Tsunami

Marq’ssan Cycle #3

by L. Timmel Duchamp

Tsunami , the gripping third volume of the five-novel Marq’ssan Cycle, opens in early 2086, immediately after the signing of the Madrid Accords at the conclusion of the Global War. Many countries, including the US, have been devastated by war, and some of them turn to the Free Zones and the Marq’ssan for assistance in rebuilding their infrastructure. In the US, the Executive, which has turned its attention to reconsolidating its power, meets with growing resistance to executive rule; and in the Pacific Northwest Free Zone, the Co-op faces an internal crisis when ugly, long-buried secrets are dragged into the light of day. Meanwhile, the lives of three very different women—executive Elizabeth Weatherall, anarchist Martha Greenglass, and human rights lawyer Celia Espin—become entangled as each strives to bring about the change she so passionately desires. Praise for Tsunami “The third volume of the Marq’ssan cycle, Tsunami , confirms what the second volume, Renegade , made the narrative drive and sheer invention of the work is more than up to the size, scope, and ambition of this extraordinary project. What a grand job! What a great read! It’s been a long time since I’ve read science fiction with such a dramatic grip on the political complexities of our slow progress toward the better world we all wish for.”
— Samuel R. Delany, author of Dhalgren and Trouble on Triton Reviews “[T]hose with a serious interest in dystopias and particularly the feminist version thereof should find L. Timmel Duchamp’s Marq’ssan Cycle a rewarding experience.” —Michael Levy, New York Review of Science Fiction, December 2005 “Duchamp’s powerful use of language and her gift for creating unforgettable and complex characters make this novel a dark and suspenseful read… The author’s sense of irony and her unflinching understanding of human nature add much-needed wryness (and an occasional flash of romance) to the mix.”
— A. M. Dellamonica, Science Fiction Weekly , Jan 10, 2007 “Duchamp’s work challenges its audience with a perhaps uncomfortably on-target vision of our extrapolated social, political, and economic structures as well as with a decidedly leftist, feminist message. It is definitely a work heavy on the ‘cognitive pleasures’ that Robert Scvholes identified as proper to good sf. But, for those willing to accept its challenges, the narrative experience of the Marq’ssan Cycle, now totaling some 1500 pages with the appearance of its third volume, Tsunami , fulfills our need for both cognition and for sublimation as well… “…[Duchamp] overwhelmingly rises to the challenges she sets herself through the nuanced development of strong characters over the course of these first three volumes of the Marq’ssan Cycle.”
— Amy J. Ransom, New York Review of Science Fiction , April, 2007 “The old US government is attempting to reassert its authority, but discovering that not everyone is welcoming them with open arms. This lengthy, thoughtful, and intelligent novel examines the social, political, and personal consequences, seen chiefly through the eyes of three women—a lawyer, a businesswoman, and a political activist—all of whose ambitions become intertwined. The series is an ambitious project that is probably just a shade too intellectual for the mainstream commercial SF market, but which should appeal to readers who like something a little more thoughtful than the latest military SF or post-apocalyptic dystopia.”
— Donald D’Ammassa, Critical Mass

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

536 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

L. Timmel Duchamp was born in 1950, the first child of three. Duchamp first began writing fiction in a library carrel at the University of Illinois in 1979, for a joke. But the joke took on a life of its own and soon turned into a satirical roman a clef in the form of a murder mystery titled "The Reality Principle." When she finished it, she allowed the novel to circulate via photocopies, and it was a great hit in the academic circles in which she then moved. One night in the fall of 1984 she sat down at her mammoth Sanyo computer with its green phosphorescent screen and began writing Alanya to Alanya.

Duchamp spent the next two years in a fever, writing the Marq'ssan Cycle. When she finshed it, she realized she didn't know how to market it to publishers and decided that publishing some short fiction (which she had never tried to write before) would be helpful for getting her novels taken seriously. Her first effort at a short story was "Welcome, Kid, to the Real World," which she wrote in the summer of 1986. Her next effort, however, turned into a novel. (Getting the hang of the shorter narrative form was a lot harder than she'd anticipated.) So she decided to stick with novels for a while. When in fall 1987 a part-time job disrupted her novel-writing, she took the short stories of Isak Dinesen for her model, tried again, and wrote "Negative Event at Wardell Station, Planet Arriga" and "O's Story." And in 1989 she sold "O's Story" to Susanna J. Sturgis for Memories and Visions, "The Forbidden Words of Margaret A." to Kristine Kathryn Rusch for Pulphouse: The Hardback Magazine, and "Transcendence" to the shortlived Starshore. Her first pro sale, though, was "Motherhood, Etc." to Bantam for the Full Spectrum anthology series.

After that she wrote a lot of short fiction (mostly at novelette and novella lengths), a good deal of which she sold to Asimov's SF. In the late 1990s Nicola Griffith convinced her to try her hand at writing criticism and reviews. In 2004, Duchamp founded Aqueduct Press; since then editing and publishing books (her own as well as other writers') has claimed the lion's share of her time and effort.

She lives in Seattle.

Reviews

[Cath Ennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book felt like such a relief after the claustrophobia I felt while reading the previous entry in the series. There's a lot more going on in this one, and there's a sense of the series as a whole starting to pick up its pace and pull its disparate threads together. I'm excited to read the next one!

[Eva Folsom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another angle on the compelling question posed in book 1: "Why do you participate in structures that oppress you?" This is the third in Duchamp's Marq'ssan cycle. Again, I was dragged through, unable to put the book down, without really being able to identify why. Perhaps it's the constantly-shifting power dynamics between the characters. Duchamp never seems to cheat--always playing out dramatic arcs between characters without forcing anything out of character.

I found several big you-know-bobs throughout the text, but oddly, enjoyed them. Generally, they read like little snippets of a lecture by Duchamp on personal power and power stuctures. Perhaps it's just me, but I could listen to such a lecture by her any day. Since the book itself is fairly challenging, the aykb's felt like helpful pointers, rather than condescention or laziness on Duchamp's part.

As Duchamp continues to develop the world into this third book, I'm finding it more believable. I found Elizabeth Weatherall to be a textured and compelling character in this story, more so even than in book 2.

====SPOILERS START HERE====
This book explores how a person could go all the way from a firmly Executive mindset (pro-heirarchy, coldly manipulative) to finding genuine morals and acting on them to the detriment of her own self-interest. Along this journey, it shows the character come to recognize all that she gains from her relationship with her boss, and what the real cost is. While I don't have the power or the glamour of this character, I found so much of her struggle resonating with me personally.

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I thought I’d give Duchamp another try, having been so disappointed with book 2. I enjoyed book 3 a little better as it focused on an interesting character, though I fear it did not have enough of other old characters in it and I’m starting to wonder if the author cares more about who is having a relationship with whom than cool aliens and plots.

[Anastasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

impossible to put down