They're innocently heading for a confrontation with two entities who could lay waste to all their art: a jug of jungle rum with the label "Jugo del Diablo," and the convicted creator of the CXD plague, Tiberius Tagonist. Then there's Dr. Def Mechlin, a shadowy character whose presence spans the story from 1979 to 2020, the present day.
In the cold streets of Vitellius City in 2020, Cypures are being murdered. Their lifeless bodies are mangled and torn, and from each one, the power-pack is stolen (a Federal offense in itself). Is Tagonist killing the Cypures, trying to complete the job he started in 2005? Or is Mechlin the source of the Big Egg's current troubles? Without planning it, Serico and Amy will become embroiled in this struggle, as a result of practicing their art.
The story is supported and guided by street-signs along its path. Each chapter is headed by a graphic title, named like a station on a commuter train: Euston, Fuencarral, Gran Via, Opernplatz, Pacific, Vine. Each has an official-looking ID number, plus an "alternate designation" and "condition." These read poetically together like a traditional chapter sub-head from a Victorian novel, "Never tickle a fickle kitty / burned by the winds of change," is for Fuencarral. At Vine: "I eat the inevitable ounce of honesty / fresh out of the foil wrapper."
Other graphics are scattered sparsely through the book, markers left over from the novel's earlier incarnation. Serico's chameleon eye looks out from several pages—Sahm's book has been through its own Splice.
The result is wonderful.
Article comments
1 - Scott Butki
Good review. Sounds like fun.
I care about grammar but I dyed my
hair green.
:)
2 - DrPat
And my opening didn't scare you away, so obviously, you also triumphed over your blue-... er, green-haired librarian side!
3 - SFC Ski
I hate bad grammer, but Brunner-esque is a strong enough endorsement to make me want to read this, thanks for the tip.
4 - Cerulean
"The Art of Getting Bent is not a book for the grammar-Nazi or the frustrated proof-reader." --DrPat
My mind is reeling.
5 - DrPat
Give your reeling mind a Valium, Cerulean, and dig in anyway!
6 - Pat Cummings
This book review has been selected for Advance.net. You’ll be able to find this and other Blog Critics reviews at such places as Cleveland.com’s Book Reviews column.