Conference noted::sf

1175.0. "Doris Piserchia" by VERGA::KLAES (Quo vadimus?) Fri Oct 08 1993 15:33

Article: 395
From: dani@netcom.com (Dani Zweig)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews
Subject: REPOST: Belated Reviews PS#8: Doris Piserchia
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest)
Date: 08 Oct 93 00:00:43 GMT
 
		Belated Reviews PS#8:  Doris Piserchia
 
I'm going to sneak in another minor author of minor books whose work I've 
enjoyed.  Doris Piserchia's work seems to be to some readers' tastes and not
to others:  I've enjoyed it, but I know many people who have read her books 
and have not cared for them.  Fair warning.
 
Most of Piserchia's books appeared in the seventies -- a couple in the
early eighties.  Her typical protagonist is a highly (or super-) capable
teenaged girl with a bad attitude, or at least what people around her
consider to be a bad attitude.  Her typical setting is squalid, surreal,
sometimes both.  The supporting characters vary widely in terms of sanity.
Sometimes this mix works, sometimes it doesn't.  Among her better works:
 
"Spaceling" (***) is my personal favorite.  There are invisible rings
floating through the air, and people who can see them -- a recent mutation
-- can step through them to other worlds in other dimensions.  (If the
world is too far from Earth-normal, they are transformed into creatures
adapted to that world.)  Despite the possibilities of these worlds, things
are fairly grim on Earth -- social breakdown, resource depletion, a
mysterious rise in the incidence of earthquakes -- though most of the
problems remain in the background.
 
In the foreground, we have Daryl, whose abilities -- exceptional control
of the rings and exceptional physical adaptations -- extend well beyond
those of the standard mutation.  She also has amnesia.  In the course of
one of her unauthorized vacations from the school where she is being kept,
she is kidnapped and sold to a team of agents whose investigation turns out
to be related to the earthquakes.  The problem of the earthquakes begins
to converge with that of her lost past -- and neither seems to make much
sense.  As I said, I had fun with this book.  It's unrealistic, even on
its own terms -- the enemies Daryl faces are Keystone-Kop-level inept -- 
but the character of the protagonist and the style of the narration
make the book enjoyable.
 
"Mister Justice" (***-) is Piserchia's first novel, and her strangest.
The early twenty-first century is a time of social breakdown, and the
breakdown is being fought (or abetted -- it's not clear) by an uncatchable
vigilante who calls himself Mr. Justice.  Sometimes he leaves criminals
bound and gagged at police stations, with proofs of their crimes.  (The
proofs are typically in the form of photographs of the crimes being
committed, although there were no witnesses.)  Sometimes he exacts his own
retribution.  Finally, the Secret Service opts for a long-term solution to
the problem:  They recruit a twelve-year-old boy with exceptional
potential, put him in a school which can enable him to realize that
potential, and aim him at Mr. Justice.  Years pass, during which Daniel
Jordan grows up and starts his hunt, and during which society continues to
break down.  It's an early work, raw and imaginative, and the one
portraying the most squalid of Piserchia's worlds.  Of her better novels,
it's also the one readers are most likely to dislike.
 
"A Billion Days of Earth" (**+) is placed, as the title might suggest,
about three million years in the future.  It's an Earth on which humans
have evolved to the level of gods, and some animals -- notably the
descendents of rats -- have evolved to the level of humans.  One day
something new evolves, or is born, a...soul eater, and it begins
seducing people (of various sorts) into becoming part of it.  It's a 
strange book, one that reads more like a fable than like a science fiction 
novel, but also a book with an odd charm. 
 
"Earthchild" (***-) is also strange -- hardly a distinction for one of
Piserchia's books.  Four-year-old Reee is the last human on Earth when she
is saved by an...elemental?...who calls herself Emeroo.  The third...
inhabitant, if you will...of Earth is another elemental (?), Indigo, who
is in the process of eating the rest of the world.  The rest of humanity
has fled Indigo and retreated to Mars, where it gets along well enough
until someone makes the mistake of rescuing Reee (against her will) and
bringing *her* to Mars.  She turns out to have brought an elemental (?)
with her. 
 
Some of Piserchia's books are simply bad.  "The Fluger" (*) and "The
Spinner" (*) come to mind.  For the most part, her books are a strange
combination of charm and ugliness.  Her characters move through a
dangerous world, collecting bruises, but rarely taking serious harm.
Their antagonists are powerful or intelligent or vicious, but rarely all
three.  Despite what I said about there being such thing as a typical
Piserchia novel, each of those I reviewed is quite different.  If you're
inclined to try her novels, I'd suggest "Spaceling" or "Earthchild" for 
a start. 
 
%A  Piserchia, Doris
%T  Spaceling
%T  Mr. Justice
%T  A Billion Days of Earth
%T  Earthchild
 
=============================================================================
 
The postscripts to Belated Reviews cover authors of earlier decades who
didn't fit into the original format -- whether because the author seemed
an inappropriate subject, or because I was unfamiliar with too much of the
author's work, or whatever -- or sometimes just isolated works of such
authors.  The emphasis will continue to be on guiding newer readers
towards books or authors worth trying out, rather than on discussing them
comprehensively or in depth.  I'll retain the rating scheme of ****
(recommended), *** (an old favorite that hasn't aged well), ** (a solid
lesser work), and * (nothing special). 
 
-----
Dani Zweig
dani@netcom.com
 
   'T is with our judgements as our watches, none
   Go alike, yet each believes his own. - Alexander Pope
 

Has anyone seen any of the threatened sequels to Star Rider? It started out
as an interesting man/morph idea, but I'd like to know if there's been a
follow-up.

BobW