M John Harrison, Nova Swing, Book Review
Drama and Surrealism Return in This Latest Space Opera Thriller
Set ten years after the events of Light, Nova Swing takes place along the urban coastal towns of Saudade, where an anomaly entitled the Event Site that stems from the infamous Kefahuchi Tract has engineered fables of mystery and danger for the lives of citizens working along this busy commerce planet.
The Latest Story
Vic Serotonin is an ex-space adventurer who now makes a small business selling the unexplainable ventures of the anomalous Event Site to any daring bidder. Having become entangled in one woman's dark obsession with the site, and continuously having to avoid pursuit of Police detective and Albert Einstein look alike Lens Ascherman, Vic's life has become more perilous than ever before.
As his friends and colleagues become more distrusting towards him, and the baffling occurances of the Event Site take newer and even more surreal turns, it becomes apparent that the site has roots in the dreams and motives of everyone around him, and the only way to deal with the madness once and for all is to embrace it.
Harrison's Universe Lives On
M John Harrison manages once again to paint a vivid world, where a familiarity with modern society is mixed with the surreal and unimaginable. This is a world that treats readers like long time citizens. The futuristic applications to the 25th century are viewed with little wonder by the population of this time and space, and their only real bafflement is at the actions and emotions of those around them.
Nova Swing is something of an analysis of human desire, dissimilar in scope and narrative to its predecessor Light. This story is grounded to one world and one time frame that peels back the layers of each character, building up to a finale that only the most righteous of human hearts can hope to live through.
Hidden Meanings
Also unlike Light, most of the incidents of this story and their resolves are widely open to interpretation, as blatant explanations aren't readily available. As with most novels of this calibre, it's up to the readers to decide. Many elements can be analysed metaphorically, but a crash course in the seemingly unrelated events of Light will come in handy to fully understand the meaning behind the outcomes of this story. So audiences would be best advised to read Light before attempting to grasp the conventions of this latest installment.
In any case, Nova Swing is interesting and masterfully written, unconventional in its science fiction category. M John Harrison explores the minds of every day people in the confines of scientific bizarreness, and the story plays out as something more dramatic than action packed. Though this sci-fi sequel might seem at times aimless compared to the first book, it is still a good read, highly enjoyable and hopefully a prelude to more future novels set in this immaculately crafted universe.
Front Cover Nova Swing
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