Book Review: The Persistence of Vision

This is a collection of short stories John Varley wrote in the 70s. Most of them take place in the same universe—the Eight Worlds universe—as his novel, The Ophiuchi Hotline. So those stories make use of memory recordings, cloning, commonplace sex changes, nullfields, AI, and humanity's exile from Earth.

Stories that aren't part of Eight Worlds universe are marked with an *.

"The Phantom of Kansas" - A woman who composes meteorological symphonies can't recall how she crafted her most successful work because she keeps getting murdered. Told not as horror or thriller, but more as a puzzle to be solved. Begs the question: Is sex with your clone considered masturbation?

"Air Raid" * - Someone hijacked the plane! Terrorists? Nope, time travelers. This story became the kernel for what would become Varley's novel, Millennium.

"Retrograde Summer" - While swimming on mercury on Mercury, a young man learns about his family's past. It was ok. I didn't care for the details revealed about families in the Eight Worlds series. While I'm not privy to the details of Varley's divorce from his wife, I suspect that this story might've been his way of processing it.

"The Black Hole Passes" - Unrequited love between a self-absorbed, lonely, whiny guy and a tech-savvy woman that goes on for too long. Not sure why she bothers with him. I guess she's bored listening in on the signals coming from 70 Ophiuchi. And then the black hole comes along to make the story interesting.

"In the Hall of the Martian Kings" * - A group of astronauts are marooned on Mars. The outcome is very different from The Martian. One of two stories in this collection where Varley explores what sort of society arises when free of the constraints imposed by our contemporary civilization.

"In the Bowl" - Rock hunting on Venus. Would've been better—believable—if the character of Ember was, say, five to ten years older. I have a difficult time believing that an eleven-year-old can have the necessary acumen to be a doctor.

"Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance" - Symbs—human - plant symbiotes that like to float around in space around Saturn—apparently make the best music composers, but need the help of a music producer to get the songs out of their heads. Maybe sex will help.

"Overdrawn at the Memory Bank" - A child's prank leads to protagonist's mind getting trapped inside a computer. Apart from that, it bears no resemblance to the PBS TV movie version that starred Raul Julia.

"The Persistence of Vision" * - In a collapsing America, a drifter wanders into a commune for the deaf-blind. At times, it takes on the tone of an anthropologist who, as he learns more about the society, wants to become accepted as one of the tribe.

There are three stories in this collection where I wish Varley had aged his female characters five to ten years. I don't get Varley's Lolita-esque flirtations with his characters. I know the sexual revolution hit sci-fi authors hard in the 70s, but this seems creepy at best.

The best stories in the bunch are the ones that don't take place in the Eight Worlds universe: "Air Raid," "In the Hall of the Martian Kings," and "The Persistence of Vision." Each of these stories demonstrate how well Varley can craft an interesting story, build a world on a limited word count budget, and solid characters. The Eight Worlds stories all annoyed me in some fashion, leaving me to shake my head. And I couldn't help but put my editor's hat on and note how each story could be better.

Recommended for Varley completists or those with a Jared Diamond level of cultural objectivity.

2.5 stars.

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