Publisher:
NEL
Reviews & Overviews by Rod Cameron
Publisher: |
NEL |
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Date: |
1997 |
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Size: |
359 Pages |
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Format: |
Paperback |
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Price: |
Out of Print. Current second hand price is Ł20.00 - if you can find a copy |
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ISBN: |
0-340-67472-5 |
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Reviewed by: |
Rod Cameron |
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Review Date: |
May 2007 |
neoAddix was Jon Courtenay Grimwood’s first novel published in 1997, which unfortunately (according to Jon) had a bad publishing history – small print run – American publisher requested cuts, etc. As a result, it has never been reprinted and is currently out of print. Jon has said in several interviews that he regards neoAddix as “a very bad novel”. He of course has gone on to write nine stunning novels including the Ashraf Bey Arabesk novels (Pashazade, Effendi & Felaheen) and his latest End of the World Blues which picked up the BSFA Award at Eastercon earlier this year.
Anyone who has been reading my reviews over the last few years will no doubt have noticed my regard for Jon Courtenay Grimwood’s work, which some would say borders on obsession, you can therefore imagine my delight when I managed to acquire a (very) second-hand copy of neoAddix.
neoAddix is the first of the post-Napoleonic 22nd century cyberpunk Claire Fabio Novels. The others being Lucifer’s Dragon, reMix and redRobe. The front cover describes it as “The Cyber Noir ultrashocker”. The back is a bit more forth-coming – “neoAddix, drawing on today’s and tomorrow’s developments in genetics, nanotechnology and computer hacking, is a dark, violent technoshocker that splices the thriller with Japanese traditions of manga to create cutting-edge cyber noir.”
The story starts with Maxine, a 13 year old rich kid, granddaughter of a psychopathic prince whose main hobby appears to be committing murder. Maxine has a friend Razz, who is owned by an assassin Mr Rosary who works for the prince. Razz is an exotic with mirror-like silver skin which matches the chrome trim of her Kawasaki 500i motorbike. Clare Fabio is a prosecutor in Paris who has just been set up, and doesn’t realise that her only chance of surviving is to trust a ruthless, criminally inclined computer which has lost it’s memory – literally. I should also mention Johnnie T, leader of the neoAddix, a hacker and leader of one of Japan’s slickest street gangs. The central figure that links all these people together is Alex Gibson. One of his eyes is palest grey. The other is a Zeiss eyecam with enough data locked in it to blow open a very messy murder trial. Unfortunately for Alex, media giant CySat GmB owns the data, and don’t think much of Alex trying to sell it elsewhere. There is also a shadowy organization called the Order of Antioch, run by an 800 year old Sicilian psychopath, who also wants the information.
Do not believe what JCG says about this book. It is not nearly as bad as he has been leading us to believe. Ok, it might make him cringe with embarrassment, but I believe that this is largely due to his bad memories of the publishing experience rather than an honest critique of the actual writing. Yes, there have been some cuts which mean that it doesn’t flow as well as his later books. And yes, it was his first published work and perhaps he did throw in too many ideas. BUT, neoAddix is still a valid part of JCG’s body of work, and is key to the character development of some of the protagonists in his later books such as Lucifer’s Dragon. For example Razz and Alex Gibson to name but two. There is also a notable similarity between the characters of Maxine and Hani in the Arabesk novels which would bear further research.
If you have read any of Jon Courtenay Grimwood’s work, expecially the Claire Fabio novels, then all I can say is that I thoroughly recommend you tracking down and acquiring a copy of neoAddix.
If I was given the luxury of speaking to Jon again, I would say:
Jon,
Get over your embarrassment and bad vibes over it’s past publishing history. You have three options concerning neoAddix:
1 – do nothing. But that is not fair to your fans and admirers. You owe them something for all the copies of your works that they have purchased (note the emotional blackmail there!)
2 – republish neoAddix as it is, possibly with a disclaimer at the front noting everything you hate about the book
3 – do an author’s “cut” – if Stephen King can add “400 manuscript” pages to The Stand, then why not? This is by far the most attractive solution to your eager (ok obsessive) readers. Ok it will take time to do, but surely it won’t be any more lengthy than starting from scratch on the next novel. Think of all the re-sales of the rest of the Claire Fabio novels in new covers too … I know you are looking forward to writing three new Ashraf Bey mysteries, but you do really need to sort out this little issue as well.
Thank you, Jon.