This debut novel by Jinwoo Chong is a multicultural, soft sci-fi story that touches on issues relevant to current times.
The book has three main characters of Korean-White ancestry, all of whom live in a Silicon Valley-like city full of movers and shakers.
► Bo
Eight-year-old schoolboy Bo blames himself for the death of his mother.
Just before Christmas, Bo forgot to grab his lunch when he left for school, and his mother was hit by a bus while bringing his lunch-bag to him. Bo's four-year-old brother Kaz doesn't quite understand their mother is gone, and their father Hal is clumsy about dealing with the family's grief. Hal even tries to celebrate Christmas, which causes Bo to act out.
Bo, who's permanently scarred from the loss of his mother, tries to find comfort by watching and re-watching episodes of his favorite retro police show, called 'Raider.' In the cop program, actor Antonin Haubert plays an Asian detective who never misses a shot.
Long after 'Raider' airs, actor Antonin Haubert gets flagged for sexually harassing women, and Haubert's son - a pop-culture celebrity with no political experience - decides to run for President.
*****
► Brandon
Twenty-eight year old Brandon, who works for a print magazine called Metropol, is called into the office of his boss (and boyfriend) Gil.
Gil tells Brandon that Metropol has been purchased by another publisher, and the entire division is being terminated. With his eight weeks severance pay in his pocket, Brandon stops by the mall and buys a pricey man-purse.
Brandon also makes a tenuous connection with the salesgirl, named Min. Afterwards, when Brandon falls down the mall's elevator shaft, Min is very sympathetic.
Brandon's elevator shaft accident is also observed by an avant-garde young man called Lev.
Lev offers Brandon a job with a company called Flux, founded by beautiful Io Emsworth. Emsworth claims to manufacture a battery that never runs down, and has drummed up almost a billion dollars in funding. (Yes, she's a clone of Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos.)
Flux is also developing a process that uses human brains to generate unlimited electricity. Lev hires Brandon for this brain program, and the job traps Brandon in a weird time-loop, where he seems to experience the same thing day after day after day.
*****
► Blue
Forty-eight-year-old Blue, who once worked for Flux, had a medical incident that took away his voice.
Now a news organization doing a documentary about Flux wants to interview Blue on camera. So the news-people fit Blue with a temporary gizmo in his neck that allows him to speak.
While Blue has the voice gizmo he visits with an old man under penthouse arrest, to gather more information about Flux.
The eventual merging of the storylines results in surprises, aha moments, and perhaps some hope for the future.
I found the book to be well-written and innovative. Recommended to fans of speculative fiction.
Rating: 4 stars
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