Nanoware Time / The Persistence of Vision

by Ian Watson, John Varley

NANOWARE TIME The aliens came from Beta Hydri, bearing gifts for microscopic machines called “nanoware.” Injected into the human bloodstream, they would open powerful realms of inner space. But even the aliens admitted there were demons in that inner space; demons that might be summoned to do humans’ bidding, then—in theory—banished back to their realm. Earth accepted this gift, with misgivings; the nanoware volunteers were sent to the far side of the Moon. And even there, Earth wasn’t sure how safe they’d be when the alien demons broke loose… A new SF adventure of cosmic dimensions from the author of The Embedding and The Martian Inca, complete and unabridged for the first time! THE PERSISTENCE OF VISION Five thousand children were born deaf and blind after the rubella epidemic; five thousand innocent victims with no apparent future. They might have spent their lives in helpless isolation, but for Janet Reilly—who sought a way to make a full life for herself and those like her. After heroic battles with their would-be caretakers, fifty-five of them moved to New Mexico and began the struggle to build their own community. Ten years later, a man from the outside world stumbled through their gate…and learned how little eyes and ears were really worth.

Genres: Science Fiction

188 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 15, 1991

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.0 stars. This review is only for The Persistence of Vision by John Varley. John Varley has been kind of hit or miss for me. I really liked The Ophiuchi Hotline but was not a big fan of Titan. Unfortunately, this award winning novella falls within the latter category for me. While well written, the story just did not grab me. Also, I thought the ending was incongruent with the rest of the story and seemed tacked on.

Winner: Hugo Award for Best Novella
Winner: Nebula Award for Best Novella.

[Tomislav · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is Tor Double #29, of a series of 36 double books published from 1988 to 1991 by Tor Books. It contains two novellas. Unlike most of the volumes in the series, this one is not bound tête-bêche (back-to-back and inverted). It has only one cover- but with an inserted illustration for each novella; I think Tor must have been struggling with the format near the end of series. The novellas are listed here alphabetically by author; neither should be considered “primary.”

The Persistence of Vision, by John Varley (1978) ****

This was originally published in the March 1978 issue of the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and it won all three of the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards for best novella in 1979. I had read it previously in various anthologies, and it is one of the highlights of John Varley’s work. It tells of a drifter who finds meaning and love in a commune of deaf and dumb social refugees, who have established a culture that depends entirely on touch-based communication (including sex), and transcends normal human existence. I think near the end of the Tor Double series, Tor must have been using these classics to move other less familiar, and lower quality works, such as the other in the volume.

Nanoware Time, by Ian Watson (1989) **

This was originally published in the June 1989 issue of Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine. Aliens come from Beta Hydri, injecting nanoware into the bloodstream and consciousness of human adepts to enable them to make use of inner demons for purposes of teleportation to the stars and other psychic abilities. However, it is just a pretext for harvesting human minds for purposes of their own warfare. This novella is the first-person experience of a couple of humans who initiate a revolution against their own posthumous slavery. I found the style of experimental writing in this piece to be almost unreadable.

[Joe B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished the first story, Nanoware Time: *** This has a good beginning, wherein the characters are introduced and the plot set up, but then the middle part becomes totally chaotic, which may be the point, but it lasts too long. Finally, the end is sufficient, better than the middle. The language is very educated, with plenty of British vocabulary that needs to be looked up. Too bad about the chaos in the middle or I would have given this 4 stars.

Now I’ve finished the second story, too: The Persistence of Vision: **** This has a lot of backstory, infodump, and minimal plot and characterization, BUT, it is a touching story (literally), and compelling in its social criticism as well as its foreseeable conclusion. All telling and very little showing, but it works! No wonder it won both the Hugo and Nebula awards.