The Cygnus Virus

T. J. Zakreski’s novel <i>The Cygnus Virus</i> was about a man named Andron Varga, a lawyer on Terra (a planet very similar to Earth), who accidentally downloads a virus from Earth, named Cygnus. Andron is a normal guy, “very much a traditional onion, wrapped in layers of convention.” However, Cygnus is not. He is unsatisfied with his virtual existence and becomes determined to be reborn in a new body with his old memories. Enter the Church of the Holy Cloth (COHC), who have a cloth in their possession, much like Earth’s Shroud of Turin, that has genuine DNA of Yeshua (Terra’s version of Jesus). With the right technology, Cygnus can be reborn: as the Second Coming of Yeshua. And as Cygnus becomes increasingly more dangerous, Andron – as the only man who knows who Cygnus really is – has to find a way to stop him and save Terra.

I loved the cover. It’s one of the reasons I chose to read the book. However, although the concept (and the cover) seemed interesting, I think it fell short overall. The narrative was a little too disorganized for me. I think I am just not a fan of this style of writing; it’s why I was also unable to finish Margaret Atwood’s <i>The Year of the Flood</i> (which has a lot of similar elements to this story).

The story itself also felt a little disjointed, though I don’t know if it was due to the writing style as well. In the Prologue, the people from Earth travelling to Terra alluded to a stowaway on their ship as well to the significance of a set of tarot cards, which separated the nine sections of the book. The tarot cards only gave a vague skeleton to the outline of the story, and though I thought they were interesting, did not really contribute too much to the story overall. Also, the identity of the stowaway was never identified, though I can only guess it was Cygnus since he made his way to Terra to wreak havoc.

Something else that was both interesting and frustrating was the parallels that were drawn between Earth and Terra. Both races of humanoid were similar, only with slightly differing distinguishing marks on the foreheads of one planet’s inhabitants. Both had very similar vocabulary, such as “lawyers,” which seem to be ubiquitous and hated on both (and possibly) every life-bearing planet. There were also weird (and possibly unnecessary) changes between the two planets, such as Earth’s “Hitler” versus Terra’s “Himmler.” These changes felt arbitrary and disjointed, especially after reading Blake Crouch’s <i>Dark Matter</i>, which revealed how different the world can be with altering only one choice in your life. To see how similar these planets were to each other was a little disconcerting, though I guess it also makes sense, going off the premise in <i>Dark Matter</i> that there are a myriad of possible universes out there, and it only makes sense that one of the multitude would have to exist where these two planets were so similar and yet so different.

Although this book reminded me of other books, it is unfair to compare them to this. <i>The Cygnus Virus</i> is a story all its own. There are some parts I didn’t like (see above), but there were a lot of parts I did like. I thought it was interesting how secular the COHC was made to be. For example, when Thomas O’Brien came to be in power, his vision for the church had three pillars:
<blockquote>
“First Pillar…<i>put the Christos back in the Yeshua.</i>
Second Pillar…<i>sue the shit out of everyone.</i>
Third Pillar…<i>celebrity endorsements.</i>
</blockquote>

But I digress. I liked Andron’s character. He was an ordinary man who met with unfortunate circumstances. He was real – he had his flaws, he makes mistakes, and he gives in to his vices – but he tries his best to do what he thinks has to be done to save Terra. This book took me longer-than-normal to read, but I’m glad I stuck it out.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

The Cygnus Virus by T.J. Zakreski
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC!

I was rather interested in the tale from the beginning of lost love and Tarot card chapters, but what really caught my interest was the almost Philip K. Dick VALIS-type twist going on soon after, with godlike overtones from distant stars, computer viruses, oddly detailed virtual realities (or Alternate Realities), and crazy religions bringing the clone craze to the Jesus Genome.

And it doesn't end there, either, because theres a great number of interesting plot twists and cool character colloquialisms and even more fun dialects, too, dude.

I'm not just throwing out the whole late PKD vibe on a whim, here. There's a lot of cool stuff going on here that should appeal to all fans, including the paranoia, the religious freaks, the heavy mix of technology and mysticism, time travel, universe building, and Good and Evil.

And did I mention that each chapter links to a corresponding Tarot card?

This is one of those cool experimental SF novels that also has a clear and fun and wild plot that doesn't disappoint by remaining upon the straight-line obvious conclusion.

Not that it really means all that much these days, but there is a lot of graphic sexual scenes, too, so if you want a little wild side with your mindfuq, then dive right in, dude.

I had a really great time with this one, and I will be certain to read more by the author in the future. Seriously, dude!

I liked the tone, but had trouble getting into the story overall. It felt very Douglas Adams, but with less cohesion. Gave up reading after a while as I was just having trouble getting into the story. That being said, I tend to lean more towards YA fantasy, so I am probably not the intended audience for this one.

If you are a fan of Douglas Adams or are looking for a wacky sci-fi romp, this may be worth a try!

Disclosure: I received this title for free for review in advance of publication.

Title for my review: Author channels Nietzsche using the voices of Jack Kerouac and Robert Kroese

At the end of this book, all I could say to myself is "Man, this book reads with such hopelessness about, and for humanity that I would be happier if I had a way to purge it from my mind." Under other circumstances, I might have actually abandoned this book about 20% of the way in, because I just don't want to fill my brain with the philosophy of Nietzsche, which this author clearly embraces (wrapping it in sci-fi clothing).

So, sadly, being faithful to my book review rules (http://www.startupdj.com/book-rating-rules) means I need to give it a 3. But had I not committed to a review, and thus finished it, I would give it a 1.

Further comments might be useful:
* The author switches writing voice style from time to time, depending on either the character narrating, or the circumstances the narrator is in. However, I felt the latter was frequently unnecessary, particularly when the voice of the main character - normally an articulate lawyer - switched to Jack Kerouac beat-style. I imagine the author wanted to reflect a change in mindset of the character, but I couldn't buy that degree of mental-state change of the character.

* I have mixed feelings about the use of fairly lusty sex scenes. He uses sex as motivation for the main character, but it dives fairly deeply into the subject - more than I thought was necessary. And frankly, I could imagine several other motivations that would be has as effective.

* The story arc is pretty good. It seems to jump a bit as he changes narrative characters, but if you hang with him, the is told pretty well.

On an NPS-type scale of recommendation, I'd give this about a 3-4, just because I don't want to fill my friends' brains with this world view.

Not my usual type of read, but I found myself drawn in despite myself! Loved it!!

I had troubles believing in this story, an all-digital person can't take into hostage a whole real world. The book is also lessened by being mostly a word play between only two people.

This was not for me.
I found the story and characters very depressing.
So I just could not engage with anything within the book.

This is rather an oddball. I couldn’t decide whether I somewhat liked it, or if it just wasn’t for me. So in the end, I guess I’m going with a “meh” rating.

This story comes with a blend of crazy sci-fi, people encoding themselves in virtual space, cloning experiments, and religious fanaticism. The parallels with our world are not only obvious but totally on purpose and often played for laughs (the Holy Cloth, lawyer jokes, and so on). This was for the most part enjoyable, and provided for a background that was both unknown but easy to understand.

The “Cygnus Virus” is also, let’s be honest, a troll, and in a way, it was fun to read about (well, provided one doesn’t squirm at the prospect of porn-bombing descriptions and e-mails containing goat pictures and the likes). Not a very “pleasant” character, for sure, and one that struck me as more immature than anything else, not to mention the bleak surroundings and situations he created for Andron and others; still, that cloning project was both hilarious and genius, when you think about it (imagine injecting a /b/-level troll into the cloned body of the next Messiah… yeah, Charlie-Foxtrot much?). OK, it’s vulgar. The Berlin sim had a vulgar side, too, however at the same time it foreshadowed the kind of decision Andron would probably have to make later, and that was interesting. And he tries, the poor guy, doing the best he can with what he has.

And the ending. Cosmic irony to the power of ten. I liked that.

On the other hand… the present tense narration just grated on my nerves from beginning to end—I think this is part of the reason why I never warmed up to the book in general. In some cases, it works, in others it fails.

Moreover, I think the story could’ve gone a bit further in Andron’s motivations and/or Cygnus’s behaviour. Considering the blurb, I expected Andron to be more ruthless, and conversely, Cygnus was more like a kid throwing a tantrum, which was fun, but dampened the potential for Evil he was bringing to Terra.

Conclusion: I liked most of the story’s themes, even though it could’ve done with less sex-troll material and with more seriously-evil instead, but the narrative tense and the outcome (and outlook on life) of some of the characters were perhaps a bit too… well, too b leak to my liking.