Heat of Fusion

[jazzfish]

John M. Ford, Heat of Fusion and other stories

Words are inadequate (the poor craftsman curses his tools)
--John M. Ford, "Chromatic Aberration"

John M. Ford never has cause to curse his tools.

I've read this book once before. It probably got lost in the shuffle when Dana got stolen. I'm flipping idly through it again.

The first story ("The Persecutor's Tale") made me catch my breath and say "Oh." The second story ("The Hemstitch Notebooks") had me laughing harder than I have laughed at anything in ages. I am now halfway through the third story ("Chromatic Aberration") and it is simply brilliant. And in between there are occasional bits of poetry that engender the same reactions. A speech by Prospero on the ship back to Naples, after _The Tempest_. A brilliant tavern scene with Athos, Porthos, D'artagnan, and a gentleman with a long nose and silver tongue. "Winter Solstice, Camelot Station." "110 Stories."

. . . curse you, my tools.

Find and read this book. It really is that good.

Comments

[selki.livejournal.com]

I'm guessing C... de B? That would be fun.

[jazzfish]

It /very/ much was. Mike Ford is only the second SF author I've come across who's also an accomplished poet (Roger Zelazny being the first)[1]. He's just.so.good with words, with ideas . . . if a Gene Wolfe book is a jigsaw puzzle where you're missing half the pieces, a Mike Ford story is putting on a pair of polarised sunglasses, such that not only does everything look different but many things have aspects you never noticed before.

Gene Wolfe and John M. "Mike" Ford write caviar. It is a lot of work to get to. You have to open the can, you have to make sure the refrigeration is exactly perfect. You have to have the right atmosphere, and you have to approach it with the proper reverence if you're going to get anything out of the experience. But if you do, my god, is it worth it!
--Steve Brust

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[1] I've read Gene Wolfe's "The Computer Iterates the Greater Trumps," and it was really cool, but one poem doth not a poet make.

[selki.livejournal.com]

Heh. It's neat, but I won't argue the point. :-)