The story version first appeared in Strange Horizons; however, you can no longer read it there, as Carlson requested that they remove it, perhaps to boost sales to his short story collection, Long Eyes and Other Stories, or maybe because its genre does not resemble the final novel in genre or theme even though the novel uses much if not all of it.
The story tells the tale of Marcus, who like many on the planet, is having black-outs due to the sun's ejecta. He is trying to save humanity or at least capture what has been occurring. But...
I won't say more, but it's theme runs counter to the author's philosophy he expresses in the essay, "Writing About the Apocalypse" (you can hear a sample of it here), wherein he expresses the idea that we humans are designed for conflict, which we make whether it exists or not. Conflict is what life's about. If you think the idea is familiar, you may have read it too quickly. Pay no attention to the 1-star rating, since I believe it is based on the brevity.
Carlson's perspective spurs thought, but it isn't in the story, which may be why he had the story taken down. His philosophical fingerprint manifests in the novel. The quirky life philosophy used to be one of the more exciting aspects of SF. However, these days, too many buy into only one, which is both sad and disappointing since the planet more than seven billion human inhabitants.
The short story isn't science fiction. In fact, it's more interstitial or slipstream in its approach since it dodges the question of why all this is happening, which is what would make the idea SF. The novel actually tackles the idea with some force although you'll have to wade a quarter of the way or so into the novel to arrive, which is where the novel takes off.
The novel has several threads. It opens in a prehistoric time when the solar flares affected hunters and gatherers in their activities. This isn't a throw-away prologue to generate false drama to get the reader pulled in. Rather, parts of this opening chapter will figure in later.
Emily, a genetics researcher studying the recent increase in autism, gets involved in auto accidents that at first seems harmless, but when she sees more serious accidents she realizes something greater is afoot.Marcus, a computer scientist, is gleaning valuable data about the sun's flares and their increase. And finally we have a military pilot who is engaged in elevated tensions with China that may lead to war.
This is what SF is. The pure quill. Since middle of the story was enriched when Carlson revisited it, perhaps the opening could have been redone--not that it doesn't work. It does. It lays the groundwork for what follows, but it doesn't quite measure up to the rest. There are some bogus aspects, like suggesting that what's happening may be related to a certain wavelength of light that can be blocked by trees, but if so, that won't penetrate the skull to affect humans, either since it only damages skin.
Still, what's here is astounding, fascinating speculative fodder and it comes together nicely. If only it were possible to ask for an encore....
The novel demonstrates the buried promise of an emerging great SF talent. If it weren't published indie-style, it might have garnered award notice.
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