disLOCATIONS: Tales from the Big Dark, edited by Ian Whates

disLOCATIONS, edited by Ian Whates, is an anthology published by NewCon Press released at the end of 2007 in Britain (but available in the U.S. online). The secondary title of the volume, Tales from the Big Dark, is a fair statement for the tone of the anthology, built around the idea that people would react strangely if displaced from their normal lives and surroundings. The resulting tales are a mixed bag, ranging from excellent to poor. But isn’t that to be expected with this sort of experimental publishing?

The first offering, “Among Strangers” by Pat Cadigan, has the most straightforward tie-in to the theme. Hammal is a victim of an alien abduction by an infantile race that seems to enjoy snatching people, using them in some unknown way, then abandoning them light-years from home with their memories wiped. I was almost tricked into believing this was a clone of one of Douglas Adams’s tales where the superior races of the universe are just as irrational and petty as we humans. But this is not meant to be a fun tale. It seems that Hammal now works as a social worker for those similarly abused and abandon, and the tale revolves around the difficult adjustments he and his clients must make, with no personal history, no culture or people, and no hope of returning home—all brought into sharp focus as he works with a new victim, a young woman abducted from Cincinnati, Ohio, trying without success to help her grieve her loss and move on.

Sadly, this is a tale that opens strong, with vivid images and issues, but just meanders along after that to arrive at a conclusion that reads like an afterthought rather than a resolution to Hammal’s angst. In the process, the author raises many poignant questions but offers no answers. Why were the Dacz.va, alien abductors allowed to abuse others? This is a technologically advanced civilization with many different advanced races. Yet all they do is set up rescue stations at the various ports where the Dacz.va deposit their victims. Why do the Dacz.va do this? And why hasn’t Hammal attempted to return to Earth? The author makes vague reference to the barrier caused by the decades or centuries that have passed on Earth while he and his fellow victims traveled near light speed, but so? At the end, a nice premise, but lacking in closure.

“Terminal” by Chaz Brenchley is another tale with a startling premise which lacks a clear finish. Humans have developed a method of interstellar travel that involves transmitting the personality of the traveler to terminals set up by the mundane space vessel colonists at each of the new worlds. The end result is a caste of Upshots, travelers who flit from world to world, inhabiting new bodies randomly chosen. In effect, the Upshots are immortal, capable of moving from body to body, world to world, on a whim. Of course, the governments of each world impose restrictions on who may migrate and what the Upshots may do while in residence. As I said, a galaxy-spanning vision that surprised me in its implications.

However, the tale is told from the viewpoint of an antisocial construction worker between jobs while living with a young lady who has just come through. From there, the tale wanders off, delving into the relationship between these two; he’s a bitter man who cares little for life while he clutches frantically at the bits of joy he can squeeze out of his time with her. All well and good, but we are left at the end with two empty lives and his cruel choice for her.

“The Drifter’s Tale” by Hal Duncan posits that the gods of creation are still among us, disguised as aimless drifters preparing the world for God’s return by spreading the word. A nice idea, if a bit off-topic for the anthology. But the author has chosen to use a drunken loudmouth in a bar as his main character, with the tale told solely in first person, i.e., we’re made privy to the drunk’s rambling screed. In real life, I avoid such folks. They normally have little to say of interest and are rarely coherent, which is the case here.

“The Immortals of Atlantis” by Brian Stableford is a bizarre, hallucinatory tale of a poor, white trash lady who is offered redemption and rejects it. Sheila’s life is shit, living alone in squalor, ignored by her children who are drug addicted criminals. Then a stranger appears at her doorstep, announcing that he is one of the elite of Atlantis who will transform her into an immortal being with godlike powers. The world is in need of its Atlantian elite, which she will become part of. In reality, what he offers is release—escape from her life, from being Sheila—to take on the mantle of superbeing, savior of mankind. And she frets and protests as he carries out his task. But the local hoods break in and murder the man before the transformation is finished. And just like that, it all seems to go away; the man from Atlantis is just a deranged creep, according to the police, her transformation into a goddess only a strange tale all ignore. Yet Sheila seems relieved, being “saved” from this fate. She remains Sheila, her life shit, as the police sift through a murder scene trying to make sense of it. And so the question is: if you were Sheila, would you choose to remain Sheila? Or would you choose to lose everything that makes you who you are to become something beyond your understanding?

“The Glass Football” by Andrew Hook is a meandering bit of nonsense about our fates in life, how we choose them and what might have been. A man and his friend, Dermot, vie for the affections of Emma. This man drifts through life, never really participating. Eventually, Emma rejects Dermot and marries our hero, and life goes on. But fifteen years later, our hero meets Melanie again, a young lady with whom he had a brief acquaintance before Emma. They have a sordid fling, and he decides to move on after-the-fact, going back to his safe and boring life. But all has been changed by that darkly magical encounter. Emma is now married to Dermot, and our hero has lost everything he had. As he drives by his former home, Dermot and Emma standing in the window, Melanie calls on his cell.

“Remorse®” by Adam Roberts is a wonderful short-short about paranoia and madness, told in the words of the madman himself. The government has taken to drugging the population with Remorse®, a psychotropic drug that causes the user to feel everyone else’s pain, fear, and pleasure. Wouldn’t that make the world a nicer place, where everyone feels and understands his fellows’ emotions? The narrator seems to think so, but we only have his words to judge by. Is this the ravings of a madman, one impaired by delusions of persecution, of paranoia? We never know for sure. But the narrator finishes his tale by explaining that the scientists missed one thing. What about those who want to experience the darker emotions of others? Who crave the pain, the fear?

“The Convention” by Amanda Hemingway is a must-read for any who have whiled away a weekend at an SF Con. Merlin, the author, attends FanNYcon to promote his new fantasy adventure tome. But all his plans are for naught. Chaos ensues as he mixes with Klingons, Buffy wannabes, dark-robed lords, and fans whose grasp of reality is marginal. But isn’t that why we attend such affairs in the first place? One couple Merlin befriends tells him of Opus Magnum, the secret society that rules the world from within SF Conventions. What better place for the mysterious masters of the world to move about the globe unnoticed? Once Merlin understands the secret, all the chaos and non-ordinary reality of the con departs so he can embrace this strange weekend world. BTW, while the story itself is a fun read, the astute will enjoy mining the tongue-in-cheek jabs buried herein. (Hints: Gerald R.R.R.R. Morton signs the seventh book of his trilogy while freebies are handed out at the next table for the recently released Da Winky Code Opus.)

“Impasse” by Andy West is an overlong tale on human evolution. As humanity moves out into the universe, they experiment on themselves. Swift Might is one such, only vaguely human—as he still possesses a few scraps of brain tissue—he is otherwise a world-shattering war machine. But he is pursued by the Aumons, hive-like cyborgs who battle Swift Might and his fellows. And so they struggle, neither able to gain the advantage. And as they vie, their humanity, grotesquely morphed by their physical transformations, still controls. When a true flesh human arrives, we see the futility of all these machine people. They seek something other, but in the end, remain human.

The final tale and best tale of the anthology is “Lighting Out” by Ken MacLeod. This is a cautionary tale about technology gone rogue. Constance is a young Earthling whose mother is just computer code in the world IT net. Her flesh mother has emigrated to the stars, a corporate mover and shaker, leaving this partial version of herself behind to raise her daughter. But the technology has its pitfalls. These partials, by design, must have self-awareness, and over time, tend to morph beyond what their human creators intended. And so Constance and her boyfriend, Andy, pursue commercial opportunities at mother’s urging. But then Constance’s real mother appears. The partial is out of control, gone rogue, and is pursing its own goals by manipulating her. Andy and Constance flee Earth space as rogue intellects hack the brains of the other humans and co-opt the machines of the solar system. But neither Constance nor Andy are concerned; these rogue civilizations never last, burning out the worlds infected within five years. They sound the alarm and buy a ticket off world, knowing that whatever the outcome, it will be over by the time they find a new home. But as Constance contemplates an alien sky on an alien world, her IT mother reappears, hidden among Constance’s personal IT equipment.

Overall, I found many of these stories real tales of wonder, if at times a bit stilted or incomplete. Still, they are more than worth your time and attention. I commend disLOCATIONS to you. Until next time, enjoy.

Publisher: NewCon Press (July 2007)
Price: £10.99 (paperback), £20.00 (hardbound)
Pages: 136
ISBN: 0955579104