Glow

November 16, 2020
An intricate puzzle of identity collapses under its own weight in Jordan’s body horror–laced cyberpunk debut. Fourteen years after a nuclear apocalypse, South American Coriolis City is rife with murderous automatons, drug-crazed cyborgs, and the deadly machine-drug Glow. After Glow addict Rex wakes up tied to a corpse, his head full of someone else’s memories, he stumbles into a web of conspiracy involving the only remaining founder of a pharmaceutical megacorporation, a nunnery devoted to creating their own god, and an artificial humanoid on a last-ditch mission to find a stolen digital oracle. The identity of the corpse Rex wakes with connects them all. Running beneath the violent tangle of identity and memory is a fascinating exploration of how people cope—or fail to—with adversity, but the convoluted plot is smothered in ungainly, jargon-heavy prose. Technological exposition frequently substitutes for story, and archetypical characters never satisfyingly develop. A fumbling plot and relentless nihilism make this one to skip. Agent: Sam Morgan, the Lotts Agency.

February 1, 2021
Just as humankind was on the brink of reaching the stars, fueled by new biotechnology that conveys near-immortality, the Earth was almost destroyed by a nuclear holocaust. Now, a once-great corporation is clinging to power from its orbiting stations, an Earth-side alliance seeks to overthrow it, and a new kind of artificial life lurks in the dark, where nothing is as it seems. Rex is an addict of Glow--a nanotech drug--who can't remember who he is. When he's taken in by a sect of nuns who promise salvation, he finds himself in a conflict that could destroy all he holds dear, hunted by something not of this world. He must survive long enough to solve the mystery of his own identity. In Jordan's impressive fiction debut, the action and pacing are taut, the characters well drawn, the conflict compelling, and the world he creates is fascinating and immersive in its detail. His world building is reminiscent of the best space opera mixed with the gritty, violent dystopia of cyberpunk. Recommended for fans of Alastair Reynolds and William Gibson.

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