A Deeper Sea, AvoNova paperback, ISBN 0-380-71709-3, $4.99/$5.99 Canada, 360 pgs.
Wow. This is the single word that best describes the first book of Alex Jablokov’s that I read. Here is a book which has such things in it as a bioengineered whale designed to dive into the clouds of Jupiter, as a lone Russian scientist who discovers that dolphins do speak but does so in a way that ends up haunting him forever. It is also the story of people and of war and of events which overshadow entire planets. It is also a book about philosophy and art. It is these last two additions which really made the book for me. Sure the concepts blew me away and certainly the characters, particularly the Russian, Stasov, were moving and more than intelligent but it was more the presentation and the incongruity of the art and philosophy amongst all this that really made the book for me. I bought it. I read it. I recommend it with force to everyone who asks if I know of any great books.
Nimbus, AvoNova paperback, ISBN 0-380-71710-7, $4.99/$5.99 Canada, 376 pgs.
This is a book about the near future. It too involves bioengineering and war and vengeance and actions which produce angst and remorse. It also includes art and philosophy. This time the art is music and the philosophy is presented by a madman. The story revolves around one of seven individuals who worked on a top secret government project during the Devolution Wars. We’re not quite sure exactly what happened there except that the main character is now a jazz musician who, in his spar time, implants mental prosthetics into the skulls of wealthy clients. Someone begins killing off the group of seven however and the main character is forced to take action. We get to follow along and share in the discovery and revelation and bizarreness that seems commonplace.
By now you will have noticed a theme in both books and I want to say that, yes, there are commonalties but they are vastly different books which only share the ability to keep your eyes open until the final page is turned.
River Of Dust, AvoNova hardcover, ISBN 0-688-14605-8, $22, 326 pgs.
This time we’re on Mars and dealing with a Martian future and society that is quite different than ours. As Jablokov has one of his characters notice, Mars is almost more about what is not seen and illusionary than what is directly before you. Therefore we have Martian corridor gangs, and a school that teaches action in place of thought and a society that has killed its doers for doing too much and yet almost craves the coming of one who will lead them if only for the chance to punish that person. It is also a story about a family and family tragedy and dealing with single events that become life shapers. It is also about art, in this case reporting as an art form. There is also a great deal of philosophy this time in conflict in the shape of two divergent characters. It is also a story about life and history as theater and how historical events can be shaped and stage managed by the right people at the right place. It is the concept of position and spin doctoring taken to extremes. In the process it is an enthralling read.
While A Deeper Sea swept me away with its intelligent and quirky extrapolation, River of Dust sucked me in with its character struggle set against an almost constantly moving background of a society that is almost liquid in form. Nimbus is a mystery wrapped in a cyberpunk influenced future full of regular people caught up in extraordinary times.
Jablokov’s other book, Carve The Sky is not quite as good as the three above and is, upon reading, almost the precursor to all of them, almost the trial novel. It is still worth reading (and full of all of the concepts noted above) but it does have some rough edges. The anthology is all of the above but in short form. There are few authors that I will go out of my way to find. Jablokov is one of them. He is Zelazny mixed with Leguin and spiced with Dick and Pohl. He is, at the same time, more than all of them combined. He is worth reading. Read A Deeper Sea first. After that you’ll be as hooked as I am.
Wow! This stuff is really Keen, show me where I can find more! Keen!
Sure it's Keen, but too much of a Keen thing is, well, too much of a Keen thing. You better show me how to go 
I'm a reviewaholic. It's a fatal attraction kind of thing. I hunger for blurbs. I want to go back to the Review page.
Content, dammit, is what it's all about. Show me where the content is.
Hey, did you send me mail yet? 
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