At a lecture in 1970, Theodore Sturgeon compared the history of Science Fiction to the handle
of a suitcase. Science Fiction it would seem had emerged from the body of literature, the body
of the suitcase, and like the handle, would eventually emerge back into it. There is no
doubting that the output of one of England's most prolific Science Fiction writers would need
a suitcase to carry her oeuvre. The first book I bought on Kindle was the first in her Detective
Chen series: Snake Agent. I read it one sitting, and was immediately hooked. The novel is set
in Singapore Three. The city is the supreme embodiment of technological construction, and
for this reason Science Fiction has been a heavily urban literary mode. Different renderings
of the city means that Science Fiction authors can use it as a laboratory for technological
change. What Williams so cleverly does with Singapore Three that is refreshingly different
is to use it as the locus point between the here and now of Earth, Heaven and Hell.
When a soul goes missing, Chen, the occult detective is called upon to go to Hell to retrieve it.
..' To Chen's experienced eyes, everything seemed to be in order: the immigration visa
with the celestial authorities, the docking fees of the ghost-boat, the license of passage
across the Sea of Night..'
The case has also attracted the interest of Seneschal Zhu Irzh of Hell's Vice Division. Even
in Hell taxes must be paid, and the ghost trade that the missing soul of Pearl Tang leads
this unlikeliest of pairings to uncover cost the perpetrators much more than tax. One of the
skills of an accomplished writer is not to paint their characters in monochrome shades of
black and white. To this end Zhu Irzh is the most delightful demon in literature, being
afflicted as he is with a conscience, of which he hopes a remedy maker will help him remove.
."You've got two souls...one is called the hun, and the other is called the p'o. The hun tries
to find its way to heaven-usually it just wanders about until it gets reincarnated. The p'o
used to remain with the corpse for about three years, before the other worlds speeded up
their bureaucracies more in line with modern times.. "
Both Chen and Zhu Irzh use spells to aid them in their quest for the truth. Chen is under
the protection of the goddess Kuan Yin, although his relationship with Inari a demon on
the run from hell makes this problematic. One of the more delightful touches is the
character of Badger who is Inari's familiar spirit and who transforms into a kettle on a
regular basis. The title of the book comes from the sobriquet given by the Vice Squad
to an undercover agent-Snake Agent. The resultant case of soul-trafficking results in
both Chen and Zhu standing on the backward facing feet of some of the most powerful
denizens of Hell. Feng shui, séances and spell casting all abound, as does the most
subtle nod to new technologies..'small phial containing the flatscreen' which is poured
over Chen's desk panel. In the spirit of inter-realm co-operation Zhu is sent to Earth
on a three month posting at the end of the novel. This series addresses the existential
angst many of us have, moves the reader to turn the page to find out who did it and
why in the tradition of the nest private eye stories, and confounds the simplistic
utopic/ dystopic tradition in much Science Fiction writing with its depiction of Hell
and Earth. The series continues with ' The Demon and the City ' ( Zhu works his
first homicide case and meets Jhai Tserai, the deva who will become the love of
his afterlife), ' Precious Dragon' ( Chen and Zhu accompany the Heavenly Mi Li Qi
to Hell on a diplomatic mission, but soon after they check into their hellish hotel
Miss Qi vanishes. The bowels of demonic bureaucracy have to entered to avoid
a political incident with Apocalyptic implications), ' The Shadow Pavilion' (Chen
is called to Heaven to find out who is trying to kill its new Emperor, Mhara) and
' The Iron Khan' ( The Book is missing-It has wandered off from Heaven taking
the secrets of the Universe with it). In these novels, the nature of difference and
the limits of identity are interrogated. Science Fiction is famous for doing so, but
the literary technique of explaining the supernatural slots into the Gothic genre
more readily. The hybrid mixing of forms works well in the Chen series. Much
of the power of Liz Williams' writings lie in the ways in which they destabilize
the polarities of life/death, human/ alien and time and space. The many and
varied controlling intelligences at work in the universes at play in Singapore
Three show the reader that there is something in the fictive world that is
dissonant with the materialist world. And a what if begins to coalesce as
part of that reader's lived experience, a what if that expands the inner world.
Strong characterisation is not a feature of all Science Fiction writers.Williams
is almost stand-alone in her depiction of strong female characters that will stay
with you long into the future.
'The Ghost Sister' ( Bantam Spectra) memorably brought some of these to light.
Mevennen is out of tune with her people's bloodmind on Monde D'Isle. She is
the narrator Eleres' ghost sister.
..." Her right hand was bare, apart from one little sign of her name around her
thumb: the road to the star. The other members of the family had their personal
signs given by the world. Mevennen wore rings to cover the lack,,"
The Mondhaith seek out the weakest of their prey at the time of the hunt, and
Mevennen worries that even Eleres will succumb to his when the time comes.
The landblindness Mevennen suffers from has precedent in the myths of their
land.
.." The only person I had heard of who had been cured of such a sickness was
said to be the lover of Yr En Lai, that ancient Ettic lord who plays such a part
in the legends of the north, but maybe that was just a myth.."
Her brother, his lover Morrac and his sister Sereth set off for Outreven to find
the elusive cure, watched over by the two moons Elowen and Embar, and the
sun Damoth. Shu Gho is an anthropologist who has arrived on the ancient
colony of Monde d' Isle as part of an expeditionary force from Irie St Syre.
Her journal entries allow us the reader to learn that the colonists who came
to Monde d' Isle had terraforming equipment with them and that ReForning
should have occurred -
"...no evidence that the colonists kept to our Gaian Path of placing their new
environment in harmony with themselves.."
She is accompanied by Dia, her young acolyte Bel Zhur, the daughter of one
of Irie's most formidable priestesses, and the exobiologist Jennet Sylvian.
Three delazheni accompany this quartet, biomachines. Worldbuilding is an
essential part of good science fiction writing, and at this Williams excels. Ghosts
abound in the telling of this tale. Shu Gho is thought to be a ghost by Mevennen.
She promises to cure Mevennen, which is a promise that carries with it a terrible
price. Monde d' Isle is engineered to preserve the delicate balance between human
and animal. The question that was asked in much postwar Science Fiction on
computers was whether they facilitated or entrapped, The Ghost Sister answers
this in a rather chillingly satisfactory way.
Alien encounters on Earth are given an unusual twist in this novel. Millions of years ago alien
beings seeded Earth with their genetic strands to create a new outpost of intelligent life. Their
descendants are drawn back to Earth's skies by a human with the ability to tap into their
communications. That human is Jaya Nihalani. At the opening of the novel she is in hospital
ageing rapidly. A conjurer's daughter she has been a prophet, a crusader and terrorist for the
rights of her own despised untouchable caste. Alien encounters are frequently used as a
strategy of encounter, whereby readers are encouraged to examine their self-conceptions
as a result of confrontation with the Other. This novel continues that tradition with a central
female character who is neither cipher nor symbol..
To be continued..................
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