Picnic On Nearside [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

Varley is one of the greatest writers of SF of the last 20 years. Why is it that major book publishers let what amount to classic short stories go out of print?! Shame on you! If you can find a used copy of this book, buy it! You will not be disappointed, Varley's vision of the future is sharp, haunting, and intelligent!

This is one of Varley's early short story collections. A number of the tales take place in his "Eight Worlds" universe (the one where Ophiuchi Hotline, Steel Beach, and The Golden Globe take place), and was likely the result of early experimentation of themes explored more fully in future novels.

Some short reviews of the individual stories follow:

Bagatelle: The story of a sentient cyborg bomb and the psychological drama to get it to defuse itself. Written long before 9/11 and the age a suicide bombers, this is the most dated story of the collection. At best, Varley can be accused of a lack of imagination here; I suspect real suicide bombers have a lot more complex and deep motivation that is described in this tale. 3 of 5 stars.

The Funhouse Effect: A story about the final voyage of a passenger liner carved out of the interior of a comet, on it's last voyage before breaking up. It's a crazy story of people going crazy, but the trouble with stories about confused characters is that it makes confused readers as well. 3 of 5 stars.

The Barbie Murders: This was the first edition's titular story (the collection was first called "The Barbie Murders," but was changed (a letter came from Mattel, perhaps?) in later editions). It's the tale of the investigation of a murder in sub-population of people who all undergo surgical modifications to lose their identities and become visual clones of one another (thus: "barbies"). It's an exercise of police procedural in short form, but didn't really impress me very much. 3 of 5 stars.

Equinoctial: This was a charming story of a pair of Varley's interplanetary symbiotic pairs (featured in a number of Eight Worlds stories), as she/it searches for her children after they've been stolen. I really like the human/Symb interaction with this model, and this story was no exception. Wonderful tale. 4 of 5 stars.

Manikins: I must have read this one somewhere else before, because it feels very familiar. Essentially the story of a psychiatric patient with the delusion that all humanity is female, and masculinity is a parasite passed down through the ages. Quirky and fun. 4 of 5 stars.

Beatnik Bayou: If you live in a universe where people change bodies all the time and children are rare, what is education like? Varley postulates that your one-on-one teacher takes a body the same age your are (at 7 years old) and becomes your best friend (for elementary school age, anyway). This story is about the end of the protagonist's first stage of schooling and the beginning of the next. In other words: a coming of age story, in a strange kind of world. 4 of 5 stars.

Good-bye, Robinson Crusoe: A short story about taking a years-long vacation in young body in the islands. (Well, the islands at a disneyland under the crust of Pluto, anyway.) Half engineering wonder, half psychodrama, this was actually pretty good. 4 of 5 stars.

Lollipop and the Tar Baby: Hunting for black holes with your clone outside the orbit of Pluto. Fun. 4 of 5 stars.

Picnic on Nearside: The titular story of this edition, this is the story of a runaway and his friend who find a hippie on the near side of the moon. Yeah, it sounds weird to me as well. I'm not sure why this one got the title; maybe because it's the easiest to paint a cover for. I wasn't all that impressed. 3 of 5 stars.

Varley can be an incredible author, when he reigns in his hatred of humanity and men in particular. Unfortunately, he doesn't always succeed here. Beyond that, as fun and kaleidoscopic as his work is, it's missing something ineffable -- a soul if you will. Varley tears down the redwood of humanity and with its naked timbers he constructs...a gaudy shack. But enough of my irrelevant psychobabble. Let's take a look at his short stories, taking place in and around Luna 300 years or so in the future.

Bagatelle. A disgruntled misfit turns himself into an atomic bomb; it's up to the intrepid A.L. Bach to stop him. Varley uses a cheap trick in this story that I *must* point out: Bach falls asleep and dreams that the bomb has exploded. Then she wakes up and Wow, what an awful dream! Then she proceeds to defuse the bomb. I don't like being tricked; Heinlein would have said that it's the equivalent of ending a story by writing "and the little boy fell out of bed and woke up." Okay, it's not quite that bad, but it's not appreciated (actually, Varley actually DOES pull the Heinlein stunt in "The Funhouse Effect"). Score: Satisfactory.

The Funhouse Effect. Boy is hypnotized to think that an asteroid cruise ship is being taken over by militants; various hijinks ensue. This story reminded me of "Total Recall" in its plot device. As I mentioned, Varley actually has the audacity to pull Heinlein's stunt of "and the little boy fell out of bed and woke up." But audacity has always been Varley's strong suit. Just look at the first sentence of "Steel Beach." Rating: Satisfactory.

The Barbie Murders. Ms. Bach has to track down a killer living among a cult of identical females. Even though Varley seems to ride this storyline only to offer the trite observation that sin is so craved by humans it must be created, it's still so interesting I have to give it a Good rating.

Equinoctial. Interesting story of a human-alien symbiote bushwhacked out in the rings of Saturn, and her search for her children. Despite its religion-bashing undertones, this is the best story of the bunch. Varley shows us humanism in a very unexpected place. Rating: Very Good.

Manikins. A female shrink interviews a man-killer who is so convincing the shrink deludes herself into thinking the maniac is telling the truth about men's private parts being parasites. At least, that's what I think the story is about. To me, it seems more a feminist hate rant. Rating: Unsatisfactory.

Beatnik Bayou. Boy encounters difficulties adjusting to a new teacher; gets in trouble unexpectedly. Interesting ideas, sort of mushy plot. Rating: Good.

Good-by Robinson Caruso. Man, regressing to boyhood on a tropical island facsimile, is nearly killed by unexpected technical difficulty. Interesting yarn. Rating: Good.

Lollipop and the Tar Baby. Cloned "daughter" deep in space is told by a black hole that her mother is going to kill her. She decides to strike first. For some indescribable reason, I really liked this story. Rating: Excellent.

Picnic on Nearside. Boy and his friend ditch home, go live with hermit in an abandoned part of the Moon. Pretty good yarn, but Varley riding his anti-clerical horse gets a little old. Once again we're treated to the observation that people crave sin. Rating: Satisfactory.