Courttia Newland

I decided to read [b:A River Called Time|51257383|A River Called Time|Courttia Newland|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581693812l/51257383._SY75_.jpg|75985523] after hearing Courttia Newland talk about it at a book festival event. He discussed his intention to create alternate worlds in which colonialism and slavery never happened. I love alternate histories of this kind, like [b:Civilisations|54345837|Civilisations|Laurent Binet|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1618683111l/54345837._SY75_.jpg|71763227], [b:Everfair|26114130|Everfair|Nisi Shawl|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1445423571l/26114130._SY75_.jpg|46061074], and [b:The Years of Rice and Salt|2723|The Years of Rice and Salt|Kim Stanley Robinson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1419079388l/2723._SY75_.jpg|74882]. [b:A River Called Time|51257383|A River Called Time|Courttia Newland|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581693812l/51257383._SY75_.jpg|75985523] is structurally quite different from any other alternate history I've read, as it follows a single character across multiple worlds. The reader first meets Markriss during his teenage years in a version of London very different to ours. Inner London has been devastated by a bomb blast two centuries before, then a vast structure called the Ark built to house the city's wealthy and several social strata of workers. As far as I could tell, the Ark was built to seal off its residents from pollution outside. The reader explores the social tensions of this structure in some detail with Markriss, across several different worlds. There are strong themes of spirituality and mysticism throughout the book and Markriss is able to astral project himself from one reality to the next.

I found the world-building in [b:A River Called Time|51257383|A River Called Time|Courttia Newland|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581693812l/51257383._SY75_.jpg|75985523] fascinating, albeit rather dense with asides. The plot is meandering and gradual, to allow the reader to explore and think about how things differ across versions of London. I found the scenes in the lower basements of the Ark particularly vivid and unsettling. Much like the train in Snowpiercer, the Ark's physical structure enforces its social structure. In each alternate version of London Markriss' life takes a different route. I appreciated how Newland shows the changes in circumstance and environment that bring out various sides to him. It took me a little while to get used to the initial setting, but once I did the alternate worlds structure became really compelling. At one point, Markriss lands in our own world at a very specific time. This feels suitably disorientating after immersion in the Ark.

Although I found the spiritual elements a bit hard to follow at times, [b:A River Called Time|51257383|A River Called Time|Courttia Newland|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581693812l/51257383._SY75_.jpg|75985523] is an impressively atmospheric and ambitious novel, not quite like any alternate universe narrative I've read before. It's rich in detail and asks big questions about identity, social class, and the meaning we find in daily life.… (more)

A rather uneven collection of short stories in the sci-fi/speculative fiction vein. There are some real gems here, but you have to dig for them, and the fact that the first stories in the book are arguably the weakest makes getting through this collection a bit of a slog until about the midway point. The worst of the stories are jargon-heavy, with little supportive context or character development. Some read like the beginning of a story yet to be completed; others read like notes for a story not yet written. The best stories, however, are inventive, memorable, character-driven pieces satisfying enough to warrant a revisit. Highlights include "Scarecrow," "You Meets You," "Dark Matters," "Nommo," and the stand-out "Seed," which is likely the strongest story in the collection. Overall, worth reading, but skip around.… (more)

I didn't think any of the stories in this collection were successful. On the positive side, the author tried his hand at every type of classic sci-fi story, whether it was robots, zombie apocalypse, aliens, or underwater merfolk atlantis. However, and here's the really strong negative, each and every story was incomplete. They fell into two general categories: either 1) the stories felt like prologues or first chapters of longer works, which just stopped right after setup and without exploring any of the concepts they'd introduced, or 2) they read as outlines.

As annoying as it was to finally settle into a story only for it to just STOP (wait, that's IT?) the stories that felt like outlines were unbearable. The opening story is one of those, though not the worst one. They read like, "this happened and then this happened and then this happened and then this happened..."

I really can't recommend this. I appreciate trying all sorts of ideas, but the author didn't have anything at all to say, and the prose style varied greatly from "ok, some time was spent on this one" to "ok, he'll get back to this one later."… (more)

I dream in Blade Runner's setting. I want to love Blade Runner, but no matter how many times I watch this film, I always wish for more worldbuilding. And since it's such a speculative classic, I'm often wary of other speculative stories. I have hardly met a speculative novel that I feel has ENOUGH worldbuilding - I love more more more speculative details. So as soon as I picked up 'Cosmogramma' I had a bit of worry that speculative details in a short story format certainly wouldn't offer up enough detail heaped on that plate for my tastes. But I am proved wrong, Mr. Newland! Despite hesitancy on a speculative short story format, most of these stories worked well for me, though a few could have used a tiny bit more detail to click in my unscientific brain. I like one particular story that seems to combine two sci-fi classics brilliantly, but I wanted more of a reason WHY for the story to really hit home. There is a generous array of science fiction and speculative topics and themes in this collection to keep it fun. Something here is bound to haunt your imagination. I liked that the final story hinted at the first. Some of my favorites here: Scarecrow, You Meets You, Nommo, The Sankofa Principle. I'm very glad I gave this collection a chance. If you like speculative short stories, pick this up!… (more)