Liberty, Art, & Culture Vol. 31, No. 3 Spring 2013 Quantum Vibe Volume 1: Nicole By Scott Bieser Big Head Press, 2013 Reviewed by Anders Monsen I have been following Scott Bieser’s serialized online graphic novel, Quantum Vibe, since day one. Now the first volume of his panels has been published as a book, available from the usual sources. Weighing in at 236 pages, the first volume focuses on Nicole, a young woman—often irresponsible and prone to drink and emotional scenes—who embarks on a new career and life of adventure after getting dumped by her flaky boyfriend. In the aftermath of her depression and self-indulgence, she is fired and forced to look for new work. She interviews for a job as personal assistant to a peripatetic inventor/businessman, Dr. Seamus O’Murchadha, who has a bold and ambitious project that needs a pilot and all-around gopher. Nicole at first is overwhelmed, but later accepts the job, and begins a journey that will take her from the sun and outward, with stops along the way at various planets and orbital stations. The title comes from O’Murchadha’s project, a refinement of Quantum Vibremonics, or parallel universes. His initial ef- fort is to have Nicole fly a ship into the sun’s upper atmosphere to drop nuclear payloads in an experiement to test his thesis. His scheduled itinerary takes them from the sun to Mercury, Luna, Mars, Europa and Titan, though at the conclusion of this volume they are approximately halfway along their journey (the story continues online, and now has entered volume 2, which should appear in book form later in 2013). Nicole, all fire and impulse, appears at first a poor choice for her role, but plays her part well, to the point that enemies of O’Murchadha take notice and seek to remove her from the Inside Prometheus: chessboard in their game against their rival. O’Murchadha has been around for over three centuries, Reviews: having undergone several rejuvenation treatments. His last Quantum Vibe round left him with certain side effects, rendering him mas- , by Scott Bieser sive and almost comical. Still, he seems to take this in stride, The Office of Mercy, by Ariel Djanikian and Nicole gradually accepts this, as well as their working The Human Front, by Ken MacLeod relationship. This book and subsequent comics are almost Reset, by Peter Bagge as much about Nicole growing up as much as anything else, Nexus, by Ramez Naam though she seems to fight hard to remain the college-age kid Brilliance, by Matthew Sakey —Continued on page 7 Prometheus Volume 31, Number 3, 2013 Confessions of a selective Luddite The newsletter of the Libertarian Futurist Society Throughout the years I have owned (and continue to own) multiple computers, iPods, smart phones, tablets, and other electronic devices. When the first iPod came out in 2001, I Editor acquired it right away. Like the Sony Walkman but infinitely Anders Monsen better, the iPod allowed me to store my entire music library and listen to whatever I wanted, anywhere I wanted. I’ve loaded Contributors 10,000 songs on an iPod and flown thousands of miles with Max Jahr a variety of music genres at my fingertips. Fran Van Cleave However, I can count on one hand the number of books I have read on these devices: three Edgar Rice Burroughs books. I have loaded and started other books, but either something in me resents reading a non-paper edition of a book, or I get distracted by email, internet browsing or games and I aban- Letters and Submissions: don whatever story or book I am reading. Why are Kindles Anders Monsen all the rage, and yet I see no reason to even consider owning 501 Abiso Ave. San Antonio, TX 78209 one? I’ve tried iBook editions on an iPad and iPhone, and [email protected] PDFs on the same devices. They neither inspire nor hold my attention. And yet, I listen to music on my devices. I’ll watch movies on my devices. But when I want to read fiction, I turn Award Chairs to an actual book or magazine. Best Novel — [email protected] Lately I have reflected upon this selective Luddite attitude. I Classic Fiction — [email protected] lean more and more toward publishing Prometheus only online, LFS Online: both as HTML text and as PDF editions of the newsletter; http://lfs.org there is cost and time involved in a print newsletter, let alone the greater access by posting something online. I also have started viewing the migration to electronic publishing as a Subscriptions & Advertisements means to read short fiction, hoping to list any libertarian lean- Basic Membership: $25/year ($30 international) ing short stories in Prometheus. I vividly remember Edgar Allan Full Membership: $50/year Poe’s words about short fiction in his critical essay, “The Short Sponsors: $100/year Story,” where he wrote about the vitality of short fiction: Benefactors: $200/year Subscriptions: $20/year ($25 international) We allude to the short prose narrative, requiring from All memberships include one-year subscriptions to Prometheus. —Continued on page 7 Classified ads: 50 cents/word, 10 percent off for mul- tiple insertions. Display ad rates available. All checks payable to the Libertarian Futurist Society. Prometheus Submission Guidelines Libertarian Futurist Society Prometheus seeks reviews, interview, essays, ar- 650 Castro St. Suite 120-433 ticles, and columns of interest to libertarian science Mountain View, CA 94041 fiction fans. Any individual may submit material [email protected] — membership in the LFS is not required. As the newsletter of the Libertarian Futurist Send mailing address changes to: Membership Society, Prometheus focuses on Prometheus Award- 650 Castro St. Suite 120-433 nominated works, but also publishes reviews and Mountain View, CA 94041 articles beyond the Prometheus Award candi- [email protected] dates. Letter of comment also are welcome, whether Prometheus © 2013 the Libertarian Futurist Society. about the reviews, or any questions about LFS, The LFS retains a non-exclusive license to republish the nominating and voting process. In this digital accepted articles on its web site; all other rights revert to the contributor. Letters and reviews are welcome. age the printed press continues to matter, but we Bylined articles are strictly the opinion of the writer need your help to sustain this newsletter. and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the LFS Contact the editor for more details via email or its members. at: [email protected] Page 2 Volume 31, Number 3, 2013 Prometheus The Human Front rather than blindly accept what people tell him. By Ken MacLeod John remains with the communists, who begin an open PM Press, 2013 guerrilla campaign once enough of their cadre have military Reviewed by Anders Monsen training from their national service. He and his small team plan to bomb a railroad bridge, but instead end up in the middle of a massive battle, where they capture another pilot, Ken MacLeod’s novella The this time a seven-foot blond woman, who blithely mentions Human Front appears in print that she is from Venus, and the gray pilots from Mars. Before again, this time as a slim pa- they can extract themselves from the battle, they are zapped, perback from new imprint PM and awaken aboard a vast ship, which drops them off in a Press. The volume is part of prisoner of war camp. While told they are on Venus, they plot its “outspoken authors” series, their escape, in the course of which they learn the real truth which includes writers like Nalo behind the Martians and Venusians. Hopkinson and Cory Doctorow. The Human Front manages to throw out one surprise after In addition to the novella, the PM another. Suckered in my the first sentence, one might think Press edition reprints a brief note this simply an alternate history, and indeed MacLeod talks about the background for The at length about the roots of his alternate history take in one Human Front, an interview with of the essays that accompanies the novella. Yet new elements MacLeod by Terry Bisson, and a continually appear to come to light about the story, and the lengthy bibliography. Previously reader almost must run to keep up. The political aspects are published as a chapbook by PS not one-sided. Even though the protagonist fights on the side Publishing and then collected in of the communists, some of the other communists come both a “Best Of ” anthology and in the NESFA Press volume across as nasty and equally willing to kill other communisys of MacLeod’s shorter works, Giant Lizards from Outer Space, (Trotskyists, for one) as Americans and Brits. There’s a sense The Human Front bears both a catchy title and a strongly SF of immediacy and verité in MacLeod’s narration; the Scottish theme: alien invasion. setting and some of the political background seems very much MacLeod writes with a refreshing sense of humor, a strong taken from biographical material. dash of science. MacLeod is equally skilled at focusing on the particular and applying the wide brush of SF sense of wonder. It opens with the young narrator hearing about the death of Josef Stalin via wireless. We know we’re in an alternate history The Office of Mercy from the very first sentence (which also alludes to a famous By Ariel Djanikian death, though in our world this happened on November 22, 1963): “Like most people of my generation, I remember where Viking, 2013 I was on March 17, 1963, the day Stalin died.” Reviewed by Anders Monsen Young John Matheson, then about eight years old, lives with his family in Aird, a remote and bleak Scottish isle.