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Winch Waterstone’s book club rated it 7/10. I gave it 6 based on Parts:
Icho: 5
Jane: 10
Both: 3
I’d suggest reading Jane first and maybe stop there! It’s a self-contained moral tale with 2 original concepts: AI daemons and (!) aesthetic-triggered disability.
Maybe pair with Icho for ‘turn upside-down’ pick your order gimmick, but don’t bother with bloated joint finale.
A challenging 1992 Booker (joint) winner that would want to reverse the order of its material - utopian mixed-race commune first, slave-masters and their racial slurs later if at all - to get published today. Astonishingly well-written in the vein of CJ Sansom, but is that enough to get modern readers on side the thorny subject matter? It’s proper revelatory history, including depicting black African slave-traders, the sort of moral complexity some BLM activists I see at spoken-word nights will have to reckon with since this week’s heinous Memphis Police murder. Cos last week at Sweezie’s night in London one radio-host was “all you white man just oppressors.. molesters” etc.
As recommended by Humane Tech, this book is ridiculously prophetic on how Aldous Huxley’s vision of entertainment-induced apathy would allow Trump-style threats to democracy.
A vital read for entertainers, particularly interested in edutainment / values-driven work like myself.
This will probably inspire a record (working-title: ‘Dying’ 💀) like The Divided Self did.
Off to L.A. to write a musical, so less reading for a bit!
