By Kendra Hibbert
February 7, 2003
After a three-month long sabbatical from the world of fiction, I’m back with a vengeance, plunging into the world of Sci-fi and Fantasy fiction, starting with Michael Crichton’s novel PREY and finishing with Terry Pratchett’s newest addition to the Discworld series, NIGHT WATCH.
Michael Crichton’s notoriety as a writer has established him as one of the highest selling science fiction novelists today. His books have been the inspiration for some of the highest-grossing films like the JURASSIC PARK and TWISTER as well as some of the biggest box office bombs like 13TH WARRIOR and SPHERE. He’s just as capable of putting out innovative science fiction stories as he is putting out re-hashed tired plots we’ve all read before.
Crichton’s newest novel PREY explores the science of nanotechnology in a story that pits an out-of-work computer programmer up against a swarm of half technological/half biological bugs created (of course) by a greedy corporation to be used in a top secret military application. As if creating and releasing these bugs into the wild wasn’t proof enough of these Corporate bad-guys’ ignorance, Crichton has them combine the technology with the e-bola virus, thus ensuring that the monster can both reproduce rapidly and started a massive plague that would kill billions – that is, unless our hero Jack Forman can figure out a way to outsmart this runaway swarm of cyborg-bugs acting on a computer program he originally wrote to mimic the nature of predatory beasts.
Essentially, this novel is JURASSIC PARK with tiny virus-laced bugs replacing cloned dinosaurs. Take one marriage on the rocks, throw in a greedy corporation that has lost control of their creation, add a cool Frankenstein monster and a big-budget, Hollywood action movie ensues. The only thing he’s left out at this point is the casting.
But damn if Crichton doesn’t know his stuff. There’s a huge coolness factor inherent with his books. He knows what’s going on in the science community these days, what everyone is excited about and what possible outcomes/dangers reside in getting caught up in the experimenting with these sciences without proper precautions. Though the plot twists may seem outrageous at times, at every step of the way Crichton justifies what is happening -- how the bugs are evolving and why they are acting certain ways -- with some damned convincing science talk. Though sometimes what he writes comes across as more visually pleasing than realistically practical, there are several mind-blowing “cool” moments, typical of most Crichton sci-fi novels and the reason he is such a popular writer. Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter whether the events in PREY could really take place, Crichton makes you believe everything he writes could happen. And if you lay aside your bullshit detector for a moment he actually has some pretty interesting theories to get across about nanotechnology, computer programming and the way organisms evolve.
As Crichton is to science fiction, Terry Pratchett is to the fantasy genre. His lengthy Discworld series has made him immensely popular with the fantasy crowd. His newest novel, NIGHT WATCH, is the 28th in that series and is destined not to disappoint the fans.
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NIGHT WATCH follows Sam Vimes, Commander of the Watch in Ankh-Morpork City, who is suddenly thrust back in time along with the villainous Carcer and forced to exist in a darker, more retched moment in the City’s history until time and space can be put back into order (by those who deal with such things). To pass the time, Vimes enlists in the city’s Night Watch (hence the title) and uses his leadership prowess to get the Watch in better shape, weed out the corruption in the force and add a little dignity to the badge. Unfortunately meanwhile, Carcer has killed John Keel, the man who was mentor to the young Vimes and the older Vimes must assume the role of teacher to his younger self, educate him on the tricks of the trade and hopefully have him survive the impending revolution the city is about to be besieged by.
What sets Pratchett apart from most fantasy writers is his Monty Python-esque black humor and his dedication to keeping his world as realistic as possible while still touching on fantasy elements. Though things like dwarfs and zombies and magic play a part in the story, Pratchett focuses on developing three dimensional characters and writing about things his readers can relate to. Rather than use the time traveling device as a cheap gimmick, he has taken the opportunity to explore a ‘What if…’ theme – What if… you were able to go back in time to change something, prevent a massacre, foil a crime or give some advice to your younger self, even if doing so would change the course of time and prevent your relatively happy existence (in Vimes’ case with a beautiful wife and a baby on the way) in the future. Essentially, Pratchett is using the idea of time travel as most science fiction writers use it, but he has set it in a richly developed Fantasy world with characters he’s already written about in his previous books. The benefit of there being 27 previous novels in this series is that there is that much more history to the world. By going back in time, Pratchett can explore the origins of certain characters well-known in the series, or throw in little inside jokes his loyal readers yet still tell a very human story of regret and missed opportunities.
However, this series, like the STAR TREK books or the HARRY POTTER phenomenon is so steeped in history it’s somewhat difficult at times for the lay-reader to follow along. The intricacies of the characters are great for the fanatic readers but for someone who has just picked up their first book of the series, there are moments when the subtleties of the story are lost.
Pratchett’s mastery of wit and skill as a writer make it possible to read this book on a less-understanding yet still-enjoyable level for those who haven’t followed the series from the beginning. However, it’s probably advisable to pick up some of the earlier Discworld novels to get a better grasp of the story and the characters rather than jumping into the series at book 28. NIGHT WATCH is a good book, masterfully written and wonderfully executed, but in order to enjoy it fully readers should have at least some previous knowledge about the Discworld world.
Next Column: The Sci-fi party continues with William Gibson’s PATTERN RECOGNITION and DOWN AND OUT IN THE MAGIC KINGDOM by Cory Doctorow.
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