Theft of Fire by Devon EriksenMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a 5-star review which is a reasonable estimate of my experience. Perhaps 4.5 stars, but I was so engaged that rounding it to 5 is justified.
The story is largely focused on three characters.
Marcus - an asteroid miner turned pirate. Still living with and attempting to resolve his many mistakes over the years. One of those mistakes cost him his father. His father's advice rings on in his head.
Miranda - a trophy daughter designed by a trophy wife who, with enough money, was able to ensure that Miranda would have all of the features her mother desired - genetic a la carte progeny! And she wants to be so much more in a family that simply expect so much less.
and Leela - an AI who doesn't know she is an AI until Marcus spills the beans.
The three of them are off to the outer reaches of our solar system in search of the most valuable archeological find in the history of humanity.
It was supposed to be a quick smash and grab. Get it there quietly. Find it. Stow it. And get away. It was a plan. But a plan is just a list of things that won't happen.
This book was formerly a part of this years SFSPC. More on that in the spoiler section.
The premise seemed to be pretty standard stuff. I hoped for entertainment, but didn't think there would be much meat on the bones. Boy was I wrong.
There are several important themes running throughout the book.
What is the value of government in a human society? Can we do better via straight contracts?
What is the impact of monopolies on society?
What sort of class struggle might exist between an elite class that holds all of the technology and the people who must submit to strict contracts in order to obtain just enough technology to survive?
What does it take for the powerful to recognize the humanity of those that aren't "elite"?
How badly can parents screw up their children?
How badly can children fail their parents?
What is it like to be a woman dealing with cultural expectations?
What is it like to be a man who is more than his base desires despite society only seem him as the product of those desires?
And of course...are AI truly alive and worthy of being considered something more than property?
Our trio of strangers gets tossed together and forced to deal with one another as well as their individual histories. Marcus relearns the concept of honor while Miranda discovers that honor is more important than money and contracts. They both learn to value one another beyond the superficial details of their lives.
I don't expect that kids will be reading "Theft of Fire" 30 years from now as an example of great genre literature. There are a few eye-rolling moments as well as some popular culture call backs that break reader contact with the narrative.
But I hope they will still be reading "Theft of Fire" because it is fun, engaging, and more than a little thought provoking.
The spoiler space is because the rest of this is political. IMO, politics in genre fiction should primarily be generated by the substance of the story and not based on outside factors. If the above review has you interested, then please skip the spoiler space and go read the book. I promise it is worth the purchase.
[the spoiler]
You looked anyway, didn't you? Mistake.
The author's wife thought it would be cool if his book was entered into this years Self Published Science Fiction Competition. She didn't tell Devon. She just entered the book. That is an entirely acceptable submission method according to the SPSFC staff.
Fast forward a few months and someone has located some posts that Devon wrote on his web site and on X that were...intemperate. That's being kind to Devon. More accurately, he acted as if he was a commando in the First Chair Force, Neon Keyboard Division.
He is conservative. Devon's statements approve of returning illegal aliens to their home countries. He also said something about tossing communists out of helicopters. He also has a lengthy rant that where he appears to describe a very odd sort of horseshow theory where fascism is needed to counter communism.
FTR, I disapprove of speaking positively about tossing anyone out of helicopters. I also am not impressed with keyboard commandos who talk a tough a game behind several hundred miles of fiber cable.
Having seen a tiny bit of war at a distance closer than most, I zero respect to positive references to violence. Fascism...the real deal and not just modest disagreement...leads to a bad place and should be rejected at all costs.
The only thing worse than fascism is communism. [But of course, no one gets removed from a competition or a speaking engagement for wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt or speaking kindly of Uncle Joe. And of course, supporting those that "punch a Nazi" are fine according to those who dominate the literary world.]
You can read more about the entire imbroglio here.
Someone made a stink about Devon's posts. The SPSFC did the only thing that one can apparently do when faced with such a situation. They wrote a Code of Conduct (CoC) 4 months after the competition had begun. They they used this sparkling new CoC to justify removing Eriksen's book from the competition.
A competition he didn't enter. A CoC that he never agreed to abide by.
This sort of post hoc "justice" will make Lenin and Stalin beam with joy. That unusual hum centered Sutton Courtenay in England would be George Orwell spinning in his grave.
The SPSFC committee didn't get the response they apparently expected. As of this date, 12 authors have requested that they books be removed from the competition. Many of those authors clearly stated that they didn't agree with Devon's statements (far from it), but they were more disturbed by the actions of the SPSFC committee.
When faced with speech that they found disagreeable, those authors opted for the best solution - more speech. Not bans. Not a post hoc dismissal based on an ex post facto "Code". Just comment on the facts so that their voices are heard.
I've been in a few discussions since this began. Almost uniformly, my interlocutor will run to the defense of the SPSFC volunteers. Why it is unreasonable to expect them to read material from such a loathsome creature! Think of the rights of those volunteers!
Never mind the fact that several of the themes is Devon's book are reasonably supportive of left leaning perspectives. There's even a brief line in the book in support of tolerance of the trans community!
I disagree. By offering a public competition, those volunteers acquired an obligation to consider all of the books that were submitted. They are free to use their free speech rights to criticize a book that is poorly written or has unproductive themes. They could certainly append any review with a statement about the author's political writings as being..."problematic".
The cure for disagreeable speech is more speech.
What they may not do is remove a book from the competition in the manner described above. That is a violation of their obligation.
While I have had great success reading books from fantasy self published competition, my experiences with SPSFC have been lack-luster at best.
Despite his warts, Mr. Eriksen has written a fine novel. It is in turns amusing and inspiring of tears. Theft of Fire is in keeping with a long and storied science fiction tradition of exploring large issues as well as examining close, personal relationships.
I look forward to book #2 in the series; Box of Trouble. Due out later this year.
View all my reviews
