Debris

The Veiled Worlds #1

by Jo Anderton

After being exposed to radioactive particles as part of a clean-up gang in the depths of space, Tanyana is told she has developed a hitherto-unseen ability to understand the apparently sentient stuff. Powerless, penniless and scarred, Tanyana must adjust to a new life collecting magical garbage—‘debris’—but starts to realize debris is more important than anyone could guess.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Steampunk, Ebooks, Dystopia, Speculative Fiction

464 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Joanne Anderton lives in Sydney, Australia, with her husband and too many pets. By day she is a mild-mannered marketing coordinator for an Australian book distributor. By night, weekends and lunchtimes she writes dark fantasy, horror a little bit of science fiction and a whole lot of weird stuff in between.

Her short fiction has been published in a variety of places, including Aurealis, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine and Midnight Echo. She was shortlisted for the 2009 Aurealis Award for best young adult short story.

Her debut novel, Debris (Book One the Veiled Worlds Series) will be published by Angry Robot Books in 2011, followed by Suited in 2012.

Reviews

[☘Misericordia☘ ⚡ϟ⚡⛈⚡☁ ❇️❤❣ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting...

We start at 5 stars (I read it, right?):
-1 star: I was thinking about 4 stars here but the pseudo-'Slavic' references made the world a bit iffy. No, make that very iffy. Basically, from all the Slavic stuff, the author got only 'Pavel', 'Natasha' and 'kasha' right. And even 'kasha' recepe made me shudder: buckwheat with raisins, honey and nuts and other sweet stuff! Even reading about it feels unstomachable. Also, why the hell was 'kasha' not named porridge? or maybe 'Haferbrei'? Could it have sounded way more lustig? N'est-ce pas? Added un peu de ich weiß nicht welche palabras? English texts interspersed with Slavic (Russian/Polish/Chech/Croatian? whatever...) words read about as 'gracious' and clever... not as these 4 sentences.
+1 star: new world built on atom manipulating powers, the 'pions' thing (which is basially the atoms we know expressed as 'ions' + 'p'),
-1 star: not enough of this world background to get everything
+1 star: no tedious 'star-drive-building talks' (the issue that often plagues sci-fi)
-1 star: the love story was instant, unbelievable and creepy (you drill metal into her bones first and then you go to go around calling her 'my lady' and having the frisky sessions? Ouch!)
+1 star: compulsive readability
-1 star: all the class differences and social injustice stuff was nagging!
-1 star: the debris idea felt undeveloped: we hear about it all the time but what the hell is wrong with it?
Overall 3 stars.

[Maja (The Nocturnal Library) · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 star

Why would someone who is so obviously not good at worldbuilding decide to write fantasy is beyond me. I wasted a lot of time trying to find something nice to say about this book, especially because Jo Anderton is a debut author and as such, deserves my best effort. So here it is: the IDEA for Debris was really very interesting. Come to think of it, this probably isn’t much of a compliment considering the end result.

Everything was made up of pions, from the steel in Grandeur’s finger bones to the sun-spotted skin that stretched across the back of my hand. I saw them as lights, a myriad of tiny fireflies.

A woman with the ability to control pions, the smallest particles of I-have-no-idea-what (it was quite unclear) finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy and loses the thing that separates her from the rest of the population. Without her ability to see these particles, she is unable to perform her job at the center of a nine-point circle (quite unclear, too) and has to start collecting debris instead. (Basically she goes from being a CEO to being a trash collector in just a few days.) Seeing as she was blamed for the big accident that, wonder of all wonders, wasn’t her fault at all, veche, the organization that controls everything, makes her work off her debt with a group of debris collectors in the worst part of the city.

This story, in its core, is about class differences and social injustice, but in order to sympathize with anyone, be that an individual or an entire (invisible) layer of society, I must understand the social structure first! The city of Movoc-under-Keeper is controlled by the veche, an omnipotent organization, council or something similar, but the exact nature of veche or how it came to power remains a mystery throughout the novel.

Here's another good thing (good because I found it interesting): the author used a lot of Slavic words and Slavic-sounding names: Tanyana (the main character), Volski, Devich… In fact, the word veche itself is Slavic (that would be vijeće in Croatian) and it means council. So I guess that answers my earlier questions, but it still should have been made clear(er).

Tanyana was a terrible character: no matter how hurt she was or how much they took from her, I found it very hard to feel sorry for her because she was… well, a selfish cow. True, she went from being a Lady to being nobody in a week, she lost everything, including her home and her friends, but she insisted on behaving like a spoiled, irresponsible brat.

I could go on and on about every single thing that was wrong with this book, but it would be a waste of everyone’s time. Here’s what it comes down to: the worldbuilding was incomplete, the main character was whiny and the love story was unconvincing. All in all, I did my best to like it but I really can’t recommend this to anyone.

[Joel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yeah, I'm not going to finish this one.

The thing is, I don't think this is a bad book, despite the middling rating here, where anything under, say, 3.75 stars indicates mixed reviews, at best. I thought it was fine. The world is unique, a blend of sci-fi and magic that posits that there are small pieces of energy (pions) in all living things that can be spoken to/manipulated and used to build stuff, move heavy things, generate electricity -- do pretty much anything -- and though many people have minor skill at manipulating them, it is a revered, exclusive class that can control them adroitly.

The first-person narrator is interesting enough -- a pion master who loses control of a construction project, causing extensive damage and suffering an injury that results in the loss of her skills. The central mystery -- what happened to her and why -- is compelling enough. The genre trappings -- the unusual makeup of a pion-powered city, the weird bio-mechanical suit she is forced to wear in her new job as a "debris collector" (too much to explain, never mind) -- are nifty enough. The supporting characters I've encountered so far are fairly cliche but likeable enough.

Really, there is nothing wrong with the book. The whole thing is enough.

Except I don't much care if I finish it. I like reading it fine, but I don't feel compelled to do so. I have no motivation either -- my reading goal for the year is out the window, I got it from the library instead of buying it, it isn't for book club and no one else I know read or recommended it*. So I'm just going to stop. Don't get me wrong, I want to know what happens. I'd totally read a plot summary on Wikipedia to find out. I just won't read 300 more pages.

I might, though, if the cover didn't proudly proclaim "BOOK ONE OF THE VEILED WORLDS." Book one! Book one! I hate seeing book one on the cover for an untried author. Maybe let me decide if I like you before you ask me to commit to an entire series to figure out your story. I didn't like it when Rothfuss did it, and I can't exactly treat you any different. (Lie, I totally can and likely will in the future; I love being contradictory on Goodreads. Pisses people off.)

Aside: the cover of BOOK TWO OF THE VEILED WORLDS is kind of silly, eh?

*partial lie; Goodreads friend Ian recommended it via cover blurb. Sorry, Ian. It's a nice blurb.

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

As usual, I love the way Angry Robot select the books they publish. Whatever faults each book has, there's something intriguing and worth taking a gamble on at the core. Whatever my doubts about whichever individual book, pretty much all of them are compelling, compulsive reads.

Debris suffered because it felt like set-up, really. It mostly builds a world, establishes the rules, and sets up for the later plot. The main character -- and narrator -- has a lot of setbacks, a bumpy ride down from the heights of society to the lows, and that isn't that compelling a story when you don't sympathise with the character, or understand her. E.g. I knew a certain character was a creep from minute one, and for someone we're told is so gifted and intelligent she takes a long time to grasp what seemed to me obvious.

I've read reviews of this book and the next that suggest the set-up is worth it, so perhaps when I get chance I'll pick up the next book, but I'm not in a hurry. Nonetheless, Debris was easy to read, and the central ideas are intriguing.

[Stefan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tanyana is a talented and celebrated architect. She’s one of the elite, someone who can control “pions,” allowing her to manipulate matter with a thought. She’s high up in the air, working on a towering statue, shaping the raw matter around her into art, when suddenly she finds herself under attack by strange, uncontrollable pions. When she regains consciousness after a horrible fall, it becomes clear that she has suffered more than just physical injuries: she’s lost the ability to see pions and can now only see “debris,” a sludgy byproduct of pion manipulation.

In an instant, Tanyana’s charmed life comes to a grinding halt. While unconscious and recovering from her injuries, a tribunal has already found her guilty of negligence. Against her will, she is fitted with a strange powersuit and assigned to a team of debris collectors. Before long, the once-proud architect finds herself reduced to poverty, trudging through the poorest parts of the city with her team to gather the filthy debris in a constant race to make quota. Gradually, she learns more about the true nature of her suit, the history of pions and debris, and the true cause of her fall.

Read the entire review on my site Far Beyond Reality!

[Liviu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been a surprisingly compelling book that took over my reading a bit unexpectedly; I took a fast look when I got the earc from Angry Robot and I thought "I've seen this story hundreds of times before and this does not stand out" but the first person voice of the novel stayed with me so some days later when in the mood for such, I got back to the novel and once i opened I had to read it before I could move on to something else.

Not only that but I really liked it so I will reread it first before reading something else; and it's all because of the compelling narration from the main heroine, showing once again that when first person narration works for me, it really does so to speak (and of course the reverse as in the recent Prince of Thorns misfire for example)

As mentioned the storyline is very standard - well off, high achiever but from no account family, respected professional is set up and thrown out of her job, has to start doing some nasty job instead, finds crew of oddballs, tough, rough but ultimately likeable, and presumably works towards getting her revenge, finding the dark secrets that her dismiaal covered etc - you've seen it I bet many times either in sff or in thrillers/crime...

The setup is covered in the blurb above and it has some resemblance with the awesome JC Wright Golden Age - still the best US sf debut of the 00's so far imho - though it is not as sophisticated sfnal as there.

Still, the worldbuiliding is quite interesting, but of course the strengths of the novel are in the voice, the characters - both the heroine and the supporting cast and the mysteries of the universe; there is action, romance, some twists and the story ends at a good point while I really want the sequel and further adventures of Tanyana and her friends.

Highly recommended, will add the FBC review closer to pub date

FBC Review:

INTRODUCTION: When I saw the blurb below for Debris in the Angry Robot fall 2011 lineup, I was intrigued, so I took a fast look when I got the e-arc from the publisher. At that very short glance, I thought "I've seen this story hundreds of times before and this does not stand out", but the first person voice of the novel unexpectedly stayed with me, so some days later I got back to the novel and once I opened it, I had to read it before I could move on to something else.
Debris is advertised as the first book in the Veiled Worlds trilogy.

"Tanyana is among the highest ranking in her far-future society – a skilled pionner, able to use a mixture of ritual and innate talent to manipulate the particles that hold all matter together. But an accident brings her life crashing down around her ears. She is cast down amongst the lowest of the low, little more than a garbage collector. But who did this to her, and for what sinister purpose? Her quest to find out will take her to parts of the city she never knew existed, and open the door to a world she could never have imagined. "

OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Debris has been a surprisingly compelling book that took over my reading a bit unexpectedly. All because of the compelling narration from the main heroine, showing once again that when first person narration works, it really does so.

As mentioned above, the storyline is very standard at least in the first half of the novel - well off, high achiever but from a family that is not really important, Tanyana, a respected professional is set up to spectacularly and expensively fail in an important task and is thrown out of her job, so she has to start doing some nasty low-level work instead. There she meets a crew of oddballs, tough, rough but ultimately likeable, and from then on she presumably works towards getting her revenge, finding the dark secrets that her dismissal covered etc - you've seen it I bet many times either in sff or in thrillers/crime...

The setup is covered in the blurb above and it has two main characteristics: urban action and a far future technology that allows people with the right talents and training to manipulate matter at its basic level. While considering the second part of the novel, there is a case for considering Debris as fantasy, especially that the novel focuses on people, their interactions and abilities rather than on technology, its ethos is clearly modern and science fictional, based on rationality and technology however advanced and unexplained, with the backward looking and conservative elements associated with fantasy - destined ones, bloodlines, etc - missing.

So the strengths of the novel are in the voice, the characters - both the heroine and the supporting cast - and the mysteries of the universe. There is action, romance, some twists and the story ends at a good point while I really want the sequel and further adventures of Tanyana and her friends.

Another aspect I enjoyed about Debris, was its fast moving style that flows well on the page and compelled me to turn the pages once I got hooked by the narrator's voice:

“Enough of this,” I told the pions. My pions. Stern, but kind, I was a mother, a teacher, a firm hand. “We have a job to do. Enough.”

But they couldn’t hear me, or wouldn’t. So I approached them, balancing on hot steel beams wet with condensation. I reached up to the closest finger bone, placed my hand against its stretching, writhing not-quite-metal-anymore form so the pions in me and the pions in it could touch, could mingle.

“Listen–”

But then, only then, so connected to the finger bone, so focused, did I see them.

Pions, yes, but not like any pions I had never known. Red, painfully red, and buried so deep inside reality that even the collective skill in the building site below hadn’t seen them. When I tried to communicate with them they burned like tiny suns and heat washed over me, and anger, such a terrible tearing anger I could feel from my head to my chest and deep, deep inside me. In my own pion systems."

Overall, Debris (A+) is a fascinating sff adventure that grabs you from the first page and does not let go till the end, delivering a tale of fall and redemption as narrated by a very intriguing heroine. One of my highly recommended novels of 2011 for which the sequel has become another read on receive book.

[Kara Babcock · Rating 2 out of 5]

What do you do when you undergo an accident that leaves you unable to interact with the basic technology underpinning your society? What do you do when that accident leaves you fit for one task few others would care to assume? What do you do when your new status leaves your old friends uncomfortable and your new ones unimpressed with you?

What do you do when it turns out your accident was no accident, and no one will listen?

In Debris, Tanyana is among the elite of Varsnia. In her society, technology harnessing elementary particles known as pions powers almost everything. Tanyana is a pion-binder, one of the best, an architect of buildings and statues for the highest bidder. But an accident during an unexpected inspection renders Tanyana unable to see pions any more. Instead, she can see debris, a byproduct of pion usage that interferes with pions (and not much else). Tanyana becomes pressed into being a debris collector: the gig comes with a silver suit bonded to her wrists that provides some limited shapeshifting capabilities. Despite their critical role in society, debris collectors receive little notice and little respect.

There are hints that not all is as it should be—or used to be—almost from the beginning. Tanyana and her team of debris collectors lurch from one disaster to the next. Eventually, Tanyana discovers that she is a pawn in a larger gambit involving forces far beyond her comprehension. Her accident was no accident, and since then she has not been as abandoned as she thought—instead, she has been shaped and manipulated by people close to her as well as those watching from a distance.

My problem is that I felt like I was watching from a distance, and that did not help at all. In some books, the hint of grand conspiracies and hidden histories is tantalizing and can help drive the plot as we cheer for the characters to solve the mystery. In this case, I just didn’t find myself invested in the characters or their problems.

Tanyana annoyed me at first, but then I realized it isn’t her fault. She’s actually a nice person, and proactive in her own way—what was annoying me was every person blaming Tanyana for everything that went wrong. She was like a personal magnet for the blame of Murphy’s Law. Moreover, no one seemed to want to explain anything to Tanyana (and then they blamed her when she was ignorant of a procedure). These behaviours made every character seem like an ass, and I disliked all of them. (Except maybe Lad. Lad’s cool.)

I also struggled with not knowing enough about the world Anderton has obviously gone to pains to construct. Pions are an actual thing. Are the magical pions of Debris supposed to be related? It’s not clear. Anderton seems to indicate that everyone can see pions but not many are skilled at manipulating them as Tanyana used to be. What does everyone else spend their time doing? If pions have replaced the role of old school machines, what happened to all the scientists and engineers? I don’t doubt that Anderton could provide a satisfactory explanation, because revolutions like the one she describes have certainly happened in our past. But for all the interesting ideas she throws in here, there are still aspects of her society that remain vague.

It’s not all bad news. Anderton genuinely has something interesting here. I’d like to learn more about debris collecting, and I definitely want to know why the bad guys are so bent on doing something that seems to threaten existence as we know it—are they just evil, or are they misguided? Part of this curiosity is the result, of course, of that vagueness I mentioned above—but part of it is because Anderton whets my appetite with the right amount of conflict and questions.

Additionally, I loved watching Tanyana adapt to her new circumstances after her accident. Her world changes so completely. At first she lives in denial, thinking she might get to maintain her accustomed lifestyle. Gradually she realizes how wrong she is. She must make new friendships—many of her old “friends” desert her following her loss of status—and determine how to cope with her inability to use pions—which, in this society, is definitely a disability.

Debris is a kind of bland novel. It has some of the basic book nutrients: a passable plot, serviceable characters. It lacks the zest and spice that make a book memorable. I want more, but I don’t know how much more—and certainly not with any urgency.

My reviews of the Veiled Worlds series:
Suited →

[Psychomacologist · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was really disappointed with this book - it has such a promising premise and the world building is interesting, but by a quarter of the way in to it I wanted to punch Tanyana in the face for being such a self absorbed whiner.

Tanyana is constantly talking about how strong and self sufficient she is, yet she fails to display any of these qualities and at times is downright stupid. Her love interest, Devich, is obviously a massive creep who any self respecting woman would've kicked to the curb in short order, yet (the allegedly strong, empowered) Tanyana keeps him around and puts up with him manipulating her and mansplaining everything.

The main character also teeters dangerously close to Mary Sue territory - she's so good at everything (without even trying) that the plot becomes a dreary, tension-less mess. When the protagonist can solve every problem by instinct and luck (because she's Super Special) there's no sense of danger or rising stakes.

Pacing and plotting were big issues here, partly due to Tanyana's 'specialness'. I get the need to have the main character be good at things, but she's just too good at everything to be interesting. Except for telling when men are douchebags, which she completely sucks at.

A book with a lot of promise that ultimately fails to deliver. I would've thrown it at the wall if it wasn't on my beloved Kindle.

[Ranting Dragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://www.rantingdragon.com/debris-t...


Debris is the debut novel of Australian author Jo Anderton and the first in a projected trilogy, The Veiled Worlds, to be published by Angry Robot Books. Despite some minor flaws, Debris is quite a solid first novel and showcases Anderton’s substantial storytelling talent, marking her as a name to watch in the future.

What goes up must come down
Debris takes place in Movoc, a remarkable technologically advanced city that sits in the shadow of a symbolic mountain known as the Keeper. Since the revolutionary discovery that most individuals possess the ability to manipulate the small building blocks of matter known as pions through certain geometric configurations and ritual gestures, Movoc-under-Keeper has led the world in everything from architecture to art and medicine. However, while it may seem like a utopia for those who possess significant pion-binding ability, beneath society’s surface lies corruption and oppression. An underclass of ‘collectors’ are forced to collect the bi-product of pion-manipulation, known as debris, and are shunned by the rest of society.

Like many recent debut novels, Debris is told from a single first-person viewpoint, that of the protagonist Tanyana. When we are first introduced to Tanyana, she is one of the city’s elite, a prodigal pion binder and master architect, working on her most ambitious project yet. However, she soon falls victim to a suspicious accident. Her masterpiece is destroyed, she is left scarred, and her connection to the world of pions is severed. Bound into a bizarre ‘collecting suit’, Tanyana must learn to adapt to life at the lowest rung of society, all the while attempting to discover the truth about her fall. However, there is more to the world of pions and debris than meets the eye. Beneath the surface of society brews something far greater and more dangerous than she ever imagined.

A perfect set-up for some truly epic conflicts
Have you ever read a novel where you had a few gripes with certain characters but were never once tempted to put the book down? How about a novel where at certain points you were not 100% sure what you were reading or what the author was trying to achieve, yet despite it all you were intrigued and still kept coming back for more? This pretty much summarizes my experience with Debris.

A dystopian world of ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ and the tale of an individual’s fall from the highest rungs of society are not exactly new to the fantasy genre, yet Anderton manages to put her own spin on these familiar tropes and make them feel fresh. The world itself is unique, containing a number of intriguing aspects. For instance, the opposing forces of debris and pions make for a compelling and complex magic system. The collecting suit and its relationship with its wearer is also quite a fascinating concept that has many potential uses throughout the series. In addition, the government organization, the veche, provides a satisfyingly foreboding presence and its agents, referred to as ‘the puppet men’, are undeniably creepy and sinister. Furthermore, I thought that the reliance of Movoc’s upper classes on pions and the division between ‘binders’ and ‘collectors’ were believable byproducts of a society wherein most individuals possess some degree of pion manipulating power. In some ways this may even be interpreted as social commentary on Western civilization’s own growing reliance on technology. Anderton also does a good job of depicting the culture shock suffered by someone used to having everything come easily, suddenly losing it all and being forced to work to fulfill even the most basic needs. Altogether, this provides an excellent stage for a number of conflicts to play out and for various questions to be explored throughout the story.

Imperfect characters you will grow to love
On the whole, the characters are quite well developed and believable. Initially I had some reservations about Tanyana, as I found her a little cold and self satisfied and disliked her haughty demeanor. Nevertheless, as the novel progressed she retained her distinctive ‘spark’ but adapted to circumstances and grew as a person, becoming much easier to relate to as a result. Due to the first person narrative we don’t get as much insight into some of the secondary characters as we could. Nevertheless, many are quite well developed and leave you wanting to learn more about them. For instance, I loved the warmth in the relationship between the group leader Kichlan and his ‘broken’ brother Lad. In addition, their landlord, Eugeny, also stood out as a complex and three-dimensional individual.

On the other hand, there was one character whose behavior just seemed odd throughout the entire novel and who wasn’t believable to me as a person. Without spoiling the novel for others, there turned out to be a legitimate reason for this strange characterization; however, the way it was executed was not particularly subtle. Usually I would consider this a major flaw as it failed to utilize what could, with a slightly lighter touch, have been a shocking surprise. Initially, it also seemed unrealistic to me that a protagonist who had previously been shown as competent and intelligent would fail to have seen this development coming. However, after contemplating why this didn’t bother me as much as I thought it should, I had a realization—this novel is not really about the unexpected reveal; it’s about the characters and their reactions to each other and the events around them. When I looked at the situation considering the fact that Tanyana had recently lost almost everything that made her who she once was, it seemed fitting that she would ignore seemingly obvious cues in a final desperate attempt to hold onto one last connection to her former life.

Building up to something even more climactic
As Debris is the first novel in a trilogy, its main purpose is to introduce the world and characters and set up events that will culminate in later books. Anderton definitely achieves this and the necessary worldbuilding and characterization is quite fascinating, despite the fact it results in a slightly slower pace. Furthermore, the action really picks up at the end of the novel and there are a number of plot twists that I didn’t see coming. The events that occur in the last quarter, as well as the connection I felt to the characters by this point, made me quite eager to find out what happens next.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I’ll mention that there is some violence in this novel, though it’s pretty mild by modern standards. Additionally, Anderton shows that she sure knows how to write a sex scene, although I’m sure it’s nothing most adult readers can’t deal with!

Why should you read this book?
Those who take pleasure in checking out new talent on the fantasy scene will have a hard time finding fault with this year’s debuts, and Debris is yet another impressive and promising title to add to the list. Personally, I’m definitely looking forward to the rest of the series and can’t wait to see where Anderton goes with her characters and world. I have a feeling that the next book, Suited, will be even more impressive.

Although Anderton makes what could be considered some strange choices throughout the novel, overall Debris worked for me and managed to immerse me in its world. I would definitely recommend it as a book that will appeal to readers who prefer their fantasy complete with a unique magic system, strange technologies, believable characterization and a dystopian edge.

[Mieneke · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the back of every Angry Robot book are categories the book can be filed under; in the case of Debris, these were: science fiction, Meets the Eye, Hidden Powers, Puppet Man Cabal and Fantastic Journey. Now all of these are quite applicable and some of them unique to this story – I don't think I've ever run into a Puppet Man Cabal anywhere else – but it is the first one that is most debatable to me.  While Debris contains SF-nal qualities, a far-future setting, the collector suits, the almost scientific application of pions, there is something to be said for this being a fantasy story, with a magic system, disembodied voices and honestly, a far more fantasy feel than a science fiction feel. I can certainly see why people would think Debris a fantasy novel. In other words, it's the genre-bending kind of novel that Angry Robot is known for publishing. But I enjoy my genre being bent and with Debris, it got a good workout indeed.

From the start of the novel we are thrown into the deep end with binding, the intricate magic system that pervades the society of Movoc-Under-Keeper. The numerous uses the pions are put to, are fascinating and dangerous. Pions are literally the glue holding most of Movoc-Under-Keeper together and when they are loosed, things go very wrong. In fact, it reminded me a bit of our dependence on electricity. This past weekend there was a major power outage in a town called Nieuwegein, here in The Netherlands, which lasted for almost two days and it was kind of scary to see how disruptive this was to people's lives, beyond the not being able to watch TV or use the computer. Complete malls had to stay closed and the police actually ran extra patrols to deter looting. The scenes that follow after some of the pions became disrupted and unstable, while far worse in effect, were quite similar.

One of the by-products of pion-working is debris and when too much debris accumulates it will disrupt nearby pion systems. This is where debris collectors come in; they are people who can't see pions, but instead can see debris. The administrators of the city have them fitted with special, rather mysterious suits, which allow them to collect the debris and dispose of it, so it doesn't cause problems in the city. I thought this was an interesting spin on a magic system, with a definite cost to magic use, similar to our use of fossil fuels and their output of green house gasses. What did surprise me, or rather it didn't surprise me, as much as it didn't seem logical, was the lack of regard the collectors are held in. It seemed to me that they provided an extremely important service, perhaps even more important than those the binders render. Then again, our society isn't always as respectful of our garbage men and cleaners as we should be.

Even if I really connected to Debris' main character, Tanyana, I found her a bit confusing. Tan vacillates between outrage and action and acceptance and inaction. There has been a lot of discussion about character agency recently and Tanyana's character arc definitely reminded me of said discussion. She moves from an independent, powerful architect to a lowly debris collector and seems to lose all grip on her life. At first, just after the accident that pre-curses her fall, it's understandable; she's groggy, in shock and not totally aware of what is going on, but later on she seems mired in acceptance. Every time she discovers a new clue to what actually happened with Grandeur, instead of following up on it, she slides back into the almost-contented 'slices of life', where she's just out collecting or hanging out with Kichlan and Lad. Granted, she regains control toward the end of the book, but the switching between action and inaction on the Grandeur-arc actually made the pacing feel off at times. And the partial resolution to the mystery of Tanyana's fall, while explaining some of Tan's lack of agency, left as many, if not more, questions open to be answered in the next book.

The other characters I really liked were Kichlan and Lad. Kichlan is the right kind of surly and mysterious and for once I didn't roll my eyes at the inevitable love triangle he formed with Tan and Devich. What makes him endearing is his devotion to and protectiveness of Lad; he is willing to risk anything to keep him safe and that touched a chord with me. It helped that Lad reminded me a lot of my toddler, who has bouts of the terrible two's at the moment and who can switch from adorable to Godzilla in a split second, just like Lad, and who is as rough and clumsy in her affections at times as Lad is—the amount of accidental head butts or knees in the shins we get a day are painful. In fact, it almost made me wonder if Anderton didn't have a toddler of her own to use as inspiration! The way Lad's condition ties into the plot was marvellous and I loved that in the end Tan and Kichlan realise that his state of being isn't something to be cured, but to be cherished.

Debris is a book that had problems and delights for me, but what remains after finishing it is both a sense of unfinished business and the enjoyment of a fun read. Make no mistake, Debris definitely doesn't stand on its own in terms of answering all the questions it poses, but the journey through the set up of the questions and the gathering of the few answers we do get in this book, make for a pleasant enough ride that I look forward to starting Suited, the next book in the sequence, as soon as I finish my current read. Look for a review of Suited next week.

[S.B. Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Someone is doing a damn fine job at Angry Robot in picking up talented authors. Debris is Jo Anderton’s debut novel, though you wouldn’t know it on a reading of Debris.

Jo blends genres with the skill of someone who has more than one novel under their wing.

Like Jamieson’s Roil, Debris is a book that avoids being easily categorised. Angry Robot calls it Science Fantasy and files it under Science Fiction. I am at a loss to come up with anything more definitive or more accurate than that.

The world building is infused with a number of influences that create a unique and coherent world. The naming of the characters has an Eastern European or Russian flavour, this combined with the symbol of the bear, the ever watchful “puppet men”, the cold and the references to the old city gave me a strong post glasnost/ final fantasy feel.

The magic system, while definitely fantastical is presented in such away that it feels very much like a technology, the result of a revolution like the Industrial. Pion’s to me, don’t seem to be a mystical force, more like sub atomic particles. It feels perhaps like magic but with modern technical sensibility or perspective placed upon it.

The wonderful world building aside, the core of this novel is the unravelling of a mystery and a search for justice'- there’s adventure, some explicit romance but ultimately Anderton hooks us in and tantalises us with mysteries both central to the plot and tangential.

Tanyana is a strong character and Anderton has done a wonderful job of pointing her in harms way without resorting to clichéd fantasy tropes. There’s no rampaging orcs, or evil outsiders. Indeed there’s a small element of distrust in the powers that be, the powers that are supposed to look after the people of the city of Movoc-under-Keeper.

It’s worth noting that Debris written in the first person, which can be a difficult perspective to pull off for experienced authors. Anderton has done it well, all the more so for it being her first outing. This point of view created an intimacy that drew me in as a reader, that and the fall from grace and resurrection made her readily identifiable and familiar.

For all its brilliance I felt the ending was a little toned down. A side effect of Anderton’s wonderful world building. I was expecting more revelations perhaps. This is a small disappointment though and I would heartily recommend it to lovers of science fiction and fantasy.

It falls into that category of wonderful books that play successfully with different genres in interesting ways. You’ll enjoy it if you like Roil, The Alloy of Law or Burn Bright.

It is both gritty and fantastical. I can’t wait for Suited (book two) in the middle of the year.

[Jess · Rating 1 out of 5]

The problem with having the narrative in 1st person POV is that loads of internal dialog ranging in tone between bitter, self-righteous, whiny and (deliberately) clueless can create a truly irritating main character. Add to that muddled world-building (the whole pion binding thing still makes very little practical sense to me) and an unengaging plot stretched out over a few hundred seemingly-endless pages, and I did not enjoy this book at all.

I tried, I really did. I wanted to find something to be positive about, but every time I would start to enjoy a scene (like Tanyana's first meeting with her team of debris collectors, where the flow was smoother and, thanks to actual external dialog, quicker) it would be followed by a confusing bit of action (like her first trip collecting debris with them) or a reminder that I didn't like any of the characters (Tanyana's first hookup with Devich: Given that I didn't like her and he squicked me out from his first appearance, that scene was both yuck and boring.).

So, while I will give the author credit for crafting a story that incited a strong emotional reaction from me, unfortunately, that reaction was not a positive one. Largely, I think, because the mystery of what happened to Tanyana was so obvious from the first chapter that I kept waiting for someone to pick up on it so we could get on with the story already. And even when she started to figure it out (in the following quote taken from the last quarter of the story), it was too little, too late in terms of me caring anymore.

Note: this is taken from the unfinished proof copy.

"Bro!" Lad ran down the street, Sofia gasping in his wake, clutching her shoulder and dripping blood from her arm. "Angry, bro. So angry."
...
But was Lad really talking about himself? I thought of the debris dancing with destruction like a cruel cat. The whack like a fist against my chest. Lad wasn't angry, was he? But the debris was."

This review is based on a digital ARC received via NetGalley.

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

The world of Debris is a fantastic place. I think the author did a fantastic job of creating this world without overloading us with information all at once. I did take it upon myself to look up the definition of a pion. For the record, a pion is: a meson that is a combination of up and down quarks and antiquarks, that may be positive, negative, or neutral, and that has a mass about 270 times that of the electron (from Merriam-Webster). Basically, it’s a really small bit of energy, which is what you get from the book anyway.

The entire book is very cleverly imagined. It’s the most original sci fi/fantasy story I’ve read in a long time. It’s a world where energy – little bits of energy – is everything. The worldbuilding elements are all there. There is a lot of description in a lot of points, but it is not burdensome. We see the world as Tanyana does; we follow her every step up of the way from her fall and the lost of her power. When Tanyana loses her ability to see or manipulate that energy, the world goes dark, to a certain extent. Things like paper and gas lamps are nearly unheard of among higher circles. Only those who can’t see the energy – can’t see pions – use those sorts of things. While there is a lot of description in certain parts, there are sometimes where there is not enough description. I think it was a bit unbalanced, there were chapters where I wished the circumstances were better described, and still other chapters where they were described far too well. It was well done and clever enough that this didn't bother me as much as it might have in another book.

I’m going to assume that Tanyana was not supposed to be likeable in the beginning. Sometimes, I would feel sorry for her and I would wish her better luck, but then the very next page and I’d change my mind. She’s selfish and she believes she deserves better treatment than the entire rest of the population. Tanyana was skilled, she was the best there was, and she lost it all. She was used to being treated better for what she could do, now she has to learn how to prove herself for who she truly was. She grows toward the end of the book, just as a character should. At the beginning, she is insistent that no one could possibly know or understand her. I mean, how in the world could these people possibly know what happened to her? I wouldn’t suppose that there’s something like gossip in her world? If there is, she seems to think she’s above it. By the end, she is more willing to understand. By the end, Tanyana has formed a bond with the people she never would have looked at before and was willing to fight for them, as we see in the final pages of this book. I found that I enjoyed watching her journey from rich snob to understanding debris collector. She learns throughout the book, exactly as a good character should. At the end of the book, I appreciate her journey and I'm excited to see her grow more in the next one.

The book was captivating. It not only bought my attention but it also earned it. Except for the slow beginning, there wasn’t a moment where I didn’t want to flip to the next page. Most of this book was read during my breaks at work. I hate taking breaks because I hate not doing anything, it’s just a character flaw, but this book made me look forward to my breaks. It made me wish they were longer so I could read more. I loved that there was no dumping of information in the book. There were things in the book that were never exactly explained, they simply had to be discovered or inferred. Other things were explained later as they were explained to Tanyana. It was very well done, though, and I never really felt confused or lost in the book.

There were a few things about the book that bothered me. First was the unanswered questions. So many questions were raised in the process of this novel and only a few were answered or sort of explained. I suppose thats what the sequel is for, but now I'm concerned that this will turn into an infodump in the next book. I felt like the promise of this novel wasn't particularly fulfilled within the pages of this book, but I guess I had originally assumed it was standalone. I guess we'll see with the sequel. Part of me wishes it was a standalone novel, if simply for the fact that I generally tend to prefer standalone against series. I also didn't appreciate the abundance of sex scenes in the novel. Ok, so I use abundance a bit liberally, but my point remains: there was no point. They served no purpose and did nothing to push the plot along. Nevermind the moral issue of it for a minute, there was no reason for them. Even the romance itself approached too quickly for me, although that was a little more forgivable. The romance itself helped to push the plot along, it made sense for Tanyana and where she was at that time. The sex didn't. I think it was just an unnecessary plot point and could have very well been excluded.

Over all, a great debut novel from Jo Anderton. I’m looking forward to seeing more from her in the future – especially a certain book two coming out next year – and I definitely think she has a lot of potential as a science fiction author.

(See original review here.)

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

In many ways Debris was a somewhat frustrating read. The world-building is top-notch and the premise of the plot is intriguing. It's just that, while it is a solid read, the book doesn't really fulfill the promise that those two elements suggest.

Tanyana works pions - the smallest particles of energy/matter that make up every object in Movoc. Her ability is so great that she has become one of the premiere architects in the city. Her latest project is working on a massive 800 foot tall sculpture that will put her at the pinnacle of her profession. One day as she works the pions with her circle, she begins to lose control of the pions. They seem to almost be working against her rather then with her and the loss of control is so great that the massive statue comes crashing down, taking Tanyana with it.

When Tanyana wakes, she finds herself scarred and alone in a bleak room. And for the first time in her life she is unable to see any pions at all. Without that ability, the powers that be decide the only thing she will now be able to do is collect debris. Debris are the remnants left over from all those pions being put to work. It gathers in pockets and must be collected or it will gum up the works. Before she can process what has happened, Tanyana is assigned to a debris collecting team and abandoned by just about everyone who knew her. Her only remaining connection is Devich, the man who is responsible for implanting the strange metal that makes up the suit she needs for debris collecting. While she adjusts to her new circumstances Tanyana gets to know her team-leader, Kichlan and his apparently developmentally delayed brother Lad.

I kept thinking, as I read, that this was a YA novel. Tanyana's personal story arc, from arrogant architect to humbled but wiser debris collector feels a bit coming-of-age. While it is understandable that this tragedy has had an earth-shaking effect on her psyche, Tanyana's immaturity in the face of it reads more like a teenager's response then an adult's. She is determined to prove the accident was not her fault and yet every time she gets a small piece of the puzzle, she lets it drop and attempts more denial. Part of this is writerly - in that the author needs to keep the reader in the dark and thus Tanyana remains willfully blind - but part of it is Tanyana's character as written. When she realizes, early on, that she in no way will be able to pay her bills in her swank apartment, does she attempt to sell the belongings that are worth some money and find a cheaper place? No, she pretends that bills and rent don't exist and then is shocked when violent men come to the apartment to throw her out and take all her belongings to pay those bills.

This example is indicative of who Tanyana is. When something displeases her, she pretends it doesn't exist. When something frustrates her, she lets it drop. It makes her realistic as human beings go, but it also makes her hard to root for. When she does so little to control her own trajectory, she becomes less interesting. As I said, some of this is writerly choice in setting up the suspense and I get that. But it also affects the pacing. Tanyana's inertia makes the middle part of the book slow-going as she shows little progress - either in her quest or in her personal life.

All that said, I do think there is a very clever idea here and the author has done a good job of creating her world. Enough so that I will read the next book.

[Marlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Debris, by Jo Anderton, is the first book of The Veiled World Trilogy. It is the story of the catastrophic fall, and eventual stumbling rise, of Tanyana Vladha. It is Tanyana's story, and it is told in her incredibly compelling voice.

Tanyana starts out as a pion-builder in the great city of Movoc-under-Keeper. Pion-builders are a combination of architect, engineer and designer, working with a substance that is part molecule, part light and part magic. It also turns out to be part myth, but that comes later. Most people in Tan's world can see pions, but few can do what she does, bend them to her will to create masterpieces--not just buildings, but also art and sculpture.

800 feet in the air, erecting a statue unfortunately named "Grandeur", in the middle of a surprise inspection by the strange government creatures known as the "veche", Tan's world falls apart. Literally. Her formerly obedient pions go wild, bringing the statue crashing to the ground, on top of her. Her injuries are extreme. Although pions later heal her physical damage, her great statue also struck her in the head, knocking out her ability to even perceive pions.

Tan falls from the elite of the builders to the lowest of the low. Damaged people become "Collectors", those who can see the debris that pion factories produce. Collectors are necessary. Pion factories power the lights, the heat, the water supply--everything we use electricity and fossil fuel for in our world. But debris collecting is dangerous as debris is toxic. So Tan, like all collectors, is fitted with a special collecting "suit", a suit that is bonded to, and extrudes from, her very bones. Her suit provides armor, weapons, and even locator beacons for debris. It also permanently marks her as "other".

Tan tries to juggle her old life and her new one. She doesn't want to fall. She saw what happened at Grandeur, and she knows it was deliberate. But every person involved has been exiled or their career has been derailed or they have been hushed up in some way. She has been changed almost beyond recognition. And in her fall, she discovers a different world, one that might be more genuine than the glittering but superficial society she left. But just as Tan begins to adapt, she learns that, just as the pions at Grandeur were deliberately agitating to crush her, now the debris is increasing, searching for her.

Escape rating A: The first time I sat down with this book, I picked myself up about 100 pages later. Tan is a character that just gets hold of you and doesn't let go. Writing a book in first person perspective is hard, and Anderton made Tan someone I wanted to get to know. I felt for her struggle, even on the occasions when I wanted to slap her to "get real already".

The Russian names of the characters add to the gritty feel. This is a dark, urban landscape, and it feels like it's only going to get darker and grimmer from here. There were glimpses of an older mythology that had been lost in the mists of time that were very nicely done. I'm amazed that this is Anderton's first novel. And I'm truly glad that Suited, the second book in the trilogy, is scheduled for April 2012.

[Ove · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who did this to me?

This is a different universe with advanced technology built on something that looks like magic. Some people have the ability to see and manipulate invisible entities or particles called pions much like magic. They use it for everything we use technology for. It is hinted in the novel that they have used technology at some time in their history but it got replaced when the pions were discovered.

There is a problem though, using pions also create a waste substance called debris (thus the name of the book) and the lowest of the low in society are the debris collectors.

This is the tale of Tanyana, a successful and powerful pion-binder architect who survives a pion related accident that robs her of her powers and she has to start life as a debris collector. She is convinced someone did this to her and her quest to find out who uncovers truths she never imagined.

This fall from high above to the underside of society reveals how unjust her society is and Tanyana takes a good look at herself and those around her. Things are not made simpler by two love interests she has to deal with in the story, one from high society and one from below.

One thing i found had a lot of symbolism in was the way the government trapped her in a special suit for her to become a debris collector. The suit was rather cool in many ways but it was still trapping her and sat her aside in society.

I am a character person and this book has some good characters maybe of the more typical kind but I enjoyed them. Tanyana’s interaction with the collector team was a great part of my enjoyment with the story, they have some great characters there.

There is an overall mystery about the history of the world and the nature of pions and Tanyana’s flair with them I am sure we will learn more about as the series progresses.

This is mostly fantasy but I am not sure if this is just fantasy, it could as well be science fiction so fans of both can enjoy this book.

Jo Anderton pleases me well with her first novel. I would gladly read more by her. Fortunately Debris is the first in a series. I look forward to the next installment.

[Jessica Strider · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pros: fascinating world, strong female protagonist

Cons: slow pacing

Tanyana is an extremely talented architect, manipulating pions to create a huge sculpture of Grandeur for the Veche, when disaster occurs. Angry red pions, a kind she's never seen before, attack the statue and her, causing her to fall from a terrible height. When she awakens, her ability to see pions has disappeared, instead she can now see debris, the by-product of pion work. No one but her believes that her fall was anything but an accident.

I don't generally like character driven stories. I find that half way through I get bored with the protagonist and want to see more plot. Debris did not have that problem. Tanyana Vladha is a strong, and strong-willed, protagonist. She's feisty without being bi*chy, able to ask for, and accept, help from others, even if she doesn't particularly want to. And despite the changes in her life she never forgets what happened, and never stops trying to find out more - advancing the plot just enough to keep things interesting.

Having said that, the pacing is fairly slow, allowing you to fully immerse yourself in the world. This didn't bother me much, as I liked the characters and there was enough plot to keep me interested, but I suspect others will find that the story drags at points.

I was a little surprised by the nature of her relationship with Devich, the technician who helps her become a debris collector and thought Tanyana made a few unwise decision with regards to her life post accident. But given her trauma, it's understandable that she'd want to hold onto the things of her success and fall for a guy who's understanding and convinced she hasn't really fallen from her former position.

The publisher pegs this as science fiction. The only real science could be the idea that pions are atoms, but their manipulation, the collection of debris and the world itself feel more like fantasy.

It's a promising debut.

[Barbara ★ · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Movoc-under-Keeper you are either a pion worker or a debris collector. A pion handler gets paid the rather big bucks because they can create darn near anything from buildings to statues to electricity and everything in between. A pion handler is sort of a magician. They use an inherent magical ability to manipulate pions. On the other hand, a debris collector is sort of like a garbage man and gets paid accordingly; picking up the hazardous waste by-producs of the pion usage. The debris is strong enough to dismantle pion workings and fell buildings. A debris collector has a special suit which reminded me a little of Inspector Gadget where anything you would need to collect debris can be instantly "created" from inside you. The suit involves some sort of metal that is injected into the blood. It's not really a suit per se, but separate units at neck, waist, wrists and ankles that emits blinding light. They can project all kinds of tools from their wrists to help collect debris - shovels, picks, pincers, etc.

Tanyana Vladha is a brilliant pion manipulator who says someone magically attacked her causing her creation to fall and darn near kill her and the spectators. Interestingly enough, the Veche (kind of like a ruling council) had respresenatives on hand that day doing a surprise inspection. Suspicious? It certainly was to Tanyana. After the accident, Tanyana is "demoted" to debris collector and has to adjust to a life as a garbage picker. She's good at it but hardly plans to live this way forever. She continues to investigate her accident and runs into road block after road block with the Veche. Suspicious? You bet!

It took a long time to figure out what the heck was going on and what the heck they were talking about but once I figured it out, I really enjoyed Tanyana's struggles with this new life. She made friends with her debris team and hasn't lost all hope of a reversal of fortune.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

C2011. FWFTB: particles, accident, collector, lowest, purpose.
Whoever selects the books for the Angry Robot label deserves a medal and when this one popped up on my radar, there was no doubt that I was just going to have to read it. Unusual and interesting story line with some great characters that appear to have been effortlessly drawn.
The atmosphere and tension that is sustained is excellent and I was shouting at the heroine and doing some vague tsk tsks when I realised what the heroine didn’t realise. And, without, giving the game away, I don’t think that Tanyana was the only one getting her jollies behind the curtain during inspection time. The city of Movoc-under-Keeper is certainly another character of the book and the author has done a great job with creating a brooding and watching metropolis. “I stared at the street signs. One had fallen off long ago, all that remained of its metal fixture was rust and ice. The other had been scrawled on, all semblance of a name scribbled out with thick black paint.” This is the debut novel of Jo Anderton who I believe is an Australian novelist. I think book 2 is already in the works and called “Suited”. I will definitely be waiting for that one.Sadly, I don’t know Trent Jamieson but I totally agree with his comments on the back cover: “A fabulous debut. Glorious and grim cityscapes, kick-ass characters, and a deepening mystery at its heart.” Very well put.
Cover is credited to Dominic Harman and although the author has praised his rendition, I am not so sure that the background is necessarily what I envisaged the city to be – especially the blimp in the background. Definitely recommended. FCN: Tanyana Vladha, Kichlan, Lad, Devich, Sofia.

[Moira · Rating 4 out of 5]

10.10.2016 - 4,5*

18.3.2015 - 4,5*
Ze začátku to bylo lehce zmatené a stále, i po dočtení, mám tolik otázek, na které bych chtěla znát odpovědi. Možná proto, jak dobře autorka svět vytvořila a já tolik chtěla vědět, proč a jak a kdy a všechno. :D
Originální nápad (malé... eh, bytůstky? Věcičky?, jednoduše pioni, kteří mohou měnit svět, a jiná zvláštní stvoření/věci (debris, a jop, nebudu ani jedny překládat, protože takhle to zní úžasnoucněji. :D), které piony ničí? Architekti, kteří s pomocí pionů mohou stavět zázraky, léčitelé, které s nimi mohou spravit takřka cokoliv? A Kolektoři, kteří ty druhé uklízí. A více.
Svět Anderton je propracovaný a realistický a zdálo se mi, jako by na mě dýchal. Byl cítit tak skutečně. Byl to však prvek pionů a debrisů, který mě fascinoval a o kterém jsem chtěla zjistit více. O tolik více.
Charaktery byly svým způsobem jedinečné a tvrdohlavě chtěly říct svůj příběh. Vtáhly mě do knížky a nepustily, dokud jsem nedočetla. A každý si byl věrný a jiný a potkala jsem i charaktery, na které obvykle v takových knihách nenarážím.
Děj se rozbíhal pomalu, zasvěcoval nás do svého světa, ale ke konci gradoval a konec vlastně otevřel dveře dalším otázkám, kvůli čemu se mi chtělo křičet.
Bylo to realistické, což u mě má vždycky miliony plusových bodíků, tak často nespravedlivé, četlo se to samo. A atmosféra byla úžasná. .)

[Jacqie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Got about 75 pages in and didn't feel like picking it up after I'd put it down. I liked the pion idea, which was an interesting visual, and the first scene was strongly built. But then we went abruptly to a hospital, our main character was "suited" (still no idea what that means, what it does, or any social context with it)meets a creepy doctor that I'm afraid is going to be her love interest, and then bemoans her fate at home. I don't mind being put into a story without info-dumps and kind of figuring out what's going on through context, but I haven't gotten enough context yet for this book to work for me. I don't really understand exactly what pions do, why people can or can't see or manipulate them, any of the rest of the social hierarchy, and the political underpinnings of the world, which seem like they will factor in importantly later.

It's just not doing it for me, I guess, and I'll move on.

[Melanti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good in terms of character-building but a little too light on the world-building.

I’m fascinated by the magic/technology system, yet we’re only starting to understand it at the very end of the novel. I don’t want the pions/debris to be explained in any technical detail – I don’t think there’s any sort of scientific explanation that would hold water, so it’s best not to bother. But I would have liked to have had a bit more of the history of the world; maybe how they discovered pions, or how it came about that using pions has supplanted technology to the degree that pencils are seen as quaint and archaic.

I have a feeling that some of this is going to be covered in the rest of the trilogy, and I’m also aware that the history that the characters are aware of probably isn’t the true history of the world. But even a false or twisted history would have given the book just that tad bit more structure that I think it needs.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I own an electronic review copy which means "food" for our eReader. I started to read and I could not stop.I read the book in a few days. It has something special.
I'm not sure how to describe it. It is compelling. I did not expect that after reading the blurb.
Anyway it was a fascinating read. Even there are a few confusing parts I gave five stars.

I look forward to read the next book in the series.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Also published under The Ranting Dragon

Debris is the debut novel of Australian author Jo Anderton and the first in a projected trilogy, The Veiled Worlds, to be published by Angry Robot Books. Despite some minor flaws, Debris is quite a solid first novel and showcases Anderton’s substantial storytelling talent, marking her as a name to watch in the future.

What goes up must come down
Debris takes place in Movoc, a remarkable technologically advanced city that sits in the shadow of a symbolic mountain known as the Keeper. Since the revolutionary discovery that most individuals possess the ability to manipulate the small building blocks of matter known as pions through certain geometric configurations and ritual gestures, Movoc-under-Keeper has led the world in everything from architecture to art and medicine. However, while it may seem like a utopia for those who possess significant pion-binding ability, beneath society’s surface lies corruption and oppression. An underclass of ‘collectors’ are forced to collect the bi-product of pion-manipulation, known as debris, and are shunned by the rest of society.

Like many recent debut novels, Debris is told from a single first-person viewpoint, that of the protagonist Tanyana. When we are first introduced to Tanyana, she is one of the city’s elite, a prodigal pion binder and master architect, working on her most ambitious project yet. However, she soon falls victim to a suspicious accident. Her masterpiece is destroyed, she is left scarred, and her connection to the world of pions is severed. Bound into a bizarre ‘collecting suit’, Tanyana must learn to adapt to life at the lowest rung of society, all the while attempting to discover the truth about her fall. However, there is more to the world of pions and debris than meets the eye. Beneath the surface of society brews something far greater and more dangerous than she ever imagined.

A perfect set-up for some truly epic conflicts
Have you ever read a novel where you had a few gripes with certain characters but were never once tempted to put the book down? How about a novel where at certain points you were not 100% sure what you were reading or what the author was trying to achieve, yet despite it all you were intrigued and still kept coming back for more? This pretty much summarizes my experience with Debris.

A dystopian world of ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ and the tale of an individual’s fall from the highest rungs of society are not exactly new to the fantasy genre, yet Anderton manages to put her own spin on these familiar tropes and make them feel fresh. The world itself is unique, containing a number of intriguing aspects. For instance, the opposing forces of debris and pions make for a compelling and complex magic system. The collecting suit and its relationship with its wearer is also quite a fascinating concept that has many potential uses throughout the series. In addition, the government organization, the veche, provides a satisfyingly foreboding presence and its agents, referred to as ‘the puppet men’, are undeniably creepy and sinister. Furthermore, I thought that the reliance of Movoc’s upper classes on pions and the division between ‘binders’ and ‘collectors’ were believable byproducts of a society wherein most individuals possess some degree of pion manipulating power. In some ways this may even be interpreted as social commentary on Western civilization’s own growing reliance on technology. Anderton also does a good job of depicting the culture shock suffered by someone used to having everything come easily, suddenly losing it all and being forced to work to fulfill even the most basic needs. Altogether, this provides an excellent stage for a number of conflicts to play out and for various questions to be explored throughout the story.

Imperfect characters you will grow to love
On the whole, the characters are quite well developed and believable. Initially I had some reservations about Tanyana, as I found her a little cold and self satisfied and disliked her haughty demeanor. Nevertheless, as the novel progressed she retained her distinctive ‘spark’ but adapted to circumstances and grew as a person, becoming much easier to relate to as a result. Due to the first person narrative we don’t get as much insight into some of the secondary characters as we could. Nevertheless, many are quite well developed and leave you wanting to learn more about them. For instance, I loved the warmth in the relationship between the group leader Kichlan and his ‘broken’ brother Lad. In addition, their landlord, Eugeny, also stood out as a complex and three-dimensional individual.

On the other hand, there was one character whose behavior just seemed odd throughout the entire novel and who wasn’t believable to me as a person. Without spoiling the novel for others, there turned out to be a legitimate reason for this strange characterization; however, the way it was executed was not particularly subtle. Usually I would consider this a major flaw as it failed to utilize what could, with a slightly lighter touch, have been a shocking surprise. Initially, it also seemed unrealistic to me that a protagonist who had previously been shown as competent and intelligent would fail to have seen this development coming. However, after contemplating why this didn’t bother me as much as I thought it should, I had a realization—this novel is not really about the unexpected reveal; it’s about the characters and their reactions to each other and the events around them. When I looked at the situation considering the fact that Tanyana had recently lost almost everything that made her who she once was, it seemed fitting that she would ignore seemingly obvious cues in a final desperate attempt to hold onto one last connection to her former life.

Building up to something even more climactic
As Debris is the first novel in a trilogy, its main purpose is to introduce the world and characters and set up events that will culminate in later books. Anderton definitely achieves this and the necessary worldbuilding and characterization is quite fascinating, despite the fact it results in a slightly slower pace. Furthermore, the action really picks up at the end of the novel and there are a number of plot twists that I didn’t see coming. The events that occur in the last quarter, as well as the connection I felt to the characters by this point, made me quite eager to find out what happens next.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I’ll mention that there is some violence in this novel, though it’s pretty mild by modern standards. Additionally, Anderton shows that she sure knows how to write a sex scene, although I’m sure it’s nothing most adult readers can’t deal with!

Why should you read this book?
Those who take pleasure in checking out new talent on the fantasy scene will have a hard time finding fault with this year’s debuts, and Debris is yet another impressive and promising title to add to the list. Personally, I’m definitely looking forward to the rest of the series and can’t wait to see where Anderton goes with her characters and world. I have a feeling that the next book, Suited, will be even more impressive.

Although Anderton makes what could be considered some strange choices throughout the novel, overall Debris worked for me and managed to immerse me in its world. I would definitely recommend it as a book that will appeal to readers who prefer their fantasy complete with a unique magic system, strange technologies, believable characterization and a dystopian edge.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://staffersmusings.blogspot.com/2...

I think I've mentioned this observation in the past, but it continues to prove out the more books I read from the 2011 catalog.  First person person narrators are hip in the publishing world.  I was listening to an Odyssey podcast the other day and Richard Sawyer was talking about point of view.  He made the remark that something like 80% of fantasy and science fiction is written in the third person.  In years past, I would totally agree.  Today it seems that more and more are being written in the first person.  This year alone the genre has seen dozens of debuts in the first person including Mark Lawrence's Prince of Thorns and Daniel Polansky's Low Town (obviously I could list a lot more, but will use those two as high profile examples).

Being a rather amateur writer and reviewer, I don't know exactly why this shift toward more first person narrators may be happening. It could be in response to the desire for more character driven drama. Or maybe the fact that it seems so many of them are from debut authors is significant? Does writing in the first person make it easier for the reader care about the protagonist? If so it would be a pretty small leap to assume that first person narrations suck in agents and editors at a higher rate.  Just looking at this years Hugo and Campbell Nominees I count five out of the ten as written in the first person and all of them are relatively new authors.  Regardless of the why (although I think it's an interesting question) Debris by Jo Anderton joins the ranks of 2011 first person debuts.

Tanyana, a talented artist and architect, was born the ability to see and control pions - the the building blocks of matter.  When she falls from the top of her newest project under mysterious circumstances the damage to her body leaves her stripped of her powers.  Bound inside a bizarre powersuit, Tanyana doesn't see pions anymore, only the waste they leave behind - debris.  Cast down to the lowest level of society, she must adjust to a new life collecting debris while figuring out who or what made her fall.

 Debris takes a familiar shape without being tired.  There's a character who's powerful, loses her power, ends up at the bottom, and has to claw her way back up.  A mystery is afoot as to how she ended up where she did and of course she's not as powerless as she's been led to believe.  Despite the fact that Tanyana is a grown woman, the arc of the character is a coming of age tale of sorts.  Being reduced in power and influence she becomes forced to reinvent not only how she is perceived by others, but how she perceives herself.

I find that the primary challenge an author has in pulling off a successful novel is making me care about the main character.  In a first person narrative this is doubly true.  Anderton achieves this beautifully, portraying Tanyana as a strong, but ultimately vulnerable woman.  She also successfully identifies a series of ancillary characters that manage to have depth despite their lack of focus.  I do wish that I could have spent some time inside the heads of the other characters recognizing the impossibility of that request given the choice of narration.

Replete with mythology and a strong sense of history, the novel demonstrates a commitment to place centered around the city of Movoc-under-Keeper. A stark divide exists between the haves and have-nots where those at the bottom of society struggle even to eat, while those at the top attend lavish balls and flaunt their power.  This world view is kept in place by a group known only as the Veche who employ human puppets to enforce order.  Order in this sense means making sure people like Tanyana and her crew keep collecting debris and don't focus on the why.

Dark tones run throughout the setting and I often found myself drawing favorable comparisons to Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn for that reason.  The similarities between the two don't entirely end there, but going any further down this road would end up spoiling quite a bit of Debris' reveals and I want to avoid that if at all possible.  I'm not criticizing Anderton for being derivative - not all.  In fact, the plots aren't all that similar and  trying to predict where Debris was going based on my knowledge of Sanderon's trilogy would have been erroneous.  It wouldn't surprise me to hear she hasn't even read Mistborn.  Nevertheless, as someone who has read Mistborn and loved it, the similarities between it and Debris stood out.

While I found some aspects a bit well tread in genre terms, Anderton's debut novel is well worth reading.  Tanyana is an engaging character and her supporting cast is well done despite the limitations of the narration.  Additionally, the plot and setting interact flawlessly and drive each other to their ultimate conclusion.

I should note here that the ending itself is a bit disappointing.  Tanyana never quite has her light bulb moment leaving me to wonder if Angry Robot bought the original manuscript and split it into two novels or their contract was for two books (or more) from the very beginning.  Given the latter (as in the case of Guy Haley, another Angry Robot author I reviewed here), I applaud them for having faith in their authors and giving them the space to take their time telling the story they want to tell.

In any case, I recommend Debris with the small caveats I mentioned above.  As far as I'm concerned, I find my appetite adequately whetted for the sequel, Suited, due out next year. Debris hits stores (and eStores) next week is the U.S. and the following week in the U.K.

[Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Debris, while I rather enjoyed it, does have some major issues I hope will be fixed in the sequel. My biggest issue with the novel was the pacing. It was really rather slow, and while this comes down on the tastes of the reader, I found my interest waning a bit in the middle because the pacing was dragging. There were interesting things happening, but since Tanyana, for most of the novel, is kept from pursuing them, nothing really comes from them until the end. Thankfully the beginning and the end part make up for the middle, especially the end, where Anderton weaves her mythology and world building together to give the reader a taste of what she has in store for the sequel. In fact I’ll most likely check out the sequel based on the strength of the ending alone, though the novel itself was strong enough to keep me interested.

Tanyana, in the beginning, is actually unlikable. At one point in the novel, after the accident and her switch to her new job, which is far away from her home, she throws a fit about how much landau (cab/transportation) fare costs and uses her previous status to bully the man into lowering the fare. The man, as far as I knew, was telling the truth about how much it cost to drive her from one place to the other, as the text gave no other indication that he was trying to cheat her. It left a bad taste in my mouth after I had sympathized with Tanyana in the beginning, that she should do something like that. You could probably try to pass it off as her not adapting well to her new situation, which she doesn’t, but bullying a person into paying a substantially lower amount for his services, no matter how crappy, does not endear me to a character. There’s also the irritating character trait of hers to put off doing things that are exceedingly important, such as refusing to look for a new house because she still hasn’t accepted her new situation and the fact that her new paycheck can’t support her. When these decisions lead to their logical conclusions it was hard to feel a great deal of sympathy for her.

Thankfully Tanyana grows and learns, and once she accepted her situation for what it is, I found myself liking her again. By the end I had thoroughly enjoyed watching her develop, especially as a major moment in the end of the book is a very empowering thing to read and watch her go through. Unfortunately in contrast it seemed like the secondary characters didn’t get as much development as she did, or the two other main characters, Kichlan and his brother Lad. Which is fair, I suppose, as at the heart of it, Debris is a story about these three people. But when all I know about their four debris collecting team mates is that one just intensely dislikes Tanyana and may be in love with Kichlan, one is pouty and overly negative, and two are some rather morbidly humorous twins, that may be a sign that there needs to be more growth or focus on these characters, especially as they’re present for a large part of the novel. I sincerely hope that more focus is put on them in the sequel and they develop as much as Tanyana and Kichlan developed in this one.

The same can sadly be said for Tanyana’s main love interest, Devich. She and him got together with very little development to that point, and while I see why Anderton wrote it that way, it was still a little off putting at first. It’s easier to swallow now that I know what happens but it may be a little hard for others to take in at first. I called how his character would end up pretty early on, so while I wasn’t surprised it happened, I might have been able to feel more... something towards it if their relationship had been a bit more believable. I’m interested in seeing if the romantic relationship between Tanyana and another character is dealt with the same in the next book.

The writing was good and smooth, though at times some of the descriptions were a bit odd. There’s a scene near the beginning that’s honestly downright chilling, and the accident that causes everything was beautifully written in a tragic sort of way. Still, I never quite felt like Anderton was forcing anything out, which is always a major plus. The world building is obviously well done, and I’m honestly couldn't have called the twist about the debris if I tried. It was definitely well thought out and Anderton has obviously put a lot of work into Movoc, and it's a world I'm looking forward to seeing more of.

Overall, while it had some problems that kept it from being a great read, I enjoyed Debris. It’s a slow novel that’s getting the pieces set out for future installments and that’s fine. There’s a good enough basis here that if the issues are worked on, it would be a great book. As it is I’m interested in seeing how things play out for Tanyana and Movoc, so I’ll most likely be looking into the sequel when it comes out.

A galley of this title was generously provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

[Mark Webb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review forms part of my contribution to the Australian Women Writers 2012 Reading Challenge.

Debris is the debut novel from Jo Anderton, a Sydney based author.

This story has an interesting premise - a world that has been built around a form of magic, the manipulation of tiny particles called pions. The resulting society is not your typical medieval high-fantasy arrangement, rather represents an alternative development path that has incorporated pions into technology to reach a more urban level of development. I'd almost classify it as having a steampunk sensibility, that mixture of cool "technology" that can do some fantastic things, but with a slightly old fashioned feel.

The main character, Tanyana, is one of the elite in this world, able to manipulate pions to an astonishing degree. She is an architect who, with a linked circle of nine assistants, is able to use pions to create buildings and monuments of astonishing scale and aesthetic. She is in the middle of creating her greatest work so far when something goes horribly wrong. From her perspective she is attacked by "angry" pions. From everyone else's perspective she loses control. When she wakes up in the hospital she has lost her ability to see and manipulate pions, but can now see the debris that pion manipulation leaves behind. The hospital also bonds her to a silver metal substance that can morph to create a suit or crude weapons which she can use to collect the debris.

This immediately catapults her from the highest tiers of society to the lowest - the ability to see and collect debris is considered a necessary but "dirty" profession. The rest of the story documents her struggle to accept her new role amongst the have-nots and work out what happened to her.

Character development of Tanyana is strong with a realistic, if irritating at times, reaction to such a major fall from grace. The slow development makes some of the later revelations more powerful, even if you feel like yelling at Tanyana to snap out of it at times. The story focuses almost exclusively on Tanyana, so other characters are not as well developed but enough is sketched out for the purposes of the story and perhaps future novels.

The relationships Tanyana formed with those immediately around her were generally adequately developed as well, although I thought one of the more romantic relationships didn't read as well as the others. It made the eventual resolution of that relationship have less of an emotional impact for me, but this is a minor quibble.

I found the world building interesting. Details of the world, its background and history, as well as information on how the magic works, were sketchy. I didn't mind this - I enjoy books that fill in the background gradually as you go. If this was a stand alone book, I would have felt a little dissatisfied with the amount of detail provided by the end. As the first book in a series, I guess I'll just need to buy the sequel to find out more!

The plot moved along at a reasonable, but not particularly fast, pace. There were a couple of points at which I did find myself thinking that Tanyana could spend a little less time moping and a little more time getting on with things, but that probably says more about me than the novel.

It should be noted that Ms Anderton has also released a free short prequel story to Debris on her website. It gives a taste of the events leading up to the start of Debris - you don't need to have read it to enjoy Debris, but it does set the scene for what is to follow.

So, I enjoyed this novel and will be reading the next in the series, Suited, when it is released by Angry Robot later in the year. Nice writing, good core idea and a world that I am very curious to find out more about.

I also reviewed this book on my website.

[Tsana Dolichva · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Debris by Jo Anderton.

I read a lot of fantasy, especially by Australian writers (no surprise that they’re dominating my reading so far this year). I’ve found that Australian fantasy is less likely to stick to clichéd convention and in that respect, Debris definitely does not disappoint.

The magical system Anderton has developed is focused around pions — bearing no resemblance to the mesons beloved by particle physicists, if you were wondering — tiny, glowing particles that permeate reality and which can be manipulated by people sufficiently skilled and trained. Some people can bind pions to their will, some can’t even see them. The debris of the title is magical matter left over from pion binding; useless refuse that disrupts crucial pions if not cleared away. Overall, the world has a little bit of a steampunk feel to it, mostly because that was the level of technology the society reached before the pion revolution something like 200 years before the start of the story.

The main character, Tanyana, is a highly skilled pion binder architect before she falls — both literally and metaphorically — in the first chapter. Or was she pushed? Forced to live the life of a lowly debris collector when her former lifestyle is lost to her, Tanyana struggles to find some explanation for what happened to her. Because she is convinced something else was there, when she fell, something that pushed her but that no one else could see.

I enjoyed Tanyana as a character. She is arrogant, but I didn’t see that as a bad thing. It made her interesting. She is both realistic and self-deluded about different things (for example, she’s not trying to get her life back, rather to find answers, but on the other hand, she tries to cling to the trappings of her old life a little too long). Most of all, when everything is taken from her, she is a survivor. She finds something else to be a part of. Of course, she doesn’t enjoy it at first, but she accepts it fairly quickly.

The other characters weren’t painted nearly as brightly as Tanyana. Mostly, this is due to the first person nature of the narrative. We know exactly what’s going on in Tanyana’s head all the time, but she doesn’t spend overly much time dwelling on other people (barring special exceptions). It was very much a one-woman show, with everyone else playing second fiddle, which isn’t a bad thing, given the external events also revolve about Tanyana. The only thing, characterisation-wise, that put me off a bit was her love interest. In the scene where they first hook up, I couldn’t really understand at the time why she interested in him, beyond the fact that he provoked her. It does make sense in retrospect, and the subsequent interactions between them worked well, but at the time that first scene left me ambivalent.

The conspiracy and the action in the latter half of the book had be eagerly turning the pages, however it started a more slowly and built up the world gradually. Also, while the climax was very much the most crucial scene in the book, I found the penultimate all-hell-breaks-loose disaster more exciting, in the action-packed sense.

As I said at the start, I enjoyed this book a lot. I am looking forward to reading the sequel out in July this year.

I am also about to go off and read Grandeur, a prequel short story which you can find on Jo Anderton’s website here.

[Dave Versace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jo Anderton’s Debris (Angry Robot Publishing 2010) is the meaty riches-to-rags fantasy tale of Tanyana, a celebrated architect on the verge of completing her great masterpiece, a vast statue known as Grandeur. Tanyana has a powerful talent for controlling pions, mystical quasi-subatomic particles that can be manipulated to create anything from solid objects, complex utility systems and thumping great works of triumphalist architecture. Just as she is about to put the finishing touches on her great work, though, something goes wrong, and Tanyana falls, literally and figuratively. Gravely injured and disgraced, she also loses her ability to perceive and control pions, and becomes useless to the society that once feted her. The only role left for her is as a lowly collector of debris, the destructive waste by-product of pion-bound systems.

Debris is the story of Tanyana’s struggle to find her way in a class that she once barely acknowledged, but of course there’s more going on than just a simple exploration of the underclass of a magically-advanced society. Tanyana’s need to understand what has happened to her is an excellent device for exploring the possibilities of this world of pion-binding and debris-collecting. Something is interfering with the fabric of reality and she is of course connected to it more closely than she realises. Her climactic insights into the nature of her reality are satisfying, if darker than I was expecting.

Thankfully Debris avoided my early fear that this was going to be a pretty-but-dull variant on the “chosen one who will bring balance to the Force” trope. Tanyana’s special, but not in the tedious fated-by-prophecy sense. She’s feisty and self-assured, but both qualities take an understandable dent when Grandeur falls, and she gets herself into all sorts of trouble through wilful denial of some of the realities of her situation. She’s powerful, but mostly because she’s smart and determined, and even so she can’t magically overcome her social ruin.

If I have a complaint, it’s that Debris is clearly only the first part of Tanyana’s story. By its conclusion she understands more or less what has happened to her, and makes a suitably world-changing decision but she has yet to confront her sinister tormentors and their quislings. Nevertheless, Debris finishes with the work of rebuilding Tanyana’s life – and the arcs of every single supporting character - only half-completed. But now that I look at the title page, it says ‘Book One of the Veiled Worlds Trilogy’ right there. So I guess I can stop complaining. Fortunately the second volume Suited is due for imminent release to soothe my mild disappointment.

(Ooh, actually, I have another complaint of sorts, which is that the beautiful and arresting cover of Debris features the young female protagonist looking cool and powerful and not dressed in ridiculous boob-accentuating fantasy attire - hooray! The sequel, alas, apparently does not.)

[Faith Chin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was simply amazing! But, at times where there are still some confusing parts. In fact, this book is quite hard to understand. This book is about Tanyana Vladha, a girl in a far-future society. She is able to move and talk to these particles called "pions" that can create beautiful things. She was the strongest architect and among the highest ranking pion-benders able to bend these pions. She used pions to make all sorts of unique things. You see, in her city, everything is made out of pions. Pions create light, pions create color so everything looked beautiful, pions create water and everything else. But one day, as she was building a 800 ft statue, unusual red pions attacked her. Knocked her down, which led her to bruises, cuts, stitches and scars in the hospital. But, the sad thing is, because of that horrible accident, she couldn't see or talk to anymore pions, so she was cast to the lowest rank in her city, little more than a debris collector. But, she was told that if she was the best at pion-bending, then she was also the best at debris collecting. She was given a suit of silver bands literally stitched on to her wrists, ankles, neck and waist. They will never come off her. Little did she know what is installed for her. She encounters new adventures as she learns how to use her suit. She can use it to find debris, weapons and even to coat herself in a silver suit, kinda like the Silver Surfer. But, one of her team members, Lad, a mental boy who was able to talk to debris and he can hear them, which makes him able to find debris in seconds. Later, Tanyana was able to do that too. But, how does Lad do that? How does Tanyana do that? How did Tanyana came here? Who did this to her? Why was she the targeted person to become a collector? She searches for an answer. So what's the theme for this book? I believe it's: Never give up and never stop searching for what you are looking for. I think that's the theme because Tanyana never gave up on being a debris collector, even though she didn't like it. Instead of being sulky about it, she learns how to be one and learn what to do. She also never gave up and never stop searching on what she needed to find out about debris, herself, Lad, about her city, and also about the people who targeted on her and made her like this. She wants to know why, so she finds the answer. And she did.