Returning to logging the books next to my computer in the order in which they were read, Matthew Jarpe’s Radio Freefall was one of the few books I picked up at Boskone (I think I got Larry Smith’s last copy). I read most of it during our trip to DC a little while back, and I’m only just getting around to writing about it. (Which makes me officially a Bad Person, as he mentioned my talk at Boskone as part of the inspiration for his new book, which is way cool.)
Radio Freefall has some very odd jacket copy that gives a decent idea of the feel of the book, but a slightly skewed idea of the actual plot. It also includes the sentence “And then something like the Singularity happens, but no one is quite sure.” I’m still not sure what that refers to.
The book is basically a rock-and-roll version od a mid-period Heinlein novel: in a world on the verge of being united under the not-entirely-benevolent governance of a massive internet corporation (think Microsoft with a military arm), a mysterious musician calling himself “Aqualung” wanders out of the Nevada desert, and teams up with a gang of talented kids to form a band (the Snake Vendors) that takes the world by storm. In addition to being a kick-ass blues guitarist, Aqualung also has some unique ideas about ways to manipulate crowds with music, which he uses as an opening act.
At the same time, a fellow named Quin Taber is looking around for the origin of a sort of super-virus known as the Digital Carnivore, that infects nearly every computer connected to the Internet. Quin has the assistance of a “secretary” named Molly and a massive grudge against Walter Cheeseman, the head of WebCense, who is about the become the de facto ruler of the world. And somehow, Aqualung turns out to be the key to all these different schemes.
There are really two threads to this book: one is a kind of “Behind the Music” story of the career of the Snake Vendors, while the other follows Quin’s efforts to find the origin and purpose of the Digital Carnivore. Contrary to the impression created by the cover copy, the political stuff doesn’t come into the foreground until quite late in the book. This isn’t The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress with a soundtrack by Queen, it’s a rock-band novel whose third act takes place in orbit.
The music stuff is very well done. Jarpe avoids going into too much detail about the specific songs, which is always the trap of these books– many an otherwise excellent book has failed because the author couldn’t pay off with the lyrics for the Greatest Song Ever. He does a great job with the basic feel of the music and the concert scenes, though. And if the novelist thing doesn’t pan out, he could make a killing as a consultant coming up with band and album names.
The political background is a little contrived, but no more than is typical of the genre. Walter Cheeseman is a bit over the top, but Quin Taber, Molly, and the other characters in the political story line are well done. When the two plots converge, they do so in a very satisfying way– Jarpe avoids the most obvious and cliche path, and gives a better reason than I expected for Aqualung’s importance to the flow of events.
The writing is quite good, the plot moves along nicely, and it avoids the worst excesses of both political SF and rock-band novels, which is a nice trick. The music is critical to the characters, but it’s not what saves the revolution, and the politics provide real heft to the plot, without overwhelming the rock stuff.
I enjoyed this quite a bit, and I look forward to seeing what he does next.