"A Diary in the Age of Water" Finalist for Foreword 2020 Book of the Year Award

On World Water Day, Foreword Reviews declared my dystopian cli-fi eco-novel A Diary in the Age of Water a finalist for their INDIE Book of the Year Award in the science fiction category for 2020.

The story follows the climate-induced journey of Earth and humanity through four generations of women, each with a unique relationship to water. The novel explores identity and our concept of what is "normal"--as a nation and an individual--in a world that is rapidly and incomprehensibly changing.

A Diary in the Age of Water has already received much praise by reviewers and readers. Reviewer Lee Hall included it in his top twenty books that he read and reviewed in 2020: "...one of the most powerful books I've ever read...A truly important once in a generation read that flows like a wild river right through your imagination and heart." 

A Diary in the Age of Water was considered by reviewers of The Winnipeg Free Press one of the top twenty books reviewed in 2020.  Reviewer Joel Boyce writes:

"Like the works of Margaret Atwood and George Orwell, whose flavours seep through, this story works as both literature and persuasion."

 

Nina Munteanu is a Canadian ecologist / limnologist and novelist. She is co-editor of Europa SF and currently teaches writing courses at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. Nina’s bilingual “La natura dell’acqua / The Way of Water” was published by Mincione Edizioni in Rome. Her non-fiction book “Water Is…” was selected by Margaret Atwood in the New York Times ‘Year in Reading’ and was chosen as the 2017 Summer Read by Water Canada. Her novel “A Diary in the Age of Water” was released by Inanna Publications in 2020. Visit www.ninamunteanu.ca for the latest on her books.

Evolution, Digital Immortality and "Freenet"

Steve Stanton’s fourth science fiction book Freenet explores humanity in the far future after we have created the “Macpherson Doorway” through folded space-time, and vaulted ourselves with the blink of an eye into a galaxy far far away and 12 million years into the future. No traffic back through the doorway is permitted since a quarantine was placed some dozen years ago to prevent any unwanted DNA from sneaking through from Earth to “New Jerusalem”.

As the back book jacket reveals, Freenet is a novel about the “power of [free] information…in a post-digital age.” The book explores what digital immortality means, when “consciousness has been digitized and cybersouls uploaded to a near-omniscient data-matrix.” This is a world where information “is currency and the truth belongs to whoever has the greatest bandwidth.”

Stanton shared with me that he was inspired to write the novel “from the simple observation of watching a woman lose her cellphone. Young people today are so tied to technology that they freak out when the strings are cut. In the future when life experience is delivered directly to the brain by wi-fi, the personal loss will be catastrophic.”

Told in three parts, the book begins with Simara Ying—a plugged-in V-net jockey and spacer—about to crash-land on the desert planet Bali. Her rescuer, a naïve—almost too nice to be true—native, Zen Valda, introduces her to his cave-dwelling culture with no social network support. The persistent electromagnetic storms of Bali interfere with digital communication and wipe all data. Like a baby removed from her comfortable womb, Simara survives panic attacks and heavy withdrawal chiefly because she is bombarded so heavily with Bali experiences that demand her attention. Lost without the support of her V-net—a comforting web of infinite communication and information—Simara struggles with Bali’s foreign ways. At every turn, she stumbles across some custom or taboo, forced to rely on her own wits; making the kind of mistakes she’s not used to making. More than a simple communication/information tool, the V-net embraces Simara with confidence. Without it, she fears she may go insane.

 

Canadian cover

Intrigue arrives on Bali and chases Simara with a bounty on her head for murder. Zen demonstrates a simple faith in her innocence and helps her escape. Zen accepts a cochlear installation to connect him to the V-net, thinking it will help him better communicate with Simara, who—already somewhat distant—is even more so now that she has reunited with the V-net.  The V-net instead overwhelms him with a surging sea of irrelevant chatter and information, which threatens to drive him insane. Struggling with chaotic information overload, he remains with Simara, even after she estranges herself from him and is captured for murder. They escape and survive an arranged “accident” by literally jumping into space from an abandoned troopship about to crash.

The story deepens into nuanced commentary in the last third of the book when Roni Hendrik, an energetic V-net anchorman of the Daily Buzz, pokes into the intrigue surrounding Simara Ying. He discovers that she is biogenic, an omnidroid—bioengineered from human DNA—and likely smuggled from Earth.

Omnidroids share a major cerebral augmentation that includes unlimited access to the V-net, higher intelligence and an unknown possibility of enhancements, including pre-cognition and telepathy across vast distances. Created as effective firewalls and filters, omnidroids streamline all V-net data for users across the galaxy. “Omnidroids [are] born into zero-day digital space and live in a fantasyland far beyond the mortal sphere of intelligence,” Henrik reflects, sensing a deeper story than a simple murder conspiracy. “Physical experience and bodily sensation [are] only tiny fragments of their transcendent existence, mundane accessories to digital infinity. In time,” Henrik concludes, “life itself might become a vestigial appendage.”

Nina holding a pre-release copy of Freenet

Hendrik, a humanist and closet idealist, pieces together connections with Neurozonics a New Jerusalem private corporation, responsible for the creation of biogenic humans. With holdings in a vast range of areas and an streaming amoeba of interests, Neurozonics is “a grinning spider on a translucent web of intrigue.” One discovery leads Henrik to more. He learns that the omnidroid community, to which Simara belongs, acts and communicates like a hive-mind, guided by a collective voice called “Mothership”. Other omnidroids have been targeted for elimination—and killed. Hell-bent on getting answers, Henrik confronts the owner of Neurozonics, Colin Macpherson—the same Macpherson who created the wormhole. Macpherson was uploaded earlier and runs his empire from digital space, part of the consortium of eternal intellect. 

Henrik’s meeting with Colin8 (the seventh clone of the original Colin Macpherson) runs like a “Neo-Architect” lecture in which the truth behind the omnidroids deaths is revealed. It’s not what you might think. Macpherson divulges his vision, which includes the reason for omnidroids’ communication abilities and the role of the Neurozonic brain. The ultimate meaning and use of the omnidroid freenet ties to a greater destiny that redefines what it is to be human and subverts the history of our primordial origins.

 

"Ma, can you read the part where the cat
omnidroid takes over the world?"

The story flows seamlessly from one perspective to another with crisp page-turning narrative, action and intrigue. Stanton trades some richness of character for a page-turning plot and clever dialogue. If there is a weakness in the narrative for me, it lies with Simara, the arcane omnidroid, who remains mysterious—from her introduction aboard her ship about to crash land, to the limited revelations of her character during her interactions with Zen, both in her POV and in his. Considering her unique characteristics and experiences as an omnidroid, I would have enjoyed more insight to her unique outlook and perspective, especially when faced with no social network—perhaps the most frightening experience for an omnidroid: to be disconnected from the hive. On the other hand, Zen Valda as the simple Bali boy on an insane rollercoaster ride is painted with a sensitive and graceful hand. Stanton also skillfully portrays his news team, Roni and Gladyz, with finesse and subtly clever notes. The dialogue and overall interactions between them is some of the most enjoyable of the novel.

Ultimately, Stanton’s Freenet flows like a fresh turbulent river, scouring and building up sediment then meandering like an oxbow into areas that surprise. He lulls you into expectation, based on your own vision of the digital world, then—like a bubble bursting—releases a quantum paradox of wormhole possibility.

Freenet will be available in Canada on April 1 and in USA on April 12. Preorders are open on Amazon in both countries.


Nina Munteanu is an ecologist and internationally published author of award-nominated speculative novels, short stories and non-fiction. She is co-editor of Europa SF and currently teaches writing courses at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. Visit www.ninamunteanu.ca for the latest on her books. Nina’s recent book is the bilingual “La natura dell’acqua / The Way of Water” (Mincione Edizioni, Rome). Her latest “Water Is…” is currently an Amazon Bestseller and NY Times ‘year in reading’ choice of Margaret Atwood.

Defining Diana by Hayden Trenholm

“Defining Diana will grab you on the first page and won’t let you go,” says Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Hominids.

Defining Diana (Bundoran Press) is a fast paced science fiction police mystery by Canadian writer, Hayden Trenholm. But the page turning arises more from Trenholm’s gift for building compelling character tension interwoven with rich setting than from unique plot and premise.

While interesting, Trenholm’s overall storyline is not dramatically new or original: biotechnology straying into the hands of corporate moguls and fundamentalist cults. What makes it original and interesting is how and where Trenholm tells the story.

Frank Steele and his eclectic SDU unit follow a dark journey through a very different Calgary Alberta—a Canadian city transformed in 2043 by nuclear war, pervasive corporate intrigue, biotechnology and rising fundamentalism. By this time, biomedical research has taken DNA manipulation to both thrilling and terrifying levels. Steele’s SDU, an elite police unit given all the bizarre and baffling cases no one else can or wants to solve, find Diana “Doe”, a young woman without a past found naked and alone in a locked apartment, in perfect health—except she’s dead. Steele soon connects the girl’s bizarre and inexplicable death to a spate of murders, stolen money, missing persons and gruesome body shops.

Review of Darwin's Paradox

Aaron Wilson, book and story reviewer at the Soulless Machine, recently did an in-depth review of my science fiction eco-thriller, Darwin's Paradox by Dragon Moon Press.

"Munteanu’s idea of how humanity will evolve to be able to communicate with machines is a deeply fascinating one," said Aaron. "Munteanu’s prose is tightly woven and written without apologies for the complex language and scientific terms that are bounced around, which is refreshing. She assumes a smart reader, a reader not afraid to pick up a dictionary, or at least flip to the back of the book to see she included it in her glossary of terms. I particularly enjoyed the in depth discussion of Chaos Theory and how it played out in the plot."

Aaron ends with, "if you are interested in the evolution of the Human and AI, then this is a must for your collection."

If you're interested, go here for his review in its entirety. And while you're at it, you might want to read his reviews of some of my short stories (Butterfly in Peking, Julia's Gift, and Virtually Yours) or check out his reviews of stories and books by other writers.

The Soulless Machine is a great site for reading well-written reviews of the story, whether long or short. As his mission statement attests, Aaron is dedicated ...to keep the short story alive. For instance, his latest post reviews a collection of short stories by William R. Potter called Lighting the Dark Side. Aaron also posts a good list of online short story sites (mostly science fiction) and websites of interest, as well as a good selection of what he calls "bookish blogs".

There aren't too many sites that devote themselves with such dedication to reviewing the short story form; partly because this form, sadly, isn't as popular with readers. The irony is that this form is often the most interesting, unique and sharply compelling ... skating the edge of mainstream with new ideas, sometimes outrageous, always diverting. I thank Aaron on behalf of all short story authors for his attention to this form.

This is what Aaron Wilson says about himself: "I live in Minneapolis with my loving wife, 9 to 5 Poet, two cats (one good and one bad)." I had to like him right away for that admission.

For a look at his publications, go here.

Nina Munteanu is an ecologist and internationally published author of novels, short stories and essays. She coaches writers and teaches writing at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. For more about Nina’s coaching & workshops visit www.ninamunteanu.me. Visit www.ninamunteanu.ca for more about her writing.

Star Wars, Our 20th Century Myth

Over thirty years after the first Star Wars motion picture blasted its way through our movie screens May 25, 1977, the saga continues to live strongly in literature and cinema. To date, six films and three animated series for television were made, with a live-action series and a 3D CGI animated series in pre-production as well as a 3D CGI full-length theatrical movie, The Clone Wars, scheduled for U.S. release on August 15, 2008. The six films alone have generated over $4.3 billion in revenue to date, making them the third highest grossing film series.

Although the current Star Wars New Jedi Order series (its 27th and last installment released in spring of 2004) leaves much to be desired from a literary standpoint, loyal fans of the Star Wars phenomenon, including, alas, yours truly, have persisted with the series, helping it maintain a place in the New York Times Bestsellers list. How did this come to be? Why do we read on despite our better judgement about literature and art? To understand the enduring success of a shallow plot-driven adventure series is to understand the basis for its creation: the original Star Wars concept as realized by George Lucus. The answer lies in one word: myth.

Oryx & Crake--Book Review

Margaret Atwood’s Booker Award nominee, “Oryx and Crake” is a sharp-edged, dark contemplative essay on the premise of where the myopia of greed, power and obsession with “self-image” and its outstripping of ethics and morality may take us. Replete with sordid subject matter and unlikeable but complex characters, Atwood’s gloomy post-apocalyptic tale follows the slow pace of introspection. It is a dark commentary rich with vivid, often viscerally provokative language, metaphor and symbolism.

“Oryx and Crake” is a dark “cautionary tale for a society addicted to vanity, greed and self.” Often sordid and disturbing, it depicts “an acquisitional era where everything from sex to learning is about power and ownership” (Sarah Barnett, Anglican Media). In her typical sharp-witted prose and edgy humor, Atwood “uses those rare birds, oryx and crake, like canaries in the mines,” says Victoria Bramworth of the Baltimore Sun, “to invoke a metaphor ― and warning ― for our times”.

The story begins with Jimmy, aka Snowman (as in Abominable), who lives a somnolent, disconsolate life in a post-apocalyptic world created by a worldwide biological catastrophe.

Robert J. Sawyer's Neanderthal Parallax--Review

Robert J. Sawyer’s tenth novel, Hugo award-winning “Hominids” jump-starts a thoughtful and imaginative trilogy, “The Neanderthal Parallax”, which explores an alternate evolutionary stream where Neanderthals became the dominant intelligent species on the planet. Sawyer makes up for less than vivid prose with well-researched paleoanthropological information and theoretical physics played out by charming untraditional characters from two parallel universes.

This SF trilogy published by Tor Books consists of “Hominids”, “Humans”, and the concluding, “Hybrids”, released in September, 2003 in hard cover. Hominids won the Hugo award for best SF. The remaining two have also run as Canadian Bestsellers and were nominated for Hugos.

The trilogy explores the lives and cultures of two unique species of people, Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalis, through the premise of existing parallel universes and what might happen if they “collided”. During a quantum-computing experiment, Ponter Boddit, a Neanderthal physicist, accidently pierces the barrier separating his universe from ours, plunging him into a land both familiar and strange. Having left behind his family, a mystery, and his colleague -- accused of murder -- Ponter’s search for home forces him to navigate his way among the curious and suspicious “Gliksins” who have in his world been extinct for 40,000 years.

Review of “Solaris”—Book & Motion Picture

Steven Soderbergh’s stylish psychological thriller, released November 2002 in the United States by 20th Century Fox , eloquently captures the theme of Stanislaw Lem’s 1961 book. Written almost fifty years ago, “Solaris” is an intelligent, introspective drama of great depth and imagination that meditates on man’s place in the universe and the mystery of God.

Soderbergh’s “Solaris” is a poem to Lem’s prose. Both explore the universe around us and the universe within. Not particularly palatable to North America’s multiplex crowd, eager for easily accessed answers, “Solaris” will appeal more to those with a more esoteric appreciation for art.
When I saw the 2002 20th Century Fox remake of “Solaris” (released on DVD soon after), I was blissfully unaware of its legendary history. I say blissfully because I harbored no pre-conceived notions or expectations and therefore I was struck like a child viewing the Northern Lights for the first time. The stylish, evocative and dream-like imagery flowed to a surrealistic soundtrack by Cliff Martinez like the colors of a Salvadore Dali painting.

Alien Next Door Readers--Friday Feature

Hi, I’m back from holidays and today’s Friday Feature is YOU, my readers! Thanks for keeping Ishmael (Sammy) company and commenting on his story. Here’s what you said about his story, “Sammy the Wonder Cat”:

Jean-Luc: “Sammy is a true action cat. Sammy, you look like you could do well. Be sure to tell Nina you want your own blog.”

Twinky and Blinky: “This was the dumbest thing we’ve ever read! We laughed so hard Blinky over there peed himself and got thrown out of the house! We want more! More! MORE!”

Titania Starlight: “What a wonderful story!”

Limehead: "Why did they let Krapper go? Wasn't he bad? But they made friends with him...and then, no one ate Boba Fett...I don't get it..."

Bowser 1, 2, and 3: “We found the way dogs were portrayed ratter ofensuf. We ain't that dum and don’t all look alike eiter! We, aurselves are a hound of grate distinction.”

Karen: “Wonder Cat to the rescue!”

Mara Jade: "Sammy is so adorable! And he has great literary taste."

Kai: “Yay! Sammy the Wonder Cat!”

Vinnie: “ I felt sorry for Krapper—er—Norman. He seemed a nice fellow.”

Anonymous: “How can you put this **** on the internet? There should be a ****** law against this ***** kind of **** !!!...Oh, and I DO SO taste good…”

Ray Badbury: “This was a brilliant piece of metaphoric writing. Sammy’s clever use of vernacular in a staccato series of ribald bathroom cliché veils a stirring story of a hero’s journey.”

Speedcat Hollydale: “This is one of the strangest posts I have ever seen.”

Well, there you have it. Thanks for reading and commenting. I’m not sure if Sammy will post again. But perhaps he can be pursuaded to come back sometime if we ask him real nice...

(author's note: I must apologize if we've offended any of you with this story or posted responses: dog-lovers, country western folks, Mark Chessnut, beloved Ray. I myself, adore these...well, I have to admit that Country Western isn't my favorite music. But blogging is all about freedom of expression and while Sammy's and Kevin's opinions differ from mine, I believe in sharing them.)

The Golden Compass

In anticipation of the movie, “The Golden Compass” which will be showing in theatres this December ( can't wait!), I dusted off my old critique of the three books that make up Philip Pullman’s incredible “His Dark Materials” Trilogy, of which “The Golden Compass” is just the first. The three books include: “The Golden Compass”; “The Subtle Knife”; and “The Amber Spyglass”.

For people wishing an alternative – for whatever reason – to the insanely popular “Harry Potter” fantasies (to which Philip Pullman’s trilogy has been compared), Pullman’s tale offers a bracing change. Here’s why: even though it has very obvious fantasy elements such as magic and witches and talking bears, it doesn’t fit the traditional mold of a fantasy because it draws upon scientific knowledge and theory, which pushes it into SF. However, like other good fantasy, Pullman’s tale is also strongly interwoven in myth. Milton’s “Paradise Lost” forms the basis of Pullman’s overarching theme, woven by a rich fabric of setting and characters, each journeying toward their own sense of purpose and final destiny on this world. This is a book of great scope, unfolding, aptly, through the eyes of a child.

Wrongly (I think) categorized by many as just a YA (young adult) fantasy, this SF-fantasy slipstream should appeal to readers of all ages. It is, after all, a multi-layered tale of universal scope. Pullman, himself, de-emphasizes the fantasy elements of his tale, calling it “stark realism” because these elements (such as daemons) are used to embody phycological truths about human personality. Say’s Pullman, “I am trying to write a book about what it means to be human.” The coming-of-age of an intrepid girl and boy serves as an elegant metaphor to explore the story of everyman’s journey toward enlightenment and whose every step comes with it a price. It brings to mind a quote by Victor Frankl: “What is to give light must endure burning.” If you haven’t read the books, with the intention of watching the movie first, I should warn you that this critique contains what’s commonly referred to as “spoilers” (though they're small and insignificant, I think), so you may want to stop here and wait until the movie comes out. For the rest of you, read on...

Jordon College in Oxford is not an ordinary place for a girl; but then Lyra Belacqua is no ordinary girl, she can hear the hushed messages of truth uttered to her by the strange particles that animate her golden compass. Abandoned to the care of old scholars who know nothing about children, the little scamp runs wild through the streets of the university town, seeking adventure and not quite recognizing her yearning for “home” and love. She finds it – or it finds her – in the most unlikely place when she blunders into a vortex of danger, love, betrayal and intrigue. And it all begins with dust. Again, not just ordinary dust, but “magical” dust. Dust that provides a gateway to thousands of other worlds. . . .

As our intrepid heroine journeys through a rich tapestry of worlds, she meets and recruits the services of an amazing variety of strange creatures in her quest to uncover more of the mystery of dust and the shattering truth of its role in her own destiny. Lyra journeys first to the far reaches of the north, where strange experiments are being conducted and where she meets the formidable armored bears. As she continues on to a mysterious tropical land, Lyra meets Wil, a young boy looking for his lost father, and together they flee the soul-eating Spectors who stalk the streets. Neither is aware that their destinies lie on a collision course with the otherworldly struggle of good and evil and that their innocence will only be one of the casualties.

Pullman spins imaginative and metaphorical worlds both familiar yet unfamiliar – giving us a strange but titillating sense of déjà vu. This is surely what phasing into another universe may well feel like. Pullman pulls off (pardon the pun) what few fantasy writers are capable of doing: he marries arcane SF with the lyrical elements of fantasy – the epic adventure of good vs. evil. He does this by using scientific facts and logical premises and weaves his heroic tale around them. For instance, the idea of parallel universes is not only old but very much in vogue with physicists these days. Check out the May 2003 issue of Scientific American for a good summary on this topic. While Pullman borrows His Dark Materials title from Milton, he also takes the concept of dark matter from real science. Dark matter is some form of matter theorized to exist that cannot be observed by radio, infrared, optical, ultraviolet, x-ray or gamma-ray telescopes and is theorized to be MACHOS, WIMPS, or GAS (see http://chandra.harvard.edu/xray_astro/dark_matter3.html for more info on this incredible particle).

I suppose I was spell-bound by Pullman’s imaginative worlds, his sensuous descriptions and his creatively bold use of scientific concepts but it was his complex and passionate characters who captured and still live in my heart. His main character, Lyra, has learned to spin the tallest tales to get by yet she possesses the most sincere and brave heart, and her interactions with her daemen (an alter-ego, part of her soul embodied in an animal bonded with her) are touching and humorous. It is her paradoxical combination of traits that makes her both charming and sweet: she is brave yet vulnerable; enveigling yet genuine; innocent yet crafty; naïve yet wise. She personifies the child in all of us, the child who must grow up and lose something to gain something else. So we laugh with her and we cry for her.

The ending of the third book, which is bitter-sweet but provides excellent closure, leaves the reader – as all good fiction should – fulfilled yet drained, and wondering about both our own personal destinies and how we fit in with the larger questions of our universe. This is a must read for those seeking compelling adventure that does not compromise intelligence for action, character and setting for pace, heart for thrill, depth for speed; and imagination for story.


Biography of Philip Pullman“Stories are the most important thing in the world. Without stories, we wouldn’t be human.”—Philip Pullman.

Philip Pullman was born in Norwich, England, in 1946. He spent the early part of his life travelling all over the world. He taught at Oxford before becoming a full-time writer and has lectured widely on various aspects of the relationship between text and images. His first book, Galatea, was published in 1979. “His Dark Materials” trilogy appeared on the New York Times bestselling list and received numerous honors, including the Carnagie Medal (England), Publishers Weekly best book of the year, and the Whitbread Book Award (“Amber Spyglass”, in 2002). He now lives in Oxford with his family and likes to write in a shed at the bottom of his garden.

His passionate appreciation for the power of the story is reflected in this quote from his autobiographical essay (see the Alfred A. Knopf website): “I was sure that I was going to write stories myself when I grew up. It’s important to put it like that: not ‘I am a writer’ but rather ‘I write stories’. If you put the emphasis on yourself rather than your work, you’re in danger of thinking that you’re the most important thing. But you’re not. The story is what matters and you’re only the servant, and your job is to get it out on time and in good order.”

Nina Munteanu is an ecologist and internationally published author of novels, short stories and essays. She coaches writers and teaches writing at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. For more about Nina’s coaching & workshops visit www.ninamunteanu.me. Visit www.ninamunteanu.ca for more about her writing.