Customer Reviews

Engineman

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I won't make any excuses about how much I enjoy Eric Brown's novels. I'm pretty sure I've read more from him this year than any other author and every book I pick up is a joy to read. They may have some faults, but the journey I'm taken on more than makes up for them. When I heard that Solaris were reissuing Engineman, and as I hadn't got around to picking up a copy of the original release, I was rather excited and very much looking forward to it. The whole book is a thing of beauty - the cover makes it stand out from the crowd and the fact that it includes all the Engineman stories (well, except one - Pithecanthropus Blues) was a great bonus. A 350 page novel AND 150 pages of short stories in one book is not something to ignore.

The story follows Ralph Mirren, an ex-Engineman whose job was made redundant after the discovery and creation of the interfaces - wormholes that mean people can cross lightyears in a single step. Enginemen and women piloted ships through the nada continuum with the power of their minds, each time experiencing the joys of the flux, a state of near-euphoria that was a side product of the travel method. They miss this and even a religion has risen up because of it. While Ralph is not a believer, he still joins all other ex-Enginemen and women in wanting to experience flux again. When he gets that opportunity it's something he can't ignore, but someone wants to stop the trip no matter the cost.

Mirren is the main character and, as I've come to expect from Eric Brown's stories, he's one that is very easy to connect with. He's got an interesting past, one that is explored throughout the story, and his current situation is clearly not one he enjoys. His personality is clear from the start, but it's the exploration of events he has no memories of that proves to be the interesting point. He's not the only protagonist, we also follow much of Ella Fernandez, an artist residing in Paris who has connections to an ex-engineman called Eddie. She also has a big role in the story due to her heritage and origins, and this is also an aspect that is explored in further detail as the story progresses.

The story itself is fairly straightforward, although it does kick up some surprises along the way. The way that the colonised planet of Hennessy's Reach, a world that holds both secrets and trouble, plays a huge part in the story is great - it's always nice to read about an alien planet and what its past is about. Of course, much of this relates to the big reveal and resolution of the story so I won't go into any further detail. Suffice to say that all strands of the story are dealt with convincingly and very satisfyingly.

As for the extra short stories included, they are: The Girl Who Died for Art and Lived, The Phoenix Experiment, Big Trouble Upstairs, The Star of Epsilon, The Time-Lapsed Man, The Pineal Zen Equation, The Art of Acceptance and Elegy Perpetuum. While not all of these deal directly with Enginemen and women, they are clearly related to the subject of the novel and the tech that is present. I had two particular favourite: The Girl Who Died for Art and Lived, a story that melds art and technology together to give a really good character focused story; and The Time-Lapsed Man, an excellent story that looks at Black's syndrome where the patients senses start lapsing, so he doesn't see, hear or taste anything until a period of time after it's happened - a very interesting concept!

All in all I would highly recommend Engineman - it's got great characters, great tech and a wonderful story that is nicely wrapped up at the end. It's also the sort of sci-fi that doesn't throw the science in your face and uses it as a background detail to tell the story rather than depending on it. Another favourite of mine!

I must confess that I did not finish this book. I only read about 250 pages out of 637 when I realized I had no desire to continue. It went in the trash. I found it boring, wordy, tedious and uninteresting. To call it science fiction is a stretch -- a more apposite description would be a banal depressing soap opera in a not-remotely-believable future. Let's just hope there is no sequel.

Okay after reading the first two reviews I would have to say the book isn't that bad. It does to run towards literary pretensions which means you are going to have a very wordy book driven by characters and dialogue both internal and external. I found the descriptions of Paris very evocative and that the action picked up in the second half of the book. It has one of those endings which brings up religious context which might conflict with the standard views of death and the afterlife. That being said it is speculative fiction and if that doesn't bother you and you do not demand 100% action driven novels this has some interesting characters to recommend.

The collection of Engineman (composed of one novel and eight short stories) carries with it a tradition of sorts. There is much about facing death and process of dying, like in his collection The Fall of Tartarus. There are points of painful nostalgia like John Updike's Afterlife. There are lines of texture-oriented fixations and Asiatic cast inclusions, like William Gibson's Burning Chrome. And finally, perhaps the largest influence in Engineman, would be J.G. Ballard's Vermilion Sands, which highlights unique medians of art, the longing for a love lost and the fixation on a single location when writing short stories (Ballard's oasis of Vermilions Sands versus Brown's future slum-ridden Paris).

Pulling together these influences has created a melodramatic collection of an earth in decline while the outer planets grow from the influx of colonists. The one-time great invention of the flux-ship through the nada-continuum expanded man's realm to tens of thousands of light-years. Each ship cruised through the continuum by pilots called enginemen, who drove the craft with their minds when connected with the vast nothingness. It's this flux that they perform which they consider to be a glimpse of the afterlife, or a taste of nirvana. The new religion of the Disciples stems from this discovery and most enginemen are followers and even some of those who have not experienced flux are followers, too.

The fluxing comes to end when Interfaces are invented, allowing planets to link-up with no use of ships. Planet-to-planet connections become to norm and all the enginemen are put out of work and also put out of the high they seek: the flux. It's this flux which drives enginemen mad and willing to experience it again at any cost. It also underpins the fate of one planet, one alien race and one expanse of humanity.

Engineman - 3/5 - One-time engineman is connected by a mysterious man who says he can flux again after a ten-year absence to the addiction. The engineman connects his long-lost shipmen in order to fulfill the contract, but they begin to `accidentally' die one-by-one. His brother at home is time-lapsed due to a mistake while fluxing and may provide the last berth to the clandestinely dangerous mission... but to able to flux will be worth any cost, even death...

...Meanwhile, a slum-living artist is shacking up with an ex-engineman. When her contact with her agent disintegrates and her partner commits a spectacular suicide, she decides to visit her home planet. Upon arrive, it's obvious many things have changed and even though she's accepted onto the planet, it's made clear she's welcome. Being a follower of Disciples like her dead partner, she's ensconced in the revolt against the planet's dictatorship. 428 pages

The Girl Who Died for Art and Lived - 4/5 - Lone survivor of a nova explosion, the engineman cum artist permanently imprints his tragedy into a holographic crystal sculpture (alá J.G. Ballard's Vermilion Sands). Upon meeting a likeness of his partner who died in the nova, the engineman reveals his wish for death as she, too, reveals her artistic side and her wish for death, too. 26 pages

The Phoenix Experiment - 5/5 - Seeking convalescence on the English seaside, Fuller meets a group of recovering Enginemen at a rehabilitation center. There he meets a mysterious gold-veined woman who the others shun. When, fact by fact, he reveals his recent loss and she reveals her tragic past, Fuller becomes emotionally attached to the oddly expressionless lady. 17 pages

Big Trouble Upstairs - 5/5 - A `mega-telepathic' woman is called to Disney in orbit to telepathically bring down an assailant bent on sniping the humans but ignoring the robotic characters. The discovery of a telepathically unreadable android raises her suspicions and the finding of an underground laboratory brings about a wickedly funny and dramatic conclusion. 21 pages

Star of Epsilon - 3/5 - Ninety year-old man relives engineman experiences through his occipital consol for a crowd and on alternate nights a fifteen year-old cerebrally transmits horror and the sense of death to patron of the bar. When the young girl entices the old man into grand heist, the truth will be known and greater truth will be made brilliantly clear. 18 pages

The Time-Lapsed Man - 3/5 - Experienced engineman awakes from fluxing without his hearing. Later, after reliving his aural past, he calls his ex-partner and also doctor who tells him to come to the hospital. There he learns he has Black's Syndrome and will continue to lose his sense one-by-one, exactly like the man named Black who is suffering wit two days further advance. 23 pages

The Pineal Zen Equation - 3/5 - A second-rate telepath is employed to find the body of a man's kidnapped daughter. She also witnesses three conniving men in a bar aiming ill thoughts at an Engineman in the corner, who the telepath finds to be pure of mind and attracted to. She saves him from the men and they begin a naïve relationship before his ill-fated trip to and from the stars. 34 pages

The Art of Acceptance - 4/5 - Ex-engineman hires a burn-scarred girl in his detective agency but the level of attraction is nil when one other learn the each others' secret. A 70-year old starlet arrives at the agency looking 20 years old and wants the ex-engineman to do to an expensive job. The girl is curious and investigates the starlet and reveals a bizarre love triangle. 28 pages

Elegy Perpetuum - 3/5 - Artists argue over realism versus romanticism and call it a night after one artist hypes his totally unique art work. The next day the piece is tried out and wows one artist and is thence put up for display. Then a tragedy occurs and the realist must confront reality for all its worth while his fellow artists and romantics stand around and observe his behavior. 33 pages

Tried to read this but finally gave up around chapter 13. There's
something hiding there, but the writing just isn't good enough to keep
me reading and the endless and endlessly described grunge of the setting
and plot don't help.

Also, I agree with another reviewer. This is definitely fantasy
in space. Not that that's a bad thing when done well.

This guy writes bad fantasy disguised as SF by its covers. There's no hint of science and little hint of plot. I finished it because I wanted to be able to give it the review it deserved, and now I have.

I found Eric Brown's "Engine Man" to be a slow read, boring and humanistic. After getting half through the book I threw it away.