Review of Henderson’s Centricity…
(Nathaniel Henderson, Centricity, 2020, 978-1735759098)
Like the author of this novel, William Gibson’s Neuromancer (1985 Hugo winner) made an impression on this reviewer. I can’t say my sci-fi is cyberpunk, but Gibson’s novel influenced me and many other authors. Centricity is a good modern example of the subgenre.
It’s also a cross-genre tale with mystery and political thriller elements with those other subgenres of sci-fi, dystopian and post-apocalyptic, thrown in for good measure. A pandemic caused by a bio-engineered virus wreaks havoc on Earth, resulting in an evolution to society living in what I can compare to the city-states of ancient Greece turned into chaotic cesspools of technology, where violence rules more than democracy and human life has little value.
If that were all the story, readers might want to slash their wrists before they even finish it, but there are some glimmers of hope. One character’s visit to his demented mother in her nursing home shows that love still exists in this dark world, for example. And it is far darker than Gibson’s (in the latter’s defense, all the nefarious consequences of technology run amok couldn’t be imagined when he wrote Neuromancer). The novel’s main theme could also be construed as what happens when tribalism augmented by technology, and not in a good way, runs amok.
The world the author creates is a dangerous and violent one. As one character walks down a street (I’ll call it that for simplicity), someone turns someone else into a fireball just for the fun of it. Almost every person of means has a human “shield,” a cybernetic guard who is armored and weaponized, ready to protect the person who’s shielded. The more important the person, the better the shield, better implying the latest weaponry and software. I often see this as a futuristic version of the Aztecs’ cultural organization in its brutality and lethality. Yet the organization here is so complex you might want to refer to the end notes as well as to the map at the beginning.
There are inconsistencies. One can ask why such a technologically dominated society has human receptionists, for example. As the character walks into his mother’s nursing home, he encounters one. The simple answer, as true today as it is in this imagined future: Everyone needs a job. Only by controlling the population in a future society (e.g. in Asimov’s The Naked Sun) can a society’s members have a leisurely existence and avoid giving mundane jobs to humans! This leads to the question: In the city-state Naion, where did all the people come from? Presumably the world’s population was decimated by the pandemic and ensuing chaos. Did technology forget how to make birth control pills?
But I digress. What sets this tale above others in the genre is its characterization. There are many. (To keep them straight, a cast of characters would also be useful, unless the reader is out to have a literary orgy by reading this novel in one setting! There is one for the principal characters in the end notes, but perhaps it should be up front.) Adasha is the main character who’s much more than a receptionist, a woman who has the impossible task of making the city-state Naion’s bureaucratic fiefdoms get along with each other. She’s also trying to find out who killed her mentor Gabriel. The tale starts with Ekram’s murder, though; he’s become involved with the kidnapping of an ambassador’s daughter, and this violent incident percolates through the story.
Yes, the number of interesting characters increases as well as the world-building, so the reader must pay attention. Don’t worry, though. The relationships between all these characters is revealed the farther you progress in the book. This is epic sci-fi made for a reader who does pay attention, more so than in Gibson’s novel. It’s a heady brew. The reader must be prepared for vile language, violent action, and strange sexual tensions—all fair game when dealing with human beings’ futuristic lives. Just when readers think they’ve obtained a glimmer of understanding, something surprising comes along to yank their feet from under them. To use the old metaphor so ubiquitous in thriller reviews, this is one hell of a roller-coaster ride! While I can imagine a video game based on this novel, I can’t imagine one doing justice to all this crazy complexity.
The author’s prose can stop you in your tracks sometimes. For example: “Colors traveled across multi-floor storefronts that jutted out haphazardly like the corpses of exploded rainbows.” Wow! I wish I’d written that. I might have left out the –ly adverb—it’s not really needed and distracts a little from the phrase that follows—but this novel is full of startling description that makes the sci-fi world-building fun, providing visuals that the screenwriter of Blade Runner could have used. The plot is almost superfluous, like in most video games, but it’s as good as the ones in many mysteries where the crimes committed and themes presented aren’t really that earthshaking either when considering their settings.
And there you have it, a tale long on world-building, interesting characters, and the crude violence they must contend with. It could have been shorter, but the reader would miss out on many details. Recent events in the US and abroad indicate this might be where we’re heading. Like many sci-fi novels, this one can be considered a warning. Do we really want a world like the one described here? While I enjoyed the story, I couldn’t help asking myself that question as I read along. One can argue that I’ll be dead by then, so it wouldn’t matter, but I have to think of those who come later.
These are general statements, I realize, but to delve into more of the details is impossible. What ones would I choose to mention out of so many? And any nits I’ve picked here shouldn’t turn readers off from a new voice in sci-fi literature. It is so refreshing to discover a new author who can spin a good yarn. Because I’m an avid reader as well as an author, I have a vested interest in such discovery, or even discovering new books (for me) from old authors, discoveries that help me maintain my sanity during COVID times. I wish Mr. Henderson many more successes for that reason.
***
Comments are always welcome.
Death on the Danube. A murder occurs as newly wed Esther Brookstone, ex-Scotland Yard inspector in the Art and Antiques Division and ex-MI6 Cold War spy, and new husband Bastiann van Coevorden, Interpol agent, set out on their riverboat honeymoon. Because the Danube is international waters, Bastiann handles the investigation. Who is the victim really? If someone on the boat is the assassin, who? As they float down the river, carrying the original crime scene with them, other events occur, including two more murders. Why? Available in ebook and print formats from Amazon, and in ebook formats from Smashwords and all its affiliated retailers (iBooks, B&N, Kobo, etc.) and library and lending services (Scribd, Overdrive, Gardners, etc.). This new addition to the “Esther Brookstone Art Detective” Series will keep you guessing and provide hours of interesting reading. (The first two books in the series are also available at the sites mentioned, but all can be read independently.)
Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!
