Citizen Sim

Cool, Funny, and Confusing in Just the Right Measure

If you prefer a clear, linear plot with everything revealed and explained in proper order and at the right time, then you might not care for this book. If you don't mind a hero who is always racing to keep up with what's happening to him, and is never quite sure what is happening until it has already happened, then this book may be just what you need. NO SPOILERS HERE, but the plot twists and turns and skips around, is loaded with scads of fascinating characters, works in multiple time lines and explores a variety of competing realities of varying plausibility and logic. Now, something like that could be a complete and aggravating mess. Especially from a new author, you would be justified in being a bit hesitant. Well, don't be. If you are patient, and maybe reread a paragraph here and there, you will be fine in terms of following the story. And it is worth it.

There are a number of other things going on here that make the book even more appealing than just being a head trip. The hero is described as a slacker, but he is not drawn as one of those almost willfully dense types. He's just a teen who resists the normal and the authoritarian, and who can't identify with that? He has good instincts, a resourceful streak, and a generally engaging presence. It's nice to have a hero you like.

Importantly, the secondary characters are varied, critical to the tale, and fascinating in their own right. And, while our main character is a guy, the most compelling and dynamic characters are female, which is a nice change for a quantum/sci-fi/Matrix kind of book.

It also helps that there is some very dry, funny throwaway humor sprinkled through the book. Johnny and his pals have a really funny conversation when Johnny is first trying to convince them he isn't have a psychotic breakdown, and this style of humor keeps popping up to lighten the mood, break tension or just establish characters. The humor isn't heavy handed; it's wry and sharp.

Also, the author has a nice touch in building tension and menace and in describing action, so you don't get bogged down in heavy, clunky unconvincing action sequences.

The one aspect of the book that gave me pause until I got used to it was the author's tendency occasionally to write awkward run on sentences composed of lots of clauses and phrases. This was coupled with a rather idiosyncratic use of commas and hyphens, so it took a few pages to get in sync with the author's pace and phrasing. Actually, the book reads like it's being told as an oral narrative, with asides and dramatic pauses, and this interesting style ended up not being a deal breaker. (Examples: "The dog lifted his butt, wiggled the nub where would have been a tail had he not been docked as a puppy, and whined." Or, "Mr. Florence took one, two, three scoops of sugar, stirred, and licked his spoon." Take a full pause at each comma and the sentence works. )

So, the upshot is that you have a fine hero, really interesting additional characters, a head trip sort of plot, humor, action and suspense. That was quite enough for me.

Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.