Gnarl!; Stories

A mathematician and computer scientist, Rucker (Saucer Wisdom) is probably best known for the bitingly satirical fiction he wrote during SF's 1980s cyberpunk revolution. Arriving on the heels of his newly collected nonfiction, SEEK! (1999), this volume--his first book of short stories to be published in 17 years--collects 36 wonderful pieces. Arranged chronologically, the volume begins with "Jumpin' Jack Flash," which, like a lot of Rucker's work, revolves around crackpot scientists, quantum reality, sexual confusion and screwed-up alien invasions. Later, "Schr?dinger's Cat" considers time machines; "The Indian Rope Trick Explained" and "Message Found in a Copy of Flatland" pay homage to Edwin Abbott's classic Victorian novel (about life in two dimensions); and "The Jack Kerouac Disembodied School of Poetics" and "The Andy Warhol Sandcandle" add beat poets, Warhol and scientists like Richard Feynman into the mix. Even though his plots frequently fit the bill as traditional hard SF-- stories like "The Last Einstein-Rosen Bridge," "A New Experiment with Time" and "The Man Who Ate Himself" each imagine a bizarre device, and then recount its effect on people--Rucker's edgy prose is consistently innovative. The only disappointment in the volume is "Pac-Man"--a predictable story about video game obsession and secret government plots. Despite the broadness of range, Rucker's crisp writing and quantum wanderings keep the work fresh. Fans will treasure this immense collection; even readers unfamiliar with Rucker's work will find in these stories a multitalented, challenging author whose work stretches and distorts the oft-staid boundaries of traditional SF.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gnarly is surfer slang for complex wave conditions. Used as a noun, it suggests a startling intricacy of detail. Gnarl! collects three dozen stories written since the 1970s by cyberpunk pioneer Rucker (Freeware). Arranged in chronological order, the stories combine hard science with a gonzo "sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll" sensibility. By far the best pieces are those written after 1986, when Rucker moved to California, and of those, collaborative efforts with Bruce Sterling and Marc Laidlaw are especially good. Two Rucker-Laidlaw yarns, "Probability Pipeline" and "Chaos Surfari," are among the best in the collection. Both feature a couple of physics-savvy stoners who build a surfboard using Imipolex, the weird Nazi plastic from Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow. "The Indian Rope Trick Explained" introduces the concept of Aether Pitons; "Soft Death" postulates immortality through software engineering; and "Rapture in Space" describes the making of the first zero-gravity sex video. Not everything is of high quality, but at his best Rucker invites comparisons with sf crossover artist Philip K. Dick or Italo Calvino's Cosmicomics. Recommended for most fiction collections and essential for sf enthusiasts.DEdward B. St. John, Loyola Law Sch. Lib., Los Angeles
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.