A great combo of sci/fi and murder mystery, Drunk On All Your Strange New Worlds was such an enjoyable read!! I loved the worldbuilding that combined the familiar earth settings with futuristic technology and alien culture, and I absolutely loved Lydia and Fitzwilliam as characters. This book is really clever, with lots of twists and turns but it's also really charming, and I very quickly became attached to Lydia and her story, as well as her unique attachment to Fitzwilliam. I highly recommend this one!!

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<p>Review copy provided by the publisher.</p>
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<p>For each new technology, there are the first few awkward stories that incorporate it--a story that carefully explains that its characters are sending an <em>electronic</em> mail over their <em>computers</em>--then another handful stories that center on it wholly, making it the point (<em>You've Got Mail!</em>)--and then finally the many, many stories for whom it is a normal element of the world, fully incorporated into worldview. <em>Drunk On All Your Strange New Words</em> is not <em>about</em> social media, as if it was a gimmick. It <em>understands</em> social media as an integrated element of modern societies.</p>
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<p>Okay, so if it's not about that, though, what is it about? It's about Lydia, a human translator for an alien cultural attaché, Fitz, whose species can speak basically telepathically with humans, but only a subset of humans. And the side effects of the conversations include that the humans start to feel drunk the longer they've been in a particular alien conversation. It makes the role of a translator a fraught one--as Lydia keeps discovering firsthand. But she likes Fitz, she likes her work, and she certainly didn't have a lot of other options going back in Halifax (Yorkshire, not Nova Scotia).</p>
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<p>Then Fitz is found murdered, and Lydia is one of the prime suspects. Her main skill is conversation with aliens, but now she's here, there, and everywhere, having to talk to aliens and humans alike, do research, anything at all to track down the clues that she's getting--some of them possibly from Fitz himself, beyond the grave. Lydia's always been set apart from the other translators, but now she's chasing clues around New York City, feeling utterly alone--and her visit to her family may well make things worse. I found her working class sensibilities and her dogged determination appealing as this very science fictional mystery unraveled.</p>
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Drunk on All Your Strange New Words is a quirky SF post-first-contact mystery by Eddie Robson. Due out 28th June 2022 from Macmillan on their Tor/Forge imprint, it's 288 pages and will be available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

I was fascinated by the premise of the book and by the world building (mostly, more on that later). It's post-first-alien-contact in the near future. The aliens, Logi, can only communicate through telepathic images to perceptive individuals, with the proviso that doing so renders the human translator drunk in the process.

I had some trouble engaging with the story because it's told in third person point of view in the present tense. It was obviously an intentional choice, for the direct told-in-the-moment kinetic style, but I just found it intrusive and ever so slightly annoying to read. The writing itself is quite competent. The central concepts, the plotting, and the world building are a bit chaotic and scattered, again undoubtedly intentionally, but the fact that the disparate plot threads never really resolved into a central and complete denouement felt unbalanced to me, especially with regard to the setting (near-future NYC which felt a tiny bit lazy), and that there didn't seem to be many real or profound observations about the Logi (or indeed humans). The primary characters are very well rendered and I found them compelling. There are numerous secondary characters however which felt two dimensional and incomplete.

Overall, it's an interestingly offbeat book and well written. Three and a half stars for me, likely higher for fans of avant-garde SF murder mysteries.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

I got a NetGalley review copy in exchange for an honest review.
I started reading this on a rainy Sunday when I was sick. I read it through 3 sick, rainy days and it was the perfect antidote to reality. It is a well written and well paced book. The world building is strong - set in a near future New York, things are not over-explained, they are shown, rather than told. Extraneous things are not explained - only what matters. Within the scaffolding of this believable near future is an interesting well paced mystery, with an effective, if slightly disturbing conclusion that I, for one, did not see coming. This is not surprising, I rarely work out "who done it"before it is explained to me.That's one of the reasons I value strong characters and an interesting plot. I loved it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!
This was pretty interesting. I had never read the author before. I liked the worldbuilding, the aliens and their methods of communicating, and the mystery part of the book. It took me a little bit to get into it, but once I did it was a good story.

I really wanted to like this title but I didn’t really like it overall. I liked the story and the writing but in the end it kinda fell flat for me. I felt like the ending was sort of rushed trying to solve the mystery. I enjoyed the science fiction part of the story. It was easy to follow but I just couldn’t get in to the story. The lingo the author used was a little weird to figure Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy to read. I look forward to reading other things from the author

Ahoy there me mateys!  I received an eArc of this sci-fi novella through NetGalley in exchange for me honest musings . . .

This is the story of Lydia who works as a translator for the telepathic alien cultural attaché nicknamed Fitz.  The entertaining aspect of this book is that working as a translator causes the humans to basically get drunk the longer that they translate.  So when Fitz is killed, Lydia finds herself as the main suspect.  Only she can't remember what happened that night.  Did she really do it?

The highlight of the novel for me was learning about the translating, how training for that job happened, and the actual translating itself.  I love word play and cultural differences and so that was the main appeal of the novella.  I also enjoyed the relationship between Fitz and Lydia. Ye don't get a lot about the alien culture but I enjoyed what was presented.

The world building, characterization, and murder mystery elements were a bit light.  I thought the solution to the murder was a bit odd and nonsensical.  But I was rooting for Lydia and did enjoy following her story.  A quick fun read.  Arrrr!

A great cat-and-mouse crime story, inventive alien technology, amazing world building, and the dumbest villain I've read in awhile.
Aliens have made it to Earth, psychic ones with cool hats, and our main character is a psychic translator working for one of their ambassadors. One of the biological effects of the psychic effects is the human body releasing hormones to cause a feeling of drunkenness so working a long shift gives you a hard buzz, but not in a good way.
The story if full of interesting plot points like this, little things that can change how people make decisions, like in real life that rarely makes it to stories. Like a character talking about government censorship but with a "what are you going to do about it" defeatist attitude, like, you know, people today. Everybody feels real, even the side quest characters.
After a crime, our girl starts trying to find the criminal and people do that thing they don is "Law & Order" where they conveniently remember something and give the detective the next clue to the next person who does the same... but this is explained! I was building up criticism, finding more and more flaws in the story, until it turns out this was all for a reason and the reason doesn't suck! I was impressed and excited.
The deus ex machina is pretty strong though, which is a bit annoying. Some is explained by the plot, some is just happening to people.
The world building impressed me the most. Technology is slightly ahead of our time, but the alien tech is alien so doesn't count. But people use technology like people, so we see advances in social media and how hate groups and click-bait AI's use them, it feels real. I appreciate how natural the language is... there is not "Company X built glasses that interact with each other so people can share information", none of that just language like "Back home she really valued her hardscape connections [...] her friends back home have drifted to the edges of her circle and rarely get pushed at her anymore." I didn't know the meaning of hardscape, circle, pushed, in this context, but figured it out easily. I didn't need definitions, because this is how people talk now. Google and TikTok are verbs, we can just use them. I liked the use of "circle", reminded me of T-Mobile's MyFav feature (link) from the late 2000's.
The strength of the world and character building still didn't fix the ending for me, but the writing quality makes me excited for more Robson.
**I received an advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"Drunk on All Your Strange New Word" by Eddie Robson is a very creative mystery story. Although major characters happen to be telepathic aliens and the story takes place in a near future with cool ubiquitous technology, it is more of detective story than science fiction. The author includes a number of thought provoking twists that keep this story fresh and engaging from start to finish. It was definitely a fun book to read. I look forward to reading more by Eddie Robson.

I thank Tor Books and Eddie Robson for graciously providing a temporary electronic review copy of this book

Full disclosure, received for free in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley.

Solid little mystery! Plenty of clues, didn't feel like any of the solutions were too outlandish, did a good job of breadcrumbing it along the way. I do like the ideas in it, regarding translation as a long term job and whatnot.

Robson is very prolific, and knows how to create a compelling story. This has a unique and interesting premise, and it kept me engaged. I suspect those that pick up this one will likely enjoy it.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!

The premise of Drunk on All Your Strange New Words is creative and captivating. The science-fiction elements are blended so well with the strong mystery plot and I am not sure I have read anything like it before. From the beginning of the story, I was rooting for the main character Lydia. The author has done a great job of creating a world where the Logi Aliens have an embassy and relations are handled carefully. The characters and the mystery are very well done as well. I was not sure what to expect when I started reading this and I am very impressed with what the author has created.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for the opportunity to read and Arc.

This is an incredibly creative novel. Arrival (the movie) meets Grave Reservations! If you loved A Memory Called Empire but need a little less heft, this is the book for you. Within the first few pages, I was struck with how innovative it is, while also being entirely plausible. When Lydia finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation, I was immediately swept away in helping her figure out who she could trust. Eddie Robson has a skillfully deft hand at adding new and alien tech into an incredibly familiar world. I've thought about elements of this book everyday since I finished it. Because of this book, I learned exactly what "locked-room mystery" means, and I'm into it!

I’m not sure what I expected, but it wasn’t quite what the book was. It was good, though! The concept of how language is used in the book’s universe is fascinating & definitely my favorite part.

This book was a wonderful surprise. Set in a future where aliens have made contact and humans are trying to figure out how to coexist, communication involves particular aptitude and the feeling of being drunk. Lydia is a translator who is trying her best. Then something horrible happens.

As the official description itself is vague, I’m also going to be vague about the book's details. I loved the characters, and I was genuinely sad when a bad thing happened. The book plays with your expectations of mysteries, and you expect mysteries to work in a certain way, and then the book plays with it.

Even if sci-fi is not your preferred genre, give this book a try.

This review is based on an advanced reader copy provided through Netgalley for an honest review.

"Drunk on All Your Strange New Words" follows a human interpreter/translator of alien language who must solve a murder. The story was incredible. I love sci-fi locked room mysteries (Gideon the Ninth, anyone?), so this was right up my alley. I found Robson's writing to be humorous and the story itself was quirky (in a good way) and well-paced. I don't want to give anything away, but I thought the resolution was unpredictable and satisfying.

Although the end results are very different, I noted that the premise of Robson's book feels somewhat reminiscent of the film Arrival (2016), which centres around a female linguist working to decipher a language spoken by aliens who arrive on Earth.

This was a wonderfully concise work with really well realized, and quirky, characters set in a world that I absolutely need more from. The narrative voice, the world-building, the pacing, the plot, it was all so good. *chef's kiss* I implore you to give this one a read when it's released, especially if you're a fan of sci-fi/fantasy. I've never read anything quite like this and I'm not sure I'll ever find anything quite like this again. Amazing!

Drunk on All Your Strange New Worlds is set on a medium near future earth changed by global warming. When the novel opens Earth has already been in contact with the alien Logi civilization long enough for there to be established embassies and a training program for human translators.

The Logi are a telepathic race with a largely biocentric technology. One in 100,000 humans can learn to communicate with them and translate for them. Lydia has been the Logi Cultural Atache's translator for 10 months when he is murdered and she investigates who may have done it.

Good characters and good world building. It does not read like the part of a series but I would read another if the author writes on.

My rambling thoughts on this:

•Good representation of translators. Technically Lydia is an interpreter, but translator has been synonymous with interpreter for so long I’m willing to forgive it lol. It’s interesting how Lydia wants to be seen rather than be invisible as her interpreter job entails.

•Interpreters have to understand all contexts, especially what is subtext, and that’s funny to see Lydia understand what people are trying to communicate vs. what they’re saying. Its definitely a struggle whether interpreting or translating, so I found this a nice touch.

•The fear on perfect machine translation was also a nice touch. As a translator, it’d be scary to lose my job to a machine, but right now our machine translations still suck so at least that’s what we’ve got going for us.

•The settings were phenomenal. Every one was interesting and unique. I can’t say much without spoiling, but the 50s cafe and the Strawberry Fields tickled me.

•The plotting was airtight. Nearly everything introduced in the first half was brought up in the second half. Every character made a second appearance to move the plot forward. That being said, there were some loose threads I found unsatisfying, and I wasn’t quite sure if I “bought” the reasons for some character’s actions. I also wasn’t entirely sure of the killer’s motives in the end, since it wasn’t foreshadowed at all. (Maybe it was and I just missed it?)

I’d recommend this to any sci-fi fan and language nerd!

This book is weird. I really like weird. If you like weird, too, this might be the book for you. The main character and translator gets drunk on the alien language of the cultural attache she works for, reminding me of China Mieville’s Embassytown, which isn’t a bad thing because I love that book, although this is a much easier read. The exploration of how we might interact with alien species and the resulting after effects is always fascinating to me.

Lydia is a human interpreting for the Logi, an alien race that have peacefully occupied Earth. What seems, at first, to be a post-contact sci-fi story unexpectedly turns into a twisty mystery with murder, immersive VR, and political corruption. With a future New York where the seawall has collapsed and social media streaming constantly via high-tech glasses where stories are assigned a truthfulness rating, Eddie Robson provides a stark critique of where we could be headed as a planet. He also gives an interesting look at translation and the vulnerability of those who can’t speak for themselves.

Overall, it was fun read that kept my attention, and I will be thinking about it for a while.