer the poison. Kusanagi believes in the alibi as a complete defence. Utsumi is equally convinced that the wife killed her husband and manufactured the alibi. Unfortunately, she’s unable to explain how the poison appeared in the deceased’s coffee. That, of course, is where our good professor comes into play. He’s the one we all rely on to solve “impossible” crimes. Except this crime initially defeats him at a theoretical level. It’s only when he hears arguments from both detectives and then follows up on their independent lines of investigation that he begins to see how it might have been possible and who must therefore be guilty of the crime.
To make it clear, almost all the spade work is done by the two detectives and, despite his annoyance at Utsumi’s insistence her instinct is correct, it’s the behaviour of Kusanagi that ultimately proves decisive — albeit not quite in the way you might expect. This takes nothing away from the even-handed way in which Yukawa arbitrates between the two detectives. Once he understands the real nature of the problem, he has to see beyond his initial impression that this is a perfect crime without any evidence to show who did it, and provoke the two detectives into finding the right evidence of both motive and method. At this point, I’m going to admit complete astonishment at the brilliance of the solution. I’ve been reading mystery books for more than fifty years and I have never, repeat never, encountered anything quite like this before. It’s one of these jaw-dropping answers that, despite the obvious difficulty the murderer would have had in executing it, is nevertheless so credible given the characters of those involved. Keigo Higashino has done it again! This is quite simply a masterpiece of detective fiction. No matter what the format you choose to rely on, you should track down the television series which is good and the film which is outstanding. This just adds the cherry on the cake.
A copy of this book was sent to me for review.
You may be interested to know that the book is also available as an audiobook from Macmillan Audio. You can listen to a clip if you click here.
For other work based on Keigo Higashino’s writing, see:
11 Moji no Satsujin or 11文字の殺人 (2011)
Broken or The Hovering Blade or Banghwanghaneun Kalnal or 방황하는 칼날 (2014)
Bunshin or 分身 (2012)
Galileo or Garireo or ガリレオ
Galileo 2 or ガリレオ (第2期) (2013) episodes 1 and 2
Galileo 2 or ガリレオ (第2期) (2013) episodes 3 and 4
Galileo 2 or ガリレオ (第2期) (2013) episodes 5 and 6
Galileo 2 or ガリレオ (第2期) (2013) episodes 7, 8 and 9
Galileo 2 or ガリレオ (第2期) (2013) episodes 10 and 11 — the adaptation of Salvation of a Saint
Galileo: The Sacrifice of Suspect X or Yôgisha X no kenshin (2008)
Midsummer Formula or Manatsu no Houteishiki or 真夏の方程式 (2013)
The Murder in Kairotei or Kairoutei Satsujin Jiken or 回廊亭殺人事件 (2011)
Naniwa Junior Detectives or Naniwa Shonen Tanteida or 浪花少年探偵団 (2012) episodes 1 to 4
Naniwa Junior Detectives or Naniwa Shonen Tanteida or 浪花少年探偵団 (2012) episodes 5 to 8
Naniwa Junior Detectives or Naniwa Shonen Tanteida or 浪花少年探偵団 (2012) episodes 9 to 12
Platinum Data or プラチナデータ (2013)
Thursday Theatre Keigo Higashino Mystery or 東野圭吾ミステリーズ (2012) episodes 1 to 5
Thursday Theatre Keigo Higashino Mystery or 東野圭吾ミステリーズ (2012) episodes 6 to 11
White Night or Baekyahaeng or 백야행 : 하얀 어둠 속을 걷다 (2009)
The Wings of the Kirin or Kirin no Tsubasa: Gekijoban Shinzanmono or 麒麟の翼 ～劇場版・新参者～ (2012)
Lionsgate and the use of DMCA notices
As the best way to start off the 2013, Google sent me a Notice of DMCA removal on the 3rd January (http://www.chillingeffects.org/notice.cgi?sID=740729). It seemed that within minutes of my publishing the review of Arbitrage, Lionsgate had asserted an infringement of copyright at https://opionator.wordpress.com/2012/12/29/arbitrage-2012/ (a page address that has now been removed from the cache). I was surprised because, in my view, the display of the poster and three stills from the film was a fair use of digital images under US law but, because I prefer the line of least resistance, I copied the low-resolution image of the poster used on Wikipedia and put that up at a new address. Naturally, I asked Google to remove the old page from its cache and to reinstate the page after review.
On the 8th January, Google sent me a second notice (http://www.chillingeffects.org/notice.cgi?sID=745715). It seems Lionsgate had specifically taken issue with https://opionator.wordpress.com/2013/01/01/alphabetical-listing-of-books-k-to-z/. As you will understand, this was even more surprising than the first notice. There are no images used on this page. This signalled a loss of good faith. If the take-down process was being used properly, it would allege that a page with an image was used in breach of copyright. To allege a page to be an infringement, there must be an image copyrighted by a third party or there must be some other clear breach of IP protected work. Insofar as titles can be copyrighted, I compile a continuous listing of the reviews on this site. So this page is my work and labour. Consequently, I own the copyright in the list. Again, I filed a notice with Google, alleging an “error” by Lionsgate. For the record, there are more than 800 reviews and considerably more than one million words on this site.
On the 9th January, Google writes again (http://www.chillingeffects.org/notice.cgi?sID=748810). Not concerned with legal niceties like a probable fair use defence, Lionsgate has gone generic in objecting to
https://opionator.wordpress.com/2012/12/29/arbitrage-2012/arbitrage/, i.e. despite clearly identifying the source of the poster image used on the page and claiming justification, Lionsgate preferred the page to disappear — it’s a review unfavourable to its film Arbitrage. I therefore removed the poster image.
On the 10th January, Google writes again — it was getting into a nice daily rhythm (http://www.chillingeffects.org/notice.cgi?sID=751478). This time, Lionsgate thought the photographs of the stars of Arbitrage were improperly used. https://opionator.wordpress.com/2012/12/29/arbitrage-2012/photography-by-myles-aronowitz/ Again, all the photographs on the page had been copied from Wikipedia and were used within the fair use boundaries. However, to keep the peace, I removed all the images from the page. I now hold the exclusive copyright to the textual content published on the page.
On the 11th January, Google writes again (http://www.chillingeffects.org/notice.cgi?sID=752414). This time, Lionsgate had objected to the page https://opionator.wordpress.com/2013/01/07/great-north-road-by-peter-f-hamilton/. To avoid doubt, I have used the low-resolution version of the image from Wikipedia and clearly state the legal justification as the description of the image. Again, I have sent a notice to Google. The comment section to the Great North review drew my attention to http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/01/buffy-vs-edward-remix-is-back-online-but-no-fallout-for-lionsgate/. It seems Lionsgate is notorious for attempting to stifle free speech.
Life is never dull.
You may also be interested in reading:
Lionsgate continues its bad faith sequence of DMCA notices
Lionsgate continues its bad faith campaign over the review of Arbitrage
Lionsgate’s malicious campaign now apparently defeated
Elementary: Season 1, Episode 12. M (2013)
This review contains more spoilers than usual. If you prefer to watch the episode without expectations, stop reading!
Elementary: Season 1, Episode 12. M (2013) is the best episode so far! In no small part, this is due to the fact the story sticks very closely to the canonical expectations we have of a proper Sherlock Holmes story by Arthur Conan Doyle (even bees make a physical appearance). Although this episode deliberately avoids the strict character arcs from the original “Empty House”, this is actually a particularly good use of Sebastian Moran (this episode’s M). You will recall he’s the second most dangerous man in London. As in this episode, the most dangerous is Professor Moriarty, the man who employs Moran as an assassin. For our immediate purposes, we abandon Moran’s skill as a marksman and instead see him as a rather sadistic killer who hangs his victims up on a tripod, slits their throats, drains all the blood on to the floor, and then dumps each body in the nearest river. He now moves across the Atlantic to the US. Inspector Gregson (Aidan Quinn) correctly suggests this is a criminal following Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller). M is taunting Holmes with his failure in London and offering him a second bite at the cherry.
At this point, we get a resolution of the relationship between Sherlock and Dr Joan Watson (Lucy Liu). Both have independently indicated they are happy working together and regret the approaching separation. Even the egomaniacal Sherlock has been forced to admit that Watson has pointed out key facts he has missed. Indeed, in this case, she’s almost immediately able to suggest where the latest dead body was dropped in the river because of the engine oil she can smell on the body’s hair. We now get the London backstory. When the first in the series of killings were linked together to show the work of a serial killer by a man who came to be known as M, Holmes was advising the British police. In due course, letters were sent to the police taunting them and Holmes because they could not catch M. Holmes then began a relationship with Irene Adler and, after seven months, she was killed using exactly the same methodology. It was a natural assumption this death was part of the series and, because of the letters, a personal attack on Holmes. It was this that tipped him over the edge into drug abuse. With a photograph of M now in his possession, Holmes gets the Irregulars on the job — annoyingly, not the addict we previously assumed would become an Irregular.
Sherlock (Jonny Lee Miller) wondering which tool to try first
Planning revenge, Holmes works out who the next victim is likely to be, interrupts M and takes him off to one of his father’s houses in New York for a one-on-one discussion of world affairs using various household tools and implements. At this point, M played rather well by Vinnie Jones (as an aside, he was a professional footballer but did not play for Arsenal, the team he’s seen supporting in this episode) manages to convince Holmes that he did not kill Irene Adler. He admits all the other killings but identifies Moriarty as both the likely killer of Irene, and also as the man who probably gave him up. Had Moriarty not sent him to New York and given him certain key instructions, Holmes could not have caught him. He also wants revenge and sees Holmes as his best chance of getting it. At this point, Holmes makes a pact with Moran who later denies that Sherlock abducted him and was torturing him. As it were, Holmes comes back from the brink of a murder and is restored. In a genuinely touching scene at the New York police station, Sherlock and Watson admit their preference for continuing the working relationship. The following morning, it’s official. Holmes senior agrees to continue paying Watson to stay. The crime-fighting duo is now formally established.
The reason for the success of the episode is the proper focus on the characters and their emotional development. Although there’s a mystery element with a serial killer on the loose, it’s actually no more than a hook on which to hang the couple’s decision to stay together. This is a proper sense of perspective. It also shows both Jonny Lee Miller running through the range from vulnerable to intensely angry to steady and committed. Lucy Liu also does well in going through her own counselling process and in her final reaching out to Holmes. Vinnie Jones is at his malevolent best. The only sad feature is Marcus Bell (Jon Michael Hill) who has one line which puts him back into the walk-on status he had in the first episodes. All in all, Elementary: M is a triumph.
For the reviews of other episodes, see:
Elementary: Season 1, Episode 1. Pilot (2012)
Elementary: Season 1, Episode 2. While You Were Sleeping (2012)
Elementary: Season 1, Episode 3. Child Predator (2012)
Elementary: Season 1, Episode 4. The Rat Race (2012)
Elementary: Season 1, Episode 5. Lesser Evils (2012)
Elementary: Season 1, Episode 6. Flight Risk (2012)
Elementary: Season 1, Episode 7. One Way to Get Off (2012)
Elementary: Season 1, Episode 8. The Long Fuse (2012)
Elementary: Season 1, Episode 9. You Do It To Yourself (2012)
Elementary: Season 1, Episode 10. The Leviathan (2012)
Elementary: Season 1, Episode 11. Dirty Laundry (2013)
Elementary: Season 1, Episode 13. The Red Team (2013)
Elementary: Season 1, Episode 14. The Deductionist (2013)
Elementary: Season 1, Episode 15. A Giant Gun, Filled With Drugs (2013)
Elementary: Season 1, Episode 16. Details (2013)
Elementary: Season 1, Episode 17. Possibility Two (2013)
Elementary: Season 1, Episode 18. Déjà Vu All Over Again. (2013)
Elementary: Season 1, Episode 19. Snow Angel. (2013)
Elementary: Season 1, Episode 20. Dead Man’s Switch. (2013)
Elementary: Season 1, Episode 21. A Landmark Story. (2013)
Elementary: Season 1, Episode 22. Risk Management. (2013)
Elementary: Season 1, Episodes 23 & 24. The Woman and Heroine. (2013)
Elementary: Season 2, Episode 1. Step Nine. (2013)
Elementary: Season 2, Episode 2. Solve For X (2013)
Elementary: Season 2, Episode 3. We Are Everyone (2013)
Elementary: Season 2, Episode 4. Poison Pen (2013)
Elementary: Season 2, Episode 5. Ancient History (2013)
Elementary: Season 2, Episode 6. An Unnatural Arrangement (2013)
Elementary: Season 2, Episode 7. The Marchioness (2013)
Elementary: Season 2, Episode 8. Blood Is Thicker (2013)
Elementary: Season 2, Episode 9. On the Line (2013)
Elementary: Season 2, Episode 10. Tremors (2013)
Elementary: Season 2, Episode 11. Internal Audit (2013)
Elementary: Season 2, Episode 12. The Diabolical Kind (2014)
Elementary: Season 2, Episode 13. All in the Family (2014)
Elementary: Season 2, Episode 14. Dead Clade Walking (2014)
Elementary: Season 2, Episode 15. Corps de Ballet (2014)
Elementary: Season 2, Episode 16. One Percent Solution (2014)
Elementary: Season 2, Episode 17. Ears to You (2014)
Elementary: Season 2, Episode 18. The Hound of the Cancer Cells (2014)
Elementary: Season 2, Episode 19. The Many Mouths of Andrew Colville (2014)
Elementary: Season 2, Episode 20. No Lack of Void (2014)
Elementary: Season 2, Episode 21. The Man With the Twisted Lip (2014)
Elementary: Season 2, Episode 22. Paint It Black (2014)
Elementary: Season 2, Episode 23. Art in the Blood (2014)
Elementary: Season 2, Episode 24. The Great Experiment (2014).
Galileo: The Sacrifice of Suspect X or Yôgisha X no kenshin (2008)
The classic problem with television episodes is there’s never enough time to develop any real emotional depth. This is particularly troubling in police procedural or classic detective series where the exposition and solution of the puzzle take up most of the time. That said, one of my favourite “detective” shows is Galileo or Garireo or ガリレオ There’s a great sense of fun about the way the episodes are put together with the relationship between Manabu Yukawa (Fukuyama Masaharu) and Kaoru Utsumi ( Shibasaki Kou) very carefully choreographed to show the slow puncturing of the bubble the professor has built around himself. This film version, Galileo: The Sacrifice of Suspect X or Yôgisha X no kenshin (2008) takes us back into the world for a more general look at the way people live their lives. The result is deeply affecting and melancholic.
We need to start with a few quick sketches. The primary setting is a small housing block close to what I take to be a representation of the embankment along the Sumida River where a large number of homeless people have constructed a line of tents with the characteristic blue plastic sheeting. For all they live without the need to be clock-watchers, their lives of misery have been routinised and we catch glimpses of them sitting despondently or more actively collecting discarded cans for recycling. For the record, about 14% of Japanese adults are classified as below the poverty line and the resulting homelessness is an enduring problem swept under the carpet by the Japanese government. Every day, Tetsuya Ishigami (Shin’ichi Tsutsumi) walks along the embankment to the high school where he teaches. He’s a mathematical genius, but also leads a life of misery, unappreciated by both the school and the students he’s supposed to teach. In other circumstances, he would be lauded for the quality of his ability to think beautifully. Sadly his life was left in the shade by poor social skills and family commitments. It’s hardly surprising he’s suicidal.
Manabu Yukawa (Masaharu Fukuyama) and Kaoru Utsumi (Ko Shibasaki)
Yasuko Hanaoka (Yasuko Matsuyuki) has been through the mill with two failed marriages and times when she’s been forced to work in the more seamy side of Tokyo’s hostess nightlife. But despite it all, she and her daughter Misato Hanaoka (Miho Kanazawa) from the first marriage have remained cheerful. She’s now running a bento shop and moves into the apartment next to Tetsuya Ishigami. One night, her second husband forces his way into the apartment and begins abusing both mother and daughter for money. A fight breaks out and, initially in self-defence, the women hold him at bay. Unfortunately, as he shows no sign of slowing down his attacks, they combine to kill him. As in all good inverted crime stories, we therefore know exactly what happened and have our sympathies wholly engaged for the women. The noise of the fight passes through the wall and brings Tetsuya Ishigami to their door. He decides to help by constructing an alibi for them. He believes he can outthink the local police and keep his neighbours safe.
Initially, everything goes exactly as he planned. The body of the second husband is found battered almost beyond recognition beside the river and, despite their suspicions, the police can find no evidence that the wife was responsible. Indeed, she and her daughter were clearly at a local cinema, followed by a ramen supper and a karaoke session on the night the killing seems to have occurred. They can’t be in two places at the same time. So it stays until Shumpei Kusanagi (Kazuki Kitamura), one of the senior detectives who was at university with Manabu Yukawa, refers the case to him. There are several features about the case that persuade the professor to assist. First is the nature of the problem which, at face value, suggests some kind of doppelgänger effect. Second, the woman in the case is described as a “beauty” (no sexism implied). Third, the professor and Tetsuya Ishigami were friends while at university. Although they have not kept in touch, they are equally balanced in terms of brain power. One is a physicist, used to thinking by way of hypothesis, experiment and reasoned conclusions based on results. The other is a mathematician who thinks through problems in his head, applying his reasoning powers to arrive at a logical (and hopefully beautiful) solution.
Yasuko Hanaoka (Yasuko Matsuyuki) and Tetsuya Ishigami (Shin’ichi Tsutsumi) secretly confer
The rest of the film is quite simply wonderful. It’s been a long time since I met a problem and solution of such ingenuity. In fairness to Yasushi Fukuda who wrote the screenplay based on The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino, there’s a moment when I noticed something interesting but the implication completely escaped me. Not unusual, I know, but there’s such an unexpected explanation. Indeed, the way in which Tetsuya Ishigami produces the effect and later unwraps a completely convincing explanation is stunning. Which leads us to the second part of the film. Manabu Yukawa is able to understand how and why his friend has defended the mother and teenager. He therefore sits down with Kaoru Utsumi as a friend and not as a detective, to decide what to do. It’s a moral dilemma. Crimes have been committed. Although the law does not offer a defence, the circumstances would mitigate penalties. Yet revealing the truth is not going to produce a good outcome for anyone. As they sit for the discussion, mother and daughter are “safe”. Perhaps they deserve that chance. As a physicist, Manabu Yukawa may feel he has a higher duty to pursue truth. In doing so, he may destroy the reputations of other scientists and mathematicians who have defended what he proves indefensible, but his job is always to give the world the latest version of science. As a detective, Kaoru Utsumi is neither judge nor jury. Her role is simply to report the facts as she finds them to the relevant authorities. How that information is used is not her responsibility. Yet neither can deny their decision to intervene in this case will cause great harm. This is not something they should do lightly. What is the greater good?
The ending is powerful. Perhaps the answer to the question is that there are some truths that should be disclosed no matter what the personal cost. In this case, we’re not just talking about the loss of a great mind to the prison system, the incarceration of a battered wife and, if she were to escape jail, the commitment of a young adult to the Japanese care system, we’re also talking about the guilt Manabu Yukawa and Kaoru Utsumi will feel if they disturb the status quo. Going back to the title of the film, The Sacrifice of Suspect X, this could be a reference to the decision of Manabu Yukawa and Kaoru Utsumi to sacrifice one or more of the three accused on the altar of truth as they see it. Or it could be a reference to Tetsuya Ishigami’s self-sacrifice. The novel’s title, The Devotion of Suspect X, is more clearly referring to Tetsuya Ishigami’s selfless love. This is a film worth seeking out!
For other work based on Keigo Higashino’s writing, see:
11 Moji no Satsujin or 11文字の殺人 (2011)
Broken or The Hovering Blade or Banghwanghaneun Kalnal or 방황하는 칼날 (2014)
Bunshin or 分身 (2012)
Galileo or Garireo or ガリレオ
Galileo 2 or ガリレオ (第2期) (2013) episodes 1 and 2
Galileo 2 or ガリレオ (第2期) (2013) episodes 3 and 4
Galileo 2 or ガリレオ (第2期) (2013) episodes 5 and 6
Galileo 2 or ガリレオ (第2期) (2013) episodes 7, 8 and 9
Galileo 2 or ガリレオ (第2期) (2013) episodes 10 and 11
Salvation of a Saint
Midsummer Formula or Manatsu no Houteishiki or 真夏の方程式 (2013)
The Murder in Kairotei or Kairoutei Satsujin Jiken or 回廊亭殺人事件 (2011)
Naniwa Junior Detectives or Naniwa Shonen Tanteida or 浪花少年探偵団 (2012) episodes 1 to 4
Naniwa Junior Detectives or Naniwa Shonen Tanteida or 浪花少年探偵団 (2012) episodes 5 to 8
Naniwa Junior Detectives or Naniwa Shonen Tanteida or 浪花少年探偵団 (2012) episodes 9 to 12
Platinum Data or プラチナデータ (2013)
Thursday Theatre Keigo Higashino Mystery or 東野圭吾ミステリーズ (2012) episodes 1 to 5
Thursday Theatre Keigo Higashino Mystery or 東野圭吾ミステリーズ (2012) episodes 6 to 11
White Night or Baekyahaeng or 백야행 : 하얀 어둠 속을 걷다 (2009)
The Wings of the Kirin or Kirin no Tsubasa: Gekijoban Shinzanmono or 麒麟の翼 ～劇場版・新参者～ (2012)
Arbitrage (2012)
This page has been the subject of considerable controversy. Within hours of its publication, Lionsgate, acting through the Morganelli Group, issued the first of what proved to be a series of Takedown Notices. The intention, in my opinion, was unlawfully to chill my freedom of speech. But to keep the peace while the matter was being resolved, all images were removed from the page. Now that the matter has been resolved, I have restored a copy of the poster which, in my opinion, always was protected as fair use, i.e. it was used in the context of a non-commercial critical commentary of the film for which it serves as poster art. Use for this purpose does not compete with the purposes of the original artwork, namely the creator providing graphic design services, and in turn the marketing of the promoted item. I have also restored the three still photographs from the film.
As the matter proceeded, I offered my opinion at Lionsgate and the use of DMCA notices, Lionsgate continues its bad faith campaign over the review of Arbitrage, and Lionsgate continues its bad faith sequence of DMCA notices.
May 1st 2013 brings the news that the final URL blighted by Lionsgate (in fact by one of Lionsgate’s agents) has now been reinstated. Lionsgate’s malicious reaction to this review has produced four months of disruption. Hopefully, this is an end of the matter. Lionsgate’s malicious campaign now apparently defeated
For you to understand my reaction to Arbitrage (2012), I have to go back in time to a favourite of mine. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) had two villains played by Paul Newman and Robert Redford. These were two of the more likeable and bankable of stars. The casting predisposed the audience to sympathise with them as criminals. On its own, this would not have been enough, so the script set out to make them less disagreeable. First, they might rob banks and steal from trains, but they never killed anyone. Second, they always threatened to give up the life of crime for the love of a good woman. Finally, whatever they did, they did with a laugh and a smile. We wanted them to be able to retire, put down their guns and put up their feet without fear of pursuit. Even now the ambiguity of the ending remains a classic. We know it’s almost certainly death but they lived in hope. Let’s now switch to a different type of film. In Margin Call (2011) we have an intelligent on-screen debate about the morality of selling a financial product you believe to be worthless. Kevin Spacey is the ethical touchstone. Jeremy Irons is the pragmatist who rightly points out no-one has to buy what’s on offer. The value of the film lies in the quality of the debate. It neither glorifies greed nor exonerates dishonesty. It simply shows how big money decisions are taken. As an aside, neither Spacey nor Irons have the same charisma as Newman and Redford, nor are there any jokes to leaven the dough.
Richard Gere putting on a show
So what are we to make of a film that casts Richard Gere in the leading role of Robert Miller? As something of a sex symbol when younger, he still has quite a high swoon factor. In 1999, he was People magazine’s “sexiest man alive”. Not bad for a fifty-year old. Now into his sixties, he still manages to command the screen with that easy smile. This time around, he’s playing the part of a rogue with almost no apparent redeeming features. One of his deals has come unstuck so, to cover up his losses, he’s cooking the books and trying to make a quick sale before the losses are discovered — a part of the sale price will fill in the hole in the accounts and leave all the investors protected. Better still, all the staff of the investment firm will stay in work (including his son and daughter). I suppose this makes him slightly better than Bernie Madoff who could not begin to pay people back, but even with the most benign interpretation of his behavior, his lawyer is advising him he will spend a not inconsiderable number of years in jail if he can’t make the sale. Of course, the sale depends on a clean auditing report and no-one internally noticing and blowing the whistle. There’s a considerable circle of friends and business associates who are conspiring with him.
Tim Roth trying to find a way to take down the criminal
As the ultimately selfish male, he’s also a serial adulterer. He may do everything in his power to maintain the illusion of a perfect marriage, but he and his wife played by Susan Sarandon acknowledge it as a sham. Like almost everything in his life, he does enough to hide his dishonesty from those who would give him away. All the others are as bad or worse than him and so would never give him away. In the midst of all this, he kills his current mistress when he falls asleep at the wheel of her car. He calls a young man out to drive him home. Jimmy Grant (Nate Parker) has a conviction and will go to jail if he admits helping our hero flee the scene. This gives Detective Michael Bryer (Tim Roth) an opening. If he can do a deal with Jimmy, he can nail our “hero”. All this is designed to make us care. Indeed, I believe the intention of Nicholas Jarecki who both wrote the script and directed, is to have us cheering Richard Gere on in his desperate attempts to push through the sale and avoid detection as a killer. Personally, I find this rather offensive. I don’t mind a film-maker showing us a criminal as anti-hero in a relatively neutral or, more reasonably, a disapproving way. But I do object when, from the outset, the point of the film is to show an unpleasant fraudster get away with a homicide.
Susan Sarandon beginning to see the problem
So even though some elements of the film do show some sense of realism, I left the cinema feeling I had just been exposed to something with a bad smell. Keeping this in perspective, every city in the world has people like this who use their position in society to get away with their crimes. Sadly, those with power have a high degree of immunity from prosecution. In cinema terms, I’m not advocating a return to the bad old days of the Hays Code in which scripts and productions were sanitised. But just as I question Hollywood’s glorification of gun ownership, showing the use of pistols and rifles in both defence and offence, I think any film encouraging sympathy for career criminals is dangerous. Sending the message you can buy your way out of trouble if you have enough money is not what we want to be telling young audiences. At some point, law enforcement should be allowed to prevail or at least to win a partial victory. So, if you do not share my code of ethics, you may well find Arbitrage the best possible way to show the lives of the bankers and investment managers who earn all these obscene bonuses on Wall Street and in the City of London.
The Incarceration of Captain Nebula and Other Lost Futures by Mike Resnick
The Incarceration of Captain Nebula and Other Lost Futures by Mike Resnick (Subterranean Press, 2012) is a very pleasing collection with one or two outstanding stories all rather beautifully bundled together by the good folk at Subterranean.
We start off with an African story, “Seven Views of Orduvai Gorge”, which poses two interesting questions. Suppose we have a race that develops intelligence and tool-handling ability. In due course, it develops the capacity to travel to the stars and builds an Empire. Later, when it has died away, a team comes to its planet of origin, Earth, to examine the historical record. What can six random snapshots of the past tell us about the history of such a race. Second, as the one with the power to interpret the evidence and inform the team of his findings, what duty does He Who Views have to pass on what he sees? Is it the role of a “historian” to filter what is communicated? Should he impose his own moral standards in deciding how much to tell those in the team? “Barnaby in Exile” is a rather thin story about a chimp that’s reared in a lab and encouraged to think and communicate by signing. When the funding for the experiment is lost, he’s sent out into the jungle, the unsympathetic humans assuming he’s somehow genetically aware how to survive in such an environment. Continuing with animals, “The Last Dog” just about avoids sentimentality as the last man befriends the last dog and then loses out to the alien that’s been going round killing everyone. As a story, it actually makes little sense. Is this alien one of these dedicated, do-it-the-hard-way types that wants to track down the last man without the benefit of his advanced technology? If it knows this is the last man, it must have a way of scanning the Earth and finding no other human alive. Why does the last man seem to know the alien? I could go on but you should understand from this that it’s not very good.
“Article of Faith” makes a serious attempt at a difficult subject. For those who believe in the practical reality of souls, it would come as a shock if it were to be suggested that robots could have one. Mike Resnick is to be commended on having the intellectual honesty to describe the outrage the evangelicals might feel, particularly if high rates of unemployment were caused by their arrival in local factories. Unfortunately, I find the result competent but unexciting. But “The Big Guy” turns that round neatly. One of the other rather clichéd robot plots is the problem of the “emotion” chip. Machines can’t be programmed to feel although they can simulate the more obvious emotions in their behaviour if this is required. This story produces a very ingenious way of looking at the phenomenon of free will and investigates how a robot might go about learning how to feel. “The Boy Who Yelled Dragon” is a rather slight fantasy story written for the YA market.
Mike Resnick with his blue mug from Atlantis
“Alistair Baffle’s Emporium of Wonders” is the best story I’ve read so far this year. Admittedly the year is only a few days old but it’s going to take something outstanding to beat it. In tone, it reminds me of Peter Beagle as two old men set off on a final trip down memory lane before taking the fast elevator to the Pearly Gates. On the way, there’s just enough magic to make their final days less painful. “Distant Replay” is another old fogey story but it doesn’t work quite as well. There’s a sense of wonder about the set-up but the pay-off is just too pulpy to be satisfying. “The Bridge of Frankenstein” continues in this slightly sentimental sequence of stories, this time avoiding mawkishness by creatively engaging with the problems of Mrs Frankenstein as she learns to accommodate Igor and accept the monster as a marriage guidance counsellor. This has a delightfully wry sense of humour about it. And talking about humour, “The One That Got Away” explains why the howls of some coyotes are just a little bit more frustrated than you might realise.
“All the Things You Are” is a wonderful set-up but it fails to deliver because Mike Resnick does not follow the logic of the story. If we have a telepathic alien who can read everything in the target mind, it knows exactly why the hero has come to this planet. For it then to say that our hero has caught on more quickly than those who went before is absurd. His forerunners were innocent victims and might never understand what had happened. I also find it less than satisfying that our hero is not immune or less addicted. He’s gone into this situation with his eyes open. There’s no reason for him to follow the pattern. More interestingly, why does he not kill the pilot and leave himself on the planet but with a lifeline? I could go on but you should understand my frustration from these sample thoughts.
“The Incarceration of Captain Nebula” is a rather pleasing story in which everyone tells the truth as they perceive it within their own terms of reference yet, paradoxically, the man calling himself Captain Nebula is as crazy as a loon (or not as the case may be). And, finally, “Six Blind Men and an Alien” presents us with a rather elegant version of the old story of the elephant and the sample “feels” taken by each man. One of the most difficult of all choices made by an author is the length of the finished product. This is a very clever idea and each of the “feels” is interesting. Fortunately, the author has the good sense to stop before the interest runs out. Put all this together and you have one of the better collections of the year.
For reviews of other books by Mike Resnick, see:
Blasphemy
The Cassandra Project with Jack McDevitt
Cat on a Cold Tin Roof
Dreamwish Beasts and Snarks
Stalking the Vampire
The Trojan Colt.
The Cassandra Project by Jack McDevitt and Mike Resnick
To start us off with The Cassandra Project by Jack McDevitt and Mike Resnick (Ace, 2012), I need quickly to remind you about Cassandra. You may remember all that kerfuffle over Troy when that Helen babe was abducted. Well Cassandra was the nut who kept telling everyone this was a really bad idea. She’d fallen out with Apollo and he cursed her with the power of prophesy (which is pretty cool) but ensured no-one would ever believe her (which is deeply frustrating). “No don’t take the wooden horse inside the walls, you twits!” was one of her better lines. All of which erudition bring me to the idea of conspiracy theories. These are the “secret” deals and cover-ups by the politicians, the military and the monied power-brokers. Needless to say, there’s never any real evidence of such back-room deals, but we’re all invited to believe them as true. As examples of such potentially paranoid delusions, think about the mythology surrounding the JFK assassination, whether the moon landing in 1969 was a government hoax, and the idea that George Bush allowed the 9/11 attacks to justify attacking Iraq. Obviously these are not the kind of prophesies Cassandra would have made.
Jack McDevitt still remembering how to salute
So this book is about the moon landing program in the 1960s. I remember not going to work so I could watch the television coverage of the Eagle setting down and then that moment recorded indelibly in the memory, “That’s one small step for man. . .” I always wonder how long it took the PR people to come up with that line for Neil Armstrong. It’s a beautifully crafted moment. Coming to this book, we have a perfect example of plausible science fiction — that’s the best kind. It’s the truth ripped from tomorrow’s news headlines. Let’s take Heinlein novels as good and bad examples. Rocket Ship Galileo has our juvenile heroes finding a Nazi base on the moon — seem to remember Iron Sky (2012) rerunning that idea. The Man Who Sold the Moon sees a wealthy businessman invest every last nickel in getting to the moon. The persistence of a lone capitalist opens up “outer space” for commercial exploitation. Who needs government when you have men like Delos David Harriman?
Mike Resnick with his identity confirmed
At this point, I need to remind you about Recovering Apollo 8 by Kristine Kathryn Rusch which boldly went into alternate history territory with a story about a mission from the Apollo program ending in the death of the crew. Those of you who can remember back to the 1960s will recall all the missions returned safely. It’s a pleasing variation on the “what if” theme, in this case inviting us to speculate whether the moon missions would have continued had there been such a public disaster. This novel is also playing a “what if” game and, although it’s by no means original, it has the virtue of being the first time I’ve seen it tied in with the Apollo program. Put very simply, the authors want us to consider what might have induced the Americans and the Russians to collude in a cover-up. This was more or less at the height of the Cold War with the Cuban Missile Crisis fresh in everyone’s mind. The two superpowers were still effectively on a war footing. Why should they suddenly agree to collaborate? Even more surprisingly, what would the connection be with the Watergate scandal in 1972. History is very clear that the republican President Nixon broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters for political purposes. It’s impossible there could be any connection with the moon landings, isn’t it? Yet this book suggests a different motive for the break-in.
All in all, The Cassandra Project by Jack McDevitt and Mike Resnick is a slick and professional job, rewriting history not only to explain the original problem, but also to justify the cover-up — the whole being a genuinely impressive puzzle-solving mystery. Confronted by the same set of facts, I’m not sure I would have made the same decisions as Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, but I concede the risks of a major conflict at that time were significant, so a safety-first approach along these lines might have been expedient. As to the politics at the time the action is set in 2019. . . Well, I suppose it’s all plausible given likely continuing tensions in the Middle East and other parts of the world. This might be the time to let the dogs continue their fifty year sleep. So from this, you can see the book is appealingly thoughtful on both the alternate history front and the politics of it all. On the way, there are moments of amusement as the authors take potshots at the PR industry, publishers and other easy targets. It’s a top class read!
For reviews of other books by Jack McDevitt, see:
Cryptic: The Best Short Fiction of Jack McDevitt
The Devil’s Eye
Echo
Firebird
Time Travelers Never Die
For reviews of other books by Mike Resnick, see:
Blasphemy
Cat on a Cold Tin Roof
Dreamwish Beasts and Snarks
The Incarceration of Captain Nebula and Other Lost Futures
Stalking the Vampire
The Trojan Colt.
The Last Tycoon or 大上海 (2012)
The Last Tycoon or 大上海 (2012) is a genuinely pleasing romantic historical action drama out of Hong Kong which spans the development of Shanghai from just after the Xinhai Revolution to the consolidation of Japanese power in occupation of the city. Set largely in the French Concession in the western half of the city, we see the influence of the Europeans in the architecture, the tram system and the more general use of electricity. Helping Shanghai become the financial capital, not just of China, but of the entire region, were the compradors. These were people of local influence who were able to bridge the gap between the local Chinese culture and western interests. This film shows the rise of one particular gang, acting as a comprador, to establish a major bank. With the police force largely corrupt and no unified central government, the broader political scene is characterised by the escalating fight between the Nationalists and the Communists. When the Nationalists began confiscating assets in Shanghai, history sees the Green Gang (青幫) supplant the traditional trade associations and assume significant de facto control. In 1937, following the Battle of Songhu, the Japanese took over, preserving the foreign concessions until 1941. Thereafter until the end of the occupation in 1945, only the French Concession remained. This film is a fictionalised version of the life of Du Yuesheng, showing him defending the city as a true patriot. In reality, he fled to Hong Kong, returning to Shanghai later to find himself despised because he had abandoned the struggle. This film offers a better end for the character as a hero.
Chow Yun-Fat as the older Cheng Daqi fighting for survival
We start off in 1913 with Cheng Daqi (Huang Xiaoming) as a young man in a small provincial town. By accident, he finds himself in jail but, as is required in films like this, he shares a cell with the young Máo Zài (Francis Ng), a rising officer in the Intelligence Corps of the Chinese Army. When Máo Zài escapes, he also frees Cheng Daqi who abandons his childhood love Ye Zhiqiu (Feng Wenjuan) and goes to Shanghai. He teams up with Gao Hu, another fearless lighter who uses a butterfly knife in the graphically choreographed gang fight scenes. In due course, they are recruited by the police chief Jin Shou-Ting (Sammo Hung Kam-Bo) and his wife Yuan Li who control the gang scene in the French Concession. With Cheng Daqi’s advice proving decisive, they become the dominant gang in Shanghai, being courted by the Japanese General Nishino (Yasuaki Kurata) to control the area and share the profits. His lost love goes to Beijing and becomes a top star of the Chinese Opera. When she discovers Cheng Daqi has become a gangster, she rejects him and marries “safely”. After the rejection, Cheng Daqi marries Bo (Monica Mok). Later Ye Zhiqiu (now played by Yolanda Yuan) comes to Shanghai with her husband, not realising he’s working for the Chinese Government. Cheng Daqi (now played by Chow Yun-Fat) sends Gao Hu as her bodyguard.
Huang Xiaoming as the young street fighter
The Last Tycoon or 大上海 (2012) is a great success judged on its merits as a fictionalised version of Shanghai during a pivotal period in its history. Although it flirts with melodrama, the emotional life of the film is beautifully caught in the relationships between Jin Shou-Ting and his wife who become surrogate parents to Cheng Daqi, between Cheng Daqi and the two women who dominate his heart: Bo and Ye Zhiqiu, and between Cheng Daqui and General Máo Zài who covets Bo. This triptych of relationships shows the essential conflict between selfless love and a selfish preoccupation with material wealth and status. For all Jin Shou-Ting and his wife are corrupt public officials and active criminals, they retain their honour and run a true meritocracy in which people of ability rise rapidly through the ranks of the gang and its legitimate businesses. More importantly, they are shown as supporting the local population, rejecting the drugs and prostitution of the Green Gang and others, and promoting a healthier lifestyle for those living in the French Concession. For all Ye Zhiqiu rejects Cheng Daqi, he never stops loving her, provides her with protection when she comes to Shanghai, and flies her out of Shanghai when the Japanese are about to complete their takeover. General Máo Zài represents the inherent corruption in the army and central government. From the outset, he’s out to establish his own power base. When he sees the Chinese Army about to collapse, he’s the first to transfer allegiance to the Japanese. By denying the interests of the people, he sacrifices all rights to personal loyalty and, in the final conflict, finds no-one prepared to protect him.
Sammo Hung Kam-Bo as the man in charge of the French Concession
Thematically, Director Wong Jing is studying the relationship between love in the broadest sense of the word and patriotism. Cheng Daqi remains fiercely loyal to his surrogate parents, doing his best to rescue them when they are captured by the Japanese, and strongly protective of the women in his life. Even though he must surrender Bo to General Máo Zài, the couple’s love for each other remains untouched, transcending the superficial betrayal until revenge becomes possible. In his attempts to control Shanghai, General Nishino fundamentally misjudges the people. This is beautifully caught in his arrogant and patronising dismissal of Chinese Opera. He sees only the soft movements and stylised fighting on stage, not recognising the practical reality of the fighting skills underpinning the art. His mistake is to threaten when he should accommodate the cultural differences and work to produce a jointly satisfactory result. His version of patriotism sees only Japanese interests as significant. China has been attempting to reconcile Nationalism and Communism. It therefore has experience in the possibility of compromise for the benefit of the people. When the Chinese see no opportunity for negotiation, there’s nothing left but to fight. The aerial bombardment of Shanghai is devastating and produces surrender. When the residents have time to regroup, their response is equally explosive.
Taken as a whole, we see suffering both individual and by the people, fury, and self-sacrifice. This is the politics of empathy with first Huang Xiaoming and then Chow Yun-Fat inspiring loyalty from everyone around him. Even Sammo Hung Kam-Bo comes out of it well as a patriarchal figure. Only Francis Ng fails as the corrupted Everyman. After the dust has settled, we’re left with the hope that the suffering and sacrifice will lead to a better life in the future. That humanity has given itself the chance to lift itself out of the pit of cruelty and selfishness and to rise to a more inclusive society in which the people are valued. In the real world, perhaps Shanghai is still a work-in-progress but it is, at least, more peaceful. The Last Tycoon (2012) is an emotionally powerful film with major tragic overtones. It’s a film you should seek out and see.
Dark Faith: Invocations edited by Maurice Broaddus and Jerry Gordon
Dark Faith: Invocations edited by Maurice Broaddus and Jerry Gordon (Apex Publications, 2012) is a themed anthology looking at the phenomenon we call faith. As a word, it’s actually rather interesting. In its more literal sense, it refers to the constancy of a belief. The trust is so complete, the belief is held even though there’s no empirical evidence to verify it. So what gives rise to such confidence? The answer comes in the more connotational levels of meaning. Something must happen to create the trust. It starts as an intellectual process as the person learns about what others believe. This knowledge on its own is not enough. When the knowledge is absorbed, the person must decide to join the others in believing the knowledge to be true. The question, of course, is what persuades each person to become dogmatic in the belief? It’s a transformation of great significance, moving from intellectual understanding to a creed upon which to base future identity and behaviour. The point of this anthology, therefore, is for each author to offer a different view of this process for creating faith and understanding the limits of the faith, if any.
“Subletting God’s Head” by Tom Piccirilli has a nice sense of humour about what it would be like if you could move into God’s head as a tenant with Jesus just down the hall and the Garden of Eden on the third floor. In a relatively short piece, it challenges us to consider what our relationship would be with a deity as a landlord who knows our sins and has a track record of throwing tenants out of third-floor Gardens if they break the house rules. “The Cancer Catechism” by Jay Lake is a moving autobiographical piece translating his continuing experience as a cancer patient into an exploration of how it feels when the reality of death has to be confronted. “The Blue Peacock” by Nick Mamatas introduces us to the Yezidim. This is a Kurdish religion. It’s considered by some to be a heretical branch of Islam that worships the Devil. Alternatively, they believe that God placed the world under the care of seven angels led by Tawsi Melek, the Peacock Angel. As a distant relationship, this works well but there might be unfortunate side effects if Tawsi Melek actually arrives to administer human affairs, i.e. it might lead to lots of shitting unless you can be born again.
“Kill the Buddha by Elizabeth Twist is a wonderful variation on “alien invaders from another dimension”. This time, it’s the Buddhas and they’re back to make us feel good about ending it all. Thank God (that’s the Christian one, of course) for warriors like Gretchen and Scott. With them fighting on our side, humanity stands a chance to avoid transcendence — assuming that’s a bad thing, of course. Pursuing the idea of a fighter, “Robotnik” by Lavie Tidhar asks how a soldier gets through each day knowing the next combat situation could be his last. This will be all the more challenging for the advancing generations of cyborg troops. What will they believe in when their bodies can be repaired, their minds reborn? The answer is elegantly tragic. “Prometheus Possessed” by Matt Cardin switches to a different battlefield where a society comes under attack from a contagious psychic sickness. Only those Curers working in Psychic Sanitation on the frontline of diagnosis and treatment can keep safe the society resulting from Global Reformation. Unless, of course, the Sickness itself cannot be detained and treated in physical terms. Or perhaps ironically the Sickness will be a cure for society’s ills.
“Night Train” by Alma Alexander is about a woman who finally sees an end to the personification of her hopes and dreams as emotional winter comes. And yet. . . the Spring follows. She learns that, to persist through the dark night, all it takes is a little faith or faith from a little one. “The Sandfather” by Richard Wright deals with the tragic reality of bullying and shows one boy’s attempt to find happiness. “Sacrifice” by Jennifer Pelland asks the question we’d all rather not consider. Suppose God is real and He makes us a “one-time, life-or-death, take-it-or-leave it” offer, would we accept it? This is a delightfully cruel answer. “Thou Art God” by Tim Waggoner is elegantly cynical on the downside of godhood and the whole omniscience/ omnipotence thing. I mean who’d want that! In the same breath, “Wishflowers” by Tim Pratt tantalises with the magic of the old childhood game played with the seedheads of dandelions. He offers the idea we all need someone to show us the way but how far should sharing go? “Coin Drop” by Richard Dansky offers us a slightly different version of the apple-in-the-Garden trope. Free will is a tricky thing. To take the apple or not? To be or not to be. Now that would really be a good question. Similarly, if we think in Big Bang terms, the beings you would get with your “Starter Kit” by R J Sullivan would only be tiny specks of life. Even with a distorted time sense, they couldn’t possible be real in our sense of the word, could they?
“A Little Faith” by Max Allan Collins & Matthew Clemens shows that, when you’re praying for rescue, you need to know God works in mysterious ways (if you’re lucky, that is). “The Revealed Truth” by Mike Resnick gives us the background on the Miracle at Miller’s Landing and explains why the resurrection was only transitory. “God’s Dig” by Kelly Eiro sends our hero digging for the truth in his own backyard. “Divinity Boutique” by Brian J Hatcher sells the God you need for the truth buried in your heart. “The Birth of Pegasus” by K Tempest Bradford recasts the moment Perseus killed the Gorgon as a kind of mirror Oedipus complex by surrogate that allows a daughter to kill her mother to better understand her. “All This Pure Light Leaking In” by LaShawn M Wanak suggests it might be dangerous to hold a séance and try calling an angel. “Fin de Siècle” by Gemma Files takes us back to the idea of the Peacock Angel and shows us a different way in which art and religion may intertwine and devolve into decadence, addiction and death.
“The Angel Seems” by Jeffrey Ford demonstrates the extent of the problem that can arise when a newly created angel turns on God. It undermines the people’s faith in Him and may lead to a more general rejection of the deity. “Magdala Amygdala” by Lucy A Snyder suggests angels might remember it for us wholesale — so long as they survive the transformation, of course. And talking about transformations, “A Strange Form of Life” by Laird Barron suggests a new variety of cordyceps — those parasitic fungi — might be able to infiltrate humans in a warm underground environment. Now that might really produce flowers of a different hue. “In Blood and Song” by Nisi Shawl & Michael Ehart magic flowing from African gods helps fighters survive when a riot breaks out. It’s also possible this may signal the start of a new cult. The thing about cults is they usually start small but can grow dominant. “Little Lies, Dear Leader” by Kyle S Johnson tells of the dangers faced by missionaries in countries under the leadership of someone strong. When the evangelisers go, they leave behind those who have heard the call but now need to survive. Finally, “I Inhale the City, The City Exhales Me” by Douglas F Warrick sees a confusion at multiple levels between male and female, Japanese and American, manga and reality. If no-one’s entirely sure who they are, how can they relate to each other when their belief systems are so far apart?
Taken overall, Dark Faith: Invocations is a highly successful anthology, ranging in tone and content across religions like Christianity, Islam and Buddhism, while flirting with magic and other belief systems. We run the gamut of sincerity, honesty, irony, cynicism and humour, something to be treasured when so many editors and publishing houses choose not to explore the darker corners of faith. There are some outstanding stories here and, no matter what you believe, this is a book worth reading.
Dramatically effective jacket art by Anderzak.
A copy of this book was sent to me for review.
Great North Road by Peter F Hamilton
This smaller image is in place because Lionsgate maliciously alleged that the use of an image on this page was infringing its copyright.
Great North Road by Peter F Hamilton (Del Rey, 2012) is a remarkable work of fiction. It runs to 951 pages plus prefatory timeline and cast list. This makes it one of the longer books on the market. So before you even think of buying it, ask yourself whether you have the time and patience to read it through to the end. Even at my probably higher than average reading speed, I spread it over three days. This leads me to make a somewhat facile point. There’s a phenomenal amount of detailed work involved in writing a book this long. First you have to devise a plot with enough complexity to unwind in an unforced way but hold the reader’s interest. It must be peopled by reasonably credible characters and what they do must make sense in the context. Second, this is both a police procedural and an interplanetary dispute involving the themes of colonisation, cloning and life extension, with potential aliens waiting to strike. This requires the creation of future technology to make the medical breakthroughs, support law enforcement and develop the hardware to transport humanity to different planets “out there”. More importantly, there has to be a sufficient link between the homicide investigation in our future version of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and the events happening elsewhere (and elsewhen), i.e. the identification of the murderer on Earth has to have a pay-off in interplanetary terms. In all these purely mechanical features, I can report a modest triumph. The investment of effort by the author has produced a stunningly coherent plot with the twin narrative arcs intertwining most effectively as we build up to the climax and the emotionally satisfying epilogue. Unfortunately, this demonstration of writing craft does not prevent the book from growing rather boring for all it tends into “alien monster” and space opera territory.
At this point, as a Geordie, I should disclose my interest in books that purport to show Newcastle and its culture. For the record, the Great North Road is the route taken by coaches out of London heading north. For a while the old A1 used to follow it but, as towns and cities were bypassed, few today will remember it. Making allowances for this novel being set in 2141 AD, it keeps the layout of the city substantially in line with current reality and, albeit somewhat repetitively, it replicates some of the speech rhythms and uses some of the more common endearments and expressions. This came as a slight surprise since I’m reading the ARC of the US edition. I’m not sure what American readers will make of some of the dialogue. Not that it needs subtitles, of course. It carefully avoids anything that might take us into the dialect (the little that remains of it today). But some of the speech pattern is captured and it might be a little “alien” to modern ears. To be honest, I’m not sure this is a success. I think southerners should stick to writing in a language they know.
Anyway, we start off following Sidney Hurst as he picks up the political hot potato of a murder involving the North family. This is a multigenerational family of clones that have come to dominate the world economy by developing an oil substitute on the planet called St Libra. Using “gate technology” the family is pumping some 60% of Earth’s needs as the book starts. The enduring problem for the detectives is their inability to identify which of the clones has been killed. Despite their best efforts, all they manage to do for the early part of the book is to identify where the body was dumped into the River Tyne using one of the fairly anonymous taxis as transport. However, it’s the murder method that sets alarm bells ringing. It matches a multiple homicide just over twenty years ago on on St Libra. At the time, a woman who was initially considered a survivor, was later convicted of the murder. Since the method is identical and the woman is still in prison, the file has to be reopened. She has always alleged that an alien was the killer. This has never seemed very likely because, apart from extensive vegetation, there’s no life on St Libra. Equally, there’s no obvious way an alien could have come to Earth for this killing. Indeed, since local gang members were actively involved in dumping the body, it seems even less likely an alien could have recruited them. The more probable explanation is some kind of corporate dispute between different factions in the North clan. Except. . .
So on a safety-first basis, our convicted murderer is given the chance to go back to St Libra on a search for evidence that there really are aliens in the jungle. At a stroke, we therefore have the potential for a rerun of Predator (1987) on St Libra and Predator 2 (1990) in Newcastle. Both films have the great virtue of relative brevity as the humans are whittled down to Arnold Schwarzenegger or Danny Glover. Unfortunately, after 200 pages, we’re still chasing taxis in Newcastle. Hardly the same level of economy to get us into the thick of the action. Indeed, I would go so far as to say this would have been a great novel at half the length. Even when we do get ourselves to St Libra and the sun begins to misbehave, the jungle encampment and forced withdrawal sequence is interminable. I stopped caring who the different characters were. The rather strange religion of some government officers is also an unnecessary complication. Although I understand the slightly paranoid stance of the Earth government, their doomsday approach is a nonstarter if this means affecting the substitute oil production on St Libra. Earth cannot so casually threaten to cut off 60% of its fuel supply. There’s also a strange disconnect between the unstoppable terraforming performed by the Zanth and the immediate problem. Although it does tie together in a somewhat ironic way as part of the climax, I’m still not quite sure whether the threat of the Zanth was actually resolved. There’s a hint on the last page that it is, but it would be nice to have a little more detail.
Overall, I rose to the challenge and read it all. I don’t think the test of my patience made me a better human being. I ended up feeling frustrated that I was being buried in a morass of potentially relevant information but without any certainty that it would all be important in any way. If you like a slow but steady read with a lot of political and economic background to flesh out the setting for the action, Great North Road is for you. If you prefer a page-turner thriller set in the future with guns blazing and crazed aliens leaping murderously out of the jungle, watch Predator again.
The artwork from the UK edition is by Steve Stone and rather beautiful.
A copy of this book was sent to me for review.
Thinking about books 