Wetware by Craig Nova
Format: Paperback
Goodreads
I picked up this one for a different reason than usual, the author is going to be one of my professors in the fall. I’m not a huge science fiction person, as far as I usually go is Ender’s Game or maybe some Anne McCaffrey depending on where you draw the line. The descriptions are beautiful. The futuristic world is believable and disturbing. There is a morbid beauty to the entire thing. There was a bit more sexually explicitness than I anticipated but it suited. It was a bit hard to get into until over halfway through when all the strands really started coming together. In the end I was left with a sense of beauty and hope and terror, ironically description that apply very accurately to Kay and Jack and what Briggs was trying to achieve. I always forget to talk about the story. Briggs is an engineer of sorts charged with writing the genetic code for creating human beings with specific purposes. The job he is charged with is carried out, but he makes changes along the way for the sake of beauty you might say. In the end though I think the reader is left with questions similar to those Briggs might be asking himself: Was it worth it? Was it safe? Will it happen again?
Firemagic:Well, I am glad to hear that you enjoyed Wetware. The truth is that this is not a typical book of mine, but then this is one reason I have given book reviewers the French Fits, that is I keep trying new things. But I’d like to suggest two other books to you, The Good Son and Cruisers, and if you send me an address, I will put copies in the mail. You can write to me at Craignova.com. Or through UNCG. Or at nova@sover. net. I look forward to meeting you in the fall. All best, Craig
Craig .. I wrote you just the other day once I learned you would accept e – mail . Having a professor with a book one can read and actually enjoy reading is serendipitous. ( In my day it would have been some stuffed shirt blueblood named ” Austin Bottomjaw ” or something ridiculous whos book would have been some personal account of their high – falootin ‘ , self horn tootin ‘ experiences rivaling the exploits of Commander McBragg) I heard of ” Wetware ” many years ago & vowed to read it eventually ( having heard via public radio it’s subtle similarities to a certain Philip K. Dick Novel ) I just got a copy and am 3/4 the way through .. I freaking LOVE this book . It’s extremely visual , yet allows the reader to interpret this imagery from their personal point of view . These days I expect many readers feel the need to go gallavanting straight to the ” shoot ’em ups ” ( since we live in an impatient society ) but I recognise the need for a proper, deliberate unrushed tone setting . ” Wetware ” is like an enjoyable chess game that accellerates as the pawns are removed & one realizes what they’re really in for (matching wits with the chess super computer Big Blue or the clever gary Kasparov ? )I tried to imagine what Kays playing must have sounded like to inspire such raw emotion ( mozart is mentioned .. I also imagined ” Liebestraum ” a dream of love , Liszt or Beethovens piano sonata 8th , adagio cantabile ) The description of the mungo man with the ill fitting false teeth & hawaiian shirt he acquired was priceless. I also found the hint of eroticism tastefully subtle . Leslie Carr reminded me of a younger and devious Sharon Stone .I guessed that she might have been responsible for the ” tampering “and now I am afraid for Briggs .. ( hell hath no fury .. ) I won’t say anything else except I WANT that female clock that Briggs has,snappy catch phrases and all . (Hmmm I wonder if ” sharper image”has any plans for a sassy hot babe clock ? This could be lucrative ! ) Thank you again for writing something so imaginative & avante garde. I was beginning to think gestalt was something you used with ” ge-pepper” ( Haaaah that was awful . ) Nexus 6