Three debuts release on Tuesday, so I'm going to start posting them today. I'll start with Radio Freefall by Matthew Jarpe. Radio Freefall appears to be a rock-n-roll cyberpunk science fiction story. Here's an excerpt from the blurb on his website:
Aqualung knows how to get inside his audience's heads. He knows what kind of music they really want, and this knowledge has propelled the Snake Vendors to the peak of fame. He also knows what kind of world the people want, and it isn't the kind of world they are about to get.
Walter Cheeseman is about to give the people the kind of world he wants. He knows how to control the people by controlling information. The only thing that stands in his way is a wild intelligent virus called the Digital Carnivore.
Quin Taber is on the trail of the Digital Carnivore. He has discovered the origins of the virus and is about to unlock the secret that will control it, and through the virus, all of the computers in the world. His motivation: revenge against his former boss, Walter Cheeseman.
On the eve of Unification, when all countries of the world come together under one government, a musician, a hacker and a trickster god of the web combine forces to give the people a new choice.
Jarpe's amusing website hints at his writing style. It's worth a visit just to read his bio, not to mention the sample chapter. And of course, he has a blog. And I might as well put up a link to the Snake Vendors, just so I have a link to almost every page on his site.There's an interview at SFRevu, plus reviews at SFSignal, Publishers Weekly (scroll way down, as usual), and Don D'Ammassa (third review).
Update: Edited to clear up an error. See comments if you are curious.
5 comments:
No psionics! When I say hard SF I mean hard SF. I hope that doesn't mean you can't review it here. Thanks for the multiple links.
Hmm. It seemed like Aqualung had some sort of "gift". I'm certainly not adverse to reviewing hard SF here, although it's not my area of specialty.
I'm reading and loving this book right now. It could end up being one of my favorite SF novel's of the year ;)
Aqualung does have a gift, but it's a spoiler to tell you exactly what it is. It's no spoiler to tell you that it isn't psychic. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I just don't want anyone getting the book thinking it's "The Demolished Man" meets "For Those About to Rock."
Robert, I'm glad you like it so far. I like your review so far.
Neither do I (although that sounds intriguing!), so I've edited the post to eliminate the error.
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