A highly inspiring rush to read
Assemblage of short stories influenced by Canadian rock trio
I have to admit, my first reaction on learning of 2113: Stories Inspired by the Music of Rush was a strange sense of relief: clearly I hadn’t been the only stoned teenager to find inspiration in the work of the Canadian progressive rock trio.
When I was fifteen, I wrote a short story rooted in “Subdivisions,” from their 1982 album Signals. It was a failure, likely owing to the fact that I grew up in the country and had no knowledge of subdivisions whatsoever (plus, I was high), but the inspiration was powerful indeed. It’s more than three decades late, but I’ll take the delayed validation.
My second reaction to the book was more pragmatic: I hope it doesn’t suck.
Thankfully, it doesn’t. 2113, edited by Kevin J. Anderson (who worked with the band on a novelization of their Clockwork Angels album) and Toronto writer and editor John McFetridge, is a solid assemblage of short stories, leaning heavily toward science fiction and fantasy. Key to the volume’s success is the fact that, while the stories may have been inspired by Rush songs, you don’t need to be a Rush fan — or even know the songs — to enjoy the stories.
The book has a number of highlights. With “On the Fringes of the Fractal” Greg Van Eekhout creates a dystopian nightmare out of the trappings of conformity; it’s the “Subdivisions”-based story I imagined writing, hinting at its roots in the song while creating something original and strangely powerful.
Similarly, Brian Hodge’s “The Burning Times V2.0,” inspired by “Witch Hunt,” updates tropes of creeping fanaticism and violence, including book-burning, that take on an uncomfortable resonance with the ongoing American election (though with a fantastic framework).
The exception to the rule about not needing to be a Rush fan to enjoy the stories comes late in the book. With “2113”, Anderson approaches the album 2112 in much the same way he approached the Clockwork Angels project: using fiction to infill the narrative of the songs and provide a sequel to the events they chronicled.
It’s one of the highlights of the collection, but be warned: you’ll want to refresh your knowledge of side one of 2112, the 20minute, seven-part title suite before you read, and that’s the top of a slippery slope. If you’re not careful, someone will catch you bellowing “Tom Sawyer” and playing air guitar in the living room.
Which will make you feel young again, if nothing else. Robert Wiersema’s latest book is Black Feathers.