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Radio Freefall
Copyright 2007 by
Matthew Jarpe
I first read this on the 27th August 2012.
As Earth unites under a World Government, the space stations and the Moon are less sure they want
to be a part of this.
Out of the desert comes the old stranger with the old Les Paul. He plays with the house band in the Las Vegas club and turns them into superstars. Who the heck is this man who calls himself Aqualung.
This time it's the music that will make the revolution.
The Digital Carnivore controls the web. It's a spontaneously-generated, emergent artificial
intelligence that resides across every computer. It invades privacy and no one's data is inviolate.
Walter Cheeseman is hunting for it. Tabor Quinn the obsessed genius with his astounding assistant
Molly, is hunting Walter Cheeseman and Digital Carnivore.
And of course Aqualung's old best mate was in on this from the beginning.
After a plot that meanders around a few gigs and several musical rem incenses, we end up in a space
station at the cusp of the revolution and a very exciting place to be it certainly is.
Hey, hey, hey, you got me rocking now
Hey, hey, hey, you got me rocking now
Hey, hey, hey, there ain't no stopping me
Hey, hey, hey, you got me rocking now
(sensitive and subtle lyrics by Jagger/Richards)
Rock and roll and SF! What an unexpectedly enjoyable novel Matthew has made from this mix. Gwyneth
Jones' "Bold As Love" was another rock and roll SF novel, but although I recall enjoying that book
tremendously (or rather by referring to my
superb review I
see that I actually don't recall much at all of the book, except for remembering that tremendous
enjoyment. And gosh, don't overlook "Song for A New Day" by Sarah Pinsker.
Jarpe has written a great book, It's an absolutely thrilling read. It's "Michaelmas" brilliantly
rewritten for a more complex age.
He even throws in a reference to "Johnny B. Goode" - well that's from the mists of memory. Yes a
classic of course but I still feel the great Peter Tosh's knock-out reggae version is worthy of
comparison to the original. Oh my oh my what the boy can play
What's it got: AI, space invasions, and throughout the driving force of rock and roll.
Loaded on the 1st February 2021.
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