The Fortunate Fall

The Fortunate Fall by Cameron Reed (1996) 289 pages

I read an article by Jo Walton on the Reactor magazine website a couple years ago that caused me to put this on my reading list. The article is edited from the introduction Walton wrote for this re-released edition of the book. I was intrigued by this cyberpunk world that wasn't so engulfed in noir. Most of the story takes place around Kazakhstan and it is a dystopian future. Maya Andreyeva is a "camera" working for a news network. She has audio and video equipment implanted in her head that can live broadcast what she hears and sees. There are also "screeners," who are like virtual producers providing research and graphics and editing for the broadcasts. Maya wants to investigate a holocaust/genocide that a previous world power committed and then nearly completely covered up. This leads her to finding a survivor from that time named Voskresenye. Maya interviews Voskresenye and falls deep into his scheming plans. Voskresenye had nearly died and was brought back to life Frankenstein style. He can only move around in the world with a cyborg carapace, which I imagined as a crab-like exoskeleton. He takes the place of the mad scientist who created him and furthers the cybernetic experiments. There are a few elements of this story that feel like a fairy tale. It constantly surprised me with the twists in the plot. The title and Voskresenye's ultimate goal to eliminate emotional suppression and restore the soul is tied to his own brand of theology. Maya developing feelings for the new "screener" assigned to her is engrossing until the end, when their lesbian romance just becomes angsty.

Unwieldy Creatures

 Unwieldy Creatures by Addie Brook Tsai (2022) 296 pages

"Unwieldy Creatures, a biracial, queer, gender-swapped retelling of Mary Shelley's classic novel Frankenstein, follows the story of three beings who all navigate life from the margins." So starts the synopsis that caught my interest. I love the cultural influence Mary Shelley's Frankenstein has had, but it was a novel I didn't finish in high school. I made slow progress through this retelling. The style and method of three people telling us the story is very similar to how Shelley's novel is presented. Dr. Z's dangerous ambition takes up the most pages. Plum, the protege, commands considerably fewer pages. And Ash, the creature, only shares their voice briefly toward the end. Tsai includes some bilingualism with Mandarin characters in Plum's story, so I had to flip to the end of the chapters for translation footnotes. The author also lifts some sentences straight from the original Frankenstein novel. The story is set now, or in the near future, so the science is more up-to-date involving in vitro gestation. However, there are still plot holes that didn't totally make sense to me. I'm glad this version exists. The rejection faced by some queer people from their families is a theme that fits well in this "creature feature" framework. Themes of estranged parents and children still resonate in this context. Tsai writes like the Romantic writers of Mary Shelley's era, and this is the part I struggled with the most. There is a lack of energy moving the plot along in the later part of this book.

Boneshaker

 Boneshaker (The Clockwork Century #1) by Cherie Priest (2009) 416 pages

This was a fun steampunk adventure, but I'm not so thrilled with the characters and setting to necessarily continue the series. It is a world where the American Civil War has stretched on for several additional years because the author imagines the South had the train routes and manufacturing that in reality gave the North the advantage. That is an uncomfortable premise, giving the South more power, but it is background to a story that takes place in Seattle before any of the west coast has been divided into states. The alternate history that really affects the story is that the Klondike gold rush happened earlier than in reality, so the population of Seattle has boomed, and a mad scientist loosely inspired by Edison built the Boneshaker machine to drill for gold, but unintentionally released a poisonous yellow gas called Blight. Blight turns people into zombies and a giant wall was built around Seattle to stop the gas from spreading. Some rough and ready folks still live in the city in sealed up underground passages where gas masks and zombie fighting weapons are always at hand. Sixteen years later, Ezekiel, the son of this mad scientist, has only known life in the Outskirts outside the wall. He sets out to learn what really happened with his father inside the walls. His mother Briar chases after him to get him safely out of the city, but it is not easy for her to locate her son. The action is pretty steady and characters are fearful of not only the zombies, but a mad scientist who is in charge of the unfinished train station within the walls. Are the rumors true about who this mad scientist is?

Immortal

Immortal by Gene Doucette  356 pp.

"Adam" is a rare human who is immortal. He cannot die from natural causes but, under the right (wrong?) circumstances, he could be killed. He doesn't know why he is this way or how old he really is. He was born approximately sixty thousand years ago. Through the millennia he lived in many parts of the world, adopted many names, learned many languages, drank a lot of alcohol, and dodged many who wanted him dead. So far he has survived by cunning and luck. Now he has reached the 21st century and is on the run chased by a demon who wants to kill him and a nefarious corporation who want his blood. Then there are the vampires . . . . This was a cheap Kindle sale purchase and the first in a series. I didn't expect a whole lot from it but was pleasantly surprised at how engaging the writing and story are. If they offer a deal on book two I plan to get it.

Ticker

Ticker by Lisa Mantchev  270 pp.

Penelope Farthing has been "augmented" with a mechanical heart she must wind up every day. It was installed by surgeon Calvin Warwick to save her life from the hereditary heart defect that killed her sister. Warwick is on trial for killing people during experimentation to perfect a better "Ticker" for Penny. Penny knew nothing of his horrible research and now wants nothing to do with Warwick. Near the end of the trial, Penny's parents are kidnapped and their house ransacked. Warwick escapes and is holding the Farthings for a ransom of all the Augmentation research in their possession. Penny, her brother Nic, and friend, Violet set out to find Warwick and return the elder Farthings home safely. I don't read a lot of steampunk but enjoyed this one throughout. The is resolved with a solid ending but could be open to a sequel with the main characters but there isn't one yet.