"Cats are most intelligent animals. In fact, it is well known that all cats have a touch of the psi." - Haviland Tuf, Tuf Voyaging
If you love cats and you love space adventure and you are a Martin fan, then this collection is for you.
Yes, I said, collection, because this book is not a novel at all. Although it portrays itself as one, the book is instead a collection of short stories that Martin published in science fiction magazines since the mid seventies. The book is comprised of seven of these stories and was originally published in 1986. The story begins with The Plague Star, and then going on from there in a chronological order that tells an entire adventure of the very strange space trader, Haviland Tuf and his cats, Havoc and Mushroom (don't get too attached, this is a GRRM novel, after all).
I won't belabor you with the details of what happens in the book because it is pretty exciting. We begin on Tuf's ship, the Cornucopia of Excellent Goods at Low Prices, and we adventure with a mixed group of space academics and stuffy shirts (Celise Waan will definitely get under your skin in the same way Cersei Lannister does) towards something they learn is called, the Ark.
Yes, Ark much like Noah's Ark. The Ark is a defunct biowar seedship of the Ecological Engineering Corps, or, ECC, which was part of the old Federal Empire that originated from Earth. This ship is enormous and has collected various samples of things throughout the universe. This Corps had mastered the art of cloning and genetic mutation, but due to some war that poses questions of ethics when given that kind of power (a theme that motivates the stories), these people no longer exist and the ship has been abandoned for hundreds of years in distant space.
Although this Ark mimics that of the biblical one, Martin's panache for shaking up religious motifs in literature does not disappoint and is actually quite pleasing, but then you also have to consider that these stories precede his Songs of Ice and Fire (or for the uninitiated, Game of Thrones).
I mentioned the distasteful character Celise Waan. Her dialogue reminds one so much of Cersei that you cannot dismiss the connection. Also, in the beginning we are introduced to Rica Dawnstar who could be an early iteration of Gerold Dayne in SoIaF, called the Darkstar. Their characteristics are very similar (except Rica gets to ride a motherfucking DINOSAUR) and throughout the stories, many of the characters feel like early samplings of what characters were to come. Later, Tuf meets a woman referred to as, Ma Spider, named Tolly Mune who has a character development very similar to Jamie Lannister.
Writers (and yes, I do speak for myself) are notorious for weaving our older works into the rest of our writing throughout our life. While it may be hard for some to see the pattern, prolific writers like Martin (and the god of proliferation himself, Stephen King), are very easily traced when it comes to this arc of story development, character building, and themes that unfold throughout.
Over all, I really enjoyed this collection and even some of it got me a little angry, because while Martin is an unsung science fiction writer (because SoIaF dominates it all because of the show) some of his stories have slipped through the cracks. One of which, that caught my attention so well, was how the EEC perish in the first story, The Plague Star.
If you are a Halo fan, there is a chance that you owe that to GRRM. Why? Because The Plague Star was first published in 1985 and the story of the EEC and their war sounds a lot like that of Halo. As the story unfolded, I could not help but see similarities of the fight of the EEC and their enemies, the Hruun (from which I understand them to be sort of like sentient dragons???) that goes all the way into a war of plagues. The EEC rig their ship to unleash a torrent of monsters and disease to the Hruun as they board the Ark, very similar to the first Halo where you encounter the plague-like Flood as you go towards the library, led by a crazy robot (a little similar to the cybertech named Jefri Lion, who aides Rica and Tuf around the derelict ship by lighting their pathways), and ultimately, there are some cool weapons you encounter including plasma turrets, a needler (carried by Rica) and other weapons and concepts (mech suits) that begin to set off alarm bells.
Whether the creators of Halo made these connections, I cannot say, but I will say that the book was an excellent read. Martin does a great job developing characters and immersing you in a fantastic journey about space, cloning, and the ethics of genetic modification. If you are like me, and waiting for book six, then Tuf Voyaging will surely tickle your fancy.
Also, this book has a ton of awesome cats, so yeah. CATS.
Tuf Voyaging is available at most booksellers, and is especially cheap through Amazon Prime.
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