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Chargement... Tsunamipar L. Timmel Duchamp
   Aucun Actuellement, il n'y a pas de discussions au sujet de ce livre.  charbutton | Sep 8, 2008 | 
"Duchamp's work challenges its audience with a perhaps uncomfortably on-target vision of our extrapolated social, political, and economic structures as well as with a decidedly leftist, feminist message. It is definitely a work heavy on the "cognitive pleasures" that Robert Scholes identified as proper to good sf. But, for those willing to accept its challenges, the narrative experience of the Marq'ssan Cycle, now totaling some 1500 pages with the appearance of its third volume, Tsunami, fulfills our need for both cognition and for sublimation as well... [Duchamp] overwhelmingly rises to the challenges she sets herself through the nuanced development of strong characters over the course of these first three volumes of the Marq'ssan Cycle." "Duchamp's powerful use of language and her gift for creating unforgettable and complex characters make this novel a dark and suspenseful read... The author's sense of irony and her unflinching understanding of human nature add much-needed wryness (and an occasional flash of romance) to the mix." "The old US government is attempting to reassert its authority, but discovering that not everyone is welcoming them with open arms. This lengthy, thoughtful, and intelligent novel examines the social, political, and personal consequences, seen chiefly through the eyes of three women ---a lawyer, a businesswoman, and a political activist--- all of whose ambitions become intertwined. The series is an ambitious project that is probably just a shade too intellectual for the mainstream commercial SF market, but which should appeal to readers who like something a little more thoughtful than the latest military SF or post-apocalyptic dystopia." Appartient à la sérieMarq'ssan Cycle (book 3)
Tsunami, the gripping third volume of the five-novel Marq'ssan Cycle, opens in early 2086, immediately after the signing of the Madrid Accords at the conclusion of the Global War. Many countries, including the US, have been devastated by war, and some of them turn to the Free Zones and the Marq'ssan for assistance in rebuilding their infrastructure. In the US, the Executive, which has turned its attention to reconsolidating its power, meets with growing resistance to executive rule; and in the Pacific Northwest Free Zone, the Co-op faces an internal crisis when ugly, long-buried secrets are dragged into the light of day. Meanwhile, the lives of three very different women'executive Elizabeth Weatherall, anarchist Martha Greenglass, and human rights lawyer Celia Espin'become entangled as each strives to bring about the change she so passionately desires. Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
Discussion en coursAucunCouvertures populaires
 Google Books — Chargement...GenresClassification décimale de Melvil (CDD)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyClassification de la Bibliothèque du CongrèsÉvaluationMoyenne: (3.57)
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3
Prior to the Marq'ssan's intervention, the Executive was the transnational ruling elite, a system in which gender behaviour and sexuality are strictly delineated. After the intervention and series of wars, alternative 'political' systems develop around the world. One of these is the Free Zone, a co-operative based around Seattle. The Zone is 'run' by a committee of feminist anarchists (I'm not sure you can say that anarchists run anything, but can't think of a better word!).
The scope of the Marq'ssan Cycle is too broad to detail here. However I do want to highlight the aspects of Tsunami which have caught my attention.
Tsunami was written in 1985, updated in 1996 and published in 2007. Duchamp has made revisions to the text, but I'm not sure how much has been changed. What is clear is that Tsunami raises pertinent questions. For example, how can a country (or co-operative) condemn actions by another which it is also guilty of?
Can a cataclismic change in the accepted norms of society and culture truly lead to a new beginning? After the intervention and the wars, the Executive is trying to continue business as normal. The Free Zone is trying to create a new, unstructured reality. However, there is still a leadership of a kind in the Zone that takes decisions on behalf of the general population. And what if some of the pre-Marq'ssan structures are necessary? How, for example, does the Zone create a sense of justice if it's not willing to have a legal system or prisons? This is a key aspect of Tsunami which Duchamp presents, discusses but does not yet answer. I'll be interested to see what solutions she comes up with.
The gendered basis of the two systems seems on the surface to be very simplistic - Executive/male = bad and violent, Free Zone/female = good and pacifist. Yet Duchamp provides layers within this with networks of female power within the Executive and violence committed by women in the Free Zone. It makes me wonder whether the world would really different if ruled by women. I suspect that the old hierarchies and ideas would be hard to shake off. (