Book Review: Alternate Realities by C.J. Cherryh

Title: Alternate Realities: Port Eternity, Voyager in Night, Wave Without a Shore
Author: C.J. Cherryh
Published: New York: Daw, 2000 (1982, 1984, 1981)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 525
Total Page Count: 150,434
Text Number: 440
Read Because: personal enjoyment, from my library
Review: A great introduction to Cherryh—although I say this as someone who still hasn't finished a novel. It's more accessible than finding a starting place in her extended series, while still taking place in the Alliance-Union universe: practiced space opera-level scifi without the detraction of the genres trappings. And it feels like Cherryh distilled: premises are slightly inscrutable, forcing the reader to actively engage with the text; the concepts are original (in Voyager in Night, brilliantly so) and the philosophy is intense.

Wave Without a Shore is the collection's highlight, a pretentious and affected, utterly delightful philosophical investigation with id-level characterization; cousin in some ways NBC Hannibal and Tartt's The Secret History, and as enjoyable to read. Cherryh occasionally overreaches into the unsubstantiated profound, and too many stories have unnecessary action sequences for their climaxes; there are flaws. But I loved this collection, and thought it a fantastic introduction; I'll certainly read more of her in the future.

What I Watched: Road to El Dorado, Frozen, Once Upon a Time, Orphan Black, Elementary, Oculus

Road to El Dorado, film, 2000, dir. Eric Bergeron, Don Paul
The plot is trite and unremarkable, and it slowly takes over the film, trying its best to squeeze the life from it. But what life! Under the predictability is a fantastic humor which is reminiscent of The Emperor's New Groove, blatantly quirky and self-aware, as gleeful as an awful pun. I thought it was hilarious, although the film is otherwise unsuccessful—still well worth watching if this is your sense of humor, too.

Frozen, film, 2013, dir. Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
What can I say that hasn't been said? Let It Go is the only great song, despite the content of Do You Want to Build a Snowman; the actual events of plot are hardly memorable; the humor is surprisingly successful. But that a story about the relationship between two sisters is redefining the future of Disney movies is amazing. I've seen talk about Elsa as the first Disney princess with a mental illness, and I appreciate this reading/representation but also take issue with it because Elsa finds a concrete and complete cure—which makes this an inaccurate and even toxic metaphor. I'm glad that Frozen exists, but parts of it hit close to home in ways that made it painful to watch, and I probably won't return to it.

Once Upon a Time, season 3, 2013-14
This show continues apace. The Peter Pan arc is one of my favorites so far, because Pan's characterization and Robbie Kay's acting create an intriguing capricious Pan that I find quite convincing, and the character development through this arc lingers in the morally gray. But as always, the show is underplotted and overwritten, and the end of the Pan arc is an unconvincing mess. The Wicked Witch arc is absolutely unremarkable, except that Hook continues to be the best of the cast. OUaT is always an exercise in disappointment, creativity meeting failed potential, engaging aesthetic meeting awful hair and makeup, good characters fouled by horrible writing, but I watch it anyway.

Orphan Black, season 1-2, 2013-2014
It took me a while to figure out if I found Orphan Black problematic and to my surprise, I don't. You can hardly blame me for my confusion, because it's uncommon to see good media about women's bodily and reproductive autonomy. Orphan Black is frequently uncomfortable to watch (and not always for the right reasons: the slew of suspense and action is exhausting) but it's necessary, it's sci-fi done right, it uses the speculative not to exploit but to explore anxiety around women's bodies and identities. And goddamn, but Tatiana Maslany can act—her near flawless performance and the specular clone effects make the show utterly convincing. Not flawless, but one of the best things I've seen in a long time.

Elementary, season 1-2, 2012-2014
The first Sherlock Holmes retelling I've encountered that focuses on the respect that Holmes has for Watson—something I didn't know I needed until Elementary gave it to me. Not all of the show's non-normative casting choices are actually that revolutionary, but there's a palpable sense of thoughtful intent in Elementary. The resulting effort is one of the only respectful and effective portrayals of addiction that I've ever seen and a core relationship fueled by mutual admiration, which is, frankly, a breath of fresh air, generally but for Sherlock Holmes retelling in particular. The amount that the show does right makes me forgive its other insubstantialities.

Oculus, film, 2014, dir. Make Flanagan
Surprisingly solid. In the eternal battle between suspense and payout, Oculus errs toward showing too much of the monster—and the ghosts just aren't that scary. But premise is phenomenally executed, especially in the editing: the cuts between contradicting, subjective realities are disorientating and effectively tense. It's not a particularly complex film, but that means it avoids a cheap twist ending and instead provides a punchy, taut story. Gillan's acting is a fantastic finishing touch (although her hair styling leaves something to be desired). Oculus isn't superb, but it's solidly enjoyable.