Speculative Fiction Junkie

Ian R. MacLeod

I stumbled across Song of Time by Ian R. MacLeod while browsing the website of its publisher, PS Publishing. There, I read a post stating that the book had won both the Arthur C. Clarke award and the John W. Campbell award. Sufficiently intrigued, I read a synopsis of the book and it sounded somewhat promising so I went ahead and purchased a copy.

Song of Time opens with the elderly and dying violinist Roushana Maitland finding a mysterious man lying in the sand while taking a stroll along the Cornish beach near her home. She somehow manages to drag him back to her home, dresses him, puts him to bed, and wonders who he is. She soon learns that he doesn't know who he is either and together they decide that "Adam" is as good a name as any to give him.

As Adam recuperates and tries to remember who he is, Roushana begins the process of sorting through her own life's memories, an essential part of the preparation for transitioning to the technology-enabled quasi-existence that can follow death if one wishes. Her memories span most of the twenty-first century, during which all sorts of catastrophes occured. Plagues, climate change, terrorism, flooding, humanitarian disasters, political turmoil, nuclear war, shifting borders; she experienced all of these things, sometimes directly and other times from a distance. At the same time, she recounts more personal memories, many of which involve her late husband Claude.

The first thing that impressed me about Song of Time was the quality of Mr. MacLeod's writing. It became obvious very early on that he has the soul of a poet. Additionally, the way he manipulates the two related stories that are being told in this book is masterful. The two stories to which I refer are the personal story of Roushana on the one hand and the larger story of what is happening to the world and to humanity on the other. Sometimes, one of these strands is in focus while the other is distant and other times the reverse is true. But always there is a greater story that emerges from their interplay. While this may be true of many books, Mr. MacLeod is particularly adept at using this dynamic to enhance the overall quality of his work.

For me, the greatest thing about this book is the emotional state in which it leaves the reader. While it probably won't be to everyone's liking, I found it to be singular and nearly perfect in this respect. Inherent in Roushana's recollection of the events of her life is a question about whether or not it makes sense to pursue the existence-beyond-death that technology has made possible. Simultaneously, the world itself, and humanity as a whole, endure a series of similarly trying events that give rise to similar questions about identity and the future. But while these events are at times perceived to be the traumatic events they undoubtedly are, far more enduring for me was the sense of timelessness that the narrative imparts and the suggestion that these upheavals, disorienting as they are, are part of some sort of eternally evolving process that need not be feared.

My only problem with the book is that having been blissfully brought to this emotional level, the end of the book abruptly snapped me out of it as a result of the particular way in which Mr. MacLeod chose to conclude his exploration of the nature of memory. While it works in the sense that it is consistent with the rest of the story, I wish he would have chosen a similar but slightly less abrasive way to make his point.

Song of Time is a fantastic book, one that affected me more than most books do. It is not for everyone, but I suspect that those who like it will like it a lot, and it is fully deserving of the awards it recently received. I'll be reading more by Mr. MacLeod in the future.

Rating: 9/10

The True First

Song of Time was first published by UK Publisher PS Publishing in 2008. I don't know if there are any plans to bring it to a wider audience at this point, but there should be.

[This review was not based on a review copy]