Review of New Ceres . . . Posted June 10, 2007

New Ceres 2 by Alisa Krasnostein (Editor) Available online at www.newceres.com Reviewed by Tehani Wessely Book reviews index

New Ceres is an innovative project initiated by Gillian Polack and Alisa Krasnostein, with the support of some of Australia's best speculative fiction writers, including Tansy Rayner Roberts, Dirk Flinthart, Lucy Sussex, Cat Sparks and Stephen Dedman.

The New Ceres concept is a shared world–building experience where authors write stories set in the future colony world of New Ceres. New Ceres has been developed as a world where the precepts of the 18th century are stringently adhered to — most of the time. However, given that the world is open to refugees from an increasingly tortured Earth, and to visitors from other colonies, there are bound to be anachronistic conflicts. This is added to by the very nature of such a stagnant society and the oppressions such a society fosters, and the hints of revolution or evolution are ever–present.

In this second issue of New Ceres, the world is beginning to grow. I was fascinated by the gentle twining of threads from the first stories, and the information provided about New Ceres by its creators, woven in delicately with the plots and characters of the new pieces. We are being offered the growth of a rich tapestry, where readers can become lost in the ever expanding reaches of this planet, and writers are allowed the opportunity to extend their own imaginations. The constraints of writing in New Ceres are not onerous. In fact, I would suggest that any author could find a niche in the colony in which to tell a tale. It matters not whether you as an author chooses to build on what another writer has begun, or simply to touch upon details already featured — the evocativeness of the writing to date has provided a patchwork of facets to draw upon, to meld with a new story, or to expand into a larger construct.

New Ceres 2 offers a perfect example of how this world is intended to operate in Lucy Sussex's Mist and Murder. Sussex has taken the characters of La Duchesse and her secretary, Pepin, created by Tansy Rayner Roberts in issue 1, and thrust them into a new mystery, this time a haunting backed by murder. Sussex stays true to Roberts' original characterization, yet fleshes out the characters somewhat, especially that of Pepin (and I am looking forward to seeing Pepin again in issue 3).

Jay Lake ventures into the world of the Lumoscenti, an organization that basically polices the maintenance of the era, working against any who would introduce new technology. While I felt that Lake's piece was not quite as polished or plot driven as the other works in issue 2, at the same time A Tower to the Sun certainly adds depth to the world of New Ceres, and I can see more stories being set against the backdrop he has provided.

My favourite story in this issue is Sufficiently Advanced by Stephen Dedman. In this story, Dedman ventures into the bordellos of New Ceres, and we meet Barrington, a delightfully innocent man who is a clerk for the Bureau of Trade, a government body responsible for regulating technology, and the Madame Genevieve, who operates the most successful brothel in New Switzerland (a province of New Ceres). This unlikely couple enchanted me throughout this piece, which is somewhat of a departure from much of Dedman's other work, for he tends to have a darker side. This story does a great deal to explore the societal problems on New Ceres, in such a way that the reader is drawn into the world in exploration, rather than being info–dumped and lost. Dedman shows a keen awareness of the difficulties facing women in an environment such as New Ceres, and extends on the theme first explored in Dirk Flinthart's “She Walks in Beauty” from issue 1 of an undercurrent of quiet revolution and change in the waters of New Ceres. I hope we will see more of Genevieve and Barrington in future issues.

In The Bride Price — the final story of issue one — Cat Sparks tackles class issues on New Ceres and delves deeper into issue of refugees than we have yet seen explored. While frequently mentioned in other New Ceres stories, this is the first time we have been given a look at the lot of the refugee first hand. Tansy Rayner Roberts introduced refugees in some detail in issue 1, but Sparks has taken us to the next level of understanding. Here we meet Padraic, clearly from an upper class echelon, sent to find a bride from a matchmaker. His bewilderment at the process is endearing, but what really provides the character growth, is his reaction to meeting refugees on his journey home. Clearly Sparks intends herself or others to revisit the character, as she has set a scene that allows great scope for expansion.

The last piece in issue 2 is the Prosperpine Times Theatre Reviews by Arabella Hedgwick — yes, I've deliberately included the 'author' name in the title, as these 'non–fiction' pieces in New Ceres are all world building features that add to the intrinsic growth of the project. Copyrighted to Alexandra Pierce, an experienced reviewer in the real world, the piece nods to Maxine McArthur's story in issue 1, and while I didn't feel that in itself it was much more than a nice bit of fluff to end the issue, it holds the seeds of further exploration in the world of New Ceres, and this in itself is no bad thing for those who wish to write here. These sorts of details make future works all that much more authentic and allow for depth and realism that might otherwise be difficult.

New Ceres deserves attention from readers and writers alike. There are few boundaries on what can be submitted to the editor for consideration as a market, and it pays extraordinarily well for an Australian small press publication. And the stories in the two issues thus far have been of extremely high quality, from well known authors who are proud to be initiating the process of writing in this ground–breaking project. I will make note that while the new website is nice, the user friendliness of the files themselves are still a work in progress. I have it on good authority that these issues are under review and I suggest that improvements in this regard are not too far away. In any case, the stories are well worth the effort. I recommend you take a look at New Ceres. I don't think you'll be disappointed.





Reviewed by Tehani Wessely

Tehani Wessely is a judge in the 2007 Aurealis Awards Fantasy: Novel category. This review is the personal opinion of the writer, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the panel or the Aurealis Awards Committee.