12/20/2023 0 Comments 1994 opus one review![]() ![]() The novel’s penultimate section chronicles the rise of Eugene C. Tidhar does more than satirise the form he presents a narrative that’s a thrilling adventure (with cheeky references to other Golden Age writers) underlined by a radical cosmology that argues we are all ‘‘reconstructed memories… matter swirling inside a black hole, at the very end of the Universe.’’ Lode Stars is the story of Delia and her factotum Ghis, who is made entirely out of bees, and their search for Delia’s father, who has gone missing in the event horizon of a ‘‘Lode Star,’’ the all-seeing Eye through which God views his creations. Here Tidhar takes the shackles off, giving us a full-blown pastiche of pulp science fiction published in the early ’60s. We then segue into Part Four: a lengthy excerpt from Lode Stars by Eugene C. It’s at one of these boozy meetings that Lens encounters Armstrong, and they share their obsession with Lode Stars. (‘‘Kingsley Amis once got into a fist fight with a visiting Fred Pohl over an obscure point of the Three Laws of Robotics’’). His early years as a violent thug sent to a Siberian prison didn’t resonate with me I was far more invested in Lens once he establishes himself in London and joins a monthly meeting in various pubs where fans get drunk while discussing the intricacies of science fiction. But instead of just taking the piss, Tidhar’s version of the Church, where e-meters are replaced with eater-meters that protect the faithful from hostile aliens, is creepier and stranger. Chase also encounters the Church of God’s All-Seeing Eyes, a deliberately unsubtle analogue for Scientology. Currey’s guide to first editions,’’ visit the musty confines of esoteric and rare booksellers on Leicester Square. Tidhar has tremendous fun having Chase, kitted with ‘‘the necessary tools of the trade: a magnifying glass, a pair of surgical gloves, stamp tongs, and a copy of L.W. Chase’s disorganised investigation catches the attention of Lens, who promises an enormous amount of money if Chase finds the book. Hapless antiquarian Daniel Chase, in the role of gumshoe, is hired by Delia to find Levi, who has vanished searching for Lode Stars. Part Two sees Tidhar switch to a favoured style: hard-boiled crime (though not nearly as gritty as Osama or A Man Lies Dreaming). ![]() Encouraged by Russian businessperson Oskar Lens, Levi searches for a copy, believing it holds a code to understanding the true nature of our existence. Tidhar lyrically describes Delia’s preoccupation with the night sky, spending hours in a field gazing at a ‘‘fog of dense stars, as deceptive as spider silk.’’ When Delia later moves to London, she falls in love with a mathematician, Levi Armstrong, who becomes obsessed with Lode Stars, a novel Delia dimly recalls her family owning. We first follow Delia Welegtabit, born on the Pacific Island of Vanua Lava. Playful as ever, Tidhar forgoes a linear narrative, instead splitting the novel into six parts, each written in a different mode. The plot centres on the search for Hartley’s magnum opus, Lode Stars, a novel that may never have existed but which its author claimed held the secrets to the Universe. ![]() With his latest novel, The Circumference of the World, Tidhar takes this passion to the next level, inventing his very own Golden Age author, Eugene Charles Hartley, whose trajectory from the pulps to founding a religion has a familiar ring. Moore, Alfred Bester, and so on (last year’s Neom was a veritable cornucopia of Golden Age Easter eggs). Dick, or a bevy of writers of the North American Golden Age like Cordwainer Smith, Clifford D. Tidhar’s short stories and novels are peppered with nods, winks, and hat tips to luminaries who have shaped the field, whether it be the Strugatsky Brothers, Philip K. If you’re a fan of Lavie Tidhar’s work (and you really should be), you’ll know he has a deep and abiding fascination with the history of science fiction. ![]()
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