It’s not a very pleasant world, but it’s a very interesting one. There’s also political turmoil with homophobic conservatives in power and a cult of bird priests (derogatorily called bin chickens because of the ibis masks – the one New Zealand/Australian reference I did get) making trouble. Houses are grown from mushrooms, people can have lost limbs regrown, though there are also more terrifying applications of alchemy, like guns that shoot grubs that burrow under your skin or criminals being turned into mindless slaves. Something happened and now metal is taboo and biological technology reigns. The main star of this book is definitely the worldbuilding. And many other things that I do not want to spoil. She’s also a drug addict living paycheck to paycheck and one night, while stumbling home high, she happens upon a corpse – and is immediately shot in the head by two officers herself.
Yat is a cop, recently demoted for having been caught at a gay bar. And it was a shockingly fast and easy read, too – I finished it in two sittings.
And I’m very grateful I got the opportunity to read it, because Biopunk/New Weird in the vein of Vandermeer with mushrooms and queer pirates and some noir vibes early on is exactly up my alley. I have had this book on my TBR for a few years, but when I heard the rerelease is even weirder and queerer and more indigenous, it shot up my TBR. ARC received from the publisher (Gallery/Saga Press) in exchange for an honest review.
0 kommentar(er)
