as a precocious 13-year-old lad, our narrator - nicknamed "Lord Snooty" by bullying classmates - becomes infatuated with an archaic automaton named Toas a precocious 13-year-old lad, our narrator - nicknamed "Lord Snooty" by bullying classmates - becomes infatuated with an archaic automaton named Toxine, sadly not functioning. even more sadly, she is soon sold after his father witnesses a certain indiscretion. and so creating his own Toxine becomes an overriding obsession; as an insane adult, he engineers faulty mannequin after faulty mannequin, until realizing that it is human flesh that must be subsumed by porcelain and gears. enter a new boarder - a lass ripe for his plucking and remaking.
this is an exceedingly uncomfortable story. overripely romantic in our protagonist's pretentious, heavy-breathing depictions of his love for Toxine, and gorgeously written at that. but sardonic distance and lush prose can't prettify a story about an abused runaway finding a different sort of abuse at the hands of a madman. fortunately, Capricious Calder remains sharply aware of such timeless ills as the Male Gaze, the desire to turn women into perfect dolls, the nostalgia for the old ways of Submissive Wife and Man the King, Man the Creator. his horror tale swoons at, not with, its anti-hero's sickness....more
"The Allure" is the allure of fashion; specifically, a futuristic world of fashion now reliant on living material that adheres to the flesh and respon"The Allure" is the allure of fashion; specifically, a futuristic world of fashion now reliant on living material that adheres to the flesh and responds to emotion. Couture that can be trained! But the Allure is also the allure of Western culture for those of other lands; in this story, African nations, enjoying the West via magazines while readying themselves for assassination and revolution. Examining capital-r Race was a deep part of his excellent novel Malignos; nonetheless, there is always a certain discomfort when white analyzes black, and the author doesn't make it easy with his stereotypical images of black pimp, black thrall, and black dictator. Still, Class-Conscious Calder is all too aware of the intersection(s) between economics and race and politics, and so the story remains relevant rather than merely uncomfortable. This early tale by the author shows that his fascination with decadence and his baroque prose were fully-formed at the start of his career....more
the author tautens his digressive style into something that feels distinctly Young Adult, mainly due to what appears to be a narrative about a girl trthe author tautens his digressive style into something that feels distinctly Young Adult, mainly due to what appears to be a narrative about a girl trying to find a boy, trapped in the abandoned research facility across the way. but Captious Calder is scarcely interested in post-apocalyptic meet-cutes and instead, as always, prefers to interrogate the standards and tropes of gender and identity. the story muses on the nature of succubus/incubus and projected thought-forms that can become reality; sadly, the story itself felt only partially thought-out. still, an interesting effort....more
Creepy Calder constructs a far-future world of automated sex dolls and the risky business of engaging in sex traffic. Old Europe and Outdated England Creepy Calder constructs a far-future world of automated sex dolls and the risky business of engaging in sex traffic. Old Europe and Outdated England giving way to the ingenious Orient; gender roles and trans identity; computer STDs; futuristic prostitution, poison, and murder. As I realized after reading his phenomenal Lord Soho, Richard Calder is Angela Carter's crude but equally rarified heir apparent. In sum: nasty, funny, cheerfully mean-spirited. As always with the author, the prose impresses. The message:
Only a man could imitate a doll. Women, it was said, were too real. For dolls are no women; they are man's dreams of women.
Lombroso and Ferrero had argued that degeneration was built into 'the very nature of woman' and that it induced them 'to seek relief in evil deeds.
Lombroso and Ferrero had argued that degeneration was built into 'the very nature of woman' and that it induced them 'to seek relief in evil deeds.' When maternal sentiment was found wanting and was replaced by 'strong passions and intensely erotic tendencies' then 'the innocuous semi-criminal present in the normal woman must be transformed into a born criminal more terrible than any man.'
A dense and dizzying "article" on a worldwide epidemic: female sexuality unleashed. Cheeky Calder imagines an alternate history that is part De Sade, part Foucault, part Story of O, and part Japanese cosplay. Philosopher-artist-psychoanalyst Reinhardt diagnoses the problem; society responds by unleashing a pogrom against all sexualized young women. Features the noted fellatrix, catgirl, and revolutionary idealogue Monica Lewinsky, and her subsequent execution.
The eroticization of death, he argued, was the best, and indeed only consolation human beings might expect of life in an impersonal and savage universe.
The cold-eyed Dr. Angela Carter, a lauded Specialist in the disciplines of Sexual Revolt and Revolting Sexuality, author of the revolutionary tract ThThe cold-eyed Dr. Angela Carter, a lauded Specialist in the disciplines of Sexual Revolt and Revolting Sexuality, author of the revolutionary tract The Diaspora of Gender and Power: A Guide to Breaking the Yoke of Reality Upon the Ever-Turning Wheel of Dream Logic, decided one sultry evening that writing about Sadeian Excess was simply not satisfying enough. She must conjure up the man himself! And so calling upon all of her Dark Powers, she summoned that archaic devil the Marquis de Sade; he appeared, naked and in the prime of his sexual powers: a 14-year-old lad, recently expelled from Jesuit school and now a cadet at an elite military academy preparing for what would turn out to be a brief time as a soldier in Louis XV's armies. The two locked eyes, and then limbs. Several sweaty hours later, a now-bored Dr. Carter banished the headstrong teen back to the past, and to his eventual destiny as a somewhat controversial author and eventual inmate of the Charenton Asylum. Nine months later, a child was born: Dr. Carter's Monster. A moody boy with soulful eyes, a prodigious appetite, and the blackest of hearts. She enlisted her dear friends Kathy Acker, Michael Moorcock, and Tanith Lee to be the precocious child's triple godparents and then named her monstrous offspring: Richard Calder.
He in turn produced a gorgeous child: Malignos, and then its spellbinding sequel: Lord Soho.
Lord Soho and its predecessor exhibited all the brilliance of grandmother Carter: her ferocious sexuality, her cruelty, her explosion and then reconstruction of gender norms, her fascination with all the forms of Power and Submission, her raw vitality, her hallucinogenic dreamscapes, her evil wit, and not least of all, her lusciously baroque way with words. Their grand-père the Marquis' DNA was also quite present: nastily reinforcing the Carter hallmarks of sadism, wit, and transgressive sexuality while adding a patina of filth and romantic perversity atop it all; and most importantly, doubling down on the desire to upend civilization as we know it. Revolutionary monsters, the whole family!
Malignos told the tale of the Black Knight named Richard Pike - ex-soldier, pimp, lover, and cocksman extraordinaire - as he thrusts himself and his trusty sword Espiritu Santo deep into the earth's depths to confront the demons of perversity who have made his world their new home. In contrast, Lord Soho takes place entirely in the equally strange world above. It is in the form of six narratives, each detailing a short period of time in the lives of six Richard Pikes, all descendants of the original, most yearning for a return to London and to their title of Lord Soho, some who are lovers and others who are murderers, some freeing slaves and others who yearn for a return to the old ways of master and thrall, each one a terrible snob and unrepentant asshole, each one a monster of the id, each one a diabolical change agent who shifts the very fabric of reality around them. The Pike lineage shall destroy the world! And then, perhaps, remake it anew.
Highly recommended. But not for everyone......more
far, far in the future, Richard Pike is a disreputable pimp in the Pilipinas Archipelago, a former war hero and expat from the Darkling Island, whorinfar, far in the future, Richard Pike is a disreputable pimp in the Pilipinas Archipelago, a former war hero and expat from the Darkling Island, whoring out the love of his life - the demonic malignos Gala, a devout catholic born in the deep underworld, and a turncoat on her people during the great war between the Earth Above and the Netherworld. trouble comes our lovers' way, and the brave Gala is poisoned and simplified. Pike must journey to the heart of the Netherworld, to the mind-bending city of Pandemonium, to find her cure. a dark and surreal science fantasy quest ensues.
do you have a secret inner hipster, a snobby elitist who loves your little finds - ones that no one else seems to know about? i sure do. i get a thrill from liking things that few people will ever come across. but it's a sad feeling too. why haven't i heard about Richard Calder before now? why isn't his excellent Malignos better known? it seems unfair.
this is a pretty amazing novel. its dense & hallucinogenic imagery, casual sadism, and intense focus on perverse & not-so-perverse spirituality reminded me of the early, bizarre trilogies of Elizabeth Hand and Paul Park. even better, his use of arch & deeply ironic dialogue, his shallow & self-absorbed hero, and the oddly cheerful & light tone for some dark events were reminiscent of Jack Vance's equally picaresque and arty Dying Earth series. in this story of a tormented, murderous hero and his, let's say, larger-than-life sword, there is also more than a nod to Moorcock's Elric series - it seems almost like a straight-up homage. and, obviously, the basic narrative of this novel - a hero's descent into an underworld to save the life of his lady love - is also the basis of innumerable tales and legends.
the writing is wonderful. the imagery is gorgeous. the narrative is compelling. the characters are off-kilter but strangely iconic. the author, himself an English expat living in Philippines, brings to the table both insouciant verve and a lived-in understanding of elements of Filipino culture. this is science fantasy that made me pause and consider many things.
it is perhaps inappropriate to actually call this a "science fantasy". the history of this world is given careful pseudo-science explanation. (view spoiler)[first of all, the universe is composed of many dimensions. sometimes these dimensions bleed over and sometimes denizens of one dimension will cross over to another. in a certain dimension that is clearly where the idea of Hell sprung from and bled over, evil is good. people apparently have given themselves the appearance of what we call devils, amongst many such outre appearances. the philosopher-scientists who dominate this dimension, and the dark-energy beings that protect them (including that eternally famous villain, the cold-hearted Metatron) became ambitious and sought the create their own personal universe. disaster occurs; their dimension is destroyed; their spirits crossed over to a new dimension to possess and integrate with its more perverse and artistic residents. these newly transformed beings began to create great & terrible machines and to fashion new, more appealingly demonic forms. they were called many things: goblins, ogres, malignos. they are not necessarily evil... they just see things a different way. and driven underground, they plot to someday return. oh, and i'm not even talking about our dimension. Malignos takes place in a post-post-post-apocalyptic future of a familiar-seeming earth, but one that includes such world powers as Atlantis and Cathay. (hide spoiler)] it's all so mindboggling and carefully thought-out... awesome!
there are many absorbing scenes, bizarre & beautifully described tableau, and moments of stylized dialogue & offhand musings to enjoy, to chuckle over, to slowly digest their implications, to read again, maybe to treasure. one of my favorite bits:
'If she embraces old superstition, Defoe, it is because the new superstitions that have currency in our world, superstitions that inhibit and finally destroy our sense of empathy, will lead us all to destruction.' Gala frowned. She did not seem to like the equation of her faith to superstition. Neither, perhaps, did I. But I was too damaged by war to be able to lift my face to heaven and put all my hope in the love everlasting. The only thing I feared more than the mummery of my own existence was the possibility that God also was an ostentatious fake....more
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