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Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Roc; Original edition (December 6, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0451464311

Official Description:

Matt Lowell is in hell-and there’s no place he’d rather be. At a training camp on the backwater planet of Earth, he and his fellow cadets are learning to ride Mechas: biomechanicals sporting both incredible grace and devastating firepower. Their ultimate aim is to combat the pirates of the Corsair Confederacy, but before they survive a battle, they have to survive their training.

Because every time Lowell and his comrades “plug in” to their Mechas, their minds are slowly being twisted and broken by an unseen power that is neither man…nor machine.

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I bought Myke Cole’s debut novel the day it came out, on the strength of the reading I saw him do at last summer’s Readercon. Shadow Ops: Control Point is the first in a series, and it’s a quick read. I started it on the train ride from Trenton to Philadelphia, read a bit before class, more while waiting for the train home, and finished it just as we pulled into my station. Now? I’m disappointed that that next book won’t be available until 2013.

Control Point falls into the category of military fantasy, in that it’s a military story with magic in it. It’s a tale set in the modern US armed forces, following the life of Oscar Britton: a dedicated soldier who bristles at the introduction of magic into the chain of command, but finds himself suddenly developing magical (called “Latent”) powers. Convinced that his particular brand of sorcery will get him killed by his own government, he runs. But the government is large and it is everywhere, and it has plans for Oscar.

While there are some issues that I hope Cole fixes in later books, overall I enjoyed Control Point very much. It’s heavy on the military jargon, which I’m comfortable with because I happen to be a fan of military SF, as well as having grown up around Army folk. It’s a pleasure to read, actually, because instead of a fantasy author making up languages which aren’t linguistically feasible or creating unit structures that would never survive a battle, Cole doesn’t make the mistake of hoping his readers are ignorant on the subject. He writes as if his military unit (he is still a reservist with the Coast Guard) will be critiquing his work, and that gives a sense of realism and firmly grounds the reader in this world. If you’re not used to it, the first few pages can seem like a wall of unbreakable code, but once Cole’s established himself as an author who knows what he’s talking about, he lets the acronyms and slang slide away. They still exist as part of the setting but as part of a background you’ve become comfortable with.

The magic is well balanced, heavily grounded in traditional European fantasy, with a little bit of D&D thrown in. While most people manifest in one of the major schools (fire, water, earth, air) there are other schools which are more rare and therefore more valuable. Magical surgery, for example, is considered the rarest of the allowed schools. Of course there are those prohibited schools too, like using Elemental magic to control monsters made of stone or flame, or the ability to open a gate in space to anywhere you’ve ever seen. These minor schools are the most interesting, and Cole even introduces a character with a kind of rotting magic which isn’t on the list … leaving the door open for other kinds of sorcery to crop up in later books.

It’s fun to see this kind of magic, long a staple of sword and sorcery novels, get a tactical update. One of the best parts of Control Point is that within the confines of the world Cole’s creating, the world’s reaction to a sudden population of wizards and witches makes perfect sense. There was never a point where I thought, “Really? They’d do that?” because yes, they would. What the government can’t use as a weapon can be sold to private contractors who don’t have the same restrictions on their actions. Why wouldn’t that be the case? It’s already true here.

Another nice touch is the use of “quotes” to head the chapters. These quotes are taken from briefings, manuals, and news outlets, and give tiny snapshots of Cole’s world, showing how people are reacting to magic outside of Oscar Britton’s immediate experience. Because the novel and the narration are so tightly focused on Oscar’s life, thoughts, reactions, we see almost nothing of the rest of society, and these little snippets round out our experience with the novel. As I said, it is Oscar’s world. Here’s where we get into the book’s few problems: race, and sex. Because we’re only seeing the world through Oscar’s eyes, we don’t have a counterpoint to tell us that his views aren’t right, so the narration ends up promoting some harmful ideas, particularly of women.

To begin with, we’re introduced to Oscar as a man with “brown skin”. That’s the extent of our knowledge of his ethnicity. Aside from a band of Native Americans, who’re introduced later in the story and have their own issues, Oscar appears to be the only person of color in the entire book. Even his hair, which might have been an indicator of race, is shaved away, leaving him bald and a little generic.

On the other hand, Native Americans play an interesting role in Control Point, and I think Cole did a great job of showing the problematic way in which we view this culture, especially in the Western world. A portion of one population of American Indians has decided not to comply with the US government’s new rules about magic, and so they’ve taken over their reservation and declared themselves independent. A civil war ensues, pitting federal agents against the native tribe who themselves are fighting with those on the reservation who want to be part of the USA. This has happened in our past, though without the magic, so seeing it play out in Cole’s novel doesn’t ring any alarms. Yeah, that would probably happen. But instead of taking just one view of the situation, Cole manages to show the military’s view (put down the uprising of anarchists) and the media’s view (someone save the poor primitive tribal people) and the internal conflict within the tribe, without take a side. All views of the situation are a little bit wrong, as far as Oscar is concerned, and that’s probably the truest interpretation.

Unfortunately, his broad view of Native Americans doesn’t mean he views woman in a similarly open-minded way. The one major flaw of this novel is that each and every woman in it is a flat stereotype. This could be a problem of Oscar’s perception of women, which he might grow out of in later books, but because we’ve got this tight internal narration, the book is telling us that this is how women are. You have the teenage girl who needs to be saved, and whose view of the world changes literally overnight as she develops a crush on an older man. You have the innocent angel, beautiful healer, who’s manipulated by men who understand her better than she understands herself – changing her mind about her place in the military by introducing her to a situation where she has to help the wounded, and of course she’s too kind to refuse. You have the dark haired witch, overtly sexual but scary in her hunger for destruction. You have the woman who breaks down under battle pressure, the tightly-wound military officer who’s barely a line on the page, the mannish Rugby playing woman who isn’t really seen as a woman at all. And nearly every one of them blushes or smiles at any attention given to them by the handsome Oscar, who’s convinced he needs to save them all.

But what’s important to remember is that Oscar is a complex character, and maybe even an unreliable narrator. He’s not a hero. He does terrible, selfish things in order to get what he wants. He kills people, gets into fights, allows others to be killed. He lets his power go to his head. He also saves the day more than once but he’s not a purely good guy, by any measure. He has the potential to grow into a better person, because he’s starting from a place of imperfection. While he may not be the best version of himself yet, and the way he sees the world could use some improvement, it’s these flaws that give the series a shot at maintaining the reader’s interest over time. We should see him change as the series progresses. I think Cole has a lot of wonderful elements to work with, and I hope he keeps us on our toes.

Did I mention that I can’t wait until the next book comes out?

Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Ace (January 31, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1937007243
ISBN-13: 978-1937007249

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ShadowBytes is a new webcomic from Patrick Hester and Clifton Hill.  New episodes appear every Tuesday and Thursdays on the Webcomic website.

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Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers (February 7, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1442420294
Available: February 7, 2012

Editor: John Joseph Adams

Authors:

• Peter S. Beagle
• Jonathan Maberry
• Catherynne M. Valente
• Tobias S. Buckell
• Joe R. Lansdale
• Robin Wasserman
• Austin Grossman
• Garth Nix

Celebrate 100 years of John Carter of Mars with this all-new collection of original stories and art!Readers of all ages have read and loved Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom series since the first book, A Princess of Mars, was published in 1912. Now, in time for the 100th anniversary of that seminal work, comes an anthology of original stories featuring John Carter of Mars in brand-new adventures. Collected by veteran anthology editor John Joseph Adams, this anthology features stories from titans of literature such as Peter S. Beagle and Garth Nix and original art from Mark Zug, Charles Vess, and many more—plus an introduction by Tamora Pierce and a glossary of Mars by Richard A. Lupoff.

Illustrations are by prominent artists Meinert Hansen, Charles Vess, John Picacio, and more.

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{A few years ago John Nakamura Remy introduced me to the Spectrum art annuals and my life has not been quite the same since.  Thank you John!}

******

In 1993 Cathy and Arnie Fenner established Spectrum to showcase the incredible wealth of artists creating fantastic themed imagery.  A call for entries was sent out, a jury selected, and in 1994 Spectrum 1 was published. Since then a new collection has come out every year, each a stunning display of fantasy, science fiction, horror, and “otherwise uncategorizable“  artwork. (Check them out!)

Now, finally,  Spectrum is going live:

“It’s time for the creators of fantastic art to have an event they can call their own. It’s time to step away from the periphery of the comics, SF and media-focused “pop-culture”, conventions; it’s time to reinforce the excitement, influence, and value of fantastic art to the public via a first-class venue; it’s time to gather for educational opportunities, for networking opportunities, for social opportunities, and for sales opportunities in a centrally situated, cost-effective location. It’s time we try to grow the market, not shrink it. It’s time for a fantastic art convergence.”

When: May 18-20, 2012

Where: Kansas City, MO.  (Bartle Hall Convention Center)

Cost: $20 for a single day, $40 for the three day membership
(Purchase membership) (Or.. an exhibitor table )

“Perhaps the most unique aspect of Spectrum Fantastic Art Live! will be its focus. It won’t be a comics convention or a science fiction con or a movie/TV convention or a gaming convention or a hotel/motel art sale or a flea market. Comic artists and SF artists and movie concept artists, artists of all stripes and sensibilities—as well as a percentage of art-specialist publishers, print retailers, and original art dealers will be welcomed and afforded the chance to sell their work, meet fans, and expand an appreciation for our field.”

Workshops, portfolio reviews, educational opportunities, and networking.  Plus an amazing line-up of guest artists and exhibitors:

For more info follow Spectrum Fantastic Art Live on twitter @SFantasticAL and Facebook.

********

Spectrum 18 cover by J.S. Rossbach

spectrum 19 poster by Rebecca Guay

Going back to the publications, Spectrum 18 is the most current issue available (here’s a peek inside) and artwork for the upcoming Spectrum 19 is being juried right now. (Greg Manchess discusses that process).  Winners will be announced at a special event during Spectrum Fantastic Art Live!  I am very much looking forward to that.

To conclude, a few words from the Fenners, who started this whole thing:

“Spectrum doesn’t exist to categorize or define fantastic art; rather, it exists to honor the imaginations of very special artists who delight in helping us see the world in a wonderfully different light. It’s our job to help them reach a wider appreciative audience.”

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So, I have to start this out with a moment of honesty: I’ve been biased against novels published by gaming companies for…as long as I’ve been buying books. There’s no particular reason for it, and I really should have known better, but I just didn’t see myself as the target market. I don’t know the world, I don’t know the characters, and the couple of times I’ve looked at it, I came away with an impression of fan-service.

Then I got a couple of Paizo Pathfinder books in the World Fantasy Convention goody bags. They were written by friends, so I figured ‘hey, might as well give it a shot’.

I started out with James Sutter’s Death’s Heretic. I’ve only played original RPGs, never played in the Pathfinder universe, so I had no idea if I would be able to keep up with the story. I love world-building and detail and unique creatures.

Death’s Heretic delivers on all points.

Salim is a hunter for Lamasara, the triple-aspect goddess of birth, death and prophecy. He hunts the restless dead and the people who create them. He himself is deathless, held to life to pay off his debts to the goddess, and the irony is not lost on him.

Now, the goddess has a new task for him, and calls him out of his exile to hunt something much closer to home. Reluctantly, he returns to the desert and meets with Khoyar, the high priest of Lamasara’s death-aspect, and Neila, his client. Neila’s father won a vial of Sun Orchid Elixer, a sort of immortality potion.

The pair chase leads through the Boneyard, into the Eternal City of Axis, even into Hell itself. The action is quick and unrelenting, and Sutter does an excellent job of writing vivid landscapes and bringing the Pathfinder world to life, while still keeping it interesting for a reader who is not familiar with the world. Salim is a dark character, but not given to dramatics or bouts of trying to prove his manliness. Neila is a kick-ass woman who does not rely on her gender, wealth or beauty to get her way. They have good chemistry, and the ending is unexpected and bitter-sweet.

The world-building aspects from the game are a bonus, not a detriment, and Sutter explains them without lapsing into ‘as you know, Bob’. The action is a nonstop romp through fabulous settings, and if it sometimes seems like an excuse to tour the world for the sake of those settings, Sutter backs it up with a surprisingly un-preachy contemplation of mortality and human relationships.

In short, Death’s Heretic is sword and sorcery like I grew up with, but updated. I’m looking forward to more work from both the author and the publisher.

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In episode 88 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Andrew Mayne and Justin Robert Young.

About Andrew Mayne:

Recognized as one of the most creative innovators in magic, Andrew has produced over 30 books and videos on the art of magic. His website can be found at ShockMagic.com

About Justin Robert Young:

A graduate of Syracuse University, Justin has worked at several major metropolitan daily newspapers including “The South Florida Sun-Sentinel” of Fort Lauderdale, Florida and “The Morning Call” of Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Links:

• Andrew Mayne (books)
• Andrew Mayne (blog)
• Andrew Mayne (Twitter)
• Justin Robert Young (iTricks.com)
• Justin Robert Young (TWiT.tv)
• Justin Robert Young (Twitter)

© 2012 Patrick Hester & John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

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Strange Embrace/69 Barrow Street

by Lawrence Block

Dust jacket illustrations by Robert McGinnis

Publisher: Subterranean Press

A Hard Case Crime Hardcover

Length:330 pages

ISBN: 978-1-59606-489-8

This book has a double cover you flip to read the other story, which is cool.

Will be available in May, 2012

From the Subterranean website:

Strange Embrace

They say the show must go on—but in the case of Broadway’s next sensation, A Touch of Squalor, someone’s out to make sure the show never opens. And when threats don’t do the trick, a straight razor to the throat just might.

It’s a case for the NYPD…but with a mysterious killer targeting his cast, producer Johnny Lane can’t just wait in the wings. There’s a Playbill full of suspects, giving Johnny the casting challenge of his career: who to put in the role of murderer, when the wrong call could bring down the curtain on his show—or his life!

Published here for the first time in half a century—and the first time ever under the author’s real name—Strange Embrace is one of MWA Grand Master Lawrence Block’s earliest detective novels, presented in the classic Ace Doubles format with new cover art by the legendary Robert McGinnis. It’s two times the Block, and for fans of his whodunits who want to see where it all began, it’s cause for a standing ovation…

69 Barrow Street

Greenwich Village: home to every form of depravity and perversion known to man…or woman.

It’s on the streets of the Village that Ralph met Stella—but what started as a love affair between a painter and his seductive muse has become torment as he’s found himself drawn into her world of cruel pleasures. It is a tinderbox of hatred and desire—and when beautiful Susan Rivers moves into their apartment building, tempting Ralph and Stella both, it’s set to ignite.

From dim waterfront bars to the movie houses of Times Square, from nights in rat-trap hotel rooms to drug-fueled orgies in ground-floor apartments, no one can bring 1960s New York to life like Edgar Award winner Lawrence Block. And in this early tale of psychological suspense—unavailable for fifty years and never before published under his real name—readers will discover a harrowing portrait of men and women pushed to their limits and beyond. Presented in the classic Ace Doubles format, with new cover art by the legendary Robert McGinnis, it’s a double shot of darkness as only Lawrence Block can deliver it.

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Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Ace (January 31, 2012)
ISBN-10: 1937007243

Official Description:

Army Officer. Fugitive. Sorcerer.

Across the country and in every nation, people are waking up with magical talents. Untrained and panicked, they summon storms, raise the dead, and set everything they touch ablaze.

Army officer Oscar Britton sees the worst of it. A lieutenant attached to the military’s Supernatural Operations Corps, his mission is to bring order to a world gone mad. Then he abruptly manifests a rare and prohibited magical power, transforming him overnight from government agent to public enemy number one.

The SOC knows how to handle this kind of situation: hunt him down–and take him out. Driven into an underground shadow world, Britton is about to learn that magic has changed all the rules he’s ever known, and that his life isn’t the only thing he’s fighting for.

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ShadowBytes is a new webcomic from Patrick Hester and Clifton Hill.  New episodes appear every Tuesday and Thursdays on the Webcomic website.

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Kafkaesque

Adjective

1. Marked by a senseless, disorienting, often menacing complexity e.g. Kafkaesque bureaucracies.
2. Marked by surreal distortion and often a sense of impending danger.
3. In the manner of something written by Franz Kafka.

There are precious few writers whose names have transcended their status as a proper noun. Dickens has become an adjective to describe conditions like the down and dirty worst of Victorian London. Costume dramas, with baroque and intricate plots are routinely described as Shakespearean, even if Shakespeare himself wrote plenty more than that limited style. You come across references to terms such as Orwellian but mostly in a political context.

In the genre world, I see references and have myself used terms like Dicksian (for Philip K Dick) and Moorcockian (For Michael Moorcock). Borges, too, is sometimes used in this way as well. The Cervantes character Don Quixote is an adjective now, too.

And, possibly foremost amongst all of these is Franz Kafka. How many people, who have never read a single line of his fiction glibly and correctly describe their travails with the frustrating bureaucracy of the Department of Motor Vehicles as “kafkaesque”? Or describe a strange metamorphosis as being “something out of a Kafka story?”, even if they have never read Metamorphosis themselves? Plenty. The city of Prague has a small tourist industry in the writer, with plenty of branded items and even coffeehouses named after him.

For a man whose work was mostly published after his death, hardly a success in his own lifetime, Kafka is a man whose legacy, ideas and ethos influence us today. Kafkaesque, a new anthology of stories edited by James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel, seeks to explore the work and ideas of the man whose ideas have become an adjective but whose work is at best under-appreciated and oftentimes misunderstood.

Kafkaesque offers us three kinds of stories:

1. Stories that derive from specific works of Kafka, transposing the ideas of Kafka in a direct fashion. T. Coraghessan Boyle’s The Garage, for example, is a retelling of the Trial in a garage you definitely don’t want your tow truck to take you to.
2. Stories that use Kafka as a character. One of my favorite stories from this collection is Paul Di Filippo’s The Jackdaw’s Last Case, which has Kafka as The Shadowesque superhero.
3. Stories that use the methods and materials of Kafka: A much broader category, these are stories that present themselves as stories that Kafka, in another life, could possibly have written, with the influence sometimes subtle and sometimes overt. Like Eileen Gunn’s Stable Strategies for Middle Management, which combines metamorphosis with the modern corporate rat race. And, a classic Jorge Luis Borges story, The Lottery, is here as well.

And, I suppose a fourth kind, the man’s work itself. There is a new translation of Kafka’s the Hunger Artist, by John Kessel. There is also a graphic interpretation of the Hunger Artist, illustrated and written by R. Crumb and David Mairowitz.

Add to this an essay by Kessel and Kelly that provides a biography and reflection on Kafka’s work, as well, titled “Why Kafka?”

It’s an extremely rich and potent collection. I’ve read a couple of these stories before, in other contexts, and put together with their other stories, I found the similarities and parallels and comparisons of theme, writing and exploration of Kakfa to be illuminating. I do have to say that, of the stories I have not read previously, the aforementioned DiFillippo story is probably my favorite. It has that sort of off-the-wall sensibility of the author, fused with Kafka as an unlikely protagonist. Even better, armed with a basic knowledge of Kafka’s history and biography, the story is replete with references and parallels in ways both playful and thought provoking.

The full table of contents:

• Franz Kafka, “A Hunger Artist” (new translation by John Kessel) 
• J.G. Ballard, “The Drowned Giant” 
• Terry Bisson, “The Cockroach Hat” 
• Michael Blumlein, “Hymenoptera” 
• Jorge Luis Borges, “The Lottery in Babylon” 
• T. C. Boyle, “The Big Garage” 
• Paul Di Filippo, “The Jackdaw’s Last Case” 
• Carol Emshwiller, “Report to the Men’s Club” 
• Jeffrey Ford, “Bright Morning 
• Theodora Goss, “The Rapid Advance of Sorrow” 
• Eileen Gunn, “Stable Strategies for Middle Management” 
• Damon Knight, “The Handler” 
• Jonathan Lethem and Carter Scholz, “Receding Horizon” 
• David Mairowitz and Robert Crumb, “A Hunger Artist” 
• Philip Roth, “’I Always Wanted You to Admire My Fasting’; or, Looking at Kafka” 
• Rudy Rucker, “The 57th Franz Kafka” 
• Carter Scholz, “The Amount to Carry” 
• Tamar Yellin, “Kafka in Brontëland” 

Do I recommend Kafkaesque to you, dear reader? Well, yes. How many of you have you heard the name Kafka and immediately thought of “The Trial” or “Metamorphosis”, but never actually read his work? How many of you have recognized that some of the best work, both within, on the borders of, and outside genre has been influenced by Franz Kafka (If, by no other reason, one or two generations removed, via transmission by Jorge Luis Borges and Philip K Dick)? As you can see from the lineup, we have authors both firmly within and without of science fiction and fantasy who have made use of the rich material Kafka offers those who seek to read his work.

To quote from the end of the essay on Kafka:

“That the work of a man who died as Kafka did, convinced that he had never fulfilled his promise, should produce ultimately so many works, and more than that a vision of the world that compels us to see his influence even where it may not exist, is a powerful a mystery as any of the startlements Frank Kafka wrote in Prague almost one hundred years ago.”

The editors have chosen a diverse and interesting selection of stories to celebrate Kafka’s work and make that invisible presence and influence explicit and know, and for that, I offer plaudits.

And John Kessel and James Patrick Kessel? How about doing a volume like this on Jorge Luis Borges next? I’d pay good money for that!

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ShadowBytes is a new webcomic from Patrick Hester and Clifton Hill.  New episodes appear every Tuesday and Thursdays on the Webcomic website.

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Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card may possibly be the best novel I’ve ever read.

That’s not a statement I make lightly. While my other favorites – Stranger in a Strange Land, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Death World – have all effected me in different ways, none has moved me as much as this strange tale of a little boy who spends his life training for the ultimate war.

The plot is deceptively simple. In a society where population is strictly controlled, Ender Wiggins is a third child. The government gave his parents permission to have one more child than the norm because their first two children, both prodigies, showed such promise for the military. Though their first son was overly aggressive and their daughter overly empathetic, Ender seemed the perfect combination of the two. At the ripe age of six, they collect him for training as a solider in the war against the “buggers.”

Anyone who reads about Ender’s trials – even before he enters the Battle School – and doesn’t feel for him must have a heart of stone. Once in his new environment, a space station, effectively cut off from everyone he’s ever known, he trains with other brilliant children in the ways of the soldier. Though there are classes, his most valuable training takes the form of games – from video games and simulators to a weightless Battle Room where the child soldiers hold mock combats. Poor Ender faces enemies here as well, none of them the aliens he’s training to fight. He’s forced to confront his demons, his allies, and evaluate every situation he’s thrown into.

Near the end of the book, a climactic situation takes place, and though the book goes on, it seems at first to be pointless. Hasn’t the plot been resolved? If Ender’s Game ended there, it would still be a fast paced, emotional, heart-wrenching read. But it doesn’t, and those last pages propel Card’s novel – in my opinion – into one of the greatest novels written in any genre.

Without risk of giving away the rest of the story, let me say this novel is about so much more than one little boy and the hell he’s put through. The book constantly faces the reader with basic questions of morality and humanity. How high is the price for humanity’s survival, and when is that price too high?

When I picked this book, I had no idea what it was about. I’ve never been a big fan of war stories. However, I’d seen Ender’s Game listed on NPR’s list of Top 100 Science-Fiction, Fantasy Books and decided to give it a shot. Every adult, whether you enjoy genre fiction or not, should read this book. It’s incredible.

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Charles Stross’s latest novel, Rule 34, is one of the notable books of 2011, a cyberpunk novel for the social media age. Gone is the notion of revolutionary computers and technologies just out of reach: this futuristic Scotland is a recognizable world that’s just around the corner, one that shows just how scary a high-technology future can become.

Taking place in the same world as his 2007 novel, Halting State, Rule 34 continues with the forward-thinking look at the state of the world and extrapolates further, looking at our digital world and sees just how the world is changing because of it. The result is a very plausible future, one that has deep roots in the present day.

Stross weaves three distinct – and several minor – story-lines together, starting with a fairly gruesome murder of an internet scammer involving a Soviet-era enema machine and some spiked Viagra. The story jumps forward from there, involving members of the Rule 34 squad as DI Liz Kavanaugh works to piece together the unfolding story. As the story progresses, we’re introduced to Anwar Hussain, a closeted homosexual Muslim who is pulled into a becoming the honorary consul for the newly created and possibly fictional breakaway country of Issyk-Kulistan. Finally, the story is completed with the mysterious and psychopathic Toymaker and his various, paranoid identities. Each of these pieces complete part of the puzzle, running at full sprint as the investigation is ongoing and intertwining in a perfectly paced novel. The mystery deepens are more scammers are killed, while Kavanaugh and her team races to figure out the connection between all of the victims and to catch the perpetrator.

Rule 34 maintains a good balance between some weighty ideas about where the future of the internet is headed and character drama. Few authors have really been able to pull this sort of story off, but their names are highly recognizable: Gibson, McDonald and Bacigalupi. Stross can certainly add this book to his excellent bibliography with some of the recent superior novels out there. While there’s a lot of information dumped into the reader’s lap, there’s never any sense that it’s unneeded, flowery or in the way of the plot or for the underlying character construction. Throughout the novel, we’re treated to a number of points on social engineering, political discourse and information security, all of which makes more than complete sense, and is just enough to make one wary when you pick up your mobile phone.

The jarring part of Rule 34 is the same as in Halting State: the 2nd Person narration, which takes a bit of getting used to, but admittedly, makes the book what it is: I harbor serious doubts that this book could be done as well in the other tenses, even if it does take a couple of chapters to sink in. Fortunately, the compelling story and characters make up for it nicely.

I’ve been reading Rule 34 during a fairly political time in the world: the US is gearing up for new elections this year, while the rest of the world faces serious financial and political challenges in the year ahead. This book is by far Stross’s most political, in that it’s cognizant of how the next couple of years will play out. It’s not because of convenient momentum, but because Stross understands just why society works the way it does, picking out several characters to illustrate his points, one by one. If there was any book that I’d want to push on the current political hopefuls, it would be this book; not just to ensure that they’ll be mindful of how they use the internet, but just how the internet and society uses all of us.

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In episode 87 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome back Peter V. Brett and Myke Cole.

Links:

• Myke Cole (author’s website)
• Peter V. Brett (author’s website)
• Myke on Twitter
• Peter on Twitter

© 2012 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast features original music by John Anealio & an excerpt of Boxcar Boogie performed by Dr. John