Customer Reviews

Trouble and Her Friends

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the only novel I have read by Scott, so perhaps my take on her intentions is off, but Trouble struck me as a novel very consciously written to flout the conventions of traditional cyberpunk. As such, Scott creates two very strong female main characters who do much to carry the story which takes place as much online as off. However, the story itself is very weak with an almost transparently thin premise and flimsy supporting characters. The novel is fairly slow paced and seems to contain an inappropriately large amount of detail on very minute points (e.g. characters' clothes are described absolutely exhaustively) while major plot points go totally unaddressed or are just steamrolled over with technobabble. The ending is EXTREMELY disappointing. Many of the story's major points go completely unexplained and most of the characters introduced in the first half of the book are subsequently dropped and never returned to. I picked up this book looking for something with a somewhat different take on cyberpunk, which Trouble does provide, but I ultimately found it to be a very disappointing and frustrating read.

In the not-so-distant future, India Carless, known as Trouble, has left the shadowy world of cyberspace after the American government cracks down on netwalkers like her. A few years later, a new hacker pops up using the name 'Trouble' and begins creating havoc. The original Trouble comes back to clear her name and catch this new upstart, and she reconnects with old friends to do so, including Cerise, the woman she walked out on. Trouble finds a changed cyberworld hiding more dangers than she anticipated. For me the hard sci fi aspects were a bit dry, but Scott compellingly addressed various social issues and created intriguing characters ... that compelled me to continue. And I do agree that it went on too long and the ending is a bit disappointing, but overall I did enjoy the book. I like Melissa Scott's approach, so I'll probably read more by her.

TROUBLE AND HER FRIENDS by Melissa Scott is a late entry to the cyberpunk genre, that darling of Eighties science fiction that treated us to virtual reality, lowlife hackers, and film noir stylings. Other writers who came before -- William Gibson, Bruce Stirling, Pat Cadigan, and maybe even Greg Bear -- delineated the genre so well that whatever followed, including later works of Gibson himself, felt like rehashes.

That's the first problem with this book, which was published in 1994. By then Neal Stephenson's SNOW CRASH had pretty much rendered classic cyberpunk obsolete. Scott's book is an entertaining but routine genre exercise. Trouble, the heroine, is a former outlaw hacker (or "cracker") on a mission to clear her name after a young upstart begins using her handle online. Along for the ride is her former lover, Cerise, and the book is sort of a tour of near-future USA -- a little more urban, a little more computer-ridden than it is today, and suffused with the Net. Ms. Scott writes reasonably well, if with a little too much detail than she sometimes needs, and her characters are likable but not very complex.

Here's my biggest problem with this book, and the reason I can only rate it three out of five: Ms. Scott is torn between writing a literate work of idea-driven science fiction about the functioning of a near-future society and the relationship between technology and sexuality, and simply producing an action-oriented sci-fi story. She delivers a wealth of detail and history in the interest of world-building, much like CJ Cherryh and other women SF writers have done. At times her prose can be quite dense. But when the climax of the story comes, it's a virtual Wild West showdown between heroines and villain -- which is a bit of a disappointment. I got the feeling that Ms. Scott was a writer with something to say, but she seems to have been constrained by the alleged requirements of commercial fiction.

The heroines are lesbians, which I think would be great except that for some reason it's been turned into a metaphor (both gays and hackers are society's outcasts). Maybe Ms. Scott thought she needed a "reason" -- as some readers believe -- or maybe the publishers insisted. Either way, it's a contrivance. Let them be gay without the metaphor.

Regardless, it's an enjoyable read, if you don't mind the frustrating elements. I liked it, but thought Ms. Scott was capable of something a little more satisfying.

Scott has written an interesting, but typical mainstream book. I'm not sure it rates all the accolades it seems to draw. I've been a devotee of cyberpunk, sci-fi, and hard edged writing for along time. Net writing needs to be fast, tight, and with a continuous edge to it. This isn't.

There are some great sections in this book: they're hard, and fast, and flowing, with great potential for visualization. Yet they appear to be bound together with afterthought. It reads as if Scott wrote several strong scenes and then loosely tied them together. I found myself looking ahead of my place on more than one occasion, especially with the repetative net node descriptions, and was able to loose neither plot nor character development.

So I rate this fair. It's a good read but nothing special.

My only other comment is a question. Are we being set up, during the denouement, for the return of Trouble? As a shorter story I hope so.

This book has truly possessed me. I read this book on or about the time I was getting on-line for the first time. I was drawn to the rendering of the computer's concepts into concrete form. I had been told that you could become anything or anybody on the Net. To think of things like firewalls and nodes, interlinks and intralinks. The idea of having to "police" the Net. Then came this book. I now have a visual image of the Net I did not have prior to Trouble. This is a very good read. I could not put it down. I actually have now purchased the entire Melissa Scott catalogue behind this book. This book, Dreamships, The Heaven Trilogy and A Game Beyond are signature books in the genre of cyberpunk. If you have a chance, try and read them all, though they won't be easy to find. It is worth it to try

This is science fiction of the cyberpunk genre. There is a new technology termed "brainworm" that allows a user to connect to the net and "surf" utilizing only their brain. Think Matrix, but without the robot takeover. Cerise and her ex-lover, Trouble, have to team up in order to stop a copycat hacker from tarnishing Trouble's name. Scott touches on the aspects of new technology, how an older generation can be reluctant to accept it and the problems that can stem from that reluctance and from the new technology itself. The book is somewhat difficult to get into at first, but it quickly comes together and turns into a great page turner.

Like Trouble, I finished this book wholly unsatisfied. The denouement left several plot points completely unresolved and screams sequel. Although Scott's characters engage the attention, her endless descriptions of netwalking become quite monotonous. Because the adversaries are not full characters but constructs, when Cerise and Trouble finally vanquish them, it's just not very interesting. This book put me to sleep several times!

Bottom line: A cyberpunk novel that tells a conventional story from a LBG perspective.

Trigger warnings: Consensual virtual sex with a minor (minor misrepresents age to partner); see spoilers for second trigger warning.

How does it treat women/same-sex relationships? Sexism and anti-gay sentiment the same as the present day. Gay marriage does not seem to be possible.

Does it have explicit sex scenes?: Yes, two. Both are very brief but clear (and one of them even references safer lesbian sex).

Would I read it again? Yes, definitely. I've not before read anything with such a clear, political lesbian perspective knit into the fabric of the story and characters. It's there, it's everywhere in the story, the character dynamics, the plot structure--but it's organic. It's part of how the characters feel and think and the way their world works. It feels real.

Would I publish it? Yes.

SPOILER

Additional trigger warning: Murder or suicide of a minor (not shown)

SPOILER

In the future, the "brainworm" technology enables hackers to plug into databases in order to steal information to sell on the thriving gray market. Business is booming for those who plug in but the conservative old guard ``netwalkers''complain to Congress that this outlaw activity needs to be banned. Sometimes you get what you ask for as the Evans-Tindale law bans the use of the brainworm and perhaps much more.

The best brainwormer is Trouble supported by her lesbian lover Cerise. The former fearing a long jail sentence stops using the technology as both women turn legit. Immediately afterward, Trouble just vanishes from heartbroken Cerise's life.

Three years later, Cerise realizes someone impersonates her Trouble on the Internet; that rogue steals industrial secrets like she and Trouble used to do and also leaves behind a nasty virus. With her job at stake if her dubious past surfaces and with her beloved in trouble, Cerise needs to find her so they can team up to prove Trouble's innocence and take down the clever culprit.

This reprint of an exhilarating 1994 technological thriller remains a gripping timely tale even with incredible advances in the real world since the original publication as the premise of hackers and Big Brother (and Sister) retains its validity accentuated by the recent classified leaks. Readers anticipate a virtual OK Corral showdown between retired Trouble and her intelligent imitator in Melissa Scott's engaging tale.

Harriet Klausner

The society this is set in has advanced virtual reality computer networks, and some of the hackers have organic brain implants that give them an advantage in dealing in this environment.

Because lots of these people started doing corporate espionage, the tech has become outlawed, and Trouble's relationship broke up because of this.

She has to join with her old partner to track down a criminal element on the network.