Pirates of the Universe — Still In Possession of a Full Complement of Ten

Hard back: 288 pages
Publisher: Tor Books (March 15, 1997)
ISBN: 0312862954
Price: $22.95

The Washington Post Book World states on the back cover of Pirates of the Universe, "It is the Bissons of the field... upon whom the future of science fiction depends." If this is true, than sci-fi is in a world of trouble. Pirate's plot is intriguing and Bisson's story telling is vaguely reminiscent of the old grand master, Alfred Bester. However, make no mistake, Bisson is no Alfred Bester. There is much more to good sci-fi, indeed, much more to good fiction, than an intriguing plot. It is a writer's responsibility to his readers to build credibility and trust through, among other things, attention to detail, and this is something at which Bisson utterly fails. A good book, like a good movie, should never draw attention to itself through its flaws. In sci-fi, the reader must be willing to suspend his disbelief in concepts of time travel, parallel universes, faster than light travel, etc. But when a writer's poor grammar and inability to construct sound sentences begins to detract from the story, then he is in trouble.

Use of a phrase repetitively can be an effective technique, but Bisson's choice to use the phrase "In the old days..." no less than eight times over a span of one page is not only ineffective but downright annoying. Oldsmobile, Buick and Toyota all find themselves properly noted as proper names in Pirates; yet Chevrolet is conspicuously left with a lowercase `C' throughout the novel, save for one instance. Marlboro (as in cigarettes) appears as a proper name throughout, save for one chapter, when twice the `M' is mysteriously lowercase. Bisson's protagonist, Gunther, "had only hugged his brother once before..." Surely Bisson had intended that Gun had hugged his brother only once before. Small potatoes, perhaps, but together with the host of other inconsistencies and poor choices Bisson makes in relating his tale, it becomes too great an obstacle to overcome. An argument could be made perhaps that Bisson needs a better editor, but ultimately these choices, this attention to detail, must fall on the shoulders of the author.

A 1996 New York Times Notable Book of the Year, one can only wonder what other sci-fi titles might have been Pirates' competition that year. The front cover of Pirates quotes The Washington Post Book World as claiming "Bisson can charm your toes off." Well, this is one reader of Pirates who can still lay claim to a full complement of ten.