A novel I discovered on some internet discussion about lost classics a few years ago. It’s about a camera, a person whose mind is hardwired for perception. That means, viewers can share her emotional state, at least the bits and pieces that don’t get screened out, while she’s doing her work. She and her colleagues are the eyes and ears of society, the focus point of millions. When the camera tries for a big story, she gets more than she bargained for, and instead of merely bringing the horrible past alive (a re-enactment of fascism mixed with franchising), she becomes the focal point for the hidden forces at work that shape the present. And which, it seems, are just as horrible as the death camps of the past, only in a different way.
The book starts great, but for the first half I felt it was more interesting than anything else. Some great bits of world-building, amazing character work, but all in all a little bit disjointed with no unifying plot in sight. But somewhere in the middle it went from interesting and good to bloody amazing and brilliant. It begins to burn a path through your mind, all the varied pieces comes together, festering, growing like some mad mind virus infecting you with its ruminations on love, cybernetic connectivity, mind control, abuse of power to do good and so on. It’s one of the smartest cyperpunk books I’ve read, one that has an equal amount of emotional and analytical intelligence and that also manages to horrify and inspire in equal measures. This one is not taken lightly, but what a glorious journey it is.
