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Fractal Paisleys
Stories by Paul Di Filippo
Reviewed by Scott Urban
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It's a shame that John W. Campbell's innovative magazine unknown isn't around any more. Applying principles of logic to traditional fantasy elements, unknown's writers – Anthony Boucher, Henry Kuttner, Fredric Brown, among others – specialized in witty, urbane fabulations that Isaac Asimov characterized, in his introduction to Jove's UNKNOWN anthology, as being "impudent." In that same book, D. R. Bensen acknowledges the influence of Thorne Smith (Topper) on the unknown writers – acknowledgment that comes full circle, as Paul Di Filippo (Ribofunk, The Steampunk Trilogy) thanks Smith on his Dedication page in his latest collection, Fractal Paisleys. Each of these ten stories would have found a tailor-made home in Campbell's magazine.
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 Fractal Paisleys Stories by Paul Di Filippo Hardcover - $ 14.00 Published October 1997 Four Walls Eight Windows |
The first time around, this is inventive. In "Master Blaster and Whammer Jammer Meet the Groove Thang," a fictionalized Stevie Wonder and Peter Wolf (of the J. Geils Band) encounter an animate particle of Heisenberg Uncertainty; proximity to this entity induces euphoria and cleanses addictions. The stumblebum heroes straighten out their lives and proclaim the gospel of Grooviness, but eventually lose their 'pet' to its alien owner. However, in an almost unforgivable editorial move, the next story, "Fractal Paisleys," follows a cookie-cutter template. A trailer-park trio whose lives are a morass of poverty and abuse find a device that manipulates reality itself. They use this 'Master Control' to set things right (mainly by acquiring illicit wealth and giving the bad guys their just desserts) . . . until its alien owner comes back to reclaim it. (Separated by other stories, the similarities wouldn't be so obvious; back-to-back, they're repetitive.)
Other stories contain transfiguring McGuffins – regenerative crystals in "The Double Felix," a transforming serum in "Earth Shoes," and the eponymous objects of "Lennon Spex" and "The Cobain Sweater."
The fun in reading Di Filippo (aside from the deliberately over-the-top set-ups) comes from catching the puns and in-jokes. Character names and plot complications send up classic SF authors and themes in pratfall fashion. Unfortunately, some allusions require a fan's background. (In the title story, the hero cries out, "Girls, we got us the gold watch and everything!" – a nod-and-wink reference to one of John D. Macdonald's science fiction novels, The Girl, the Goldwatch, and Everything.)
Di Filippo is adept at employing cultural touchstones and evoking prior decades. "Mama Told Me Not to Come" (click link to listen to it) and "Earth Shoes" both reminded me just how much I didn’t enjoy the ‘60s and ‘70s. But "The Cobain Sweater," which turns on teen disaffection, early-‘90s Northwest grunge and Kurt's suicide, seems already dated only a couple years down the road. Will Nirvana have the same anarchist cachet a decade from now? I'm wondering how well these 'nostalgic SF tales' will stand the test of time.
The author also has an annoying habit of relying on deus ex machina for his resolutions. This can be literal, as in "Mama Told Me Not to Come," which features Bacchus as a main character. Likewise, "Flying the Flannel" revolves around a nifty concept – an intergalactic 'battle of the bands' – but the main dilemma is resolved in one sentence from left field. "Queen of the Pixies, King of the Imps" features an intriguing alternative history, which Di Filippo spends a lot of time constructing – only to close off in an implausibly quick final scene. It almost seems as if he didn't want to play in his elaborately imagined scenario any more.
Hard SF, this is not. His characters aren't wooden, but they are sometimes stock stereotypes. It's fun watching Di Filippo put them through their paces, although none of his themes are resonant or earth-shattering. In culinary terms, Fractal Paisleys is a light snack – you'll feel hungry for more substantial fare after an hour or two.
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Scott Urban ...