The Neutronium Alchemist by Peter F. Hamilton

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The second epic part of Hamilton's epic-length epic about an epic war in an epic science fiction future. Did I mention that it's epic? Because it is pretty epic. Perhaps too much so. Hamilton's space opera is filled with larger than life characters, dramatic escapes, technicolor explosions, super-future tech -- described in plenty of loving technobabble -- and plots within plots within plots.

(Spoilers follow)

Among the multiple plotlines, the central story is the rise of various factions of the Possessed across the human universe. The most powerful and threatening is led by a returned Al Capone, who is able to rally his fellow returning dead into a formidable interplanetary organization. A fascinating concept, although Capone's dialogue can be, at times, reeeeeeally cheesy -- one of the downfalls of Hamilton's writing. Complexities multiply in this volume as Dr. Mzu begins her search for the deadly Alchemist, pursued by multiple competing factions (including the Possessed), the returned spirit of Fletcher Christian pursues satanist Dexter Quinn in an attempt to atone for his past misdeeds, the Kiint reveal their own past contact with the Beyond, and an entirely new, mysterious group of seemingly immortal beings emerge in the conflict with the Possessed. Fun, big, bold, and a bit ridiculous.



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Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Reminiscent of works such as Italo Calvino's "Invisible Cities" or Alan Lightman's "Einstein's Dreams." A novella of multiple perspectives, fantasies, transforming identities, past and present. During the Interregnum, a foundling named Jordan sets sail to explore the world, discover new fruits, find love, find himself; back in England, his adopted mother -- an impossibly massive creature known only as the Dog-Woman -- brutalizes hypocritical Puritans and longs for the presence of her son, the only person with whom she has ever shared love. The book is airy, fantastical, often confusing in its blurring of reality, fantasy, internal and external worlds; it starts to fall apart, I think, when a modern story is juxtaposed with the historical fiction. Perhaps others will find the mixture of these two stories more compelling, but for me, it caused the work to teeter over the edge: it had been barely held together by the threads of dream logic and imagination, but the temporal disjunction just made it a bit too frayed for me. Still, a beautiful, poetic work for the most part.



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When Nietzsche Wept by Irvin D. Yalom

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I wouldn't call it "great literature," but Yalom's novel is a smart, engaging read. Yalom's alternative history posits a meeting between Josef Breuer -- one of the fathers of psychoanalysis and a mentor of Sigmund Freud -- and a young Friedrich Nietzsche. The dialogue can be clunky at times, often coming across as two intellectuals philosophizing to one other rather than two human beings talking, but Yalom has a firm grasp of Nietzsche's thought -- firm enough that he can critique its extremes and flaws while still admiring its scope, audacity, and insight. Readers more familiar than I with clinical psychoanalytic technique will probably also find the discussions between doctor and patient fascinating for their exploration of the tensions, limits, and benefits of the "talking cure"; for me, they were compelling, but I simply don't have the expertise to parse out some of the subtext. Overall very enjoyable, thoughtful, and compelling.



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