The Star Pit / Tango Charlie and Foxtrot Romeo by Samuel R. Delany
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Star Pit by Delany is actually rather amazing. Early 60's, full on into the New Wave period of SF, marks the departure of the Science Supremacy of SF and the deep delve into strange, wonderful characters, psychology, and stories of a literary bent.

In other words, it is a perfect complement to the Becky Chambers style of writing, but half a century before Becky Chambers.

No, it's not a feel-good kind of thing, but it is crazily great for characterizations, longing, and even tight plots wanting... or rather... just wanting. To see, experience, to thumb your nose at the consequences, to stare down the face of insanity (for that IS what you'd expect to find, the farther you go from the ancestral world of Earth), and just LIVE.

At least, that's what I got out of this, if not a bit more.

I've always appreciated Samuel R. Delany. The writing is lush and, above all, interesting. He was always FAR from being a simple, churn-it-out, writer. This early piece spells it out.

It should be noted, for those of you who have never even heard of Delany in the modern reading marketplace, that he is absolutely the definition of a PoC author and fully expresses it in very colorful and often heart-wringing ways. So. This is a shout out to some real history, you newer readers. :)





Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews might be interested in reading my own SF, I'm going to be open to DM requests. I think it's about time I get some eyes on them.

Arctunn.com



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