donn@utah-gr.UUCP (Donn Seeley) (11/08/84)
[This is re-posted from the ARPA sf-lovers list, since net.sf-lovers seems to be cut off from it.] EMERGENCE (Bantam, 1984; 291 pp.) is David R. Palmer's first novel, and it's a humdinger of a science fiction adventure in the best tradition of Analog and Astounding -- Campbell would have been proud of it. It's not surprising, then, that the first two sections were published in Analog magazine, and they managed to garner a Nebula nomination and two Hugo nominations... The book is the diary of one Candy Smith-Foster, 11-year-old prodigy and irrepressible heroine. When a Russian first strike kills 99.9% or more of the population of North America, Candy finds herself and her obnoxious companion, a bright blue macaw named Terry, alone in a huge fallout shelter which her foster father has had constructed beneath their home in Wisconsin. Normal folks might find this situation a bit depressing, but fortunately Candy is an absurdly optimistic person and she and her bird soon emerge to embark on a wild and hairy tour that takes her back and forth across the continent and eventually into space... The action comes in bursts of surprising intensity, and although this makes the narrative a bit jumpy, you tend not to notice this while reading because you are much too busy turning pages. The style is rather curious and takes some getting used to: it is a very telegraphic English, which is rationalized as being the result of the impatience of someone with an IQ of well over 200 trying not to be bored while writing as fast as possible in shorthand (Pitman shorthand -- Palmer is a certified shorthand court reporter, according to the biographical blurb). The book is funny and exciting by turns, and always engrossing. There are some negative things about the book, too, unfortunately. One problem is the difficulty that Palmer has in preventing Candy from backsliding into cuteness; Candy has a good feel for when to drop a self-deprecating remark, though, so this isn't usually very annoying. Like another recent first novel which is somewhat similar in feel, Tim Powers' THE ANUBIS GATES, the plot has a number of gaping holes and preposterous assumptions that are only evident when you finally read the last page, wipe your brow and exhale. (Are the Russians really so evil that they would attempt to kill every human being on the planet, then leave behind a doomsday device that would take care of any inquisitive survivors just in case the first try overlooked someone? And that's positively straightforward compared to certain other events which I won't spoil...) Another minor problem with the book is that once you realize just what kind of book it is, it becomes fairly easy to predict the plot, although for some reason this doesn't decrease the suspense any. Don't expect depth from EMERGENCE, but I can pretty much guarantee that you'll have fun reading it. (Go back to your library and re-read Sturgeon's MORE THAN HUMAN to get the marshmallow feeling out of your mind...) Donn Seeley University of Utah CS Dept donn@utah-cs.arpa 40 46' 6"N 111 50' 34"W (801) 581-5668 decvax!utah-cs!donn