have not have
I finished reading Geoff Ryman's award-winning novel Air; or, Have Not Have last week, and have been thinking about how to review it. How could I talk about all the issues that Ryman brings up, including globalization, the treatment of the third world by the first world, and rapidly advancing technological and social change? All that, and an absolutely compelling character study of a fashion expert in a fictional country at the conjunction of China and Kazakhstan (which shares cultural and religious ties with both Asia and the Middle East). How in the hell could I do that?
So, instead of attempting something that would pale in comparison to what's already been written about the book, I'll point you to four reviews. "Breathing Change" by Geneva Melzack and "Information Gecko" by Iain Emsley at Strange Horizons, "Something in the Air" by Cheryl Morgan, and Gwenda Bond's review at her old blogsite. I really could not have said it better than this.
After you read their reviews, go out and get the book. There's a reason it's already won the James Tiptree, Jr. Award, the British Science Fiction Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and Canada's Sunburst Award, and is on the short list for the Nebula Award.
Breathe it in, baby. Air. Yeah.