Customer Reviews

Burn

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After reading Burn, a book billed as science fiction noir, written by Jonathan Lyons, I had to reread the author bio at the beginning to be sure that this really is his first novel. With a strong narrative voice and fascinating story, Lyons writes like an old pro and as anyone who reads or writes science fiction will tell you, that's no small accomplishment for this genre. Burn is a good old fashioned, hardboiled detective novel set in a dreary future New York. Cage is a private eye on the downside of his luck and life. He's a former police officer who was discharged and humiliated for pushing too far on a case controlled by the most powerful entity in America, Expedite Corp. Expedite and the men who run it bear an eerie resemblance to a current corporate superpower (hint: think Gates) and can make or break not only other companies but the private lives of everyone in the country. The setting of the novel is very Blade Runner-esque, with perpetual darkness and a never-ending drizzle of acid rain. The streets are run by organized gangs of net savvy punks who are smarter than your average hack and more deadly than a pack of trained ninjas. It's a depressing, dangerous place to live, to say the least. Enter Janice Gild, the grieving sister of James Gild, an accomplished techno wizard who was found mysteriously burned to death in his apartment. It appears to be a case of spontaneous combustion, though Cage isn't quite ready to buy into that theory. Cage searches for answers, only to come up with other apparently unlinked cases of spontaneous combustion. Jonny Cache, a former pleasure robot who was rebuilt into a free thinking cyber babe, is on a similar case that will eventually lead to their teaming up with one another. Together, they must find the common thread between all of the victims and come face to face with the most powerful force in the world, Expedite. This novel has it all. A great setting, intrigue, sex, fights, hover cars, bad cops and paranoid net pirates. Lyons paints a wonderful image of this future reality and really knows his stuff when it comes to the technological aspect of a population linked to a cyber world. Jonny Cache is a character deserving of her own series of books. She's beautiful, super smart and can kick some serious tail. Her friends and partners, Yin and Yang-Angelique, lovers who have united themselves in body, mind and spirit with the help of future technology and genetics, are some of the strangest, most memorable characters I've ever come across. Burn is that rare combination of great science fiction and bare bones private dick suspense. This was a surprisingly great read and I look forward to more from Mr. Lyons. I also want to take a moment to praise the aesthetic quality of the hardcover edition of the book itself. Domhan Books, a small publishing company, has created a quality product. In fact, I'm going to their web-site to discover some more new voices in the writing field.

A futuristic work with sophisticated themes of capitalism in its final stages of thuggism and the globe in its final stages of life. Mr. Lyons keeps the future from unraveling us 21st-century-bound readers with old-fashioned suspense, corruption, murder, and a noir detective that has maintained a decent heart beneath the environment's and the society's murk.

Mr. Lyons has written an intricate and fascinating novel -- one which blends the genre of science fiction and (classic) detective novels in a cascading and intriguing blend of narrative structures, plot twists, and genre (and gender)-bending. As one who is not really prone to enjoy either run-of-the-mill detective or science fiction novels, I was fascinated by how well they work together with Lyons seemlessly intertwining the two in a way that supercedes "static" genre catagories. While on the one hand, genre distinctions should be "rules meant to be broken," few have the skill to attempt this (preferring the safer, more economical route of stand-by, tried-and-true methods of narrative). Lyons, on the other hand, blends these two genres remarkably well and shows that science fiction can be complicated, political, technological, and mature -- all at the same time. This book is both a thought-provoking political critique and a "page-turning thiller." I could not recommend it more highly.

"Burn" is an entertaining, complex novel for fans of the sci-fi, cyberpunk, mystery, and horror genres - and even the hard-boiled detective noirs from which actors such as Humphrey Bogart have made their careers. It is an homage to the classics within each genre, encompassing essential elements of each and referencing the works of Philip K. Dick, William Gibson, Clive Barker, and many others. Yet "Burn" is simultaneously a genre defying story which intentionally transcends boundaries. Jonathan Lyons critically examines many hot issues, including: traditional gender roles, AI and the boundaries of humanity, white/western privilege, transnationalism, and environmental commodification. Set in a post-environmental apocalyptic world with a brilliant, dangerous heroine, "Burn" is one of the most beautifully crafted novels I have read, demonstrating the author's strong mastery of language, characterization, and plot development.

Jonathan Lyons has crafted an intriguing mystery set on our world in a not too distant future. He has taken current events and extrapolated a logical futuristic setting from them while adding multi dimensional characters. At the same time, he asks fundamental technology driven questions such as when does something totally technology based, achieve human status with feelings, emotions, and the like?

In this future world, giant corporations run the country. The effects of global warming have come to pass, raising the world's sea levels and destroying major cities. Permanent fogs of smog have rolled in causing a perpetual acidic rain. The well to do have managed to flee to where the sun still shines, artificial islands created in places like the South Pacific and Indian Oceans. Corporations caused it all to happen as they bought off the politicians and set themselves up to run everything. The biggest corporation around is Expedite, which among other things, is the corporate sponsor of Old New York's police force. The suits make the decisions about what gets investigated not the cops.

Cage used to be a cop and was a pretty good one. He annoyed the powers that be, by investigating the death of Joseph Fuhlber, an Expedite computer scientist. The doctor's partner was also killed and both were classified as suicide. Both deaths were clearly murder and when Cage wouldn't leave it alone, he was booted from the force, nearly destroying his life. Cage is surviving, financially and emotionally, but just barely.

Janice Gild who wants her brother's death investigated contacts him. The cops aren't doing anything to speak of and the dead brother has links back to Expedite. The man was incinerated in his own condo while in bed and amazingly, the rest of the condo did not burn. While vaguely interested and in need of money, Cage does not want to run afoul of Expedite again. He grudgingly agrees while at the same time warning her, that he won't fight Expedite if they don't want it investigated.

Soon, he discovers that the crime scene has been tampered with and Janice Gild's brother was only one of several to strangely die by incineration. If it wasn't spontaneous human combustion, a rare event, then what is happening? Bodies begin to pile up and Cage slowly figures out that the only help may come from the missing android domestic Jennifer Four. But, Jennifer Four is not what she once was and has developed her own agenda and Cage may be interference to be removed.

This debut novel (available in a variety of formats) is very good with plenty of action and multi dimensional characters. Jonathan Lyons deftly mixes in back ground information and social commentary without sliding into preaching. He adds some downright funny parts, which I won't spoil by revealing. This is a very good book and I eagerly await Mr. Lyon's next project which this reviewer hopes just might be a sequel to this effort. Enjoy!

---WARNING! POSSIBLE SPOILERS---
This the novel a teenager would write, after getting really impressed with WILLIAM GIBSON's Spawl Trilogy and watching BLADE RUNNER one too many times. I bought this book after reading all the raving reviews (never had I seen such high percentage of top-100 Amazon reviewers praising a book thus). With all due respect, I am afraid I have to disagree.

I do realize this to be a first novel so I was willing to give some leeway. However, in the back pages JONATHAN LYONS is said to be teaching courses in creative writing and science fiction at Bucknell University. Well, honestly, I failed to identify one originally created idea in this book of his!
What can one label as a creative idea: the discovery of an alternative power resource that would make fossil fuel obsolete - yet the powers that be suppress it? (no, nothing new there either, it's... solar power); the robot that attains consciousness? the similar infantile AI in cyberspace? the plutocratic family that rules through numerous generations by cryogenics and cloning? the flying cars? the down-but-not-out ex-cop making ends meet by becoming a PI? the verbose villain that explains too much for his own good?
Also, short chapters work only if one's prose is so strong it could be considered poetry. Otherwise, it is just an ineffective staccato effect that gums up the story flow.

Two final notes: first, drenching everything in (black) rain and adding an actual PI does not necessarily add a noir streak to a futuristic novel.
And finally, when one tries to weave science into a science fiction novel, he better know what he is talking about - otherwise, dropping "chaos theory" and "Mendelbrot" here and there is plain silly.

Burn is a tightly written book that says a lot in 205 pages. It uses the well-loved formula of a down on his luck dectective battling the establishment against mean odds. Lyons employs many cyber-noir standards such as AI robot consciousness, flesh-machine interface, enviroment that is pollution crippled and various subcultures that are disenfranchised.

The dectective, Cage, is hired to find out why the mega-corporation controlled cops have abandoned a strange death. Other deaths by the same method begin showing up. The murder weapon turns out to be one of the most unusual ever used in crime fiction.

The prose is sparse and unpretentious, the dialogue is straight-forward but the story gets told in an entertaining manner. Good stuff, if you want a quick easy read.

This novel is described on the cover as 'A Science Fiction Noir' and it is certainly that, and a dystopia, as disgraced ex-cop, now low-ball private eye Cage, and android Artificial Intelligence-enhanced Jonny Cache (formerly Jennifer 4, programmed domestic and sex servant) join forces to solve the murder of her former owner/friend who died horribly by apparent`spontaneous human combustion [as do three seemingly unrelated others in swift`succession].

The ecological disaster of a world they live in is dominated by Expedite, a ruthless giant corporation which virtually owns governments and privatized police forces, by artificial, fake food and drink, by day-long continent-wide twilight gloom, and by constant acidic black rain. Not a pleasant prospect.

Lyons, a computer and Web expert, has projected a grisly and warped future American society suffused by the super internet and a caste system of the super wealthy vs. the vast underclasses subdivided by often illegal professions, bizarre cults and warped gender-personal social clusters.

"Burn" is Lyons' first novel, and it is an involving, gripping experience. He has created a convincing, detailed hell of a future and peopled it with sympathetic and grotesque denizens who are utterly true to their environments. The omnipresent StellarNet and the amazingly versatile and ubiquitous Personal (computer/phone/controler) is very impressive extrapolation.

I hope there will be more PI Cage and Jonny Cache adventures in this fascinating, ghastly future.

The setting is in the near future, in the same darkened, grim world that provides the background for Phillip Dick's 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" as well as the stories of William Gibson and Neil Stephenson. It is a place of cities soured in the poisons of their own creation, hidden from the sun by dark clouds of pollution and the effects of global warming. The food chain has been destroyed, and a single piece of natural wood costs a fortune. People who can escape run to artificial island communities in the oceans, where it is still possible to make reckless use of the remaining environment.

This is a world of haves and have nots, with only a frail shell of the middle class left. A single corporation, Expedite, has brought StellarNet, a virtual replacement for the Internet, into existence. By its control of this pervasive media, Expedite has become the dominant force in the world. A harsh and unyielding corporation ruled by clones, with connections everywhere, it is the Dark Tower of this age. In this bleak future four people suddenly and unexpectedly burst into flames. The diagnosis - spontaneous human combustion. The police rule them accidents and fail to investigate.

But Frank Cage, a freelance detective, does. Hired by the daughter of James Gild, one of the victims, he finds nothing but layers of deception. His first clash with Expedite, years ago, cost him his career and his fiancé. Now he grows more and more apprehensive as he finds one hint after another that points to his old nemesis. He is joined by Jonny Cache, who was originally an automated sex toy purchased by James Gild. A software genius, he reprogrammed and enhanced her until she achieved artificial intelligence. Jonny left Gild to take up a life as a net runner, but now she is back, seeking revenge. Helping Jonny and Cage out are the binary Yin and Yang Angelique and the NewSchool Grrls.

The story starts slowly as Lyons builds his world with obsessive detail, one environmental sin after another. Without doubt the author has a major environmentalist agenda, and for a time this takes over the writing. I am sympathetic to the issues, but the switch between normal narrative and sudden activist eloquence often comes without warning. Once this is past, Lyons shows a strong flair for narrative prose and proceeds almost non-stop to the end. Character development is better than it often is in this genre, but only Jonny, the android, is completely fleshed out. Others characters often seem barely fleshed in or are painted with quick, brittle brushstrokes.

While the book has a noir flavor, it is not really a noir book. It lacks the inexorable, negative vision that infects its peers. Or the shattering revelations that turn heroism into hopeless posturing. Lyons' sharp, staccato styling is reminiscent of Raymond Chandler, but his strong beliefs prevent him from taking the last steps into hopelessness. I find this a refreshing change. It would be very easy to give this book a five star rating. But, as a writer, Lyons needs to do some polishing to be completely effective. I hope he continues writing and I am reserving the 5th star for the story I believe is still to come. Without doubt this is a great first novel, and deserves to succeed.

It has been a while since this reviewer tried her hand at the Science Fiction genre, and it is a welcome journey. Domhan books (Irish for universe), is based in the U.S., UK and Ireland. Its mission is to give new writers a voice; experienced authors a new outlet; to bring books to market sooner; keep them in print longer; to break down barriers in genres; and to offer affordable books. They use the latest digital technologies and produce their books in both a paper and electronic format on a global basis. Burn is Texan Jonathan Lyons' first book.

It is twenty-first century New York. John Cage is an ex-cop whose lost his job and his future wife when he ran up against the mighty Expedite Corporation, the foremost computer corporation in the world. Science has eaten its own tail. The skies are filled with acid rain; and humans coexist with androids, Morlocks, binaries, and other assorted chip fanatics. The entire world is on the "net," StellarNet that is...and it functions as "Big Brother."

Cage is approached by Janice Gild, whose brother died in a singularly horrific way...by human combustion. When Cage investigates Gild'sapartment looking for clues, he sees someone watching him through the window:

"Moving around to the far side of the bed, Cage found himself looking absently through the greasy smear of the rain on the man's bedroom window, outinto the drizzle, into the darkness of the night, into -- into a window in abuilding across the street, to a backlit, overcoat-clad figure who's just realized Cagehad spotted him. The figure put something down -- a camera? Small telescope?--and disappeared."

Scientific science fiction must now be subdivided, to include the category of computer-geek science fiction. Burn is a horrifying look at what over-computerization, coupled with unleashed corporate pursuits, can do to our world. As Lyons so aptly conveys in Burn, if science andcomputers are not kept in check we could be left with a world with no beauty, no wood, and no humanity left. It is interesting to note that Lyons can't help but give his androids human characteristics...a la"Star Trek: Next Generation." Burn is a powerful computer/technologicalscience fiction thriller that leaves room for us to grieve for lost humanity. Great first effort!

Shelley Glodowski, Reviewer