Country: USA
Genre: Science-Fiction/Cyberpunk
Pages: 194 kb (eOriginal)
Buy The Azreal Deception
The city was shaped like a bulging eye and Hob wished it would just go blind.
My love story with pulp fiction began with the proto-cyberpunk novels of Philip K. Dick, so therefore I have a weak spot in my heart for this sub-genre of science-fiction. It's also a close cousin to tdystopian fiction, another perennial favorite of mine. Chad Rohrbacher is a well-known name in the crime fiction underground, but his taste for cyberpunk were unknown to me. His collection THE AZREAL DECEPTION depicts the lives of multiple characters in the world after an unspecified event they called The Restructuring. Some know each other, some don't, but the important thing here is that they're all trying to piece their lives back together in a world that is foreign and alienating. Rohrbacher's collection is such a pleasure to read, because of his attention to detail and his keen choices in regards to what details to highlight. He created an immersive universe that would make many science-fiction writers jealous.
THE AZREAL DECEPTION count six, rather long short stories, each titled with a different character's name, except for the last one. My favorite was SWEDE: A BODY TWISTING, which I thought was the most atypical cyberpunk of the lot. It tells the story of Alana and Swede, both estranged to the very world they live in. Alana works in a laboratory and doubts that what she does help any people anymore. She's undergoing a serious confidence crisis both within and towards her environment, which is both a unique idea and very faithful to cyberpunk concepts. I also liked reading HOB: FURIOUS also, which is the shortest story of the collection. My interest for Hob's storyline aesthetic than intellectual as Rohrbacher really drew the beauty and the scope out of the cyberpunk setting in this one.
The genius behind THE AZREAL DECEPTION *, lies in the setting and the use Rohrbacher makes of this gorgeous world he created. On a narrative aspect, there are very few stories that couldn't have been told in a contemporary, gritty setting, if tweaked a little. They stand out from the mass of crime/noir/cyberpunk/science-fiction, by how the setting is incorporated through the narrative element and how the characters are affected. Alana in SWEDE: A BODY TWISTING would be the best example, along with Charlie in POWER SURGES. Rohrbacher doesn't only go for post-apocalyptic description, he works the broken landscapes and the ongoing paranoia into the psyche of his characters. Such details are almost always overlooked by writers and THE AZREAL DECEPTION is an exercise of display about how crucial it can be, especially in a cyberpunk universe.
* It's not "a work of genius" per se, but it does have elements of it.
THE AZREAL DECEPTION count six, rather long short stories, each titled with a different character's name, except for the last one. My favorite was SWEDE: A BODY TWISTING, which I thought was the most atypical cyberpunk of the lot. It tells the story of Alana and Swede, both estranged to the very world they live in. Alana works in a laboratory and doubts that what she does help any people anymore. She's undergoing a serious confidence crisis both within and towards her environment, which is both a unique idea and very faithful to cyberpunk concepts. I also liked reading HOB: FURIOUS also, which is the shortest story of the collection. My interest for Hob's storyline aesthetic than intellectual as Rohrbacher really drew the beauty and the scope out of the cyberpunk setting in this one.
The genius behind THE AZREAL DECEPTION *, lies in the setting and the use Rohrbacher makes of this gorgeous world he created. On a narrative aspect, there are very few stories that couldn't have been told in a contemporary, gritty setting, if tweaked a little. They stand out from the mass of crime/noir/cyberpunk/science-fiction, by how the setting is incorporated through the narrative element and how the characters are affected. Alana in SWEDE: A BODY TWISTING would be the best example, along with Charlie in POWER SURGES. Rohrbacher doesn't only go for post-apocalyptic description, he works the broken landscapes and the ongoing paranoia into the psyche of his characters. Such details are almost always overlooked by writers and THE AZREAL DECEPTION is an exercise of display about how crucial it can be, especially in a cyberpunk universe.
The surgeries were free to suits and highly discounted for officers, so it seemed like a given that most would have at least some of them done. Generally people went with the cheaper surgeries like putting in internal coms or enhancing pleasure zones. Those who could afford the eyes, did. They automatically adjusted to light, could magnify objects up to forty-five yard, and changed with an individual's mood. Some claimed they could affect others' behavior but nothing was published on the matter so Alana discounted it.
My reading of THE AZREAL DECEPTION was a pleasant affair and I can't think really of a point that I disliked to the point I became frustrated with it. It reads like the beginning of six novels, meshed together after a dramatic collision, but there is a certain charm to it. I finished it, wishing it wasn't over, that I had a longer, more cohesive narrative within the same universe to fall back on, but again, this is a false-negative. Chad Rohrbacher is a talented, passionate and creative writer that deserves your attention. Cyberpunk fanatics will fall in love with THE AZREAL DECEPTION and will be left wanting more. His crime novel KARMA BACKLASH is coming out from Snubnose Press next month, keep an eye open for it. Rohrbacher has the potential to be something special.
FOUR STARS
FOUR STARS
* It's not "a work of genius" per se, but it does have elements of it.