Description
The River: a hodgepodge of arcologies and platforms in a band around Ceres full of dreamers, utopians, corporatists—and transformed humans, from those with simple biomods to the exotic alien xenos and the totemics, remade with animal aspects. Gail Simmons, an itinerant salvor living aboard her ship Kismet, has docked everywhere totemics like her are welcome…and a few places they’re not.
But when she’s accused of stealing a databox from a mysterious wreck, Gail lands in the crosshairs of corporations, governments and anti-totemic terrorists. Finding the real thieves is the easy part. To get her life back, Gail will have to confront a past she’s desperate not to face—and what’s at stake may be more than just her future.
From the Cóyotl-winning author of Indigo Rain and Going Concerns
Author: Watts Martin
Style: Literary Work
Content: Novel
Pages: 323
ISBN: 978-1-61450-342-2
Parental Rating: PG
Publication Date: January 2017
dragonmanmike@gmail.com (verified owner) –
Oh wow,
This book was fantastic. It’s everything I wanted in a sci-fi novel right now. The subtle commentary on race, religion, activism and even the transgender community made me really connect with the characters and setting.
Speaking of, I found the characters to be wonderfully interesting and the setting to be perfectly believable as a future mankind could embark on.
Just going to say the ending made me tear up in the best of ways and I would highly recommend this book for anyone who likes science fiction, furry or not.
sturmeinlagen (verified owner) –
An excellent, absolutely terrific story about anthropomorphic characters in a sci-fi world. The setting and atmosphere is surprisingly similar to The Expanse books and TV series, with all the political and sociological intricacies of early solar system colonization. I found myself drawing parallels between the two universes. It’s not a perfect match, but due to publisher’s impeccable timing, it turned out close to home. There’s a dash of cyberpunk, and some noir detective jazz.
There are no system-wide wars and conflicts. Instead, we see a radical explanation on how real-life furries might come to exist, both physically and philosophically, and what could be the implications. Story gives us a good insight in the human nature, showing us that if we don’t change, there would be no escape: the prejudices will follow us into deep space.
Setting is believable, and although the story is set few centuries into the future, there is no magical technology. Author tries to explain most things, but carefully doses the hard dry science, which is a good thing. Because this story is really about it’s characters, their life, and the positive human spirit which prevails after so many hardships and sacrifices.
What I did find annoying at times, is how much words author spent on internal monologues, third person explanations, and character building that didn’t bring much to the story. Without spoiling the plot, I could say that some chapters just dragged on miserably, and often I found myself thinking, whoa, am I watching an episode of ‘Friends’ in deep space? It’s not a big deal though. Once you pass the slow parts, the rewarding action near the end is a superficial mix of Jason Borne and Deus Ex.
My personal favorite is author’s showing how anarcho-capitalism and pseudo-communism might work in off-world colonies. Alternative social structures fascinate me more than technology. Paid judiciaries instead of state-funded attorneys? Cloud-based banking instead of cash? Blockchain binding contracts? Bring it on.
Did I say it has an anthropomorphic rat as a main character? Just perfect.
If you like realistic, near future sci-fi, with furries, Kismet must be on your (digital or physical) bookshelf. And in your heart too.