Nymphomation

Nymphomation

I've read good reviews about Jeff Noon's books and thus wanted to try out his books. Here's a headsup for anyone else thinking along the same lines – do pick the first in the Vurt series. That would be the perfect introduction into his style of writing and the overall plotline. Don't meander into it via the fourth book. Fair enough, you will understand the story and it is a fantastic novel overall … but I can't help thinking that the first few chapters would not have been such a rough introduction if I had some sort of prior reference.

 Now for the plot itself. A brand new type of lottery system has a hold over the city of Manchester. Somehow folks are addicted to it; to the idea of winning, the idea of making it big via a small chance buy. Not exactly a functional way of thinking, especially if you are going to be hooked to the lottery weeks on end. On the other hand, this was the perfect way for the powers that be to control the city and its people. The company running the lottery was called AnnoDomino and so far, they were wowing the authorities with their attention-grabbing system.

Enter a group of science students and their enterprising professor, Max Hackle. Together they are devising a way to bring down the lottery company. They are worried about the way this chance winning system controls the city. Then there are the creepy tales of folks being nabbed in the night. If you think the story is a 'bring down the man' style of novel, read on a bit. It appears that Hackle's involvement is not without somewhat shady underlying motives. We learn that the good Prof was involved in the creation of the lottery system during his young and daring days. Him and a bunch of young geniuses were introduced to dominoes by a rather clever teacher. From them onwards, they were obsessed with the way certain branches of maths was linked to our lives. Dominoes was a large part of this obsession and it would later lead to developing various ways to control people, perhaps ever recreate life. I don't want to give away too much more. You'll have to read the book to find out if the group manages to stop the company. And what do they find in the very heart of the company? Who's the big boss behind the whole bonanza?

 I do have a few more to add about the book itself. Initially, it was quite hard for me to read the book consistently. There didn't seem to be a smooth flow. In my opinion, the story seemed to jump from paragraph to paragraph, even from sentence to sentence. However, it was not because Jeff Noon was a bad writer. Far from it, he was quite a creative storyteller. It was the way he constructed sentences that created the initial hurdles. Unlike Pratchett and Rankin, Noon would paint images via phrases or fragmented sentences. It was a new way of thinking purely because it was a new way of describing a scene. Interestingly enough, this style becomes more natural when the suspense builds up in the novel. As you dive further into the book, you won't be able to imagine any other manner of narration for this particular story.

My second point is about the underlying themes. You can tell that Jeff Noon loves science and certain fields of maths. I myself am not familiar with a lot of the concepts thus I worry that a few more subtle references might have gone over my head. On the other hand, this means that if you have a love of cyberpunk style storytelling with heavy doses of mathematics, this story will be an absolute delight for you.