Petrogypsies

by Rory Harper

An alternate universe science-fiction novel about Sprocket, a huge, intelligent, living drilling rig and the traveling family of oilfield workers, techs, and scouts who live and work with him. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671698400
• ISBN13: 9780671698409
• Release Date: August 1989
• Publisher: Baen Books
• Length: 275 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Petrogypsies

There is something comforting about reading literature by people from your own region; at least, as a Texan, I find that to be true. Maybe those from Mississippi feel this way when they read the works of Faulkner, maybe they don't, but I love to read books by Texans... especially Texas science fiction and fantasy. When you think of the states that are the homes of "legendary" writers of the genre, Texas might not be the place that comes to your mind, which is your loss, but it has a long and proud history of steady contributions of great work by authors that are smart, knowledgeable, unique and just plain fun to read. Rory Harper is a worthy member of that fraternity and his new book, Petrogypsies is a worthy addition to that body of literature that Texas can proudly claim as her own. There is realness about Texas science fiction and fantasy. Maybe it's dark and heavy, like Tom Reamy's brilliant and haunting novel, Blind Voices, or maybe it is light-hearted and fun like the Lovecraft parodies of Bill Wallace and Joe Pumilia's fictional M. M. Momrath. Whatever it might be, it is original. Petrogypsies made me think of Blind Voices, with its slice-of-life mundane setting and its "everyday people" characters; not epic characters who are saving the Universe and fighting massive battles, but rather normal people who have a regular kind of job and work from day-to-day. Pterogypsies is light-hearted and humorous (not counting a vicious and surprising "murder in our midst"). It also made me think of David Drake's technique of crafting novels by stringing together self contained short-stories and novelettes in some of his Hammer's Slammers novels. Texas science fiction writers are subversive, irreverent, and mischievous. They are also unsophisticated, in that they are not writing for academic minds or for the people who have Van Goghs dripping down their walls. The writing by members and alumni of the "Turkey City Writers' Workshop" is by people that are fun to hang around with, laugh with, drink with and watch bad movies with to people who would enjoy being part of the laughter and merriment that they can hear coming from somewhere deep within their books and stories. Another thing that makes the works of Howard Waldrop, Steve Gould, Lisa Tuttle, Bruce Sterling, Martha Wells, and the rest so fascinating is that they are just plain original. I remember reading a backstage history of Saturday Night Live and reading how, while all of the writers wanted screen-time for their sketches and could be very jealous of most of the other writers, none of them were ever jealous of Dan Ackroyd's stuff because it was so different and original that none of the other writers could say that he got to an idea before they did because his ideas came from someplace inside Ackroyd which no one else could even be prepared for. Texas writers do that. Whether it's Waldrop's "ugly chickens", Gould's "Jumper", having the first "Naked Neo-Pro" photo layout of Steve Utley in Reamy'

Great Sci Fi Novel

A great little sci-fi that will keep you intrigued and entertained throughout. From sea monsters to bar fights and even some romance, this one has it all. A fun book to read, I highly recommend it.

An enjoyable light read, with some very original touches.

A light fantasy, the most memorable aspect of which is the sheer originality of writing a book based around oil-prospecting using giant alien worms. The book follows the development of a young rural lad who joins up with a gang of prospectors and follows him through a string of adventures.