{"id":622,"date":"2006-07-19T13:04:37","date_gmt":"2006-07-19T17:04:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chrismclaren.com\/blog\/archives\/2006\/07\/19\/keeping-it-real\/"},"modified":"2008-08-03T22:52:47","modified_gmt":"2008-08-04T02:52:47","slug":"keeping-it-real","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.chrismclaren.com\/blog\/2006\/07\/19\/keeping-it-real\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping It Real"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Justina<\/p>\n

Seeing the review<\/a> of Keeping It Real<\/a> pop up on Strange Horizons<\/a> yesterday reminded me that I wanted to say something about the book. <\/p>\n

Somehow I managed to avoid any notice that this book was forthcoming, despite my relatively recent interest in Robson, and was somewhat shocked to find out that it was already out (in the UK<\/a>) before I had even heard about it. Of course I immediately ordered a copy, and just recently got a chance to read it. If that “of course” doesn’t make sense to you, you should follow some of the links below and try to get an idea why it’s there.<\/p>\n

I maybe should have looked around a bit first, since if I was going to order it from the UK anyway, I might as well have ordered a signed copy<\/a>, from The Aust Gate<\/a>, for the essentially the same price. I certainly wasn’t going to wait for the US edition, despite pleas from the publisher<\/a>Don’t feel bad–I buy a lot of stuff from Pyr<\/a>–specifically including their edition of Silver Screen<\/a>, and I’ll also be getting their edition<\/a> of Mappa Mundi<\/a> (which is the only Robson I haven’t read yet)–but I’m not waiting for this book, especially when they won’t promise me a hardcover.<\/footnote>.<\/p>\n

First off, let me be right up front with the fact that I totally enjoyed it. If the next volume were here I would be skipping out on work to read it right now. I just tried to describe it to someone in email and came up with “Imagine what the Mirrorshades<\/a> anthology would be like if it had been written after the concept of Singularity<\/a> had become commonplace in SF. That’s the peanut butter. Now imagine the Borderland<\/a> stories, except the music is updated, and one of the main characters is a high tech superspy. Oh, and she’s a cyborg. That’s the peanut butter<\/span> chocolate<\/em>. With tongue firmly<\/strong> in cheek, and with a slight Zelaznian accent, Robson plays the role of Mr. Reese<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

\"KeepingIt is different from her other books, and I’m having a hard time finding the words to say how. Not because I don’t know what the difference is, but rather because I can’t find a way to express it that doesn’t carry a whole pile of connotations I don’t want. I’ve just spent quite a long time trying to find a way to say “it’s very good, but in a different and less significant way than her other books” that doesn’t make me sound like a pretentious twit, and I’m failing. More than that, I want to say it in a way that carries no hint that this book is somehow worth less than her other books, but just that it is less… um… weighty. Damn. All the words are loaded with value judgement connotations.<\/p>\n

Let’s put it this way: for people who know Walter Jon Williams<\/a>, I would say these books stand in relation to the rest of Robson’s works as Williams’ Maijstral books<\/a> stand in relation to his overall corpus. Or, perhaps slightly less on point, maybe as Escape from Kathmandu<\/a> stands to the rest of Kim Stanley Robinson<\/a>‘s books. Those examples are a little off, since they are a little more into overt comedy than Robson, but you get the idea about weight.<\/p>\n

The pictures show you what Justina, and the new book, look like. If you’re curious about what she sounds like, BBC Radio 4<\/a> can help you. On the June 18, 2006 broadcast<\/a> of the show Open Book<\/a>, there was a short segment on “British Science Fiction” that had Robson and publisher Jo Fletcher commenting.<\/p>\n

If you can deal with the annoyances of RealAudio, you can get the stream from the BBC. Unlike most of their programs, it seems that Open Book<\/a> has more than just one week of archives, so you can pop to that particular broadcast’s page<\/a> and get the stream. The segment in quesiton is the final segement of the show, so you’ll have to wait for it.<\/p>\n

Alternately, you can just download an MP3 of just that segment from me. At least you can until\/unless some BBC lawyer tells me to take it down:<\/p>\n

\"JustinaJustina Robson on Open Book 2006.06.18<\/a><\/p>\n

Handy Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n