From archive (archive) From: ecl@mtgzy.UUCP (Evelyn C. Leeper) Organization: AT&T, Middletown NJ Subject: LIFE DURING WARTIME by Lucius Shepard Date: 27 Feb 88 19:26:50 GMT LIFE DURING WARTIME by Lucius Shepard Bantam, 1987,0-553-34381-5, $7.95. A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper Set in Central America sometime in the near future, this novel is a collection of four novellas, "R & R," "The Good Soldier," "Fire Zone Emerald," and "Sector Jade." The first was nominated for a Hugo in 1987; if the others have appeared previously, then the book gives no indication of this (nor, for that matter for "R & R" either). David Mingolla is a soldier in Free Occupied Guatemala just trying to survive, but as the novel progresses he finds out more and more about himself and about the forces behind the war. This starts out as basically a war novel, but gradually becomes more fantastic (in a literal sense) as psychic powers become another weapon to be used in the war. His journey through the jungles has echoes of Dante's journey through the underworld combined with the concept of "rites of passage." It's not for everyone--I can't say I really enjoyed it, but then war stories are not my particular cup of tea. LIFE DURING WARTIME is not your usual science fiction war story--there is not a lot of emphasis on tactics or battles with amazing weapons. It's a more sedate story about what goes on behind wars, and the day-to-day life during a war. In the latter regard it has more in common with something like Manlio Argueta's A DAY OF LIFE than with, say, David Drake's HAMMER'S SLAMMERS. LIFE DURING WARTIME is not being marketed as science fiction, no doubt because the audience it would appeal to is probably more attuned to the mainstream novel. In fact, it's being marketed as a trade paperback, similar to the "yuppie fiction paperbacks" that are so common now. If it sounds interesting, look for it in that section of your bookstore. Evelyn C. Leeper (201) 957-2070 UUCP: ihnp4!mtgzy!ecl ARPA: mtgzy!ecl@rutgers.rutgers.edu Copyright 1988 Evelyn C. Leeper From rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue Jun 21 01:49:33 1994 Path: liuida!sunic!EU.net!howland.reston.ans.net!agate!postmodern.com!not-for-mail From: lichter@nicco.sscnet.ucla.edu (Michael Lichter) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: THE GOLDEN by Lucius Shepard Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Date: 20 Jun 1994 19:50:15 GMT Organization: The Internet Lines: 72 Sender: mcb@postmodern.com (Michael C. Berch) Approved: mcb@postmodern.com (rec.arts.sf.reviews moderator) Message-ID: <9406192139.AA03265@nicco.sscnet.ucla.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: remarque.berkeley.edu Originator: mcb@remarque.berkeley.edu THE GOLDEN by Lucius Shepard A book review by Michael Lichter Having immensely enjoyed Lucius Shepard's first two novels, GREEN EYES and LIFE DURING WARTIME, I was rather eager to get my hands on his latest work, THE GOLDEN. Although the last thing I expected from Shepard was "a sensual novel of vampires and blood lust" (from the cover), I hunted it down (not to be found in the SF section) and dove in. I found the book to be a solid piece of work, but, alas, not up to the standards of the earlier novels. THE GOLDEN is an inventive revisionist vampire tale. In keeping with contemporary convention, some of Shepard's vampires are tired of being evil creatures of the night, spiritually less than human. They long to cast off old superstitions, understand themselves for what they really are, and to utilize their immortal status to exceed the achievements of humankind. Our protagonist, Michel Beheim, is a novice vampire participating in his first Family gathering at the immense Castle Banat. A former police inspector, Beheim is the natural choice to investigate the savage murder of the Golden, a human bred to have the most exquisitely flavorful blood. Thus he follows in the footsteps of other authors vampire detectives. The story follows what has become a standard plot forumla for Shepard: a naive young man confronts an immense problem or mystery. He enlists the help of a woman whose knowledge and power exceed his own. Although their purposes differ, they become lovers. With his courage and sharp mind, the man learns secrets that make him powerful and dangerous to the powers that be. And the woman reluctantly follows her hero into battle; once she helps set the adventure in motion she is really just along for the ride (in more senses than one). The excitement in this vampire/detective/romance story resides less in the plot than in the the characters, the details, and the tweaks Shepard gives to convention. Although Beheim remains something of an enigma, the characters he encounters are all finely drawn in two dimensions, beautiful static portraits. Castle Banat, which is like all the haunted castles of the world jumbled together, is also carefully constructed. And Shepard *does* tweak vampire story conventions. In GREEN EYES, a bacterium found only in the earth of certain New Orleans graveyards creates zombies. Similarly, in THE GOLDEN vampirism turns out to be a blood-borne infection, a kind of anti-AIDS. Another science-fictional element is the development by a vampire scientist of a potion that extends vampire powers in a bold new direction. As in Anne Rice's novels, religious symbols mean nothing to the vampires. Unlike Rice's vampires, though, Shepard's are both forcefully heterosexual (Rice's seem to be most strongly same-sex oriented) and able to physically participate in sex -- sex that goes well beyond the human in its forms. As with Shepard's other novels, all these elements overlay a story about good and evil and the nature of reality. I'll let the reader discover what that means. I strongly recommend this novel to vampire fans. People who aren't crazy about vampires and who haven't read Shepard before should start with either GREEN EYES or LIFE DURING WARTIME; this is the weakest of the three. %A Shepard, Lucius %T The Golden %I Bantam Books %C New York %D August 1993 %G ISBN 0-553-56303-3 %P 291 pp %O paperback, US$4.99