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A Short, Sharp Shock/The Dragon Masters
A man with no past joins a woman without a name on a fantastic quest; and the red star rises over the war-bound world of Aerlith, bringing with it the threat of invasion by the alien Basics, enslavers of all they conquer
- GenresScience Fiction
224 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1990
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50 people want to read
About the author
Kim Stanley Robinson
250 books7,532 followersKim Stanley Robinson is an American science fiction writer. He has published 22 novels and numerous short stories and is best known for his Mars trilogy. His work has been translated into 24 languages. Many of his novels and stories have ecological, cultural, and political themes and feature scientists as heroes. Robinson has won numerous awards, including the Hugo Award for Best Novel, the Nebula Award for Best Novel and the World Fantasy Award. The Atlantic has called Robinson's work "the gold standard of realistic, and highly literary, science-fiction writing." According to an article in The New Yorker, Robinson is "generally acknowledged as one of the greatest living science-fiction writers."
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 2, 2020
This book was part of Tor's attempt to compete with the Ace doubles that were huge in the 60s and 70s. Two novellas-- represented by the title-- were presented, but the only real connection between them is how the story lines are rooted in metaphor and allegory. The Robinson entry, A short, sharp shock was very surreal and the Vance entry won a Hugo back in 1962.
Robinson's story centers upon a man who washed up on a beach, remembering nothing of his past, not even his name. Along with him a woman-- the 'swimmer' as she became known to him-- also arrived bereft of memory. They found a strange group that awaited them-- beings largely made of kelp, but whose speech they could understand. While the man passed out, a group from the 'Spine' took the woman in exchange for fish hooks (the kelp people fished for a living so to speak). The man is determined to go after them and retrieve her and the adventure begins. Along the way, the man encounters various tribes of beings and explores the 'spine'-- the only land mass on the planet. It circles the world but is very narrow. He meets the 'tree people', who have small fruit trees growing from their shoulders, and several other strange groups. He always asks how the world came to be and receives a variety of myths in return. Who is he? What is this place? What is the meaning of it all? The allegory of man being lost in the modern world is striking.
Vance's entry is more straight forward, and he can pack quite a bit in a short novella. The story takes place on an arid world deep in space, inhabited by people who eke out an existence in sheltered valleys. Like something from the feudal era, each valley wars against the others in a futile attempt of control. Things changed in the years past as they now have 'dragons' who do most of the fighting; these dragons come in a variety of flavors and are the offspring of aliens called 'basics'. The basics arrive from time to time to collect human slaves; it seems they have conquered most of the former human space empire. Residing on the planet are other humans who have little to do with the warring tribes. What happens if the basics come back? Can the humans work together to resist them, as once happened in the past? This is really a story of human selfishness and lack of cooperation, even facing long odds of survival.
Robinson's novella I would rank about 2.5; it was strangely compelling to read, but so surreal I am not sure what the actual point was. Vance's novella was much better; I would give it a strong 4 stars. Taken together, I rate the volume a 3.
Robinson's story centers upon a man who washed up on a beach, remembering nothing of his past, not even his name. Along with him a woman-- the 'swimmer' as she became known to him-- also arrived bereft of memory. They found a strange group that awaited them-- beings largely made of kelp, but whose speech they could understand. While the man passed out, a group from the 'Spine' took the woman in exchange for fish hooks (the kelp people fished for a living so to speak). The man is determined to go after them and retrieve her and the adventure begins. Along the way, the man encounters various tribes of beings and explores the 'spine'-- the only land mass on the planet. It circles the world but is very narrow. He meets the 'tree people', who have small fruit trees growing from their shoulders, and several other strange groups. He always asks how the world came to be and receives a variety of myths in return. Who is he? What is this place? What is the meaning of it all? The allegory of man being lost in the modern world is striking.
Vance's entry is more straight forward, and he can pack quite a bit in a short novella. The story takes place on an arid world deep in space, inhabited by people who eke out an existence in sheltered valleys. Like something from the feudal era, each valley wars against the others in a futile attempt of control. Things changed in the years past as they now have 'dragons' who do most of the fighting; these dragons come in a variety of flavors and are the offspring of aliens called 'basics'. The basics arrive from time to time to collect human slaves; it seems they have conquered most of the former human space empire. Residing on the planet are other humans who have little to do with the warring tribes. What happens if the basics come back? Can the humans work together to resist them, as once happened in the past? This is really a story of human selfishness and lack of cooperation, even facing long odds of survival.
Robinson's novella I would rank about 2.5; it was strangely compelling to read, but so surreal I am not sure what the actual point was. Vance's novella was much better; I would give it a strong 4 stars. Taken together, I rate the volume a 3.
June 6, 2020
This is Tor Double #28, 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.”
A Short, Sharp Shock, by Kim Stanley Robinson (1990) ***
This was first published in the November 1990 issue of Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine. It won the 1991 Locus Award, and was nominated for 1991 Hugo Award in their novella categories. It has been called fantasy, but I think that is really only because it is SF that is not science fiction. I would classify it as weird fiction or existential fiction along the lines of writers like China Mieville or Franz Kafka - which is surprising for a writer like KSR, known for his hard-sf. In the story, a man with no memory washes up on the beach in a world where the only land is one thin strip which encircles the globe. Next to him is a woman known only in the book as The Swimmer. These archetypal figures travel along the strip of land encountering many weird beings and having somewhat surreal experiences. The writing is recognizably KSR's, but as I mentioned, not science fiction. Enjoyed the story, comparing the landforms to my own experience with the Kettle Moraine ridge of Wisconsin, but it did feel a little too much like a literary exercise.
The Dragon Masters, by Jack Vance (1962) ****
This was originally published in the August 1962 issue of Galaxy Magazine, and the next year in book form as half of Ace Double F-185 along with Vance’s The Five Gold Bands. It won a 1963 Hugo for short fiction. Despite first appearances, with the involvement of dragons, this is not fantasy, but science fiction. It turns out the dragons are actually the bred-for-fighting descendants of intelligent aliens who once landed on the world and failed to conquer it. There is a conflict going on between two feudal lords, when the aliens return, bringing bred-for-fighting descendants of humans captured by them. There is just too much sword and blaster, and hand-to-claw fighting in this novella for my sake, but it was interesting how every bit of the fantasy milieu came to be explained by science fictional concepts.
A Short, Sharp Shock, by Kim Stanley Robinson (1990) ***
This was first published in the November 1990 issue of Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine. It won the 1991 Locus Award, and was nominated for 1991 Hugo Award in their novella categories. It has been called fantasy, but I think that is really only because it is SF that is not science fiction. I would classify it as weird fiction or existential fiction along the lines of writers like China Mieville or Franz Kafka - which is surprising for a writer like KSR, known for his hard-sf. In the story, a man with no memory washes up on the beach in a world where the only land is one thin strip which encircles the globe. Next to him is a woman known only in the book as The Swimmer. These archetypal figures travel along the strip of land encountering many weird beings and having somewhat surreal experiences. The writing is recognizably KSR's, but as I mentioned, not science fiction. Enjoyed the story, comparing the landforms to my own experience with the Kettle Moraine ridge of Wisconsin, but it did feel a little too much like a literary exercise.
The Dragon Masters, by Jack Vance (1962) ****
This was originally published in the August 1962 issue of Galaxy Magazine, and the next year in book form as half of Ace Double F-185 along with Vance’s The Five Gold Bands. It won a 1963 Hugo for short fiction. Despite first appearances, with the involvement of dragons, this is not fantasy, but science fiction. It turns out the dragons are actually the bred-for-fighting descendants of intelligent aliens who once landed on the world and failed to conquer it. There is a conflict going on between two feudal lords, when the aliens return, bringing bred-for-fighting descendants of humans captured by them. There is just too much sword and blaster, and hand-to-claw fighting in this novella for my sake, but it was interesting how every bit of the fantasy milieu came to be explained by science fictional concepts.
August 1, 2017
Two novellas in one book. Robinson's _Short, Sharp Shock_ came across more as a landscape than a story. Its surrealistic images were interesting, but the characters needed a long-term goal to strengthen the narrative. Some of the images must have been symbolic, but they came in such a hodgepodge that I could find no significant meaning in the story. Vance's _Dragon Masters_, in contrast, has a strong action plot, interesting characters, imaginative settings, and some moderately subtle allegory that provides meaningful depth. Forget Robinson; my four-star rating is all for Vance.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews