I recently toted my two daughters to Dan Simmon's book signing here in downtown Austin a few weeks back. I didn't really care about a novel in which Colonel Custer's ghost jumps into an Indian boy named Paha Sapa. I just wanted to see Dan Simmons in person once. Some of his novels have allowed me to more fully appreciate the implications of parallel universes, if they are real, and the role therefore that authors play as explorers or revealers of thsoe other universes.
I was impressed with all the construction that has taken place the last few years along West 6th Street. I hadn't been to Book People in a decade or so and had gotten used to believing buying books and chocolates at Barnes and Noble in the Aroboretum and Borders in the Domain were the pinnacle of book shopping. Ha! The scale and expanse of Book People was jolting.
The kids and I were late and soon stumbled upstairs where a diminuative man was rambling from a book while fifty or so fans quietly sat or stood listening to Mr. Simmons read from his latest work, "Black Hills".
As I steered the kids towards the back I was immediately judgemental about this pedantic dull manner of recitation of a book, especially coming from the author. I had always imagined an author would read their own work in such a way as to bring characters jumping out of the pages to life.
He continued to read for a few minutes while I began to struggle with my kids, who had realized by now this man was not going to be reading picture story books. Mr. Simmons entered his question and answer period and then began to sign books (I may add more later about the question/answer session).
As I have never gone to a book signing, I hastened up and down floors with the kids to procur Mr. Simmons' latest work, "Black Hills" before the signing period ended.
Waiting in line I partook of several conversations. A lady who was an author of teen girl novels. A man who compared author styles and mentioned the author of a series I had just completed, Robert Jrodan's "Wheel of Time". There also was a man who wanted to be last and had driven up from Hosuton to have a whole stack of Mr. Simmons' works signed. For a few minutes I really felt like I was in the middle of my own verisimilitude of The Canterbury Tales or Simmons' take of the same, Hyperion.
The lady author, seeing my trouble with the kids and not wanting to have their cacophony immediately behind her while she spoke with Mr. Simmons, politely insisted I go before her.
When you approach an author in the flesh you think could go toe to toe with Shakespeare, Clemens or Frank Herbert, you very quickly distill your reading experience down to a few short sentences. At least I did, based on what I know about Mr. Simmons' personality and the context of book signing.
And what I said didn't sound right to me or seem to convey what I had wanted. Nonetheless, Mr. Simmons was very polite and I hadn't completely flubbed it and walked away with my signed copy of his latest and greatest and two very restless and bored kids.
Now to the book. Everybody knows the one paragraph story of Custer. Beyond that, my only experience regarding the Black Hills, or Paha Sapa, comes from playing with it on Google Map a while back. I have never been there, 7,000 ft does not excite and South Dekota is a little too far north for this Texan, even though I suspect Dalhart may be closer to there than some parts of south Texas.
Never though had I ever thought that a story of Custer's ghost on death invading a corner of an 11 year Indian boy's mind would serve as a vehicle (Muse) for driving a novel. After Hockenberry of Ilium and Olympos and to a certain extent his John Keats of Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion, I wasn't skeptical, but wary as I prefer hard Science Fiction.
The combination of this entwined pair of mortal enemies, Custer and Paha Sapa, does not nearly hold the novel up so much as the surrounding characters of these two, their life stories and the stretch of history in which they live. Mr. Simmons paints a very vivid series of historical scenes. And yes, fans, Mr. Simmons manages to incorporate a suspension bridge into the present tense narrative.
The plot is brutal to Paha Sapa and deep towards the end, the reader has already made peace with the obvious outcome until Mr. Simmons hits with a series of satisfying Victorian multiple endings.
Read the epilogue, it is important, and may further influence your opinion, probably the more so the less you know of Paha Sapa history.
I was impressed with all the construction that has taken place the last few years along West 6th Street. I hadn't been to Book People in a decade or so and had gotten used to believing buying books and chocolates at Barnes and Noble in the Aroboretum and Borders in the Domain were the pinnacle of book shopping. Ha! The scale and expanse of Book People was jolting.
The kids and I were late and soon stumbled upstairs where a diminuative man was rambling from a book while fifty or so fans quietly sat or stood listening to Mr. Simmons read from his latest work, "Black Hills".
As I steered the kids towards the back I was immediately judgemental about this pedantic dull manner of recitation of a book, especially coming from the author. I had always imagined an author would read their own work in such a way as to bring characters jumping out of the pages to life.
He continued to read for a few minutes while I began to struggle with my kids, who had realized by now this man was not going to be reading picture story books. Mr. Simmons entered his question and answer period and then began to sign books (I may add more later about the question/answer session).
As I have never gone to a book signing, I hastened up and down floors with the kids to procur Mr. Simmons' latest work, "Black Hills" before the signing period ended.
Waiting in line I partook of several conversations. A lady who was an author of teen girl novels. A man who compared author styles and mentioned the author of a series I had just completed, Robert Jrodan's "Wheel of Time". There also was a man who wanted to be last and had driven up from Hosuton to have a whole stack of Mr. Simmons' works signed. For a few minutes I really felt like I was in the middle of my own verisimilitude of The Canterbury Tales or Simmons' take of the same, Hyperion.
The lady author, seeing my trouble with the kids and not wanting to have their cacophony immediately behind her while she spoke with Mr. Simmons, politely insisted I go before her.
When you approach an author in the flesh you think could go toe to toe with Shakespeare, Clemens or Frank Herbert, you very quickly distill your reading experience down to a few short sentences. At least I did, based on what I know about Mr. Simmons' personality and the context of book signing.
And what I said didn't sound right to me or seem to convey what I had wanted. Nonetheless, Mr. Simmons was very polite and I hadn't completely flubbed it and walked away with my signed copy of his latest and greatest and two very restless and bored kids.
Now to the book. Everybody knows the one paragraph story of Custer. Beyond that, my only experience regarding the Black Hills, or Paha Sapa, comes from playing with it on Google Map a while back. I have never been there, 7,000 ft does not excite and South Dekota is a little too far north for this Texan, even though I suspect Dalhart may be closer to there than some parts of south Texas.
Never though had I ever thought that a story of Custer's ghost on death invading a corner of an 11 year Indian boy's mind would serve as a vehicle (Muse) for driving a novel. After Hockenberry of Ilium and Olympos and to a certain extent his John Keats of Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion, I wasn't skeptical, but wary as I prefer hard Science Fiction.
The combination of this entwined pair of mortal enemies, Custer and Paha Sapa, does not nearly hold the novel up so much as the surrounding characters of these two, their life stories and the stretch of history in which they live. Mr. Simmons paints a very vivid series of historical scenes. And yes, fans, Mr. Simmons manages to incorporate a suspension bridge into the present tense narrative.
The plot is brutal to Paha Sapa and deep towards the end, the reader has already made peace with the obvious outcome until Mr. Simmons hits with a series of satisfying Victorian multiple endings.
Read the epilogue, it is important, and may further influence your opinion, probably the more so the less you know of Paha Sapa history.
