Customer Reviews

Radio Freefall

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

At its best, science fiction uses exotic settings and technical marvels to give insight into the compelling issues of the current time. In "Radio Freefall", Matt Jarpe uses the sensitive issues of our day--control of access to information, the immense power of global corporations, and the value of diversity to take the reader on a wild ride through the near future.

Jarpe's engaging style makes this a fun and easy read, yet his social commentary is thought-provoking. He paints a world that is at once beautifully futuristic and laden with all-too-human foibles. Data sprays and artificial intelligence aside, humans are still emotional beings, naked apes acting on base instinct. This helps "Radio Freefall" accomplish that other goal of good science fiction: that of being believable.

Absolutely excellent. Great story, great characters, and truly outstanding writing. Artificial intelligence, rock 'n roll, world domination, space colonies, and a little bit of romance--it's an unbeatable combination.

Comparisons to sprawl-era William Gibson really don't prepare the casual book browser for what's in store here. Jarpe took some of WG's more famous tropes -- rogue AIs, shadowrunning attacks against nearly-omnipotent corporations, the new data-driven world we've created as an overlay to the physical world, corporate-owned space stations -- and did them his own way. And that way is pretty darned good, and nothing at all like Gibson (and I say this as a great fan of Gibson's).

Jarpe has a nice way with character, especially in his dialogue/stream of consciousness riffs; you hear what the character actually says out loud AND what he would say if his internal censor wasn't in control, an interesting technique in a book that is ultimately about trying to keep information -- and people -- free. Ultimately even the censored thoughts get expression -- everybody's censored thoughts, even those of the straw-man villain's, to entertaining and satisfying effect.

A lot of people, and I'm thinking of some dear personal friends here, who have complained that, e.g. _Neuromancer_ was too inaccessible or Neal Stephenson's _Snow Crash_ too complex might find in _Radio Freefall_ a nice primer to cyberpunk, written as it is in more of a man-in-the-street voice. It's not gorgeous prose, but it's readable, and unlike Gibson's smooth, detached glide, his poetry, Jarpe's is truly punk, simple, to-the-point, occasionally ungrammatical but doesn't get in the way of the story. Does he have a 'zine background, maybe?

As I finished the book I immediately wanted to pick up a sequel. Will there be an AquaLuna? Here's one reader who hopes so.

I like technoScFi. This first work by Matthew Jarpe extrapolates twenty five years into the future using the WWW, evolutionary AI technobabble, space colonies, RockNRoll, mind manipulation, Cheneyesque evil guys, Gatesian smart guys and all with a bit of Carl Haaisen style humor. This book is one happy discovery for me, a fun read. Chuckles, thoughtful situations and very memorable and zany characters. The time line is a bit strained and the ending is maybe caramelish but the plot is plausible and the interleaving of the geek stuff and music threads is brilliant. Particularly cute is flashback references to the present music scene. I would have liked some Orwellian political zingers too. They would fit right in.

Matthew Jarpe's freshman effort, Radio Freefall, is an engaging, fun story about a eclectic group of individuals attempting to prevent the takeover of the world from a less than savory corporate big-wig. His main characters are interesting and likable, without being too perfect.

While I'm a huge fan of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, I don't really see the resemblance here, except in a very broad sense pertaining to the outlying colonies not wishing to be controlled by Earth. Matt's writing style, while very readable, does not have the same voice as RAH. His characters simply don't take themselves that seriously. It makes the book a bit lighter, and a fun diversion.

I'm looking forward to his next project.

How can you stay on the run and hidden in a world where no one's anonymous anymore and you like rocking out in front of an audience to boot? Oh, and some folks don't like you. Really, they want stuff in your head out of it. You like your head and all the stuff in it. And it's all because you . . .

And there you have the gist and non-spoilerage of Matthew Jarpe's debut novel, Radio Freefall, providing readers a well-paced, witty, and quirky look into a near future filled with well-rounded AI characters, a megalomaniac, computer geeks, hard-partying rock-and-rollers, one-worlders (see aforementioned megalomaniac), Nationalists, and . . . one enigmatic protagonist calling himself Aqualung who's hell on a guitar, laid back to beat the band, and an all around slippery dude to catch if you're antagonizing him.

You will know people like Aqualung. The socially awkward (but for GOOD reasons) Quin Taber is a deserving underdog while the evil overlord, Walter Cheeseman, deserves something not far removed from a few swift kicks to the groin.

Revel in the Snake Vendors, an upstart band of kids who find an apt mentor in ol' boy Aqualung. It's here that I'll pause and recommend your tripping over to Mr. Jarpe's site, http://mattjarpe.com/. You might also want to navigate to Meet the Snake Vendors (http://www.snakevendors.com/snakevendors.php) and check out "Mojo Motorbike," a fun video and crunchy, catchy song straight from the novel.

And look out for the uber-virus Digital Carnivore because everyone else in the novel is.

Overall, with Matthew Jarpe's firm control of Radio Freefall's plot and keen eye for building memorable characters and a sharper ear for dialogue, it's hard to set this freshman effort aside. It might not keep you up at night, but it will bring you back frequently until you`re done. It would be fun to trip back through the universe Jarpe's created in Radio Freefall, and you can tell he had stellar time writing it because it oozes, simply, FUN READ.

For his first novel, Jarpe wrote an excellent book that does deliver exactly what it says.

Following Aqualung (if that's his real name) and his band, Radio Freefall takes you though an adventure that shows just how music can save Earth from the dangerous Walter Cheeseman and his Unification. It's amazing, well-written, but not without faults.

For the most part, everything falls in place very well. However, it feels like "deus ex machina" was employed a few times. If you don't want spoilers, don't read on.

The biggest instance of this is when Aqualung is found out for who he really is and has a price on his head. At the same time, Cheeseman also wants him dead, and plans on getting him after a concert. Well, it just so happens that a holographic device that can mimic a person perfectly is used to show Aqualung getting through his head. This stops Cheeseman. But, at the same time the fake Aqualung's head explodes, an assassin's bullet goes through the holograph's head, making even his assassin think he's dead. That's a bit too pat.

Still for that one fault, plus a few small ones, Radio Freefall is perfect. It isn't the happy ending you want (I won't spoil it, but it's mostly happy) and the people in the story feel real, like you could met them on the street.

A great read. I do hope he writes more.

This story can be appreciated for its plot lines and characters as much as the near future science fiction. The science doesn't get in the way of the story and there is not really anything that would be hard for even the most technically challenged reader to understand. The main plot is very relevant today as it involves the takeover of society by an egomaniac CEO pushing his business and personal goals of power acquisition at the cost of humanity and society's cluelessness as to the loss of their freedom. The two main characters are absolutely believable opposite personalities, one providing philosophical insight into a form of selflessness and the other, an individualist. Both characters have intertwining, but separate plot lines. The individualist character's plot is sort of an investigative hunter in comparison to the philosophical character as the hunted.

One thing I do find odd is the comparison to William Gibson as I find Gibson's novels darkly pessimistic where as this novel was brilliantly optomistic.

I ended up picking this book up at Dollar Tree for a $1, I'm going to go back and see if any copies are left so I can hand them out to friends. I got the same enjoyment from this book that I got from reading Hardwired by Walter Jon Williams for the first time. This book was amazing. Best dollar I have spent in a long time, now if I can only get the same payback from a Mega Millions ticket all will be well. If the Author reads this, please write a sequel I want to see where the characters go from here.

This is a highly enjoyable story of rock and roll, artificial intelligence and space colonisation with dollups of mystery, relationships and musical love thrown in for good measure. Interesting tech, in an interesting future peopled by characters you want to find out more about, until it ends and you feel sad the journey is over.

I hope we'll get to see more stories from this promising new writer in the future - he has an ear, and a voice, we can use more of.