Softcover, 199 pages
Published Nov. 8, 2014 by Aqueduct Press.
A computer program etched into the atmosphere has a story to tell, the story of two people, of a city lost to chaos, of survival and love. The program's data, however, has been corrupted. As the novel's characters struggle to survive apocalypse, they are sustained and challenged by the demands of love in a shattered world both haunted and dangerous.
Hard emotional stories about living with death, crudely tied into a weird SF over-explained not-quite-whole. So much promise.
This is an excellent first novel by a writer of great promise. Readers may find it a bit perplexing at first, as the main characters jump around in time, space and gender, but it is this that makes it so fascinating -- and rewarding, as the reader slowly begins to unravel the riddle of who the main characters are and what their true relationships are. Unlike some experimental novels, which end on purposefully ambiguous notes, this one has an ending which is not only satisfactory, but which justifies everything that came before. And in the meantime, it is very enjoyable to read. Highly recommended.
Captivating book about mutating identities across realities. Full of subtleties that cannot be captured in one reading, this novel reminds of Iain Banks' The Bridge and a little of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, although it is entirely its own.
