Mississippi Blues [Paperback]

Kathleen Ann Goonan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 12, 1999

The journey of Verity across the wonderfully altered landscape of mid-America began in Queen City Jazz: "A dizzying novel that takes full advantage of the creative potential of nanotech," said The New York Times. Now it continues down the river in Mississippi Blues. Verity takes the wildest cast of characters since Philip José Farmer's Riverworld, both living and resurrected, down the river to possible salvation in New Orleans and beyond in a great SF epic.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Mississippi Blues is a uniquely twisted vision of a postapocalyptic future in which nanotechnology is just the most recent rung humanity has climbed in its techno-evolution. Goonan's story features a wild ride down the Mississippi to "Norleans," propelled by a nanoplague that may or may not be humanity's saving grace. Our heroine Verity rescues a motley group from metapheromonal slavery in Cincinnati, and they set off on boats and rafts to an uncertain utopia at the end of the river. On the way, they encounter everything from whirlpools to religious zealots to a terrifying little town that would be best described as the bastard child of Las Vegas and Westworld. It's a swirling, existentialist voyage with a meandering soul; weak in structure but strong in concept, with an ending that smacks of sequels to come. --Jhana Bach

From Library Journal

Goonan (The Bones of Time, LJ 3/15/96) follows up her acclaimed first novel Queen City Jazz (LJ 11/15/94), which showed how nanotechnology changed the world, with this excellent sequel. Verity travels down the river from Cincinnati to Norleans experiencing postnanotechnological America. Full of vibrant descriptions and musical analogies, this novel offers an optimistic view of the future, albeit a strange one. For most sf collections.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st Trade Pbk. Ed edition (June 12, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312868936
• ISBN-13: 978-0312868932
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,518,573 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kathleen Ann Goonan is a writer, critic, and, presently, a Visiting Professor at Georgia Institute of Technology, where she teaches Creative Writing and Literature.

Her 2007 novel IN WAR TIMES won the prestigious Campbell Award for Best Novel of 2007. Her first novel, QUEEN CITY JAZZ, was a New York Times Notable Book and a British Science Fiction Award finalist, and her second, THE BONES OF TIME, was an Arthur C. Clarke Award finalist. CRESCENT CITY RHAPSODY and LIGHT MUSIC were Nebula Award finalists.

Well-known for her Nanotech Quartet, Goonan's speaking engagements include appearances at Utopiales in Nantes, Kosmopolis in Barcelona, and at many universities. She has published over forty short stories, some of which are collected in ANGELS AND YOU DOGS, which will be released from PS Publishing in the fall of 2011.

She has this to say about THIS SHARED DREAM:

THIS SHARED DREAM evolved, as do most of my novels, from a variety of currents and influences. Chief among these were Eric Kandel's IN SEARCH OF MEMORY. Kandel, a Nobel laureate, has done extensive research on the biological roots and pathways of memory--how it is created, how it is stored, and how it re-emerges in certain conditions. In his book, his memories of his family's flight from Vienna following Krystallnacht in 1938 are interspersed with his growing appreciation of the mysteries of memory.

But THIS SHARED DREAM is in the main a family saga about lost and unevenly distributed information, and about how differing memories among siblings create their present. It is also about retrieving lost memories, lost parts of the self, and re-integrating them into one's present being.

It is about the nature of time and consciousness, and identity. It is about music, communication, and the potential of children when they have a science-based educational environment that meshes with and enhances their natural developmental.

Mostly, though, it is about the tenacity of love, and the power of love to heal.

Kathleen Ann Goonan can be reached for interviews via [e-mail], www.goonan.com, and www.goonan.com/blog.

This Shared Dream website is www.thisshareddream.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Goonan's best, an epic played out intimate scale, January 24, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Adelphi, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mississippi Blues (Hardcover)

The epic proportions and pacing of this book are only gradually revealed to the reader. It begins as an adventure quest; the cast and their mysterious histories accrete and generate a story with much gravity. Several running themes are carried: free will as a gamble, the power of music, the cruelty of slavery and Otherness in general. Heroics tend towards healing and guiding rather than fighting. A loose, disorganized quality to the characters, jerky narrative flow and occasional pedantic tone prevented my fuller enjoyment of the book. It's more focused and substantial, however than her earlier books--all in all, a good read.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good read, but..., February 9, 2000

By 

BK Miller - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mississippi Blues (Hardcover)

Mississippi Blues builds upon the world and characters in Queen City Jazz. Although the plot lags in places, overall the book unfolds with exactly the kind of upbeat pessimism good blues music is famous for. It's not The Bones of Time, but still a very satisfying read.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Slow start, but worth the wait., January 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Mississippi Blues (Hardcover)

How many times have you wished you could change other people's minds? Imagine that power being within reach of any determined individual or group -- philosophies and core beliefs and even whole identities spreading (literally) as viruses. Now imagine that this has been going on for hundreds of years. This is a book that dares to think big, and to answer its own questions with unflinching candor. And there's action, too!