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Difficult Second Album: More Stories of Xenobiology, Space Elevators, and Bats Out of Hell
A collection of short speculative fiction, ranging from the deadly serious to the frankly frivolous, from the unusual mind of Simon Petrie. (Caution: some stories may contain traces of puns.)
248 pages, Paperback
First published September 20, 2014
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About the author
Simon Petrie
55 books25 followersBorn on the South Island of New Zealand and now living on the North Island of Australia, Simon Petrie is a Canberra-based research scientist and writer of speculative fiction (SF, fantasy, and occasionally horror). Since 2007, his stories have appeared in various magazines, webzines and anthologies. He has been shortlisted several times for Ditmar, Sir Julius Vogel, and Aurealis Awards, and has won the Sir Julius Vogel Award three times (in 2010 for Best New Talent and in 2013 and 2018 for Best Novella / Novelette).
Simon is a member of the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild and of SpecFicNZ. He has served on three different judging panels for the Aurealis Awards, in the SF Novel, Anthology & Collection, and Fantasy Short Story categories. He has also edited several issues of Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, and has co-edited three anthologies.
Simon is a member of the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild and of SpecFicNZ. He has served on three different judging panels for the Aurealis Awards, in the SF Novel, Anthology & Collection, and Fantasy Short Story categories. He has also edited several issues of Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, and has co-edited three anthologies.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 7, 2014
Caveat: I'm the editor of this collection as well as being the editor of Simon Petrie's first collection, Rare Unsigned Copy released 4 years ago.
In the intervening years Petrie has grown significantly as an author. Though I personally feel his talent shines best in his light-hearted works - and there are plenty of those in this book, such as the opening story, "The Fridge Whisperer" where a stay at home writer-husband drives his professional career wife beyond frustration with repeated phone calls about what their sentient fridge has been up to - his serious writing, such as "CREVjack" and "Fixing a Hole" - two stories set on a Titan show enhanced depth of story and character motivation.
Even with some of his stories that you presume are intended to be funny such as Suckers For Love with its tentacle characters of the nearly unpronounceable names, and the latest Gordon Mamon story, there are still serious undertones, yet they enhance the stories rather than distract from them.
Okay, as a fan of Petrie's writing, I'm probably biased, but I really think this is a cracker of a collection and a wonderful read.
In the intervening years Petrie has grown significantly as an author. Though I personally feel his talent shines best in his light-hearted works - and there are plenty of those in this book, such as the opening story, "The Fridge Whisperer" where a stay at home writer-husband drives his professional career wife beyond frustration with repeated phone calls about what their sentient fridge has been up to - his serious writing, such as "CREVjack" and "Fixing a Hole" - two stories set on a Titan show enhanced depth of story and character motivation.
Even with some of his stories that you presume are intended to be funny such as Suckers For Love with its tentacle characters of the nearly unpronounceable names, and the latest Gordon Mamon story, there are still serious undertones, yet they enhance the stories rather than distract from them.
Okay, as a fan of Petrie's writing, I'm probably biased, but I really think this is a cracker of a collection and a wonderful read.
November 17, 2014
Difficult Second Album by Simon Petrie is the author's second collection of mostly science fiction stories. I've previously reviewed his first collection Rare Unsigned Copy. I enjoyed Difficult Second Album a lot and found it overall a tighter collection than the first.
The main aspect that set Difficult Second Album above Rare Unsigned Copy is that it's a bit shorter and, more crucially, less overpopulated with flash and drabble stories. It's not that I dislike either of those, but too many can make for a more difficult read. The mix of story lengths/types in Difficult Second Album makes it rather not difficult to read.
I came to a realisation while I was reading this book: Simon Petrie is my favourite (and hence best) living science fiction short story writer. Those stories which are science fiction (not quite all of them) deftly weave accurate science into their tapestries. Of course accurate science shouldn't come as a surprise from someone whose day job is computational quantum chemistry, but I still found it enjoyable enough as to be notable. (And let's face it, how much scientific accuracy is there in the combined science fictional oeuvre? Not enough.)
Petrie switches between comedic stories and more serious pieces with ease. The opening The Fridge Whisperer had be in stitches, whilesome most of the flash stories had be groaning at puns. On the serious side there are a lot of excellent stories to choose from. The two tales set on Titan (same universe, I think but unrelated to each other), "CREVjack" and "Fixing a Hole" were excellent. The first was a crushing action yarn and the latter a story about a problem that needed fixing lest the characters all die. I very much enjoyed both of them. "Latency" is a story that starts off following a scientific expedition and ends up with a surprising discovery. "Elevator Pitch", the only novella in the collection, is a Gordon Mammon story revisiting space elevator hotel employee who solves crimes on the side. It's a nice blend of humour (and puns) and serious murder-solving business. I should also note that while I say it's a Gordon Mammon story, all such stories that I've read have completely stood alone, so don't worry if you have no idea what I'm talking about.
Difficult Second Album is an excellent varied read. I highly recommend it to fans of Petrie's work and newcomers alike. It's a good starting point to sample his story-telling range. I would particularly recommend it to fans of hard SF (although, again, not all the stories are SF). I, for one, am looking forward to finding out what clever title Petrie comes up with for his next collection.
~
Introduction, by Über-Professor Arrrrarrrgghl Schlurpmftxpftpfl — Lol. Again, worth not skipping over.
The Fridge Whisperer — Hilarious. Writer attempts to write (what seems to be The Hitchhiker's a Guide to the Galaxy) while his fridge gains sentience and wreaks havoc. Awesome.
Dark Rendezvous — A space explorer comes across a derelict ship drifting in a favourable direction for rendezvous. Where did it come from? Ominous. I particularly liked the attention to dust particle detail in the nebulous setting of the story.
Florence, 1504, Late Winter — Drabble
Dream(TM) — Flash
Things YOU Can Do To Defend Yourself … — Er... Heh.
The Speed of Heavy — An amusing space cargo caper involving an exchange student, some crickets and some bats. I lol'd.
London, 1666, Springtime — Drabble (So shaggy. Much dog. Wow.)
Latency — A really solid hard SF story. A research team on another planet studying it's only life form. Solid science, interesting concepts played with.
Moonlight — a haiku.
Because We’re Living In A Material World — Amusing and also bittersweet short story about a CERN experiment/accident.
Cruisy — Alien abduction story with a twist. The title makes more sense in retrospect.
CREVjack — A Titan story, full of action and danger and rather riveting for it. A difficult ending to read.
You Said ‘Two Of Each’, Right? — Biblically amusing flash
Fixing a Hole — Another Titian story, very exciting. Definite problem-solving hard science fiction.
21st Century Nursery Rhymes, #126: I Had A Little Nut Tree — poem
Buying a Ray Gun — Amusing story told in a script-like format and set in a ray gun store. Pretty sure there was a stylistically similar one in the first collection (but completely different plot).
X-Factor — An usual story set on Mars and involving genetics. I was left wanting to know more.
Elevator Pitch — A novella length story about our favourite space elevator detective, Gordon Mammon. I had thought the concept might start to get repetitive but it really doesn't. I enjoyed this story a lot, with its double mystery and firm grip of science (and sometimes cheesy humour). It was nice to have something lengthy to really sink my teeth into.
Lithophiles — Lovers turned to stone. An original idea.
Next! — Flash
The Man Who … — Written in a more flowery style than most of the other stories, this is another solid hard SF tale. The story of comet hunters looking to send water to Mars.
Must’ve Been While You Were Kissing Me — Zombie speed-dating noir shaggy dog story.
The Assault Goes Ever On — Weird flash.
Suckers For Love — Alien mating romance. An ultimately disconcerting story. Squidlike.
5 / 5 stars
Read more reviews on my blog.
The main aspect that set Difficult Second Album above Rare Unsigned Copy is that it's a bit shorter and, more crucially, less overpopulated with flash and drabble stories. It's not that I dislike either of those, but too many can make for a more difficult read. The mix of story lengths/types in Difficult Second Album makes it rather not difficult to read.
I came to a realisation while I was reading this book: Simon Petrie is my favourite (and hence best) living science fiction short story writer. Those stories which are science fiction (not quite all of them) deftly weave accurate science into their tapestries. Of course accurate science shouldn't come as a surprise from someone whose day job is computational quantum chemistry, but I still found it enjoyable enough as to be notable. (And let's face it, how much scientific accuracy is there in the combined science fictional oeuvre? Not enough.)
Petrie switches between comedic stories and more serious pieces with ease. The opening The Fridge Whisperer had be in stitches, while
Difficult Second Album is an excellent varied read. I highly recommend it to fans of Petrie's work and newcomers alike. It's a good starting point to sample his story-telling range. I would particularly recommend it to fans of hard SF (although, again, not all the stories are SF). I, for one, am looking forward to finding out what clever title Petrie comes up with for his next collection.
~
Introduction, by Über-Professor Arrrrarrrgghl Schlurpmftxpftpfl — Lol. Again, worth not skipping over.
The Fridge Whisperer — Hilarious. Writer attempts to write (what seems to be The Hitchhiker's a Guide to the Galaxy) while his fridge gains sentience and wreaks havoc. Awesome.
Dark Rendezvous — A space explorer comes across a derelict ship drifting in a favourable direction for rendezvous. Where did it come from? Ominous. I particularly liked the attention to dust particle detail in the nebulous setting of the story.
Florence, 1504, Late Winter — Drabble
Dream(TM) — Flash
Things YOU Can Do To Defend Yourself … — Er... Heh.
The Speed of Heavy — An amusing space cargo caper involving an exchange student, some crickets and some bats. I lol'd.
London, 1666, Springtime — Drabble (So shaggy. Much dog. Wow.)
Latency — A really solid hard SF story. A research team on another planet studying it's only life form. Solid science, interesting concepts played with.
Moonlight — a haiku.
Because We’re Living In A Material World — Amusing and also bittersweet short story about a CERN experiment/accident.
Cruisy — Alien abduction story with a twist. The title makes more sense in retrospect.
CREVjack — A Titan story, full of action and danger and rather riveting for it. A difficult ending to read.
You Said ‘Two Of Each’, Right? — Biblically amusing flash
Fixing a Hole — Another Titian story, very exciting. Definite problem-solving hard science fiction.
21st Century Nursery Rhymes, #126: I Had A Little Nut Tree — poem
Buying a Ray Gun — Amusing story told in a script-like format and set in a ray gun store. Pretty sure there was a stylistically similar one in the first collection (but completely different plot).
X-Factor — An usual story set on Mars and involving genetics. I was left wanting to know more.
Elevator Pitch — A novella length story about our favourite space elevator detective, Gordon Mammon. I had thought the concept might start to get repetitive but it really doesn't. I enjoyed this story a lot, with its double mystery and firm grip of science (and sometimes cheesy humour). It was nice to have something lengthy to really sink my teeth into.
Lithophiles — Lovers turned to stone. An original idea.
Next! — Flash
The Man Who … — Written in a more flowery style than most of the other stories, this is another solid hard SF tale. The story of comet hunters looking to send water to Mars.
Must’ve Been While You Were Kissing Me — Zombie speed-dating noir shaggy dog story.
The Assault Goes Ever On — Weird flash.
Suckers For Love — Alien mating romance. An ultimately disconcerting story. Squidlike.
5 / 5 stars
Read more reviews on my blog.
December 2, 2016
Caveat: Simon Petrie is a writer colleague of mine from the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild. However, that doesn't mean I can't like this stories, or give a critical review of this book. I bought this book from the man himself at the recent Conflux 12 convention that ran in early October in Canberra, Australia. Simon was manning the Peggy Bright Books stall as the convention. He is an unassuming, but highly intelligent man who I have a lot of respect for as an author.
I am also a big fan of one of his continuing characters, Gordon Mamon, who is the 'attendant' for a space elevator, and the person called upon to solve criminal cases that occur during the three-day trip from geosynchronous orbit to ground station. Truth be told, I bought this book because it has a Gordon Mamon story in it: 'Elevator Pitch', and yes, it is indeed influenced by the writer's craft, so it was doubly meaningful to me.
Mamon, like the author, is an unassuming man. He has a penchant for 3-dimensional crosswords and tying up loose ends and, I feel, is more concerned with solving a puzzle than actually bringing the guilty to justice. However, be that as it may, he gets the job done, and there is more than one villain who regrets committing their crime in space elevator 270 because of his endeavours.
Oh, and the book contains other short stories written by this Vogel-award-winning author (New Zealand's Aurealis/Hugo, if that means anything to you). The author is a scientist by day, so if you like your science hard, you are in for a treat.
The only con I have about this book (and others by this author) is that Mr Petrie's vocabulary is huge, and he is not afraid to use it— generally in a fun way. So beware, but don't be shy, these stories are well worth reading if you like thoughtful science fiction and don't mind puns.
Rating: 4.5 stars, but not 5.
I am also a big fan of one of his continuing characters, Gordon Mamon, who is the 'attendant' for a space elevator, and the person called upon to solve criminal cases that occur during the three-day trip from geosynchronous orbit to ground station. Truth be told, I bought this book because it has a Gordon Mamon story in it: 'Elevator Pitch', and yes, it is indeed influenced by the writer's craft, so it was doubly meaningful to me.
Mamon, like the author, is an unassuming man. He has a penchant for 3-dimensional crosswords and tying up loose ends and, I feel, is more concerned with solving a puzzle than actually bringing the guilty to justice. However, be that as it may, he gets the job done, and there is more than one villain who regrets committing their crime in space elevator 270 because of his endeavours.
Oh, and the book contains other short stories written by this Vogel-award-winning author (New Zealand's Aurealis/Hugo, if that means anything to you). The author is a scientist by day, so if you like your science hard, you are in for a treat.
The only con I have about this book (and others by this author) is that Mr Petrie's vocabulary is huge, and he is not afraid to use it— generally in a fun way. So beware, but don't be shy, these stories are well worth reading if you like thoughtful science fiction and don't mind puns.
Rating: 4.5 stars, but not 5.
October 23, 2014
Firstly, I need to say that I am acquainted with the author. I bought the book because I delight in Simon's stories. This anthology doesn't disappoint. It provides laughs and giggles, a murder mystery on a space elevator, romance of the xenobiological kind as well as statuesque kind, an extremely short yet satisfyingly good story and much, much food for thought. And quite a few of these stories are told with a wry sense of humour and the occasional (OK maybe more than occasional) pun.
My very favourite story is entitled 'The Assault Goes Ever On', a tongue-in-cheek discussion of classics such a Lord of the Rings translated into other languages, such as Klingon. Next favourite is 'Fixing a Hole', a tale about a vehicle breakdown over and on the icy Kraken Sea on Titan and the occupants mad scramble to save themselves.
If you like good science fiction with a touch of fun, this is the anthology for you.
My very favourite story is entitled 'The Assault Goes Ever On', a tongue-in-cheek discussion of classics such a Lord of the Rings translated into other languages, such as Klingon. Next favourite is 'Fixing a Hole', a tale about a vehicle breakdown over and on the icy Kraken Sea on Titan and the occupants mad scramble to save themselves.
If you like good science fiction with a touch of fun, this is the anthology for you.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews