Customer Reviews

Solitaire : A Novel

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Jackal Segura is an overachieving teenager living and working under the auspices of the massive Ko Corporation. She is destined by her birthdate to become a Hope - a symbolic leader of the new World Government. She has a lover, a circle of friends, and a bright future - until a horrific accident turns her into a mass murderer. She is sentenced to forty years in prison, until an ironic choice is offered her - she can trade her sentence for participation in an experimental treatment based on Ko technology. Jackal will spend eight years locked in solitary Virtual Confinement within her own mind, while ten months of "real time" passes in the outside world.

Despite the overwhelming impact of her time in mental prison, very little space is actually appointed to Jackal's eight year solitude. This is a disappointment, given that the book is not overly long and more time could easily have been spent with Jackal in Solitary without sacrificing any of what comes after. The unique nature of Jackal's confinement - which becomes very different from what her jailors originally intended - is just not explored fully enough, in my opinion.

What does come after, however, is what kept me reading. Jackal is forcibly relocated to a North American slum, where she is supported by Ko hush money since no one will hire her. She finds herself in the company of other notorious mass murderers (most of them female), even engaging in a dangerous flirtation with one. Most importantly, she finds Solitaire - a bar/nightclub designed to cater to "solos" - former VC inmates - and the cult of adoring fans that has sprung up around them. As Jackal tries to hide the exact nature of her time in VC from her probation officer (she fears, justifiably, that she will become a lab rat), she begins to realize just how Solitary changed her forever.

Eskridge takes a good, long look at a complicated future that is neither Utopic nor Dystopic, but a frightening combination of both, where privacy can become prison, strangers can be closer than family, and that which does not kill you does indeed make you stronger.

I have finished reading Kelley Eskridge's Solitaire, and it was one of the best books I have read recently. Actually, I have been on a string of good books, and this one just happens to continue the trend. It features a young heroine, named Ren "Jackal" Segura. In the slightly futuristic world developed by Eskridge, Jackal is what is known as a "Hope". A "Hope" is someone born as the pre-designated time, in this case, the first second of the new year. Each pseudo-national entity has a "Hope" and Jackal is the "Hope" of Ko, the multi-national supercorporation that rules over the island of Hong Kong. Other pseduo-national entities include the NNA, Nations of North America. Sorry, Canada, looks like you got assimilated after all. When Jackal finds out her status as a "Hope" is a lie, she is devastated, but she keeps the secret and maintains the facade. Then, tragedy strikes. In a horrifying accident, 437 persons, including important senators as well as Jackal's best friends are killed and Jackal is blamed for the murders. Charged with 437 counts or murder and international terrorism, Jackal is sentenced to life imprisonment. She cuts a deal though and agrees to partake in an experimental program called Virtual Confinement, VC. Using electrodes hooked to the brain and a drug induced coma-like state, Jackal's mind will believe that she is spending 10 years in solitary confinement with absolutely no human contact, no amenities, and no way out. In reality, she will only be knocked out for eight months. During that time of VC, Jackal must confront her own inner demons, determine how she will survive and not go insane, figure out how to deal with the loved ones in her mind and generally come up with ways to pass the time. When she awakens, she is an entirely different person and must relearn how to negotiate the world and deal with people. But her trials are far from over - once Jackal is getting situated in her new life via a strange bar called "Solitaire" where ex-cons from the VC program go to hang out and test the social waters, her past resurfaces.

All in all, Solitaire is a very engaging book, with a well developed story, memorable characters, and a fast paced plot line, despite the years spent in VC. It does not merit 5 stars because there were some loose ends at the book's conclusion that I would have liked to have seen tied up, but they were fairly minor. Check it out! As this is Eskridge's first novel, I look forward to what else she comes up with.

This book is different. But it details life in the near future as if it is ordinary and everyone understands exactly what and how things came to be. There are no retrospective explanations, about the origins of EarthGov, the rise of Ko Corporation, or the Nations of North America. They simply are. Our hero, and she is a hero, has a love relationship with another woman which is presented in a perfectly ordinary tone. The sex of one's partner is not the issue, just their commitment to each other. Solitaire is a book about one person's journey to realize her destiny, and we only see it through her. Ultimately, her personal choices will effect many, many people.

A difficult read, this book is fresh and new and a bit familar at the same time. The use of the VR technology for virtual confinment of long-term prisoners was inventive. The technology described a la Total Recall, is a way to make people experience time in a good or bad environment without going anywhere. It takes three-fourths of the book to get through the crime and punishment experienced by Jackal. The real story is in the aftermath, the coming to terms with life after 6 years being totally alone with absolutely no human contact, no human sounds, no pictures, nothing. I was challenged and haunted by this story. This is not a read for the beach in August. It was intense and absorbing and complete. This one is a keeper to return to again and again.

It took a long time for this book to take off and hold my attention. The first part of it is almost like reading about MBA school; nothing much happens and you don't get real attached to the characters. However, Eskridge pleasantly surprised me with a major plot event, which took the book to another level, and I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of it.
It's not a extreme sci-fi book, and I realized at the end that one of the major currents in the book is the love relationship between two of the characters, and I think that is the real story Eskridge was trying to tell, simply using the sci-fi aspects to support it.
I look forward to seeing what Eskridge produces in the future.

Imagine being locked up in a grey room without windows or doors for six years...

Solitaire is the first novel written by Kelley Eskridge...and it's a great psychological themed science fiction.
She shows us detailed corporate structure and the two-dimensional world of "Miss World"-like thinking.
The main character is a "Hope", a young woman bred to be the ultimate representative for a corporation named Ko Industries.
She has everything, good looks, a sharp mind a nice group of friends. Anything she needs is catered for by Ko.
She undergoes tough managment, advertising and financial courses and even etiquette classes. If she has the need they provide scheduled relaxation classes for her.
Then one day, the whole world takes a deep plunge around her...everything she had is lost, and soon even her mind is on the verge of total breakdown...
Confined to virtual-solitary imprisonment for years...she soon finds a new focus in life...keeping herself sane.
But will she regain everything she's lost? Read it and enjoy this awesome first novel of a very promising author.
I can only hope she writes lots of books in the future.

There's a formula for writing thrillers which includes a clearcut baddy and a close to noble hero or heroine. The action unfolds in a taught ascension of perilous event until the climcatic confrontation and conclusion. Reliable, especially for movies, and the occasional light read. But if you want some depth in your literature, there's only one word for this kind of work.

Boring.

More difficult and less common is the thriller based on the way in which real life actually happens. Regardless of the fantastic elements, adehrence to the truths of human nature fuels the conflicts, which are more often than not ambiguous, with hero and villain sharing one common trait--they both think they're the good guy, if they think about it in those terms at all. The frustrations that arise out of trying to sort through the suddenly murky options make such stories both real and infinitely satisfying.

The best of these also possess a strong narrative flow and a superbly conceived story. "Solitaire" takes the lead on all counts. I find it hard to believe this is a first novel--it has all the polish and panache of a savvy, experienced novelist. Makes me hunger for Eskridge's next foray.

Buy it, read it, recommend it.

This is a beautifully written, intriguing, moving SF novel. I hope that someday, after much more practice, I will be able to write this well. I particularly envy Eskridge's ability to bring a scene alive with just the right touch of description. She also did a beautiful job with the relationship between Jackal and her lover Snow. Highly recommended!

The premises of a unified Earth government, along with corporations-as-individual-nations, have both been brought up quite a few times in the scifi genre as of late. The betrayal of the corporation with its sacrificial lamb. The horror of losing one's very self. But very few books with these premises actually delve into what it feels like to feel the self dissolving, along with what happens afterward.

I don't know how Eskridge did it, but she did it. I was racing to catch my breath by the end of the book, and I don't often come out of a reading experience like that. I actually had to put the book down toward the middle of the story (I won't spoil where that particular part is), because I felt those words so acutely I pretty much had a panic attack. I'm claustrophobic as it is, so I can say that Eskridge's words hit home in a very strong way if it's causing me panic attacks.

Toward part three, I was wondering where things were going - I could have used more information in terms of what happened on the outside within those nine months that we as the audience are with Jackal - only clues are given and they're tantalizing in a Huxleyesque dystopic sort of way. And the ending - well, it's the one I would have wanted for Jackal, Snow, and the others. It was the best outcome I myself could have thought of without making the book a complete downer.

I can see why the Nebula committee liked this book, and I really wish that it'd won for the year it was nominated. There are so many scifi books that get nominated that fit into the same old tropes, and so many more that win that I can't help but feel sad that a gem like this got recognized only to be ignored all over again.

If you like dystopian/near-future fiction with a twist, choose this book for your next read. You'll never look at virtual reality consoles (or for that matter, your current vidya game consoles) the same way again.

(crossposted to goodreads, librarything, and witchoftheatregoing.wordpress.com)

Her whole life, Ren "Jackal" Segura has been trained by Ko, the world's first corporate nation state, to be part of an elite group which will take on powerful positions with the world government. But when she is embroiled in legal trouble, the corporation abandons her to an eight-year sentence in virtual reality solitary confinement. The book's futuristic settings are realistic, the characters are intelligent and vibrant, and Eskridge writes an engrossing story. Unfortunately, the book falters with a too-quick conclusion that leaves themes unrealized. Nonetheless this is a unique and compelling read, and I recommend it.

The vast majority of Solitaire is unusual and quite brilliant: detailed, intelligent, and compelling. The settings, from a corporate nation state to a computer-generated isolation cell, are convincing and open the doors to an equally vivid story. Jackal is intelligent, perceptive, but hardly infallible, character traits which make her unique but deeply sympathetic--a perfect protagonist for a story about the reclamation of personal identity. And the pacing, for the most part, is spot-on, balancing quiet character-building against plenty of forward motion. It's odd to see a novel with both business models against quiet romance, odd to see a narrator who analyses body language as much spoken language, but it's unexpectedly effective: Solitaire is unusual enough to hold the reader's attention, brilliant enough to reward him for his efforts.

At the very end of the book, however, falters. The conclusion feels rushed, forgoing the elsewhere intelligent detail and careful pacing in a hasty attempt to tie up all the plot threads in too few pages--an attempt which actually leaves too much hanging. In particular, Jackal's troubled relationship with Ko resolves so quickly that the resolution feels insincere. It's a pity: the book is intriguing and intelligent, but it hiccups just when it needs to excel and so it ends on a sour note. The frustration of the ending doesn't destroy the book--I still greatly enjoyed Solitaire, and I recommend it. It's unusual, quite clever, and difficult to put down. I only wish that it better fulfilled its potential at the end, because then it would be truly exceptional.

For her entire life, Jackal Segura has been trained to be Ko Corporation's Hope, those children chosen to be the leaders of a new world order. Two months before the ceremony that will begin her work with the global government, she learns that her status as a Hope is a lie. Forced to continue this lie, Jackal hides the truth as best she can, but a tragic catastrophe destroys her world and her identity as a Hope. She's manipulated into participating in a rehabilitation experiment where she's imprisoned in a virtual reality cell in her mind. Nearly driven insane by loneliness and her own demons, Jackal finds that her training as a Hope helps her through the ordeal. When she is finally brought back into the real world, she is a new person in a new land, and she doesn't know who she will be anymore. Jackal's journey to a new understanding of herself and to a reconnection to love begins in a place called Solitaire, where those once imprisoned in virtual reality prisons congregate. "Solitaire" is an astonishing first novel whose soul and breadth will delight and affect readers long after the final pages.