Tlotlo Tsamaase

A very tough one to unpick. At the times this is one of the most intelligent and brutally brilliant cyberpunk dystopia novels I've come across. It mixes a lot of high concept technologies of body hopping, soul transferrence, thought monitoring and future crime prevention in a very intelligent way. And it ties all that in with Botswanan culture and mythology surounding reincarnation of the spirit.
It's all extremely clever and for the most part it pulls it off spectacularly if you are prepared to slowly absorb the world building Tlotlo painstaking spends time pieceing together.

It doesn't stop there though, it uses all of these to highlight the oppression of women and minorities in society and the unfairness brought upon them by men. To many it might seem rather heavy handed in its approach, but I actually found the themes had a lot more power than many other stories which focus on them. Through the eyes of Nehah we get to experience that oppression as her daily routines are monitored, her words twisted, her thoughts manipulated and the effect society has had on her lifespans.

At other times though, the book becomes somewhat messy and often the consistency in the writing lets the whole thing down. Whole sections of dreamlike sentences which appear to be trying to evoke intense emotional states don't always work and instead confuse the narrative. Plot twists and new ideas are inserted constantly throughout the last quarter of the book to the point it becomes very difficult to keep a firm grasp on everything going on - no sooner did I feel I was on track, than a plot twist sent everything spiralling away again. And whilst many of these cleverly link back to subtle seedings earlier on, some feel random, confusing or just plain contradictory

It's a brilliant book - one I will read again to explore it from a new perspective - and Tsamaase's talent to mesh science fiction and spiritual culture so innovatively is something that will make me seek out more of her work. I just wish it didn't try to pack so much in and wasn't such a convoluted story at times to read.… (meer)