"This volume covers the last fifty years of writing."
Did that suck you in? Well, I received a review copy of Getting Hooked from its editor, and that is its opening sentence. Quite frankly, it’s not something that I would have picked up off the shelf, but as I read through it, I couldn’t help but admire Ms. Rendell-Smock’s perseverence.
The premise of the collection is that there is something to be gained by reviewing the opening sentences of various genre works within a decade. The book is well-organized, but the various "sidebars" giving factoids are more distraction than enhancement. There are also various formatting errors throughout the book that I felt lessened its impact. However, the opening of each chapter about a particular decade does give a useful "fact sheet" about each time period for those younger readers among us.
I was most interested in the Science Fiction sections (the book discusses the categories Mystery, Mainstream, Western, and Romance as well). There are two SF quizzes on pseudonyms and collaborative teams as well. Her choices are good—most of the ‘great’ authors are represented, and a number of works that I hadn’t ever heard of are here, too.
Some of the works left you wondering why Rendell-Smock included them, but then your eye trips across a beauty like John Varley’s opening from Steel Beach and you’re sucked in—she’s got you. I also have to give her credit for including Diane Duane’s Spock’s World in the 80s section. It’s a gutsy person who puts Star Trek next to Fredrick Pohl, but Star Trek has become a huge force in the SF industry and Rendell-Smock is right to include a representative of the subgenre.
If you’re interested in the mechanics of story composition, Getting Hooked is a nice piece of work. If Rendell-Smock ever chooses to expand the work, I hope she would concentrate on giving us more opening lines or include some analysis of her own, rather than filling space with sidebars and cutesy quizzes. The current edition is available by calling 1-800-356-9315.
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