Eidolon
Dreaming
Down-Under
Jack Dann and Janeen
Webb eds
Voyager Australia, November 1998, tpb, 554pp, $24.95. Cover
by Nick Stathopoulos
Reviewed by Jonathan Strahan
Jack Dann and Janeen Webb's Dreaming Down-Under gathers
together work by thirty writers, including most of the best
known writers working in the genre in Australia today, and
several who are new or lesser known. The first thing that
is apparent from reading the anthology is that the editors
have not attempted to present a coherent argument on the
state of Australian science fiction, or on what
''Australian-ness' in science fiction might be. Rather,
they have opted to provide as broad a stage as possible,
for as many writers as possible, and to then let the
variety of work stand for itself. It is interesting,
therefore, to see the breadth of vision in the stories
featured here. While there is a definite interest in
landscape throughout the book, it is not restricted to
depictions of Australian landscape, only three stories in
the book specifically look to the Outback or to indigenous
mythology for their source ' focusing instead on
Australia's Western European heritage. The most notable of
these include David J. Lake's 'The Truth About Weena', Jane
Routley's 'To Avalon', and Isobelle Carmody's 'The Man Who
Lost His Shadow'. Carmody's story is a finely honed
examination of loneliness and confusion that creates a
shadowy view of modern day Prague. Lake's story,
undoubtedly the highlight of the book, is an
extraordinarily effective reconsideration of Well's The
Time Machine, and Routely's 'To Avalon' is a moodily
atmospheric look at Glastonbury. The only other immediately
obvious common thread is an interest in life-extension and
immortality, most notably in Sean Williams' atmospheric
'Entre les Baux Morts en Vie' and Simon Brown's chilling
'With Clouds at Our Feet'.
As might be expected, the best of the remaining stories are
by better known writers. Damien Broderick's 'The Womb',
which forms the basis of his forthcoming collaborative
novel The Book of Revelation, is an examination of UFO
cults, paranoia, and New Age religion, bestseller Sara
Douglass creates an effective explanation for gargoyles on
cathedrals in 'The Evil Within', and Terry Dowling looks at
how we perceive God in 'He Tried to Catch the Light'. There
are several interesting works by newer writers, and of
these Chris Lawson's 'Unborn Again' and Paul Brandon's 'The
Marsh Runners' are the standouts. The most widely discussed
inclusion in the book is George Turner's 'And Now Doth Time
Waste Me', a fragment of a novel left incomplete at the
time of the author's death. While it is of interest to
academics and Turner historians, it is difficult to see how
devoting so much of this already large volume to an
unfinished work of fiction is a service to either readers,
or to Turner himself.
On balance though, Dreaming Down-Under is an important and
worthwhile book. It provides the most comprehensive survey
of science fiction and fantasy writing in Australia yet
attempted, and does so after a period of unprecedented
growth and development. Perhaps the bravest thing the
editors have done is to provide such an accurate reflection
of the strengths and weaknesses in the Australian scene.
While most of the fiction published here is of an
international standard, some doesn't quite meet that mark.
Still, Dann and Webb have done readers a service by
compiling a rewarding book, and have also done Australian
science fiction a service by showing so clearly what it has
achieved, and how far it still has to go.
© 1999 Jonathan Strahan.
This review
originally appeared in Locus.