From Publishers Weekly
Ryman ( Was ) works on a scale as vast as the universe and as intimate as the soul--even when the format is short as it is in the four novellas that make up this collection. His themes beautifully interweave transcendence, death and the dignity of all life. Set in the same universe as The Child Garden , "A Fall of Angels" uses particle physics, angels and a young man's fight against futility to show how life transcends duty to reach for love. This tale is not wholly satisfying, but Ryman's take on physics (and angels) is so unique that one can forgive any structural lapses. More successful are "Fan," a richly textured account of a woman who must face death to rid herself of an unhealthy fixation on an unattainable idol and "O Happy Day," a brutal tale about gay rights and human dignity in a concentration camp. The final entry, "The Unconquered Country" (winner of the World Fantasy Award) is set in a fantastic universe where machine parts can be birthed within the wombs of peasants and where houses and trucks are dimly alive. Here Ryman explores the strengths of the human soul and human community in adversity. Strange and mythic, it conjures poetic images of black wings, tigers stripes and crows nourishing the spirit of rebirth. Written between 1976 and 1989, not all the novellas are equally polished, but even the darkest story is imbued with a spirit that struggles against sentimentality and towards spiritual awakening.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Although few authors of successful science fiction ever achieve similar renown in the literary mainstream, none is more deserving of this blessing than Ryman. Here, in four brilliantly conceived, remarkably different novellas, he displays a penetrating vision of the human condition under extraordinary circumstances--a vision that both rejuvenates and transcends the familiar conventions of the sf genre. In "A Fall of Angels," a universal mission to conquer entropy for humanity's greater glory is challenged by an alien that defies entropy in its own way by existing simultaneously in all times. "Fan" insightfully previews the coming interactive video revolution in the wry story of a working-class Londoner who learns the surprising truth about her media-anointed pop idol. In "O Happy Day!" the well-worn sf theme of women's rise to power is given a chilling twist by imagining gay men in charge of male extermination camps. The surrealistic title story concerns life in a future war-torn China and is a winner of the World Fantasy Award. Ryman's superior command of language and style provides reading adventure that is at once entertaining, illuminating, and profound.
Carl Hays
