Positronic Thinking

We're finished with the second segment of Positron now, out of three that have been published so far (with a fourth theoretically coming out sometime in the future).

So far, I'm liking it. The first part was... okay. It was a set-up chapter, to be sure - plenty of exposition to establish what Consilience is branding itself as and what sort of world it exists in (dystopian, for the record). And we were introduced to our two main characters: Stan and Charmaine, unpleasant individuals ordinaire. A domestic disturbance was underway, and then, in the end of part one, it turned out to be a bit less domestic (and, at the same time, significantly closer to home) than Stan had anticipated.

I think my main problem with part one was that neither Stan nor Charmaine were particularly likable or clever, and they were effectively presented as the only two people in conflict (until the very end). With part two, this changed - both were now pitted against the system into which they had signed their lives away, whether they were aware of it or not. So, while this didn't make either character change into a better person, it did make things a lot more interesting, and the flaws inherent in the system of Consilience started coming to the forefront. (The potential for abuse in surveillance states comes to mind, for instance, as do comparisons to cults and the eternal question of "Who profits?")

I'm still not sure what to think about that twist at the end of part two. It DID come somewhat out of left field (well... more on that in a second), but it also has me very interested in what's coming next (as in, once I finish this post, I'm reading part three - doesn't seem right to write a post about parts one and two while knowing what comes next). Now, as to whether or not Jocelyn's about-face has been appropriately foreshadowed, well, that sort of depends on whether or not it's genuine. The way I see it, there are two likely outcomes: either Jocelyn and Phil are indeed acting to sabotage the system, or they're cleaning up the mess they made by framing Stan. It would fit with the story so far to have them be framing Stan - how many characters, thus far, have had anything that would pass for a conscience? - but, at the same time, Jocelyn's talk of Stan being a "wild card" earlier on does lend some credence to their claims.

Of course, getting too analytical of these things can ruin the fun. You're not supposed to know what happens next when it's a cliffhanger, right? And if today's super-savvy readers can sniff out plot twists a mile away, well, maybe that means that authors have to go a bit above and beyond to surprise them. We'll see, come part three.

PS: One last quick note - agency. Neither Stan nor Charmaine have much. Charmaine's "personal touches" in her angel of death routine seem to be the extent of hers, and Stan's pretty much ends at the contemplation of violent acts that he never performs. Even these have been accounted for by those controlling them - they just haven't been stopped, unlike Stan's surveillance and Charmaine's liaisons. This isn't too uncommon in dystopian novels - at least not in authoritarian ones - but it does make their characters a bit less interesting, at least for me. I'm hoping that part three changes this up a bit (Charmaine's upcoming choice should be a start).

EDIT: Another thing - quick this time, I promise. My Kindle program for my PC automatically had a little feature on that underlines segments of text that lots of other readers had highlighted. This is profoundly annoying. I want to discover the clever lines myself, thanks; if I wanted a tutorial version of a book, I'd be using SparkNotes. Rant over. :)