1. Ragamuffin, by Tobias Buckell

[rydra_wong]

First off, I've got to say that I appreciate it when a book passes the Bechdel test (a. two women, who b. talk to each other, about c. something other than a man) within the first few pages, and keeps passing it at regular intervals throughout.

This is the sequel to Buckell's first novel, Crystal Rain, and on one level it's just a rip-roaring good read, a hyperkinetic riff on a number of classic space opera and cyberpunk tropes. An ass-kicking cyborg heroine! A galactic network of wormholes! Pilots plugging their brains directly into their ships! Giant space habitats! A plucky human resistance against the evil alien overlords! Several set-piece action sequences which have "Just Waiting To Be A Major Motion Picture" written all over them!

But the Caribbean-centric diversity of the novel isn't just set-dressing or coincidence; Buckell (who recently wrote an interesting blog post on being multi-racial and identifying as a Caribbean author) deftly integrates themes of colonialism and diaspora in a way which puts a spin on many of the familiar tropes. The plucky human resistance is more than somewhat morally ambiguous, and some of the "evil" aliens may be refugees themselves (which doesn't necessarily make them nice people - but then, many of the humans aren't either ...)

Some of Buckell's prose feels a little awkward (I admit to an allergy to comma splices), but he writes fantastic dialogue, including patois and code-switching in a way which rang very true to me (though I'd be interested to know how it strikes Caribbean readers). And while the breakneck pace doesn't allow for a great deal of psychological depth, there are some genuinely surprising twists (one of which involves the death of a character who I was positive was guaranteed survival by all the laws of adventure stories).

In short, this is a fun read. But it's more than just that, and Buckell's definitely a new sf writer worth watching. And -- a space opera where the rebel starships have names like Starfunk Ayatollah and Cornell West? What's not to love?

By the way, if you're interested in checking it out, Buckell's made the first third of the novel available for free at his website here.

Comments

[into-desire.livejournal.com]

Aha! The Bechdel test! That's what I was trying to think of the other day (after realizing that none of the Lord of the Rings movies passes it. Actually, come to think of it, the book probably doesn't either). Thank you.

This sounds like a really interesting book, I'll have to check it out someday.

[rydra_wong]

Aha! The Bechdel test!

Also sometimes known as the "Dykes To Watch Out For" test, after the name of Bechdel's strip where it first appeared.

Via Google, the original strip:

http://alisonbechdel.blogspot.com/2005/08/rule.html

[sanguinity]

Hardly anything passes that test. Almost every film I find that does pass the test, passes it on trivial exchanges -- in Speed, what's-her-name heroine tells her seatmate that she's riding the bus today because her license has been suspended.

[sanguinity]

Ee! Space opera! And from the sound of it, not-lame space opera!

Didja see Scalzi's interview with Buckell?

[rydra_wong]

Yep, saw it. He seems like a cool guy (and a big geeky fan, which I always approve of *g*). And yes, extremely not-lame!