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leaena's review against another edition
5.0
The story is told from multiple viewpoints and the backstory is revealed bit by bit. I enjoyed that narrative technique immensely. Taking a cold hard look at the nature of space and space travel is a favorite subgenre of mine. Combining the two elements was pure gold for me.
reasie's review against another edition
5.0
We start with a classic hard-sf longshot space exploration narrative, told in chunks by various characters who have one small part in the great undertaking. Very little hand waving, lots of details, lots and lots of death.
Sergei was my favorite. Ah, Sergei. Good example of using dramatic irony as the lunkhead dies without a log entry and all the chapters after are just "The fuck happened to Sergei?" and the reader is left with that knowledge and no way to convey it to the suffering characters.
Paired with a very Borges-feeling short story, also a bit of a downer ending but funny, and a non-fiction essay that'll just make you grit your teeth because it shows how terrible things were before they got worse.
The interview in this one wasn't as enjoyable as others, as the subject clearly takes delight in finding an answer that doesn't invite discussion. Also I found the questions too often to be ... I dunno... shutting the reader out.
Still, this was my first of the Outspoken Authors series where I didn't know anything about the author in question going in and I'm glad I bought it on whim. I am continually delighted with this series.
Sergei was my favorite. Ah, Sergei. Good example of using dramatic irony as the lunkhead dies without a log entry and all the chapters after are just "The fuck happened to Sergei?" and the reader is left with that knowledge and no way to convey it to the suffering characters.
Paired with a very Borges-feeling short story, also a bit of a downer ending but funny, and a non-fiction essay that'll just make you grit your teeth because it shows how terrible things were before they got worse.
The interview in this one wasn't as enjoyable as others, as the subject clearly takes delight in finding an answer that doesn't invite discussion. Also I found the questions too often to be ... I dunno... shutting the reader out.
Still, this was my first of the Outspoken Authors series where I didn't know anything about the author in question going in and I'm glad I bought it on whim. I am continually delighted with this series.
jonmhansen's review
4.0
Oof. That first story was rough. Like The Cold Equations for the 21st century.
lanko's review against another edition
5.0
Space travel through entire galaxies, let alone systems, is something really easy and accessible in popular Sci-Fi. That's not the case with Gypsy.
It shows how hard (near impossible), unpredictable, cold, solitary and dangerous it is.
The premise is that Earth around 2040 is on a catastrophic situation, elevated by the author to the maximum possible (it does look extremely exaggerated to make the plot go, but whatever).
Enter Roger Fry, genius scientist. He assembles a team, builds a ship and plans to launch it to Alpha Centauri to start again. It's not even certain there's an inhabitable planet there, but they don't have a choice.
Roger isn't on the ship (Gypsy, the name is explained later), but he is everywhere on it at the same time. How and why something or someone was there, on surprising levels, some bordering on sheer creepiness.
Now here comes the fascinate aspect of the story: Estimated time travel to reach the destination is around 80 years. The crew will hibernate until it reaches Alpha Centauri, but of course, space travel isn't like Star Wars or Star Trek and things continuously go wrong and have to be fixed or adapted.
When this happens, one member of the crew of sixteen is wakened and has to fix/adapt whatever needs to be done. Sometimes it's not even their main specialization, but they have to do the best they can for the sake of everyone else.
Then they write a log of what they did (by hand, in case computers fail) and if something happens again, someone else has to take the reins.
That's because they don't have food/water to stay awake for longer periods and can only be put to hibernation one more time, if someone has to wake up for the second time, it's only when they are about to reach their final destination.
The great thing is not only the challenges, but how new ones keep appearing. Contrary to what most commonly happens, human error is the main cause of them, not technology failing.
Sometimes someone fix one thing but causes something to blow up later. Then someone else has to fix it. Or sometimes they don't really are on their right state of mind.
The characters come from various nationalities and have their own backstory, all there on the ship and connected through each other because of the invisible, but omnipresent presence of Roger Fry, someone who could really have a book of his own.
The only downside is when the author decides to tackle some political views. Initially, it was fascinating because it appeared the crew, coming from all the world, would all have its own differences.
But unfortunately, they are all there to reinforce a specific view, and the one they consider the "opposite" is displayed in a totally cartoonish and even untruthful way that it ran the risk of breaking the story, simply because they looked to be simply facets of the author on specific subjects. A shame.
There were arguments I totally agreed with and others I totally disagreed, and even those I agree with left me wondering why it needed to be displayed in such a "in-your-damn-face" manner.
Despite that, and if you don't really mind that part, the story is really, really good. And the ending really packed quite a punch on me.
It's short - a novella of about 160 pages. I heard the book alone comes with two more short stories, an essay and an interview, which I believe could be amusing but also more personal ranting.
I read this through the The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Novellas, by Paula Guran, which I gained as an ARC through NetGalley, so I thankfully only got what it mattered: the story.
And it's a really good one and totally recommended.
It shows how hard (near impossible), unpredictable, cold, solitary and dangerous it is.
The premise is that Earth around 2040 is on a catastrophic situation, elevated by the author to the maximum possible (it does look extremely exaggerated to make the plot go, but whatever).
Enter Roger Fry, genius scientist. He assembles a team, builds a ship and plans to launch it to Alpha Centauri to start again. It's not even certain there's an inhabitable planet there, but they don't have a choice.
Roger isn't on the ship (Gypsy, the name is explained later), but he is everywhere on it at the same time. How and why something or someone was there, on surprising levels, some bordering on sheer creepiness.
Now here comes the fascinate aspect of the story: Estimated time travel to reach the destination is around 80 years. The crew will hibernate until it reaches Alpha Centauri, but of course, space travel isn't like Star Wars or Star Trek and things continuously go wrong and have to be fixed or adapted.
When this happens, one member of the crew of sixteen is wakened and has to fix/adapt whatever needs to be done. Sometimes it's not even their main specialization, but they have to do the best they can for the sake of everyone else.
Then they write a log of what they did (by hand, in case computers fail) and if something happens again, someone else has to take the reins.
That's because they don't have food/water to stay awake for longer periods and can only be put to hibernation one more time, if someone has to wake up for the second time, it's only when they are about to reach their final destination.
The great thing is not only the challenges, but how new ones keep appearing. Contrary to what most commonly happens, human error is the main cause of them, not technology failing.
Sometimes someone fix one thing but causes something to blow up later. Then someone else has to fix it. Or sometimes they don't really are on their right state of mind.
The characters come from various nationalities and have their own backstory, all there on the ship and connected through each other because of the invisible, but omnipresent presence of Roger Fry, someone who could really have a book of his own.
The only downside is when the author decides to tackle some political views. Initially, it was fascinating because it appeared the crew, coming from all the world, would all have its own differences.
But unfortunately, they are all there to reinforce a specific view, and the one they consider the "opposite" is displayed in a totally cartoonish and even untruthful way that it ran the risk of breaking the story, simply because they looked to be simply facets of the author on specific subjects. A shame.
There were arguments I totally agreed with and others I totally disagreed, and even those I agree with left me wondering why it needed to be displayed in such a "in-your-damn-face" manner.
Despite that, and if you don't really mind that part, the story is really, really good. And the ending really packed quite a punch on me.
It's short - a novella of about 160 pages. I heard the book alone comes with two more short stories, an essay and an interview, which I believe could be amusing but also more personal ranting.
I read this through the The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Novellas, by Paula Guran, which I gained as an ARC through NetGalley, so I thankfully only got what it mattered: the story.
And it's a really good one and totally recommended.
nobodyatall's review against another edition
5.0
Fantastic.
A more serious, emotional, poignant and heart-breaking version of The Martian.
I loved it. Gets my Hugo nomination.
A more serious, emotional, poignant and heart-breaking version of The Martian.
I loved it. Gets my Hugo nomination.
barb4ry1's review against another edition
4.0
4.5/5
It’s probably one of the bleakest sci-fi novellas I’ve ever read. As Earth becomes unbearable and unlivable a group of scientists plans an illegal escape into space. They hope to start life anew on a planet in the Alpha Centauri system. To survive the 72-year journey, the crew undergoes hibernation. When an emergency arises the ship’s systems awake individuals best equipped to solve the problem. Each emergency is documented so that the next awakened traveler can understand the current situation.
I won’t get into any more details. The strength of the novella comes from inspecting the decision-making process of each awakened traveler and their motivations to embark on this perilous journey. None of them knows if they’ll succeed. They’re entirely alone in a spaceship floating through cold, unwelcoming space.
It’s a depressing story that rejects the promises of technology, humanity, and of hope. And yet I found it beautiful and intellectually stimulating.
Aside from the title novella, the collection contains a pair of short stories, an essay, and an interview with Scholz. For its size (160 pages), it packs a lot of punch.
It’s probably one of the bleakest sci-fi novellas I’ve ever read. As Earth becomes unbearable and unlivable a group of scientists plans an illegal escape into space. They hope to start life anew on a planet in the Alpha Centauri system. To survive the 72-year journey, the crew undergoes hibernation. When an emergency arises the ship’s systems awake individuals best equipped to solve the problem. Each emergency is documented so that the next awakened traveler can understand the current situation.
I won’t get into any more details. The strength of the novella comes from inspecting the decision-making process of each awakened traveler and their motivations to embark on this perilous journey. None of them knows if they’ll succeed. They’re entirely alone in a spaceship floating through cold, unwelcoming space.
It’s a depressing story that rejects the promises of technology, humanity, and of hope. And yet I found it beautiful and intellectually stimulating.
Aside from the title novella, the collection contains a pair of short stories, an essay, and an interview with Scholz. For its size (160 pages), it packs a lot of punch.
garymilczarek's review against another edition
5.0
In Fantasy & Science Fiction the interviewer asks Scholz, What would you want a reader to take away from “Gypsy?” In his reply:
"Earth is our place, the place we evolved from and for — for better or worse, till death do us part."
This brilliant story touched me because it portrays our destruction of the world that sustains us and a courageous attempt to transcend it. I resonate with the beauty and horror expressed in the characters' memories of the home planet and their heroic efforts to overcome the failures on their journey. I feel the poignancy of all that is lost as we seem to move inexorably to our demise. I see the truth of the impermanence of all things; I just didn't think I would be a witness to this ending. I feel the same sweet nostalgia and heartache listening to Leonard Cohen's song "You got me singing":
You got me singing
Even though the world is gone
You got me thinking
I'd like to carry on
"Earth is our place, the place we evolved from and for — for better or worse, till death do us part."
This brilliant story touched me because it portrays our destruction of the world that sustains us and a courageous attempt to transcend it. I resonate with the beauty and horror expressed in the characters' memories of the home planet and their heroic efforts to overcome the failures on their journey. I feel the poignancy of all that is lost as we seem to move inexorably to our demise. I see the truth of the impermanence of all things; I just didn't think I would be a witness to this ending. I feel the same sweet nostalgia and heartache listening to Leonard Cohen's song "You got me singing":
You got me singing
Even though the world is gone
You got me thinking
I'd like to carry on
morgandhu's review
4.0
Gypsy is one of the latest additions to PM Press's remarkable Outspoken Authors series. As with previous volumes in the series, Gypsy contains several collected works a single author. This collection features selections from the works of eclectic writer Carter Sholtz, including the novella Gypsy, two bitingly funny satirical short stories, an essay on the ease with which the US and its corporations violate national and international law, and an interview conducted with Sholtz by Terry Bisson.
The novella Gypsy takes place in an unsettlingly familiar dystopic future - climate change, corporate greed, resource depletion, war and the collapse of civil society. It's gotten bad enough that an underground network of dissidents have managed, in secret, to cobble together a space ship that will be able - if everything goes right - to transport a small number of people to the Alpha Centauri system in the hopes of finding a livable planet. It's a desperate shot in the dark.... but letting the situation on earth continue without some attempt to create another place for humans to survive seems unthinkable.
This is not a happy story. It is unrealistic to expect that that everything would go right in such an endeavour, and this is, given the opening situation, a very realistic, hard sf story. But it is also a powerful story, and a thought-provoking one.
In addition to the novella, the other pieces in the collection are well worth reading. I particularly enjoyed "Bad Pennies," a wicked satire on the American penchant for meddling in other countries' business and for doing business at whatever cost.
The novella Gypsy takes place in an unsettlingly familiar dystopic future - climate change, corporate greed, resource depletion, war and the collapse of civil society. It's gotten bad enough that an underground network of dissidents have managed, in secret, to cobble together a space ship that will be able - if everything goes right - to transport a small number of people to the Alpha Centauri system in the hopes of finding a livable planet. It's a desperate shot in the dark.... but letting the situation on earth continue without some attempt to create another place for humans to survive seems unthinkable.
This is not a happy story. It is unrealistic to expect that that everything would go right in such an endeavour, and this is, given the opening situation, a very realistic, hard sf story. But it is also a powerful story, and a thought-provoking one.
In addition to the novella, the other pieces in the collection are well worth reading. I particularly enjoyed "Bad Pennies," a wicked satire on the American penchant for meddling in other countries' business and for doing business at whatever cost.
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