The Stellar Guild series of books by Phoenix Pick (Arc Manor) teams up a well known, best selling author with their choice of an up and coming, lesser known author to complete a novelette. With authors like Mercedes Lackey and Keven J. Anderson and famed editor Mike Resnick, Locus All-Time Award winner and 5 time Hugo winner this series is loaded with talent. Add Robert Silverberg - a Grand Master of Science Fiction - and expectations soar through the roof, into the heavens, and on to galaxies far, far away.
When the Blue Shift Comes
by Robert Silverberg and Alvaro Zinos-Amaro
Phoenix Pick
Novemeber 2012
For this book, Silverberg brought to the table an unfinished work from nearly 30 years ago that he had started and admitted that he wasn't sure how to end. Silverberg chose new comer Alvaro Zinos-Amaro to finish what he could not and wrap up an incredibly ambitious story in just a novella's length. Congrats on your first published work Zinos-Amaro. No pressure.
The story is about a universe vastly (I mean vastly) older than our own where beings live out near-immortal lives. Hanosz Prime, our protagonist, is a near-immortal who, bored with his exceedingly long life of ruling his own planet, decides to travel to Earth, the only place in the universe where beings are completely immortal.
About this same time, an anomaly in space starts to spread or cause the universe to contract and Earth is on a collision course with destruction. But there is a prophecy about a savior that may or may not point to Hanosz Prime. As the universe contracts at an accerating pace, Hanosz Prime travels towards the anomoly's center point where the answers and questions reside.
And "Cut!"
Silverberg sets up the premise above for the complete duration of his novella. In fact, if there is anything to say about his novella it is to say that it is a premise without a plot. To further complicate matters, Silverberg writes in an exceptionally ackward style with an outlandish amount of asides (especially when discussing time and how vastly, incredibly far away from the readers this story takes place.) With these hurdles in mind, Zinos-Amaro deftly navigates the premise, handles the characters in ways that Silverberg may have been surprised to see (the narrator is a great example), and brings to a satisfactory conclusion this 30 year old idea.
To give away what Zinos-Amaro does with the story is to ruin it as his novella is the only part of the story with surprises, action and suspense. Sure Silverberg's universe is contracting / anomaly expanding and the beings live for a very long time and can change shape, but who cares? Only when Zinos-Amaro gets his hands on the story does it actually go somewhere. (And somewhere satisfying.)
I love Silverberg's works. Some stand the test of time among the greatest science fiction of all time. But this novella was not one of those. Zinos-Amaro did what he could with the premise and showed at the very minimum that he is an extremely talented writer who seemlessly weaves science fact and humor into his writing. I can't wait to see what he writes when he isn't hampered with the assignment to follow-up and conclude another author's unfinished work.
Overall, this book is a short, interesting read but as far as stories go it wasn't the best. If you are looking for technical writing and literary style this book positively overflows with excellent examples. Solid achievement, ok story.
For more: See my
interview with Alvaro Zinos-Amaro.
