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Why Are Muslim Females Forbidden to Marry Christians
26 February 2022 1 May 2022 Eric Brazau
Toronto Cabbage Town 2008
Females are Forbidden to Marry Christians. Islamic leaders today and of the past are cognizant that demographic superiority is a key factor to the survival of Islam.
Imam Bilal Philips uploaded a sermon in 2018; the following is a partial transcript.
If it's a Muslim male and his wife is Christian, he will insist that the children be raised as Muslim. He will put them in Muslim schools. And there, Islam is protected. On the other hand, if the husband is Christian, he will say "I want my children raised as Christian". Now the children are raised as Christians. And so, there, Islam is lost.
Online University lecture
Muslim Female Are Forbidden to Marry Christians
This implies that a female is not permitted to leave Islam.
So it is on the basis of protecting the woman and her religion, the children and their religion. This is why Islam does not allow a Muslim woman to marry other than a Muslim man. It is not to oppress her; it is to protect her. It is to protect the generations to come. To protect the religion of Islam.
Not allowing women to marry who they choose can be deemed as oppressive.
Can a Muslim female marry a non-Muslim?
It is absolutely not permissible under any circumstances in Islamic law (shari'a) of Allah, the most esteemed and exhalted, for a non-Muslim man to marry a Muslim woman. They are not lawful (wives) for the unbelievers, nor are the unbelievers lawful (husbands) for them… (Al-Mumtahina:10)
Nor marry (your girls) to unbelievers until they believe… (Al-Baqara:221)
i.e., it is not ever permissible for someone to marry his Muslim daughter or sister or any Muslim woman for whom he is a guardian to a kafir.
Islam must be exhalted and cannot be subjugated. So how could a Muslim woman be put under the care of a kafir man, when the man is normally naturally in a stronger position? In such a situation, he could cause her to corrupt the practice of her religion or force her into subdual by causing her to live a life of oppression with him. He could also prevent her from practicing some of her religious rites. These are among the reasons for the aforementioned ban expressed in the previous ayaat. wallahu a'lam (and Allah is the most knowledgeable).
Can a Muslim woman marry a non-Muslim man?
It is not permissible for a Muslim woman to marry a non-Muslim man from any other religion, whether from among the Jews or Christians, or any other kafir religion. It is not permissible for her to marry a Jew, a Christian , a Magian, a communist, an idol-worshipper, etc.
Evidence for the prohibition of marrying a non-Muslim man
The evidence for that is the verse in which Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"And give not (your daughters) in marriage to Al-Mushrikun till they believe (in Allah Alone) and verily, a believing slave is better than a (free) Mushrik (idolater), even though he pleases you. Those (Al-Mushrikun) invite you to the Fire, but Allah invites (you) to Paradise and forgiveness by His Leave, and makes His Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) clear to mankind that they may remember." [al-Baqarah 2:221]
Imam al-Tabari said:
"What is said concerning the interpretation of the words "And give not (your daughters) in marriage to Al-Mushrikun till they believe (in Allah Alone) and verily, a believing slave is better than a (free) Mushrik (idolater), even though he pleases you" is that what Allah meant by that is that Allah has forbidden the believing women from marrying them.
It was narrated that Qatadah and al-Zuhri said, concerning the phrase "And give not (your daughters) in marriage to Al-Mushrikun", it is not permissible for you to give them in marriage to a Jew or a Christian or a mushrik who is not a follower of your religion." (Tafsir al-Qurtubi, 2/379)
Sunni ISLAM Q&A
Conclusion: Muslim Female Marry Christian
The Muslim female does not exist as an individual person. Her function is to increase the Islamic demographic.
Children Producing Babies Makes the Muslim Tribe Stronger
Benefits of Child Pregnancy
Muslim Female Marry Christian
Christian, Female christian, cxhildren, demographics, marriage, Philips, tribe
6 January 2021 19 February 2022 Eric Brazau
To Young to be Married
Islam Child Bride Pregnancy. Imam Shabbir Ally is president of The International Toronto Dawah Center. Shabbir Ally gave an interview that was uploaded on April 21, 2017. This interview contextualizes the context that places child marriage in a perspective that enables Muslim scholars to assert Islam is a leader of female human rights.
In what ways are Muslim women disadvantaged in the current marriage system from an Islamic lens?
Imam Shabbir Ally:
One of the issues, there in no minimum age prescribed for an allowable Islamic marriage. A boy or a girl could get married very early. For a boy, this may not prove to be much of a problem because he always has the option of divorce. The woman did not have the option of divorce. She could seek a dissolution of her marriage, but that is a long process and it requires taking her case to the Muslim Court, or in a modern context, where Muslims are minorities, taking it to a council of imams. The boy, he can just simply utter the word "divorce" and he is freed from the marriage he does not like.
Child Marriage Can Be a Burden to Females However Advantageous for Males
Islamic Marrying Age
Now we speak often about the consent of a woman in marriage, but that consent does not apply to minor girls. Girl could be married off by her father or her grandfather without her consent.
So this is an Islamic principle?
Imam Shabbir Ally
It is well known and it is classified and codified in Islamic textbooks…. And their great contribution to societies would have been get married, have children. They increase the number of the tribe. The tribe became larger and stronger. So each individual was contributing something to the growth of the tribe. And women in particular, that would have been a great contribution to their tribes by getting married early and having children.
Do you still think in light of these brief issues that we talked about, and acknowledging that we will need to have another episode where we talk more about these issues, that Islam still views women in a positive light as we framed our initial discussion?
Well yes. Here, by Islam, I mean in my conception of what Islam is. Involving the Quran as the basic teaching of Islam understood against the backdrop of historical circumstances and now reapplied to a modern and changing situation.
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Islam Q&A is an academic, educational, da'wah
website, which aims to offer advice and academic answers based on evidence from religious texts
in an adequate and easy-to-understand manner.
Tafseer al-Tabari, 14/142
2 – It was narrated from 'Aa'ishah MABPWH that the Prophet PBUH married her when she was six years old, and consummated the marriage with her when she was nine, and she stayed with him for nine years.
Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 4840; Muslim, 1422.
Al-Istidhkaar, 16/49-50.
Ibn 'Abd al-Barr said:
The scholars are unanimously agreed that a father may marry off his young daughter without consulting her. The Messenger of Allaah married 'Aa'ishah bint Abi Bakr when she was young, six or seven years old, when her father married her to him.
Islam Child Bride Pregnancy is Mainstream Islam
ISLAMWEB.NET
Getting married at an early age is something that is confirmed by the book of Allah, the Sunnah of his Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam), the consensus of the scholars and the actions of the companions, and the Muslims who came after them
The evidence from the Qur'an is:
1. The saying of Allah: "And those of your women as have passed the age of monthly courses, for them the 'Iddah (prescribed period), if you have doubts (about their periods), is three months, and for those who have no courses [(i.e. they are still immature) their 'Iddah (prescribed period) is three months likewise, except in case of death]". (At-Talaq 65:4)
The evidence from the Sunnah is: The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) established the marriage contract with Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, when she was 6 years old, and he consummated the marriage with her when she was 9 years of age.
Tonight is their Wedding Night
It is reported in Sahih AlBukhari and Muslim that Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said: "The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) established the marriage contract with me when I was 6 years of age and consummated the marriage with me when I was 9 years of age."
Ibn Qudama said in Al-Mughni: "There is no difference as regards a young girl who is still a virgin". Ibn Al-Mundhir said: "The reliable people of knowledge agree unanimously that it is permissible for a father to marry off his young and virgin daughter to an eligible man. It is also permissible for him to marry her off despite her reluctance to be married."
Islamic Child Brides in Dearborn Michigan
The Girls Who Go Away by Kaylee McGhee White, Commentary Writer | June 22, 2018
Dearborn's Yemeni population has grown significantly over the past five years, largely due to an influx of refugees. More than one-third of Dearborn's approximately 100,000 residents identify as Arab, and of those approximately 8 percent are Yemeni. Like most immigrant groups, the Yemeni bring their social customs with them. Child marriage is one such norm. Article
Turkish child marriage religious document sparks anger
Turkey's main opposition party has called for a parliamentary inquiry after the directorate of religious affairs said that, under Islamic law, girls as young as nine could marry. Article
Conclusion: Islam Child Bride Pregnancy
Those who say child marriage is not an Islamic practice are spreading misinformation about Islam.
To further understand the value Islam places on females read Why do little girls wear a hijab? Women that are covered & Recognized will Not be Molested Article
Female Canada, child, Human rights, Imam, Islam, marriage, marry, Muslim, Shabbir Ally, Torono, tribe
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Tighthead prop Vincent Koch replaces injured Julian Redelinghuys in the only change to the South Africa team for the Rugby Championship second-round Test against Argentina in Salta on Saturday.
There are also two alterations to the bench from the first meeting last week with Lourens Adriaanse taking over from Koch and veteran fly-half Morne Steyn getting the nod ahead of centre Juan de Jongh.
Loosehead Tendai 'The Beast' Mtawarira is set to make his 80th appearance for the green and gold, equalling the record of retired Os du Randt as the most capped Springbok prop.
The anticipated call up of Koch comes after Redelinghuys was forced to retire with a hamstring injury last Saturday when South Africa rallied for a fortunate 30-23 home win over the Pumas.
"Vincent did very well when he came on as a replacement for Julian and he is rewarded with a starting berth," Coetzee said after announcing his team in Buenos Aires.
"We also believe it will be good to give Lourens an opportunity on the bench at this stage."
Coetzee showed faith in several players who failed to sparkle in four home Tests this season with South Africa edging Ireland 2-1 in a three-Test series before overcoming Argentina.
Centres Lionel Mapoe and Damian de Allende have performed below expectations and the goal-kicking of fly-half Elton Jantjies has been a cause for concern.
Jantjies missed three of nine shots at goal last weekend when the Springboks turned a 10-point deficit with nine minutes left into a last-gasp victory.
England-based flanker Francois Louw has received continuous criticism for below-par performances with many South African pundits saying Jaco Kriel deserves a starting place.
South Africa have beaten Argentina 21 times, drawn once and lost once since they first met 23 years ago in Buenos Aires.
The only previous Test between the countries in north-western city Salta ended 33-31 in favour of the Springboks two seasons ago.
Argentina hosts South Africa in their second Rugby Championship clash, at 8:30am AEST Sunday.


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FIA WEC: New entry list for COTA
The latest provisional entry list for the upcoming Lone Star Le Mans at COTA is down to 30 cars after the withdrawal of Ginetta in LMP1 and the addition of Dragonspeed in LMP2.
Ginetta pulled out both of their G60-LT-P1 cars, which are back on their wa the factory after the Bahrain round in December. The team released a short statement on their website this morning.
The WEC calendar is challenging, especially for any team with a new car in it's first season and we have not had the chassis' back at the factory since before Silverstone in August.
The cancellation of the earlier WEC race in Brazil and the new race at COTA made it impossible to do the planned work at our facility in Virginia, so the cars were shipped post race back to Ginetta UK, the cars hopefully arrive at the factory today.
This puts the LMP1 class down to just 3 cars for the Lone Star Le Mans race with both Toyota's and a single Rebellion. Although still on the provisional entry list for Sebring, it's not clear whether the Ginetta's will make the trip across the pond for the 1000 mile race in March.
Dragonspeed is a new addition to the LMP2 class. The American team which has raced in LMP1 in the past Super season has shifted its focus back to the LMP2 class this year, winning the Daytona 24 hours last month in IMSA and planning an assault for the title in the European Le Mans Series. Ben Hanley (who initially would race with Ginetta in LMP1) will share the car with Henrik Hedman and Colin Braun.
It's unclear yet if this is a one-off appearance in the WEC, or Dragonspeed will run a double program in Sebring; combining IMSA and WEC.
© Richard Prince for Chevy Racing
In GTE, the brand new Corvette C8.R will make its debut in the World Endurance Championship, facing the competition of Porsche, Ferrari and Aston Martin. Jan Magnussen and Mike Rockenfeller make an unexpected return to Corvette racing after their contracts with the manufacturer ended at the end of last year.
Magnussen raced with Corvette for 16 years, and has 4 Le Mans wins under his belt. Rockenfeller was part of the endurance squad but would have been unable to race at Le Mans this year due to a date clash with DTM. Jan Magnussen should be at the start of the French endurance race this season with Danish team High Class Racing in the LMP2 category.
In GTE Am, so far Thomas Preining is the only confirmed driver so far on the #88 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR.
The updated entry list can be found HERE.
Labels: 2019/2020, 2020, Corvette, COTA, Dragonspeed, entry list, FIA WEC, Lone Start Le Mans, Rebellion, USA, World Endurance Championship
A central theme of the Silver Anniversary Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance is visionary leadership through innovation. It is also confirmation that The Amelia is as much - perhaps more - about people than cars.
Not only this year's honoree; Roger "The Captain" Penske will be celebrated at the Concours, but other visionaries who changed motorsport and the auto industry will be recognized.
Mercedes Rennabteilung
1939 Mercedes-Benz W154/39. Photo courtesy of Revs Institute.
The Rennabteilung (racing department) that was created in 1936 to design and build the mighty Silver Arrows of Mercedes-Benz created the template for professional racing operations and swept all before them. Mercedes-Benz's Silver Arrows changed the grammar of racing car design, construction and management. Mercedes-Benz created the Rennabteilung after a troubled 1936 season with the W25.
Led by engineer Rudolph Uhlenhaut the Rennabteilung quickly restored Mercedes competition successes and dominated the 1937, 1938 and 1939 Grand Prix seasons with the variants of three new cars. In the fifties a new generation of Silver Arrows won the 1952 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 1954 and 1955 Formula 1 World Championships and the 1955 World Sports Car Championship.
Mercedes-Benz produced grand prix car designs and an engineering orthodoxy -- engine in front, gearbox in back, coil/wishbone front suspension and de Dion rear suspension -- that endured until the emergence of the revolutionary rear-engined F1 cars of 1958. Mercedes-Benz team management shaped a new code of race car development and team organization that still echoes in the 21st Century.
Das beste oder nichts -- the commandment of Gottlieb Daimler to have the best or nothing -- still resonates within Mercedes-Benz and their World Championship-winning racing organization. To honor their inestimable contribution to motorsport the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance chose the mighty Silver Arrows of Mercedes-Benz as a signature class for the Silver Anniversary celebration
Harley Earl
Harley Earl and the 1951 General Motors La Sabre. Photo courtesy of General Motors
The Cars of Harley Earl class features the great stylist's most famous dream cars and successful productions cars. Winnowing that group down was no simple task.
Eight decades ago General Motors' Art & Colour Section was the auto industry's first attempt to invest the business of creating and selling automobiles with aesthetics as a marketable commodity. GM chief Alfred Sloan put Harley Earl in charge and Earl changed the car business forever. Every American auto company followed his lead employing designers who trained under or worked for Earl.
Earl created an industry within the biggest industry in the world, set the design and esthetic parameters for the American car industry and led General Motors from a 12 per cent market share in the 1920s to a 55-plus per cent market penetration during the decade when he retired. For nearly four decades Harley Earl was the arbiter of style for the entire American auto industry.
In the decade before he reached GM's mandatory retirement age (65) he oversaw the creation and the rise of America's storied, celebrated and sometimes unloved "tailfin era." No matter. "Misterl" as his disciples called him, left his mark on the American industry and on the GM Technical Center at Warren, MI, the definitive monument to Earl's towering contributions to GM and the automobile industry.
Porsche Firsts
1967 Porsche 910/6. Photo courtesy of Revs Institute.
In its Silver Anniversary year, the Amelia Concours also celebrates and honors the 50th anniversary of Porsche's first -- of 19 -- victories in the world's most important and prestigious sports car race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
By 1969 Porsche chief Ferdinand Piech must have grown weary of hearing his family's famous Stuttgart marque constantly called "giant killer" or "underdog." When new international rules were written for the 1969 World Championship he saw a loophole and organized a radical program creating the Porsche 917 that delivered Porsche's first 24 Hours of Le Mans victory.
The 917 won Le Mans again in 1971 with yet another World Championship of Makes as a bonus. The international rules for endurance sports car racing were rewritten for 1972. Porsche turned their attention to North America's unlimited Can-Am Championship, turbocharged the 917 and formed an alliance with Team Penske. That coalition swept through the mega-dollar/mega-horsepower Can-Am series winning back-to-back titles in 1972 and '73. With Penske's organization and procedures it was all very reminiscent of the dominance of the Rennabteilung in Grand Prix racing decades earlier.
"In each instance a culture has been created within these organizations that accept only the very best. The result is people who see themselves as members of an elite corps and work consistently to that high standard," said Bill Warner, founder and chairman of the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance. "It works because of uncompromising principles and the insistence on the relentless pursuit of excellence. It creates legends and legendary cars. We've all benefitted from the efforts of these visionaries."
Labels: 2020, Amelia Island, concours d'élégance, Harley Earl, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Roger Penske
For its 25th edition during the first weekend of March, the Amelia Concours d'élégance, famed racer, team owner and international businessman Roger Penske will be the honoree.
Roger Penske's name is synonymous with motorsport excellence and success. Yet few appreciate his on-track accomplishments as a driver in the years (1958-64) before the creation of Team Penske. It began at an SCCA drivers' school at Marlboro Raceway (MD) and just four years later he won the professional USAC Road Racing Championship title.
Roger Penske started 130 races in seven seasons and won 51 of them. He also finished in the top five in another 60 races. That record stands with even the greatest drivers. He won his first national championship -- SCCA D Modified -- in 1961 racing a Maserati T61 and a Cooper Monaco. Sports Illustrated named him "Driver of the Year." It was merely prefaced. In 1962 he changed American road racing and left his mark on motorsport forever.
Photo courtesy of David Friedman.
In 1962 Penske created the Zerex Special sports racer from the remains of a Formula 1 Cooper that had crashed in the first US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. When the Zerex Special showed up at Riverside, CA that October for the LA Times Grand Prix everyone cried "foul." But the car was legal even though the driver sat in the center, not in the usual position for a two-seat sports car. There was a small -- but legal -- second seat under an access panel. That meant Penske's Zerex Special met the letter of the regulations precisely.
Penske not only won that race, he also delivered broad and positive publicity to his sponsor Du Pont. And when he put the names Du Pont and ZEREX on his unique red center-seat sports car it broke through the clutter at a time when the major American sports car racing sanctioning body outlawed commercial sponsorship. Penske's Zerex Special was the biggest news in motorsport that October weekend, even displacing the competition debut of a new American sports car named "Cobra" to the inside pages. A week later Roger and his Zerex Special won at Laguna Seca and he was crowned the 1962 USAC Road Racing Champion.
Photo courtesy of Bill Warner.
After sweeping the 1964 Nassau Speed Weeks, Penske retired from driving to concentrate on business. In 1966, Roger created Roger Penske Racing, which would eventually become Team Penske. It was a time of technical innovation, especially in road racing; wider tires and the new science of aerodynamics moved the performance boundaries and brought increased speeds. A pair of United States Road Racing Championships (1967 and '68) and three Trans-Am Championships (1968, '69 and '71) came quickly.
In 1972, Team Penske won racing's biggest prize, the first of a record 17 victories in the Indianapolis 500. That was the same year Team Penske arrived in Can-Am - the Canadian American Challenge Cup - with the 1000 hp Porsche 917/10. There were nine championship races that season; Team Penske won six and took the title. A year later when the new Porsche 917/30 arrived with even more power, Team Penske won six of eight races and another Can-Am championship title for Porsche.
Penske applied the same concentration and effort that he brought to motorsport to his first car dealership in Philadelphia. It was the first rung on a ladder that would see Penske's international portfolio bulge to over $31 billion in annual revenue and more than 63,000 employees worldwide. Known as "The Captain" for his lead-from-the-front management style, Roger Penske's business empire is global in fame and reach.
"Remarkably, Roger Penske began to create the template for modern professional motorsport when he was still in his twenties," said Bill Warner, founder, and Chairman of the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance. "I can think of no one whose contributions to all facets of motorsport deserve to be acknowledged as much Roger Penske's. We're flattered that he's been able to make time to accept our invitation to be the Honoree of the Silver Anniversary Amelia Concours."
Labels: 2020, Amelia Island, concours d'élégance, Roger Penske
LMDh announced as the future of global SportsCar Racing
The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and North America's sanctioning body for endurance racing, the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), have today announced that agreement has been reached for a common future with convergence of the top categories of endurance racing.
Jim France, IMSA Chairman, Pierre Fillon, President of the ACO (copyright Mike Meadows/IMSA)
On the occasion of the 2020 Rolex 24 At Daytona, the two sanctioning bodies unveiled the guiding principle for this platform – the introduction as the top category of competition of LMDh, which will be eligible for both the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. This joint platform responds to the wishes of numerous manufacturers.
The chance for automotive manufacturers to compete with the same car at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Rolex 24 At Daytona, at SuperSebring or at Spa-Francorchamps, at the Motul Petit Le Mans or even Silverstone, will soon become a reality.
The ACO and IMSA have together established the basis for joint regulations to govern the new LMDh category. The objective is that, from September 2021 in the FIA WEC and from January 2022 in the WeatherTech Championship, manufacturers will be able to enter the top category and compete in the two leading championships in endurance racing with this new model of car, LMDh.
The two sanctioning bodies were inspired by elements from each of their respective regulations, namely from the ACO's Le Mans Hypercar and those in preparation by IMSA for the DPi 2.0. The result of this convergence, the LMDh car will be:
Based on a new chassis common to both ACO and IMSA, using elements of the Le Mans Hypercar and LMP2 chassis, and built by the four current LMP2 manufacturers: Dallara, Ligier, Multimatic and Oreca. This chassis will also be used for the new generation LMP2.
Its silhouette and design will be modifiable, developed according to the brand or style of the manufacturer which will provide the engine power for the car. The car will use a common hybrid KERS system, on the rear axle. In the future the top category of endurance racing will include both LMDh and Le Mans Hypercar. A balance of performance system will ensure fair competition.
Introduction of the new class is planned in September 2021 for the FIA WEC and at the Daytona 24 Hours in January 2022. The lifespan of the new LMP2 cars should be 10 years as announced by Gérard Neveu, the LMDh homologation will be for at least 5 years said John Doonan. More technical details for the car will be revealed in March at SuperSebring, in a presentation from the ACO and IMSA Technical Departments.
Pierre Fillon, President of the ACO: "This announcement today is the crucial starting point for a joint endurance racing future, supported by both the ACO and IMSA. The platform represents the convergence achieved by both organisations which is a great success story for endurance racing. A manufacturer will soon be able to compete in the top category of two championships, the FIA WEC and the WeatherTech Championship. We can't emphasise enough, as it's exceptional, how many opportunities this long-term sporting and marketing vision will open up."
Jim France, IMSA Chairman: "When my father, Bill France Sr., brought the first Daytona Continental sports car race here to Daytona International Speedway back in 1962, he wanted to bring together sports car drivers, teams and manufacturers from around the world. With the ACO, IMSA and manufacturers aligned, today's announcement proudly takes my father's vision to the next level."
Gérard Neveu, CEO of the FIA World Endurance Championship: "The big winner today is endurance racing as the door is now opened to many additional competitors to compete at the highest level on both sides of the Atlantic with the same car. The two sanctioning bodies should be congratulated for their vision and spirit of collaboration. Le Mans Hypercars and the new LMDh cars racing together at Le Mans or Daytona will be an incredibly exciting prospect for endurance fans across the world."
John Doonan, IMSA President: "On the eve of IMSA's 51st season of competition, future race fans will regard today as one of the most significant of all time for IMSA, the ACO and the world of sports car racing. Providing a common platform for top-level prototype racing globally has been a goal for the sanctioning bodies, our manufacturers – and most importantly, sports car racing fans everywhere – for many years, and we are proud to say the opportunity has finally arrived. We are grateful for the collaboration with our partners at the ACO and the open dialogue with our manufacturer partners that led us to today's introduction of the LMDh platform."
Labels: 2020, 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA WEC, IMSA, LMDh

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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DATA | Economy / Finance
Analysis: The Winners and Losers of Retail's Transformation
By Mike Maciag | July 2018
Many types of brick-and-mortar retailers are struggling to remain viable, upended by the proliferation of e-commerce. The retail industry isn't shedding any jobs as a whole. But different segments of the sector are headed in opposite directions, with jobs tied to online sales and distribution far outpacing the rest of the industry.
One troubling potential consequence of retail's shift to e-commerce is that many of the newer jobs created typically aren't spread out very evenly geographically. While brick-and-mortar stores are everywhere, the same can't be said of distribution facilities and call centers, which are often fairly concentrated. For this reason, how retail's transformation unfolds carries important long-term implications for local economies.
To approximate the effects of the sector's shift across the country so far, we reviewed county-level job estimates for several types of industries reported in the Labor Department's Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. The two industries tracked in federal data considered to best reflect e-commerce-related jobs are "electronic shopping" and warehousing-storage. Over the 10-year period ending in the third quarter of 2017, the two industries created a combined 528,000 jobs, an increase of 59 percent.
Much of this expansion of e-commerce is taking place in relatively few places. Just 31 of the nation's more than 3,200 counties accounted for half the national growth in the two associated industries over the decade. Only about 14 percent of the U.S. population resides in these 31 counties.
While many of the areas adding the most e-commerce jobs are large urban jurisdictions, several others are exurban and well outside any major population centers. All tend to be in locations favorable for logistics. The following 25 jurisdictions added the highest tallies of jobs in electronic shopping and warehousing over the decade ending in the third quarter of 2017 by our calculations:
Jobs Change
2007 Q3 Average
King County, Wash. 36,549 10,967 47,516
San Bernardino County, Calif. 26,937 8,451 35,388
Riverside County, Calif. 20,482 7,589 28,071
Middlesex County, N.J. 12,207 8,914 21,121
Maricopa County, Ariz. 11,707 14,470 26,177
Dallas County, Texas 11,482 11,179 22,661
San Joaquin County, Calif. 9,937 4,729 14,666
Los Angeles County, Calif. 8,736 23,511 32,247
Hendricks County, Ind. 7,650 3,489 11,074
Tarrant County, Texas 7,529 6,572 14,101
Luzerne County, Pa. 7,343 4,651 11,994
Baltimore City, Md. 6,922 784 7,706
Salt Lake County, Utah 6,676 4,866 11,542
Franklin County, Ohio 6,499 18,568 25,067
Kenosha County, Wis. 6,372 195 6,663
Fulton County, Ga. 6,401 4,829 11,230
Mercer County, N.J. 6,122 596 6,718
Will County, Ill. 6,048 1,276 7,325
Bullitt County, Ky. 5,846 845 6,691
Lehigh County, Pa. 5,649 3,639 9,288
Northampton County, Pa. 5,116 2,040 7,356
Denton County, Texas 4,896 1,214 6,109
Lexington County, S.C. 4,467 243 4,710
Johnson County, Kansas 4,446 2,025 6,471
San Francisco County, Calif. 4,308 3,098 7,405
NOTE: Electronic shopping figures were not published for both quarters for Hendricks, Kenosha and Northampton counties, so changes instead reflect total nonstore retail (of which electronic shopping is a subset.) As a result, totals for these counties include no more than a few hundred jobs not related to e-commerce.
Source: Governing calculations of BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages for NAICS 493 and NAICS 4541.
It's worth noting that the two industries alone don't capture all e-commerce growth in other parts of the economy, such as delivery services.
Meanwhile, the trajectory of traditional brick-and-mortar jobs is headed in another direction, with the employment base shrinking in most localities. Over the decade, approximately 61 percent of counties reporting data experienced declines in total retail jobs when segments of the industry less affected by e-commerce -- food stores, gas stations, vehicle and parts dealers and nonstore retailers -- are excluded. The majority of counties similarly sustained net losses in overall retail employment across the board.
Counties Reporting Data
Counties Losing Jobs
Share of Counties Losing Jobs
Median Jobs Change
Electronic Shopping & Warehousing (1) 608 195 32.1% 33.3%
Retail Affected by E-Commerce (2) 1,194 731 61.2% -3.8%
Retail Affected by E-Commerce (3) 3,114 1,877 60.3% -4.5%
All Retail Sector 3,114 1,745 56.0% -1.9%
SOURCE: Governing calculations of BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages data for Q3 2007, Q3 2017. (See methodology)
Includes counties with reported data for at least one of the two industries for both years.
Represents changes in total retail employment, excluding food stores, gas stations, vehicle and parts dealers and nonstore retailers. Only counties with reported data for all five industry classifications are included.
Represents changes in total retail employment, excluding food stores, gas stations, vehicle and parts dealers and nonstore retailers when reported. Includes all counties, except for those without reported retail job totals.
Large urban and suburban counties with particularly steep losses in traditional brick-and-mortar jobs over the decade included DuPage County, Ill., (-25 percent); Franklin County, Ohio, (-18 percent); and Hamilton County, Ohio, (-18 percent).
Still, there are many places where brick-and-mortar retail remains strong. Fast-growing regions where Americans are migrating to or those with booming economies experienced particularly sizable gains. Orange County, Fla., added nearly 12,400 such jobs (+28 percent), more than any other county nationally over the decade.
Retail and E-commerce Jobs Data for U.S. Counties
Make a selection to view retail employment by county and changes in jobs over the 10-year period ending in the third quarter of 2017.
Employment Trends by Retail Industry
As a whole, retail employment climbed slightly over the decade. Grocery stores, gas stations and other segments of retail with less of an online presence rebounded from losses sustained during the recession. But other types of employers recorded significant declines. Clothing stores, for instance, cut 126,000 jobs over the ten-year period while electronics and appliance stores lost about 79,000 jobs nationally.
Methodology and Data Notes
The Labor Department's Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) reports industry-level employment data for U.S. counties. Counties' quarterly private sector job totals were computed by calculating three-month QCEW averages for both Q3 2007 and Q3 2017. The two quarterly averages were then compared over the decade for the following NAICS industries: Retail trade (44-45), electronic shopping and mail-order houses (4541), warehousing and storage (493), nonstore retailers (454), gasoline stations (447), food and beverage stores (445) and motor vehicle and parts dealers (441). E-commerce jobs were considered to be those classified in the electronic shopping or warehousing industries. Companies often classify their establishments inconsistently, with some fulfillment centers classified as electronic shopping and similar facilities classified as warehousing.
Some counties lack quarterly employment data for one or more industries as BLS does not publish local data if no jobs are reported or if necessary to protect employers' confidentiality when there are only a few establishments for an industry. Industries without reported job totals for both quarters were excluded from our calculations. Warehousing and storage, not classified as a segment of the retail industry by BLS, includes companies not associated with online shopping and e-commerce. It's unlikely, however, that these other employers account for a large portion of the job growth measured over the decade. Other smaller industry classifications not included are also associated with e-commerce, but data aren't reported in a way that can be parsed out.
The Winners and Losers in Retail's Growing Divide
As more shopping moves online, most places are suffering job losses. But not everywhere.
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text:
Telestream Expands International Sales Team
NEVADA CITY, CALIF. — Telestream announced expansion of its sales management team to address sales growth for its video products in the EMEA and Asia Pacific regions. The company reports that overall sales of its enterprise products and services in EMEA and APAC regions have grown by almost 50 percent in the last two years.
Jean-Pierre Bousquet joins Telestream as Regional Sales Manager, Enterprise Products, managing sales in the ASEAN countries, plus Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. Located in Singapore, Bousquet brings over 15 years of highly relevant technical and commercial experience, having worked in the Asia region for AmberFin, Pixelmetrix and Avid.
Jean-Christophe Albou joins Telestream as Regional Sales Manager, Enterprise Products, managing sales in the Southern Europe and North African region. Located in Paris, Albou's region includes France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece and North Africa. Albou comes to Telestream with 18 years of experience selling video technology products, including for Quantel, Sony, JVC, Thomson/Grass Valley and Pinnacle Systems.
Sales of Telestream's Vantage transcoding and workflow automation systems increased by more than 40 percent last year.


text:
Q: JFrame, JPanel, KeyListener questions I will be making a simple game with Timer and thought how I should put everything together. I've just started with Swing and Keyboard controls. I imagine I'll have a class for the main Frame with JFrame, a class for the Board with JPanel and then I'll add all the objects to the Board, like JLabel in this example. I'll use composition to glue everything together. I'll have my methods for keyboard controls in the object classes I want to control.
How good or bad is this design and how could I improve it? Any advice would be great.
import javax.swing.JFrame;

public class Main extends JFrame {

public Board board = new Board();

public Main() {
    add(board);
    setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
    pack();
    setVisible(true);
}

public static void main(String args[]) {
    new Main();
}

    }
import javax.swing.JPanel;

public class Board extends JPanel {

public TextLabel textLabel1 = new TextLabel("Hi", "Hello", "Bye");
public TextLabel textLabel2 = new TextLabel("Bye", "GoodBye", "Farewell");

public Board() {

    addKeyListener(textLabel1); //this could be a ball in my game
    addKeyListener(textLabel2); //this could be something else...
    add(textLabel1);
    add(textLabel2);
    setFocusable(true);
}

    }
import java.awt.event.KeyEvent;
import java.awt.event.KeyListener;
import javax.swing.JLabel;

public class TextLabel extends JLabel implements KeyListener {

private String txt1, txt2;

public TextLabel(String text, String txt1, String txt2) {
    setText(text);
    this.txt1 = txt1;
    this.txt2 = txt2;
}
public void keyPressed(KeyEvent e) {
    int key = e.getKeyCode();

    if (key == KeyEvent.VK_A) {
        setText(txt1);
    }

    if (key == KeyEvent.VK_L) {
        setText(txt2);
    }

}
@Override
public void keyReleased(KeyEvent e) {
    // TODO Auto-generated method stub

}
@Override
public void keyTyped(KeyEvent e) {
    // TODO Auto-generated method stub

}
}

A: If you want your simple game to be memory/cpu efficient, I suggest taking a totally different route.

*

*Use a GameLoop. It seems as if you aren't using any type of action listener or loop to handle updates. You need something to handle updates, such as when a player moves from point A to point B, you need a way to keep increasing your entity's coordinates until it's at its destination. An ActionListener and using Swing timers will work for simple games, but if you wanna get serious about game dev In the future, start off the right way.

public class Main {
        public static void main(String[] args) {
            Game game = new Game();
            //init JFrame and add game to it
        game.start();
        while(game.isRunning()) {
            game.update();
            game.repaint();
        }
    }
}

class Game extends Canvas {
    private boolean running = true;
    private Ball ball = new Ball(0, 0, 50, 50);

    public void start() {
        running = true;
    }

    public void stop() {
        //clean-up
        running = false;
    }

    public void update() { //update game logic
        ball.update();
    }

    @Override
    public void paint(Graphics g) { //render game
        super.paint(g); //clears previous graphics

        ball.render(g); //passes graphics down to entity
    }
}

This will give you a clear view on the design of your game, aswell separate rendering from game logic. Here's what the ball class would look like
class Ball {
    private int currentX, currentY, width, height;

    public Ball(int x, int y, int w, int h) {
        currentX = x; currentY = y;
        width = w; height = h;
    }

    public void update() {
        currentX++; //moves ball to right
    }

    public void render(Graphics g) {
        g.setColor(Color.BLUE);
        g.fillRect(currentX, currentY, width, height);
    }
}

You'll notice that when running something like this, your CPU usage will be rather high. It's because the while loop controlling your game is looping at an extremely fast rate. There are many ways to slow this down in a precisely timed manner. I'll show you a pretty simple way:
int fps = 30;
int oneNanoSec = 1000000000;
int secondsPerLoop = oneNanoSecond/fps; //divide a second into 30 slices
while(game.isRunning()) {
    long start = System.nanoTime(); //see what time it is when we start

    game.update();
    game.render();

    long end = System.nanoTime(); //see what time it is when the game is finished updating/rendering
    long sleepTime = secondsPerLoop - (end-start);

    if(sleepTime > 0) {
        try {
            Thread.sleep(sleepTime);
        }catch(InterruptedException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    } else
        Thread.yield();
}

This timer sees how long it took to update and render, then depending on how fast you wanna update/render, the thread running your game will sleep (pause).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Vikings let game slip away
Andy York
The Lawrence University football team let a 27-10 lead slip away in the fourth quarter, as Grinnell scored three straight touchdowns, including two in the final 1:52, to win 30-27. The loss drops LU to 1-7 on the season.The Vikings got off to a slow start, punting on their first five drives. However, their defense was equally impressive, holding Grinnell to only a 28-yard field goal in the first quarter. Late in the second quarter, LU finally broke free. Eric Aspenson found Nick Korn in the end zone for a 33-yard scoring strike to put the Vikings up on top 7-3. Grinnell had one last chance to score at the end of the half, but LU cornerback Nate Semenak intercepted a pass on the LU four-yard line to preserve the halftime lead.
The second half showed the Vikings coming out fast. Tyler Krzewina intercepted a Sean Pfalzer pass and retuned it 50 yards for an LU touchdown. Krzewina also led the team in tackles with 17, garnering him MWC Defensive Player of the week honors. After trading punts, the LU offense struck again. Adrell Bullock ran for 37 yards on the drive, and Aspenson capped it off with a 12-yard strike to Dominique Lark to put LU up 21-3.
After trading punts again, Grinnell struck next. A huge personal foul penalty on LU would aid the Pioneers in their drive, and Nate Wineinger made them pay, taking a 21-yard run to the house and cutting the lead to 21-10 at the end of the third quarter.
In the first drive of the fourth quarter, the Vikings used a little trickery to get on the board again. Dominique Lark, who caught a touchdown earlier, took the handoff from Aspenson and threw downfield to Korn for his second touchdown of the game. It was a 52-yarder, and after missing the extra point attempt, LU had a seemingly insurmountable 27-10 lead with 14 minutes left in the game.
The Pioneers were on the ropes, but LU could not put them away. After a Pfalzer fumble on the Grinnell 25 was recovered by Chris Guay, the Vikings tried adding three more – a Vince Iacopelli 38-yard field goal was up and good, but the play was brought back on a false start penalty on LU. The Vikings then went for it on the fourth down and failed to convert, giving Grinnell all the momentum they would need.
Pfalzer would lead the Pioneers downfield, hitting Trey Rainey for a touchdown with just less than 10 minutes left in the game. After two stops on LU, Grinnell got the ball back again and went downfield; it was Matt Teeters on the receiving end of a Pfalzer strike this time, but the extra point was missed, putting the score at 27-23. With 1:52 to go in the ballgame, Grinnell kicked it deep to LU.
After a muff of the kick, LU took over on its own 13-yard line. The Vikings ran the ball three times, had a fourth down with inches to go on their own 20-yard line, and decided to punt the ball away. Grinnell took over on its 40, with 1:16 to go in the game. Pfalzer took the lead for Grinnell, going 6-6 for 60 yards on the final drive and capping it off with a four yard strike to Raney that gave Grinnell the lead, 30-27 – with 24 seconds left to go. Two desperation passes were off the mark, and Grinnell stole a victory away 30-27.
The Vikings were led on offense by Lark, who had one catch for 12 yards and a touchdown, and one pass for 52 yards and a touchdown. Korn finished with four catches, for 87 yards on the day. Aspenson went 8-26 for 86 yards and two touchdowns. Bullock led the Viking rushing attack with 72 yards on 21 carries.
The Vikings are next in action off-campus, against a tough Lake Forest team. Kickoff is 1 p.m. Saturday.
The Lawrentian Staff - October 29, 2004
Andy York The Lawrence University football team let a 27-10 lead slip away in the fourth quarter, as Grinnell scored three straight touchdowns, including two in the final 1:52, to win 30-27. The loss drops LU to 1-7 on the season.The Vikings got off to a slow start, punting on their first five drives. However,…


text:
Judgment Night, CL Moore
Published on 29 May 2013 2 June 2013 by iansalesLeave a comment
Judgment Night, CL Moore (1952)
Review by admiral ironbombs
This was what the loss of civilization really meant. For the first time the full impact of the Galaxy's great loss overwhelmed her. So long as she could see those lost worlds she might hope to win them back, but to be struck blind like this was to lose them forever. She knew a sudden agony of homesickness for all the planets she might never see again, a sudden terrible nostalgia for the lost, familiar worlds, for the fathomless seas of space between them. Ericon's eternal greenness was hateful, strangling in its tiny limitations.
'Judgment Night' (1943)
The ancient Lyonese empire is looming towards disaster; the barbarian hordes of the H'vani have been razing planet after planet as they head towards the heart of the empire, Ericon. The aging emperor is preparing for peace talks to stave off the carnage, but his daughter Juille disagrees with him, urging no quarter against the barbarian hordes. After a spat, she storms off to the artificial pleasure planet Cyrille to interact with "normal people" under a disguise, where she meets the mysterious Egide; the two have a whirlwind romance, but something about Egide puts Juille on edge. Returning home, she finds her plot to kill the H'vani ambassadors has failed – and Egide himself is the nominal leader of the H'vani. Infuriated, she attempts to shoot him, only to find herself a H'vani hostage. And unknowingly, she may have set in motion unstoppable events that could doom humanity.
'Judgment Night' isn't quite a full novel, in reality a serialized novella, but it's got a lot packed into it as you can see – and that's leaving out quite a lot of details, such as the godlike Ancients who put forth wisdom and lies to their supplicants, or the envoy from the now-conquered planet Dunnar who offers a mighty weapon to fend off the H'vani. Moore's typical prose, lush and poetic and brimming with imagery, is at its full-blown glory. There's quite a lot of moody ambiance and quiet introspection, just as there's some brilliant action pieces – Juille blasting apart a planet with a lightning-gun was priceless. The story has a good balance and great flow, though it could drag at times when the focus became more internalized.
Also, it's a real downer, a poetic examination of what could be humanity's downfall – if you haven't noticed, the story's got a strong "barbarians against Rome" feel taken to the extreme, because this war could be the apocalyptic doom of all humanity. (Granted, the ending is a dose of cautious optimism, at least for our two main characters who reach tranquility as the world around them burns. But the atmosphere and general message are tense and pessimistic.) I'm curious how it slipped under the radar to get published in Astounding, since it runs counter to editor John Campbell's belief of homo sapiens superior. As I see it, 'Judgment Night' is a brutal indictment of war… and by proxy, human nature, which inevitably leads humanity to the conflicts which doom itself.
I'd like to say that Juille is a strong, independent female protagonist, but that wouldn't be entirely accurate; she is independent, but also headstrong, stubborn, more the spoiled brat of an interstellar empire then a sympathetic character. She acts out of her own selfish motives which causes no end of trouble for her, and taking matters into her own hands sets up the story's despondent climax. And, by the end, her love/hate relationship with Egide has eroded down to just love. Still, she's an active protagonist and the driving force behind the story; a lot of Moore's fiction – especially the Northwest Smith and Jirel tales—have the protagonist just standing around while things happen to them. Not so much with Juille, who knows what she wants and goes after it with strict tenacity. She reminds me a lot of Moore's earlier Jirel of Joiry, only more fiercely passionate.
'Judgment Night' is a perfect display for Moore's biggest stylistic themes, as evident in her Northwest Smith and Jirel of Joiry stories as they are here:
A barely-contained sensual element lurking just beneath the surface. In this case it's the duplicitous seduction between Juille and Egide on the pleasure-planet Cyrille, which sets off a love/hate relationship that builds steam throughout the novel. Love and death go hand in hand in Judgment Night as well, an interesting allegorical pairing… very Romeo and Juliet.
Paranoia and duplicity. None of the characters' motives are obvious, and twists and double-crosses are frequent. At one point, Juille's mind runs wild as the betrayed girl imagines adversaries around every corner; at another, she's physically put in a paranoid, tense situation, during a game of cat and mouse as the she's hunted by the well-armed Jair, who himself is not what he seems.
A miasma of grim unease which oozes forth from the story. The tone and atmosphere of Judgment Night forecasts a future disaster, a feeling that something is going to happen, and that that something will be terrible. A distinct melancholia where, despite the positive, hopeful elements within the story, the atmosphere is pervaded by a pessimistic mood.
'Judgment Night' is the epic space opera to end all space operas. Highly entertaining, if a bit slow at times, rich in imagery and backed by a brilliant premise. One of those requirements for the reader interested in Golden Age SF, it really ought not to be missed. I was surprised to find the story wasn't really a full novel, falling closer to short novel/novella territory. As an added bonus, the original Gnome Press version – as well as the shiny new Singularity & Co. ebook – feature four additional stories, so there's plenty more material to read.
'Paradise Street' (1950)
The explorers and the drifters and the spacehands are misfits mostly, and, therefore, men of imagination. The contrast between the rigid functionalism inside a spaceship and the immeasurable glories outside is too great not to have a name. So whenever you stand in a ship's control room and look out into the bottomless dark where the blinding planets turn and the stars swim motionless in space, you are taking a walk down Paradise Street.
Jamie Morgan blasts onto the planet Loki with a cargo full of Sehft valued at 50,000 credits, only to find the market has bottomed out thanks to new ability to synthesize the substance. Morgan, a caustic loner, is already angered; his intense hatred of the settlers that come in his wake and inhabit the planets he opens up was set off as soon as he saw the humble Ancibel Station here on Loki. Now that his valuable cargo is worthless, and desperate for the credits, he turns to the criminal underworld to unload his goods. Bad choice; Morgan is too used to dealing with isolated, open worlds and not conniving career criminals.
'Paradise Street' reads more like a frontier western with its parallels of pioneers against settlers. There's a country sheriff, a ton of Western jargon, and the climax includes the stampede of local alien cattle. If I didn't know better, I'd say the author had cranked out an unsellable western – or maybe just re-used one of their old ones – and, after bolting on some futuristic gadgetry, submitted it to Astounding on a whim.
But this is Catherine Moore, and you can tell the allusion is intentional; her lyrical prose is more down-key but her writing is still exemplary, and it rises above to subvert the "western as sci-fi" cliche. The story's focus is on civilization versus the rugged frontier, and it's pretty engaging; I can see why it was picked up by Astounding. A solid tale, considering. It's one of the longer entries in the collection, and a sharp contrast to 'Judgment Night.'
'Promised Land' (1950)
Mankind's attempts to colonize the planets have become based on decades of genetic manipulation and selective breeding, with the idea to use those created to adapt as first-line colonizers. After some centuries of terraforming the planet, they will have evolved their way back to become baseline humans, while developing their planets' ecosystems along to allow unaltered humans to live there, paving the path for human space colonization.
Some of the attempts fail miserably, like Torren, product of generations forced to live in a centrifuge to gain the musculature needed to survive on Jupiter (what, it's written in 1950): Torren himself cannot lift his great mass at all, forced to live in a water tank suited to his gigantic bulk. Others are wild successes, like the colonizers of Ganymede who can survive to its harsh, frozen climate and oxygen-less atmosphere thanks to their functioning genetic modification.
Torren is now the ruler of Ganymede, "the only child of the centrifuge to get out and stay out;" now the bitter old man wants to move forward ahead of schedule and terraform Ganymede early, making it hospitable for baseline humans while killing off all the Ganymedans in one fell swoop. His adopted foster-son, Ben Fenton, is the only thing standing in his way: tired of his foster-father's brutal tendencies and in love with a Ganymedan woman, Ben refuses to let the entire Ganymedan race be slaughtered.
Brilliant idea behind the story, though it is itself very straightforward space opera. Also, somewhat short. There's an epic showdown between Torren and Ben, and a variety of intrigue working in the background, but it's free from major action set-pieces; mature and thoughtful for standard space opera fare, with a great surprise ending. I enjoyed it quite a bit, though its brevity gives it some jerkiness, unevenness, and its ending's lack of finality makes me wish it had been a novella or serial. Alas, it's not; I'll make due.
'The Code' (1945)
A pair of scientists muse over their recent development – a special formula, in part deciphered from the works of ancient alchemists, which can rejuvenate its imbiber, returning their youth. Their subject is the one scientist's aging father, brought back from the brink of terminal illness. As he grows younger, they realize how he's changing, body and mind, and watch in abject horror as the situation develops. An exceedingly slow burn, very much a thinker, that revisits the old legend of the changeling babe, with a lot of thought put into the alchemists and their philosophy.
Kind of a modernization of Faust with overtones of Lovecraftian dread, I thought the story more fitting of a 1930s issue of Weird Tales than an issue of Astounding in its heyday; interesting overall, but far too passive. Not much happens on a physical level, and it mostly consists of the two protagonists sitting around at various times, discussing the changes wrought in their subject. Still, while it's my least favorite in the collection so far, its wealth of ideas outshines its motionless pacing.
'Heir Apparent' (1950)
He shook his head at the bright world in the sky. He would have to get over the habit of regarding the heavens as a chart with a glittering pinhead for each planet, and so many thousand Thresholders, ex-Earth-born, bred for the ecology of alien worlds, pinned up there upon the black velvet backdrop for study and control. It wasn't his problem any more.
We return to the future of 'Promised Land' with its modified humans exploring the galaxy, but are now dealing with Edward Harding. Ed used to be a member of an Integrator Team, a band of seven special-forces-esque humans who are "integrated" via a machine to perform terraforming duties. (They also gain latent superhuman abilities due to the mutations inherent in the process.) Ed, recently booted off the force, is tracking down one of his old adversaries – Mayall, another ex-Integrator who was booted off the team by Ed. Rumor has it that Mayall's forming his own Integrator team, on the payroll of Venusian or Ganymedan seccessionists. Ed will join, kill Mayall, or die trying.
A twisty-turny tale with plenty of suspense and intrigue, this is one of those tales where you're never sure who is on who's side. It's one of the longer stories in the collection, as well as one (arguably) the most fast-paced—"Heir Apparent" leaps forward in its tangle of betrayal and subterfuge, reaching twist after twist without any sign of slowdown. And as the capstone of the collection, it's good that the tale is so strong: in my opinion it's one of the strongest of the shorter works on display, and a perfect way to end the collection. Be ready for numerous surprises and a complex future, which can make things enjoyably confusing.
When these works were first collected for their 1952 Gnome Press edition, they were meant as a definitive collection of CL Moore's modern science fiction stories, working as a solo author without any of the collaborations she wrote with her husband, Henry Kuttner. I would argue that the definitive collection of Moore's work would have to include some of those collaborations, as well as some of her earlier Weird Tales fare like 'Shambleau' or 'Black God's Kiss'.
But what this collection sets out to do, it does well: a selection of her better works from '40s-'50s issues of Astounding. 'Judgment Night' is the obvious best here: it's longer, thematically deeper, beautifully written, and is so far the best display of Moore's writing I've read. The other stories are interesting, but not required; I preferred 'Promised Land' and 'Heir Apparent' though all were readable.
This review originally appeared on Battered, Tattered, Yellowed & Creased.
Categories book review, cl moore•Tags admiral ironbombs, cl moore, judgment night
Beyond the Gates, Catherine Wells
Beyond the Gates, Catherine Wells (1999)
There is a rumour to the effect that science fiction is a fresh, forward-looking, innovative literature. This is, of course, all false. Science fiction is old and weary, forever picking over its own bones, preferring some petty variation on what has gone before to anything approaching novelty. Beyond the Gates by Catherine Wells is an object lesson in how to wring as much variation as possible on a tired theme without once daring to be new. Wells's previous novel, Mother Grimm, was a finalist for the Philip K Dick Award; for the sake of the award one can only hope that her talent has taken a nose-dive in the interim, or else the judges faced an extraordinarily lean year. Certainly there is nothing in this new book that might excite the interest of a judge.
Which is not to say that this is a dramatically bad book. It is highly competent, smoothly written, hits all the right buttons in more or less the right order; if there is a formula for a novel that will be pleasantly entertaining to the many and not too upsetting to the few, then Catherine Wells has found that formula. If her prose singularly fails to reach any of the poetic heights that her chosen manner of storytelling would seem to demand, then at least it contains no outright horrors. The trouble is, the whole thing is too smooth, there is nothing to snag in the memory, five minutes after closing the book you would be hard put to name anything which distinguishes it from a thousand other novels ploughing more or less the same furrow.
This is the old, old story of science versus religion; and as practically always happens in science fiction the odds are stacked in favour of science. Science, after all, provides the drama, the motivation, the charming central character; all religion does is serve as the force of repression and provide the baddies who are trying to hold the good buys back. Ah, but that doesn't begin to do justice to the planet-building-by-numbers that Wells is practising here. Let's see: you have an entire planet given over to one religion; and since the planet is largely a desert world, the religion is inevitably a clone of Islam. Since this is Islam in all but name, then there must be unthinking obedience to strict rules of religious observance, and of course an oblique way of phrasing everything, that Americans seem to think is de rigeur when presenting a Moslem-like religion. Since you have unthinking obedience to strict rules, then the people who enforce those rules, the mullahs (they're not quite called that but that's what they are), must be corrupt and are keeping a big secret from the world. Since the religious masters are corrupt, then it is the absolute duty of science to be heroic and defy convention and chase knowledge come what may. And since this is another story of how good science inevitably defeats bad religion, the results of that pursuit of knowledge are of course unfailingly positive: science would never introduce anything dangerous that might upset a peaceful and prosperous world, no siree.
In this instance, science is represented by Marta, a graduate student who discovers a dead dinosaur on one of her field trips. The only trouble is, there isn't supposed to be anything like a dinosaur in this planet's native fauna. So she organises another expedition, this time bringing in a scientist from off-world, who turns out to be cowardly, impetuous and more concerned with personal glory than the service of science. Unfortunately, Marta's sponsor has a rival, who organises a rival expedition with a rival off-world scientist. This scientist turns out to be not only the galaxy's greatest expert in his field, but also a super-competent soldier, the sort of muscle-bound figure who could win a war singlehanded and not break into a sweat (science fiction writers sometimes seem to have a very peculiar notion of what scientists are like). Of course, Marta manages to outwit the super-soldier, but this is only the start for their discoveries lead them to the forbidden continent (there always has to be a forbidden continent), which the not-quite-mullahs have always claimed is barren. What secret are they hiding? Will the self-serving scientist reveal his true colours and put everyone else at risk as a result? Will Marta and the super-soldier join forces and make the great discovery that changes the world forever?
This review originally appeared in New York Review of Science Fiction 140, April 2000.
Categories book review, catherine wells•Tags beyond the gates, catherine wells, paul kincaid
Millennial Women, Virginia Kidd
Published on 15 May 2013 23 June 2013 by iansales4 Comments
Millennial Women, Virginia Kidd (1978)
The mid-1970s appears to have seen a brief surge in interest in sf by women authors – not just this anthology, Millennial Women; but also Pamela Sargent's Women of Wonder trilogy (1975 – 1978), a series which would not be repeated until twenty years later. Though long-deserved, it's hard to know what triggered this interest. Ursula K LeGuin had won the Hugo Award in 1970 for The Left Hand of Darkness, the first woman to do so; and she won again in 1975 for The Dispossessed, only the second female-authored book to win. In 1977, Kate Wilhlem won; and in 1979, Vonda N McIntyre… and books by women writers have won several times ever since – three times in the 1980s, five in the 1990s, and three in the first decade of this century. It's by no means parity, but it's a huge improvement on earlier decades – prior to 1970, only two women had ever been shortlisted for the best novel Hugo: Marion Zimmer Bradley in 1963 and Andre Norton in 1964.
Kidd's introduction in Millennial Women provides no clues to her motive for putting together the anthology. She gives a few comments on each of the six stories – one is actually a short novel – but there is little real discussion of the role of women in the science fiction field, except this:
But what seems to me one of the most impressive aspects of the collection is that all of these science fiction writers avoid hard-core science fiction for sociology, soft-pedal radical feminism for humanism, and write about women simply as women. (p 3)
Which, if anything, reads like a shot across Joanna Russ's bows. And it's certainly true that the contents of Millennial Women are not in the least bit radical. They are, in fact, well-crafted science fiction stories very much in keeping with the less-pulpish elements of the genre of the time. If it was known as "social science fiction" back then – either to distinguish it from sf involving space battles and such, or simply to differentiate it from sf written by men – the label is no longer used, and any need to hold it apart from heartland genre sf has long since vanished. But that quote does feel a little like it's feeding into the stereotype of women writers in science fiction: "unlike men, they only write a particular kind of sf (which you might like)". This is nonsense, of course. True, not all women sf writers wrote "radical feminist" sf, but it is deeply unfair to characterise what they did write as "social science fiction", no matter what characteristics it shared with other subgenres. As Russ herself described it in How To Suppress Women's Writing: "she wrote it, but she isn't really [a science fiction writer], and it isn't really [science fiction]".
So, it should come as little surprise that the stories in Millennial Women cover a number of subgenres of science fiction, from near-future (mundane) sf to that involving galaxy-spanning spaceships. The various focuses of the stories are no different to what might be expected in any other non-themed anthology of the time, irrespective of the writers' genders. Perhaps the fact all the stories feature female protagonists might have been considered notable in 1978 – though, in truth, Le Guin's takes a chapter or two before settling on its eventual female protagonist – but to a modern reader, there's nothing remarkable in it. Nor should there be.
To be honest, 'No One Said Forever' by Cynthia Felice doesn't even actually read as science fiction, and it's slightly baffling that it would be considered genre – even in 1978. Carol and Mike are both working professionals – he is a miner, she works for a computer company. And now she's been offered a contract in Antarctica which she cannot afford to turn down. Neither wants to give up their careers, nor are they keen on separation. Eventually, they reach a solution, but it's a dilemma predicated on attitudes and sensibilities which no longer hold sway (mostly), and so makes the piece feel bizarrely dated rather than futuristic.
'The Song of N'Sardi-El' by Diana L Paxson, as can probably be guessed from the presence of an apostrophe in the title, is much more blatantly science fiction. The narrator is a xenolinguist aboard a merchant ship which is rushing to the world of Cithal in order to be the first to sign a lucrative trade deal with its natives. They also have aboard several survivors from the lifeboat of another ship that was destroyed by aliens while leaving their world. One of these survivors is a young girl who's suffering from nightmares. The narrator befriends her and then discovers that her ship was destroyed leaving Cithal, and that the girl can speak the native language, Xicithalian. As a result, the traders are well-prepared when they arrive on Cithal. And then the girl recognises the alien repsonsible for the death of her family… The title refers to a Xicithalian epic poem, and its story allows the narrator to use the aliens' culture to demand concessions and open trading. There's nothing untypical about 'The Song of N'Sardi' and it would not look out of place in pretty much any sf anthology. Its focus on xenolinguistics does not make it "social science fiction", though it does it in parts read a little like a story from an earlier decade.
'Jubilee's Story' by Elizabeth A Lynn is post-apocalypse. A group from a women-only settlement stop off en route to another in a tiny hamlet, and find a pregnant young woman close to term. Her husband is afraid she'll die, so the travellers stay to help. But it seems the situation in the house is somewhat fraught – the husband's brother claims the baby is his, and the father is an old school Christian fundamentalist, who calls the the young woman a whore and wants her gone. Events come to a head. The set-up may be science fiction, but there's little in how the story plays out that makes it genre. It could just as easily have been set in some rustic part of the US and nothing would really need to be changed. When you wonder why a story has been written as science fiction, you have to sometimes wonder why it was written at all.
Older women do not appear very often as protagonists in sf stories, but that's what the narrator of 'Mab Gallen Recalled' by Cherry Wilder is. She served as a medical officer aboard a starship, but now she has retired. Much of the story consists of an extended flashback, describing a scene in which she had to stabilise an injured person in the cargo-hold of a damaged ship. Also present was a lay preacher, and the narrator tries to stress on her the importance of not sacrificing her air in order to save the injured man. She does sacrifice some of it, of course. But they all survive. And the narrator thinks back on that lay preacher, and on a lover she saw defect to the other side, and she compares them to the fresh-faced young medical missionaries to whom she is about to speak.
'Phoenix in the Ashes' by Joan D Vinge is also post-apocalypse, but in this world South America has remained technological while North America has devolved to an agrarian society. A Brazilian is prospecting by helicopter in south-west USA for oil, when his helicopter crashes in California. Which is where a theocratic society descended from immigrants from further south now holds sway. The women are very much second-class citizens, especially Amanda, who refused to marry the man her father had arranged as her husband. She has been exiled from the family homestead, and now lives in a hovel on the family land, and weaves cloth to pay for food. The helicopter pilot did not die in the crash, though he was left for dead. Later he stumbles across Amanda's hovel, and she takes him in and tends to his wounds. He has lost his memory, and can remember nothing of his life before. Eventually, they marry, and he introduces crop rotation to the local farmers – including Amanda's father, which helps ease his entry into the family. Such societies are almost a staple of the genre, and while 'Phoenix in the Ashes' predates The Handmaid's Tale by almost a decade, the two stories are not dissimilar.
'The Eye of the Heron' by Ursula K Le Guin is the longest piece in the anthology. It's a short novel and this is its first appearance in print. It's been subsequently reprinted as a standalone novel. In fact, Millennial Women was published in the UK in 1980 under the title The Eye of the Heron and Other Stories, with LeGuin's name considerably more prominent than Kidd's. In an interview in Whole Earth Review, LeGuin said of this story:
"While I was writing 'The Eye of the Heron' in 1977, the hero insisted on destroying himself before the middle of the book. "Hey," I said, "you can't do that, you're the hero. Where's my book?" I stopped writing. The book had a woman in it, but I didn't know how to write about women. I blundered around a while and then found some guidance in feminist theory. I got excited when I discovered feminist literary criticism was something I could read and actually enjoy. I read The Norton Book of Literature by Women from cover to cover. It was a bible for me. It taught me that I didn't have to write like an honorary man anymore, that I could write like a woman and feel liberated in doing so."
Certainly the female protagonist is not at all obvious in the opening chapters. 'The Eye of the Heron' opens with an expedition returning home after exploring the wilderness. When the explorers reach their home village, they call for a meeting in order to describe what they've discovered. But one of the Bosses is also present, and he tells the villagers that they are to make no move without the Bosses' approval – even though it is plan the villagers wish to found a new settlement elsewhere in order to no longer be in the Bosses' thrall. This is an alien world, settled by two groups of people – the People of Peace, who live in near-poverty and perform peasant labour; while the other live in luxury from the fruits of the first group's labours. It's such a polarised set-up that it's hard to swallow. The Spanish Colonial feel to the world only helps obscure that this is a new world, and not some colonial period in Earth's history. At least if it were the latter, there'd be the weight of history to justify the blatant inequality of the society, and bolster the arrogance of the Bosses. The desire by the People of the Peace to found a new colony away from the Bosses precipitates a confrontation, made worse by the Bosses' plans to open new areas locally for farmland – or, as they see it, plantations with themselves lording it over People of the Peace labourers. Caught in the middle of all this is Luz Marina, the daughter of the head of the Bosses. She doesn't want to marry the man her father has picked out for her, nor does she want to be like her married friends. When she learns of plans by a new troop of musket-armed Bosses' sons to attack the People of the Peace, she runs away to warn them. And ends up staying, further throwing the two groups into conflict.
'The Eye of the Heron' is perhaps a more blunt story than LeGuin typically writes. The People of the Peace are so committed to their ideals, it seems a miracle they've survived as long as they have. The Bosses insist they represent "law and order" and so must be obeyed, but you can't help wondering whose law and order they represent, and why they should be obeyed given they're outnumbered. Indeed, the People of the Peace do practice civil disobedience, but a violent confrontation proves unavoidable (and incidentally is the event LeGuin refers to in the first sentence of the quote above). There's perhaps a little too much suspension of disbelief required for 'The Eye of the Heron' to work as smoothly as it should – especially since, like some of the other stories in Millennial Women, it's only really the setting that characterises the story as science fiction. Having said that, it's clearly the best of the six stories in the anthology, and certainly bears rereading.
If the reasons for putting together Millennial Women are not entirely clear, the end result is still an anthology worth reading. Perhaps the other stories suffer somewhat in comparison to the LeGuin, but in other venues they would be more than strong enough to stand on their own. There is nothing genre-redefining or remarkable about Millennial Women. If anything, it amply demonstrates that labelling sf by women writers as anything other than sf does both women and the genre a huge disservice. There is no plausible justification for segregation, even if it takes a women-only anthology to prove it…
Categories anthology, book review, virginia kidd•Tags anthology, cherry wilder, cynthia felice, diana l paxson, elizabeth a lynn, ian sales, joan d vinge, millennial women, ursula k le guin, virginia kidd
The Mile-Long Spaceship, Kate Wilhelm
Published on 8 May 2013 2 June 2013 by iansalesLeave a comment
The Mile-Long Spaceship, Kate Wilhelm (1963)
Review by Joachim Boaz
Kate Wilhelm, famous for her Hugo-winning masterwork Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang (1976), started her writing career with more modest works. The Mile-Long Spaceship collects some of her earliest short stories from the late 50s and a few written for the collection in the early 60s — Clone, her first novel, co-written with Theodore L Thomas would come out in 1965. However, her best sf was published in the late 60s to the mid-70s. Before then her work tended to be straight-forward with an occasional interesting idea or poignant scene but generally unremarkable….
Three stories are worth reading in this collection: an early work of feminist science fiction – 'No Light in the Window' (1963), a moody rumination on the claustrophobia of space travel – 'The Man Without a Planet' (1962), and an intriguing but underwhelming first contact story – 'The Mile-Long Spaceship' (1957).
Recommended for fans of Wilhelm who are curious about her earliest forays into the genre or those (like myself) who are obsessed with 50s + 60s sf. Less fanatical sf fans will be disappointed.
'The Mile-Long Spaceship' (1957): Telepathic alien explorers make mental contact (of the non-verbal kind) with an Earthman. Unfortunately, contact causes him to crash his car and end up in a hospital. In their moments of contact the telepaths "transport" him to a conjured mile-long spaceship. The aliens attempt to find out how to visit Earth by suggesting he watch various "films" on the "spaceship" in order for him to identify stars which might suggest Earth's location. But the Earthman doesn't have much interest in astronomy, and assumes his delusions are a result of his crash…. A slightly atmospheric tale — but lacking wonder.
'Fear is a Cold Black' (1963): Wilhelm's take on sf/horror is a slightly claustrophobic tale but plods over old ground. An interstellar space cruiser is stricken with a mysterious illness after investigating an abandoned spaceship wreck. The passengers are transformed by their fear: "Giroden making plans for his funereal pyre, Perez creating an enemy to be destroyed, even poor Custens, the least imaginative man on the ship, theorizing that the thing traveled with the food, depriving himself of the sustenance hoping to forestall further spread" (p21). Soon, the true nature of the disease is discovered and the captain has to make a controversial decision to save the crew.
'Jenny with Wings' (1963): A downright silly fantasy installment better suited for the Romance sf subgenre — a girl born with wings is raised by her grandfather and scares off all the boys who fall for her when she reveals her wings. They either think she's an angel and start praying or want to sell her to the circus for some quick cash. She gets word of a nice doctor who cares for others with strange abnormalities (for example, people who sleep underwater). Her doctor's office visit is filled with sexual tension as the doctor inquires about her life and examines her. She admits she is not well versed in the ways of sex — the doctors reveals (well, in an early 60s manner) that there are other positions. When she flies off to meet her "love" she discovers his true intentions…. Thankfully, there's someone who really understands her. And they fly off together. A single word comes to mind, "lame."
'A is for Automation' (1959): A sinister tale that ultimately fails to deliver. An automated factory — whose brain center is named Sarah — creates robotic toys. A government inspection arrives to see whether the facility is safe, if it is there's the possibility of a lucrative Defense Department contract. Old Man Mike, kept on the payroll for goodwill purposes alone due to the automated nature of the factory, detects some strange occurrences but no one believes him — one better not "teach" Sarah too much or "she" might try to reproduce…
'Gift from the Stars' (1958): An unscrupulous urban developed wants to get his grubby hands on an entire city block… Unfortunately for him an electronics store with ridiculously low prices is the only business that won't leave. Mr Talbot is convinced the store is a front for a racket of some sort — he breaks his watch on purpose in order to get the opportunity to scout out the place — he discovers, a (wait for it), "gift from the stars". A simple, predictable, alien presence on Earth type short story with similar theme to 'The Mile-Long Spaceship' — mankind is too stupid, self-centered, and ignorant for first contact.
'No Light in the Window' (1963): Easily the best story in the collection…. A thought-provoking work of early feminist social science fiction dealing with relevant themes — in this case, the ramifications of careers on marriage. Connie, a biochemist, and Hank, an astrophysicist are recently married. However, looming over their shoulder is the possibility that both of them will not be selected for one of the few positions on a colonizing spaceship. Hank is calm and convinced that he'll be going along with his wife. However, Connie is convinced that she will not be going and struggles to digest the potential ramifications for her marriage. Surprisingly, she is selected for the mission and Hank is not….
'One for the Road' (1959): A commentary on cold war paranoia, which strangely retains the "scientists are idealists that wouldn't dream of hurting others" narrative instead of complicating said narrative. The scientist remains guiltless while the public is simply a paranoid mob needing guidance. Massive riots spread across the world due to a badly edited radio broadcast that claimed that the radioactivity due to atomic testing overseen by scientists would cause most people to die from cancer (the proper context removed entirely from the broadcast). Of course, science comes to the rescue before the rioting gets out of hand. A story weakened by its naive message… Of course, when the true ramifications of nuclear testing became known to the American public such stories would be strangely out of place…
'Andover and the Android' (1963): Roger thinks women are "simpering females" and would never dream of getting married. However, if he doesn't get married he won't get promoted to the vice-presidency of a company. So, he marries a robot. And falls in love with her…. A satirical take on 50s/60s views of women — humorous but far too slapstick for my taste.
'The Man Without a Planet' (1962): The second best story in the collection — a moody, psychologically taught story about the strains of a lengthy space voyage to colonize Mars. And, as the crew feels the effects of close quarters, seat thirteen with its strange occupant casts an aura of unease. This dark and contained rumination hints at the heights reached by Wilhelm's later masterpieces.
'The Apostolic Travelers' (1963): A satirical tale about immortality… The Longevity Board on Earth randomly grants a few individuals every year immortality — all the others on Earth can live a prescribed 250 years. Two Brothers (of the monkish variety) of rather dubious standing are selected to appear before the Board in order to become immortal. The true downside of immortality is revealed but the monks agree anyway so that they can convert others for the faith… So they're supplied with a FTL spaceship in order to prevent the overpopulation of worlds (if everyone could be immortal…).
'The Last Days of the Captain' (1962): The idea behind 'The Last Days of the Captain' is far superior than the forced/unexciting/dry delivery — Captain Winters is attempting to move all the colonist on a planet to the evacuation extraction point due to a suspected alien invasion. He holds the planet-bound colonists in low esteem — as do all spacers. However, he becomes personally responsible for moving to the extraction point a colonist named Marilyn, who is unsure whether her son and husband will get to the extraction point in time. Eventually, he overcomes some of his prejudice against the simple folk of the farms.
This review originally appeared on Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations.
Categories book review, kate wilhelm•Tags collection, joachim boaz, kate wilhelm, the mile-long spaceship
A City in the North, Marta Randall
Published on 1 May 2013 20 June 2013 by iansales2 Comments
A City in the North, Marta Randall (1976)
It sometimes seems that, at some point in their career, every Western science fiction author tries to write Heart of Darkness. For Marta Randall, that point came early – with her second novel, A City in the North. Though mapping Conrad's themes of civilisation versus savagery onto a galactic stage now seems a trite and banal exercise, and literature no longer finds colonialism an acceptable subject, its appeal to genre writers of the 1970s and earlier is not hard to fathom. Science fiction is often about the supremacy of science and technology, and "primitive" cultures provided a cheap and easy backdrop against which to demonstrate this. Which is not to say that all such stories were lacking in subtlety or sensitivity. A City in the North is a story which treads a fine line between what was considered acceptable in the mid-1970s and what is considered acceptable in the 21st century, but is a surprisingly clever and subtle novel and a good deal better than any of its contemporaries based on the same theme.
Toyon Sutak and Alin Kennerin have travelled to the world of Hoep-Hanninah because Toyon has long had a dream of visiting the ancient ruins in the north of the planet's only continent. The ruined city, Hoep-Tashik, is actually off-limits, but Toyon is a rich and powerful man and is sure he can sway the local authorities to give him permission. Hoep-Hanninah is a company world, administered by an ineffectual governor. It is also inhabited. The Hanninah are:
"squat, square creatures with long arms and bowed legs, covered with dark hair save for face, palms, soles, belly … Apes, they looked; apes, they walked, yet they had a name for themselves and their world, engaged in incomprehensible rituals, were sentient, aware of their own condition as living creatures on the way to death." (p 10)
The humans find it impossible to believe that the Hanninah, who live a simple nomadic lifestyle, could have built Hoep-Tashik, and the aliens certainly refuse to explain themselves or describe their past. The Company employees on the world, seeing this, subsequently treat the Hanninah like either second-class citizens or clever animals – and that's a narrative that's all to sadly common in the real world.
Toyon gets permission to visit Hoep-Tashik, but only if he travels there by land. Meanwhile, Alin has been studying the Hanninah and appears to have some sort of unexplained affinity with them. The Company head on the planet, Haecker, has decided that Toyon and Alin are actually government spies, sent to discover what the Company is really doing on Hoep-Hanninah. When Toyon and Alin disappear from the governor's house, having been offered a lift north by rogue Company driver Quellan, Haecker decides all three must be eliminated.
As the trio travel further north, they meet up with a tribe of Hanninah, and Alin begins to participate in their "incomprehensible rituals". Clearly, the Hanninah are more than they appear to be. But Haecker is getting desperate, and he doesn't care how many of the aliens die in his hunt for Toyon, Alin and Quellan.
There's nothing new in the set-up of A City in the North, except perhaps the fact it's set on an alien planet. The company outpost which rules a remote corner of some distant land has been a staple of both literature and cinema for decades. Throwing a pair of ingénus into the mix is par for the course. And as the story progresses, it is only expected that they should change just as much as their surroundings change as direct result of their appearance. Unfortunately, such stories are predicated on the superiority – not only technological, but also moral – of the intruders. They are played off against the company man, and the locals are typically little more than background colour. The plot of A City in the North, however, is very much predicated on the nature of the Hanninah. Haecker, the governor, Quellan, even Toyon and Alin, might well be stock characters, and they may be playing out a standard plot of Western literature, but it's a plot that's informed and progressed by the Hanninah themselves.
A City in the North is structured as a mixture of journal entries by Toyon and Alin, and tightly-limited point-of-view narratives by other members of the cast. Toyon is, perhaps, a bit of a cliché – the self-made zillionnaire who expects everything to go his way. Alin is better-drawn, with an interesting background – which, in fact, is used in Randall's next two novels, Journey and Dangerous Game. For all that A City in the North may resemble a science-fictional Heart of Darkness, Randall has certainly put an interesting spin on her version, and that more than makes up for slight datedness in approach or sensibilities.
Marta Randall, a Mexico-born sf writer, seems mostly forgotten these days. While she only wrote six sf novels, published between 1976 and 1984, she was also the first female president of the SFWA. Judging by Islands and A City in the North, the two novels by her I've read to date, she deserves to be far better known. I can think of plenty of inferior writers of the same period whose books remain in print. If you ever stumble across a Marta Randall novel in a second-hand book shop, buy it. You won't be disappointed.
Categories book review, marta randall•Tags a city in the north, ian sales, marta randall