If Only I Was Green

Book and movie reviews, and original stories...Enter and expand your mind.

January 24, 2006

Review: "Bears Discover Fire" and "Voyage to the Red Planet" by Terry Bisson




A month or so ago Paul Park was in town for a book signing. It just happens that Paul is a college friend of Mal’s. I read some of his early work a few years ago (“The Cult of Loving Kindness” and “Sugar Rain”) so I didn’t feel totally guilty when he got to the house. I did feel a little guilty about not reading any of his more recent work. But my big guilt trip was reserved for Terry Bisson. Paul stayed with Terry during his visit to Oakland and Terry was kind enough to bring Paul up to our house. I hadn’t read a single thing that Terry had written. And some of his work had won awards like the Hugo and Nebula Awards. I love science fiction and here I have TWO sci/fi writers in my house and I don’t know their work! Well Mal served them lunch and I went off to coach a hockey game...

In an attempt to redeem myself I asked Mal to find something from Terry Bisson at the library and she ended up bringing home “Bears Discover Fire” and “Voyage to the Red Planet”. Both books were easy to read but I enjoyed “Bears Discover Fire” the most. “Bears Discover Fire” is a collection of short stories that reminded me of a cross between Andre Norton and Outer Limits. I love how he twisted reality around to provide a new view of a common situation. My favorite story was “The Message”. And I can’t tell you why I liked it without giving away the story line so you’ll just have to get your hands on it and read it yourself.

“Voyage to the Red Planet” was an interesting story about how a trip to Mars would be accomplished if Hollywood ran the world. With all of today’s DRM news it’s easy to imagine that the entertainment industry would be more than happy to own everything and stifle all creativity. This was a fun romp and good for an afternoon when you don’t want anything heavy to read.

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