archives

The Perfect Revolution

by Oscar Deadwood

Reviewed by Rusty McCain

      I read 90% of this novel on the train ride from Seoul to Pusan in South Korea, so let me begin by telling you that you won't be spending a great time of time reading the book, because it is short and it reads fast. Really fast. Which is strange because the book itself is not an action or adventure book. It's not a chase novel, or a simplistic linear novel. It's the journal of a soldier, and much of the beginning of the book is the main character waiting for orders by the higher-ups.

      So let's begin with a review of the main character, Specialist Benjamin Benson (or Ben-ben, so I hear he likes to be called.) Ben-ben is a soldier on the front line at the Iraq/Iran border in the year 2013. Yes, that means America is still going at it 7 years from the date of the publication of this review. (And according to the novel, the Republicans aren't even in the Oval Office anymore.) The first third of the story takes place here at the border, and it is, in my opinion, the best part of the book. Life on the border is tense and monotonous, and Deadwood does a great job of showing us the tension and monotony, without being frantic or boring in the process. Ben-ben is paired-up with a fellow female soldier (Tanya) that he's attracted to, despite her apparent unattractiveness.

“I caught myself stealing glances at [Tanya's] figure underneath her fatigues. Some women look good in fatigues, and you can imagine what they look like underneath the camouflage. On Tanya, fatigues aren’t flattering at all. In fact, she looks almost like a man from behind.”

Ben-ben goes on to say that he can feel himself becoming 'obsessed' with Tanya, despite his growing impression that she's gay. He says “I'm such a fucking geek,” for the first (but not last) time in regards to his own feelings toward Tanya. Ben-ben is basically the stereotypical uninformed college student; he only joins the army because his father loses his job as the economy of America crashes and can no longer afford his tuition.

      Which brings us to the U.S.A., which has basically gone to shit because of the war in Iraq and a new war they're fighting in Venezuela (also over petroleum). The administration bankrupts the Treasury, and the economy crashes, companies such as GM go belly-up, and lay off millions (GM being, at present, the second largest employer in the U.S.) Trash piles up in the streets and police walk away from their stations as municipal funds dry up. The war fronts are not going well, and America's starting to look more like a junkyard, yet the news is all sports and celebrities. The novel has some thinly veiled allegories to current conditions in America, but it pushes it farther to a logical conclusion.

      We learn all this through a letter from Ben-ben's father, and cross-comparison with letters sent to Tanya. But . . . I hear you saying, “Why's the novel called 'The Perfect Revolution'?” Hmmm . . . I wonder.

      The science fiction aspects of the novel (besides being set in the near future) begin with an introduction to the Perfect Soldier, a military cyborg that can camouflage its entire body, is bullet-proof, and has an index finger gun, as well as some other surprising tricks.

“The Kurds thought the Americans had summoned some sort of demon soldier, invincible, immortal and deadly.”

The cyborgs do, as cyborgs will, all kinds of nasty, remorseless, things, but their best trick is what they get us humans to do. There are these cyborgs in both war fronts, as well as being on the streets of America as Perfect Officers, a complement (and in some places, the entire) policing force. (So there's the 'Perfect' in the title. You can guess the 'Revolution' part.) In addition to Perfect Soldiers and Officers, all soldiers have a microchip surgically implanted in their heads that functions much as the SIM card that the Armed Forces use now do: all medical, financial, and personnel records are kept there, making army life simpler if not easier. Soon, the chips are modified for civilian use.

      Let me say here, that the science fiction bits of the story are what turned me off the most. Not because they weren't interesting or unbelievable or anything, but mostly because they seemed WAY too advanced for only 7 years down the road. Cyborgs, neural microchips, molecular transporting, and even a 'de-atomizer.' The technology and the date seem conflicting, but if you're a big believer that the States are sitting on those kinds of things, you won't have nearly the problem I did.

      Without spoiling anymore of the story, let me say that it takes place mostly on that Iraqi border and in Royal Oak, a suburb of Detroit, Michigan, with a short stay in Washington, D.C., and a shorter one in Athens, Greece. The characters are believable, the settings convincing, and the story is pretty solid, despite the technology, and the ending, which was mildly disappointing, but in that way that left me thinking about the novel after I put it down, so maybe it accomplished its goal. I recommend the book to any readers who are fans of near-future sci-fi and war, both of which this book has in abundance.

Letter Grade: B-, which would make The Perfect Revolution a 'Go-getter' by Cox Landing Elementary School's guidelines.

The editor of Atomjack would like to thank Oscar for providing an electronic copy of The Perfect Revolution. You can purchase the book at Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble, and of course, in any Rabies' Rusty Meatbooks & Literature Emporium.

______

______