|
Until
1962, many people believed that Venus was a tropical swamp
of a planet, filled with lush jungles and possibly even inhabited
by exotic fauna. Now we know better, but still cast a nostalgic
eye over the sort of pulp fiction penned in the past featuring
adventurers battling dinosaurs and rescuing beautiful Venusian
princesses. Like its companion Old
Mars (also reviewed on this site), this book is filled
with modern versions of those old stories set on Venus the
way it ought to be.
Like the earlier book, this compilation opens with an introduction
about this type of fiction from the golden age of pulp. I
enjoyed Old Mars when I read it a year ago but preferred
this one. Although this is very much a politically correct
update on those old stories, I was pleased to see than most
of them lacked the wistful feeling that permeated many of
the Martian stories. Several of the sixteen entries in this
set do involve cautionary tales about what happens to people
who despoil nature and mistreat the natives, but there are
also plenty of daring adventure, rescues and amazing wildlife
to enjoy. Stories feature battles between humans and Venusians,
CIA versus USSR, neo-Nazis, people falling in love with the
locals, going native, tussling with killer fungi and fierce
animals, discovering ruins, rescuing those in trouble, and
there is even a PG Wodehouse pastiche. Authors include SF
and fantasy stalwarts such as Garth Nix, Elizabeth Bear, Joe
R. Lansdale, Mike Resnick, David Brin and others, complete
with a bibliography of each writer and very brief introduction
to each story. I found the quality to be very even with no
real "standouts" and no duds either, with the tone
varying from comedy to tragedy, but mostly pure adventure
falling somewhere in the middle. In the main I found this
to be an above average compilation that managed to deliver
pretty much exactly what it promised to.
|
