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Equimedian
Jason Velez lives a mundane existence installing EmuX virtual reality machines-scraping together just enough money to pay for his increasingly unsustainable science fiction collection-when he begins having strange dreams. He knows he has to make some personal changes if he hopes to get his life in order. Except change is exactly what's happening to those around him. His roommate's personality suddenly shifts. Jill, his closest single friend, retroactively has a long-term partner. And why doesn't anyone remember what a wristplex is? Disoriented by these alterations, and suffering from panic attacks and lapses in memory, Jason tries to convince his friends that something is off, and it might have to do with the enigmatic Progress Pilgrims-a mysterious order who can travel microseconds into the future. But if that wasn't enough, a flyer labeled only EQUIMEDIAN leads Jason to a meditative self-improvement service that seems to know a little too much about Jason for comfort. With his walls closing in and nowhere else to turn, Jason must decide where and how to finally make a stand. If he does, he might just change the world-if the world doesn't change him first.
- GenresScience Fiction
326 pages, Paperback
First published February 6, 2024
6 people are currently reading
92 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 26, 2023
Honourable, curious, thoughtful, pedantic MC Jason is the everyman reader of Golden Age science fiction, a comfortable vehicle to explore Zinos-Amaro’s multiple worlds. Equimedian opens in a version of 1979. Jason’s younger brother, who loved science fiction, died young, and Jason inherited his flavour of literature. Designed, like Atreyu, to lure the fannish reader close to the book’s gentle, weary heart, we follow Jason through a day at work for Codis, installing entertainment systems, sometimes in the homes of middle class bores who aspire to live microseconds in the future, sometimes for clones. Jason lives in a share house and thinks in spec fic references. Outside of work, he spars affectionately with obsessive, petty fan clubs. He lurks in bookstores and visits old friends. Of course, this all takes a sinister turn when he finds a flyer for the mysterious Equimedian.
That’s the book, but what about its audience? Would you enjoy the dream-reference to Lathe of Heaven if you hadn’t read Lathe of Heaven? Can Zinos-Amaro Remember Things For You, Wholesale? I could be wrong, but I suspect you have to be a nerd. And fairly old. Old nerds, assemble! This book is for us.
Jason is an SF book and magazine collector. I suffered with him when he sold his collection. When he was addictively sucked into the first few lines of a germ-tainted book he compulsively browsed in a bathroom, so was I. I have been that person, putting physical distance between myself and a dealer’s room table to keep from buying more books. Not only does Equimedian appeal to the reader in me, but the writer – stories here are not only real, but the keys to the Kingdom.
Equimedian is weird, intellectual, warm, warped, freaky and fannish. I loved it. If you’re an ageing nerd, so will you.
Disclaimer: I am friends with the author, we have professionally collaborated.
That’s the book, but what about its audience? Would you enjoy the dream-reference to Lathe of Heaven if you hadn’t read Lathe of Heaven? Can Zinos-Amaro Remember Things For You, Wholesale? I could be wrong, but I suspect you have to be a nerd. And fairly old. Old nerds, assemble! This book is for us.
Jason is an SF book and magazine collector. I suffered with him when he sold his collection. When he was addictively sucked into the first few lines of a germ-tainted book he compulsively browsed in a bathroom, so was I. I have been that person, putting physical distance between myself and a dealer’s room table to keep from buying more books. Not only does Equimedian appeal to the reader in me, but the writer – stories here are not only real, but the keys to the Kingdom.
Equimedian is weird, intellectual, warm, warped, freaky and fannish. I loved it. If you’re an ageing nerd, so will you.
Disclaimer: I am friends with the author, we have professionally collaborated.
May 7, 2024
Hi, I'm the author of this book! I'm sharing this review from Locus magazine by Paul Di Filippo because I think it may give prospective readers a good idea of what they're in for:
https://locusmag.com/2024/03/paul-di-...
https://locusmag.com/2024/03/paul-di-...
June 30, 2024
I don't think I was in the mood for SciFi and having started and stopped several times. But a worthy
The ideas are not new, but how those are presented and the impact on the main character is thoughtful and inventive. Will there be mind melds in the future? I can't see how because it would chaos in every culture and society in general. Even if AI was governing or controlling all living beings & their needs, AI would not have sufficient resources to keep their quarks powered.
This is well written, enjoyable, and enlightening.
The ideas are not new, but how those are presented and the impact on the main character is thoughtful and inventive. Will there be mind melds in the future? I can't see how because it would chaos in every culture and society in general. Even if AI was governing or controlling all living beings & their needs, AI would not have sufficient resources to keep their quarks powered.
This is well written, enjoyable, and enlightening.
February 25, 2024
This will teach me not to impulse buy a book because of a cute line on the back-cover blurb. Because I'd wasted the money I forced myself to read it through to the last page. I have suffered so that you don't have too. This book has no redeeming features.
The entire plot of the book is explained to the reader in the last 30-50 pages. Firstly by the villains explaining their nefarious plan to the protagonist, just before he escapes. And then with a monologue from the protagonist that basically amounts to I have god-like powers to affect reality just by thinking about it. He's Neo at the end of The Matrix. The 250 pages preceding this info-dump are padding.
The padding consists primarily of referencing and quoting good SF books by quality writers published between the 1940s and 1980s. It feels like a high school English assignment where as much of other peoples work is crammed in to impress, look how much SF I know/read, and disguise the lack of any original thought. Cut and paste from Clute's SFF Encyclopedia does not a novel make.
The closest this gets to SF is the characters. They have achieved singularity. Which is to say they are less than one dimensional. When each new name is introduced we are run through a checklist of physical attributes, which are then never mentioned again. And the dialogue is so banal it is soporific. However, it does make the book very quick to read due to all the line breaks. There are pages with less than 100 words on due verbal interplay.
I weep for the trees that died to produce this book.
The entire plot of the book is explained to the reader in the last 30-50 pages. Firstly by the villains explaining their nefarious plan to the protagonist, just before he escapes. And then with a monologue from the protagonist that basically amounts to I have god-like powers to affect reality just by thinking about it. He's Neo at the end of The Matrix. The 250 pages preceding this info-dump are padding.
The padding consists primarily of referencing and quoting good SF books by quality writers published between the 1940s and 1980s. It feels like a high school English assignment where as much of other peoples work is crammed in to impress, look how much SF I know/read, and disguise the lack of any original thought. Cut and paste from Clute's SFF Encyclopedia does not a novel make.
The closest this gets to SF is the characters. They have achieved singularity. Which is to say they are less than one dimensional. When each new name is introduced we are run through a checklist of physical attributes, which are then never mentioned again. And the dialogue is so banal it is soporific. However, it does make the book very quick to read due to all the line breaks. There are pages with less than 100 words on due verbal interplay.
I weep for the trees that died to produce this book.
April 10, 2024
One part encyclopedic love letter to B-list science fiction, another part devoted tribute to Philip K Dick in prose style and plot - the flaw there being that anything too faithful to Dick is going to have clanks and clunks in its prose and characterizations, which this novel has. Still, it was enjoyable to read and I suspect there were some subtle cameos and allusions that escaped me (despite my having been a voracious reader of science fiction in my teens / the 70s). I'd say it's required reading for fans like me, though it might not have as much charm for those who came to the genre in later decades.
February 17, 2024
Equimedian - Alvaro Zinos-Amaro's debut novel where science fiction and the love of science fiction play a central role. Oh, yes, dozens of science fiction authors, science fiction novels, science fiction mags are referenced throughout – among their number: The Lathe of Heaven, Crash, Moderan, The Stars My Destination, Behold the Man, More Than Human, The Iron Dream. This to say, if you're an avid fan of science fiction, Equimedian is your book, really and truly your book.
However, even if you don't necessarily consider yourself a big science fiction fan, don't be put off. There's a lot to like about Equimedian, especially if you're drawn to anything associated with a Philip K Dick-ish shifting of reality a la the neo-noir film, Memento.
And since there's so much happening and the reality shifts are, well, best discovered while turning the pages, I'll cut to a list of several Equimedian bullets in the hope you will be sufficiently enticed to give this fine novel a whirl.
Collector Gone Crazy – Jason Velez, age thirty-eight and living in NYC in 1979 with roommate, Leon, is the tale's narrator and central character. Leon urges Jason to deal with his science fiction collection that takes up nearly all the space in Jason's bedroom. It appears to be a losing proposition. Jason recognizes he should cut back but following just one used bookstore visit, Jason counts his purchases: seventy-two paperbacks, six hardcovers, along with forty-three back issues of rare magazines.
Dreams - Jason has a night of bizarre dreams. “My room evaporators and I float in a black space. I hover, suspended in both time and free-fall. Then I tumble down and all the blood rushes to my face....Dream gravity has temporarily overpowered real gravity, and I'm completely in its grip....I've never experienced dreams this real before. They were Lathe-of-Heaven intense.” I included the last part of this quote to underscore that Jason continually thinks in terms of all the science fiction he has read, which gives this novel a distinct charm.
Creepy Company – Very much like your local cable guy, Jason installs EmuX units in people's homes and apartments for a company named Codis. What exactly is an EmuX unit? It's not quite clear but they seem to provide the user with a pleasurable virtual reality. Since the year is 1979, we're talking alternate history here.
High-Tech World – Although it's 1979, Jason reports on his day-to-day experiences using and observing things like video phones and teleboxes which facilitate mind-to-mind communication. At one point, Jason listens to an old acquaintance telling him that “mutational narrative is the next big thing. A whole new art form that will make novels obsolete.” Sound fascinating? Actually, Equimedian will set your brain cells fizzing.
Alvaro Zinos-Amaro creates memorable characters, both male and female, and a science fiction story that is a whopper. Make that a super-whopper, particularly as the tale reaches its crescendo toward the final pages. Order a copy of Equimedian and get ready to strap up for adventure.
Alvaro Zinos-Amaro
August 4, 2024
This is an 'inside baseball' kind of book, for science fiction readers. Not just SF readers, but readers of older, 'classic' SF. The protagonist, Jason, has a massive SF collection that he can't help but add to. There are extensive descriptions of old SF stories that would make no sense to a non-SF reader, but then why would one of those persons read this?
It's the 1970s but it's clearly not our 1970s as Jason works for a company that makes a kind of virtual reality equipment that everybody seems to use, and there are people who are able to glance into the near future ('near' being a few seconds, maybe).
The author has written histories of older SF and uses his knowledge to craft a plot that feels similar to a Phil Dick story, as reality keeps shifting on Jason. He keeps blacking out and then waking up remembering things that none of his friends remember.
And of course there's a shadowy organization that has an interest in Jason for some reason.
This book would work only for those who are well familiar with SF, and especially older SF tropes. Even for someone like me, it went on a little too long. I got the Phil Dickian point long before Jason did. Another quibble is that while Jason sometimes acts like a jerk, everybody around him seems to be super understanding and helpful. He doesn't seem to be that great a guy but everybody treats him with kid gloves, almost like they would treat a celebrity. It felt forced. Even the bad guys weren't all that bad, from their perspective. Give me a good, unapologetically evil villain.
Jason had his epiphany and may have figured some things out about his life, but it didn't seem to be enough to reward all the effort, and the 326 pages to get there.
It's the 1970s but it's clearly not our 1970s as Jason works for a company that makes a kind of virtual reality equipment that everybody seems to use, and there are people who are able to glance into the near future ('near' being a few seconds, maybe).
The author has written histories of older SF and uses his knowledge to craft a plot that feels similar to a Phil Dick story, as reality keeps shifting on Jason. He keeps blacking out and then waking up remembering things that none of his friends remember.
And of course there's a shadowy organization that has an interest in Jason for some reason.
This book would work only for those who are well familiar with SF, and especially older SF tropes. Even for someone like me, it went on a little too long. I got the Phil Dickian point long before Jason did. Another quibble is that while Jason sometimes acts like a jerk, everybody around him seems to be super understanding and helpful. He doesn't seem to be that great a guy but everybody treats him with kid gloves, almost like they would treat a celebrity. It felt forced. Even the bad guys weren't all that bad, from their perspective. Give me a good, unapologetically evil villain.
Jason had his epiphany and may have figured some things out about his life, but it didn't seem to be enough to reward all the effort, and the 326 pages to get there.
May 2, 2025
A strong Philip K. Dick vibe runs through this. Science fiction fan Jason Velez works installing advanced VR systems in a world where the elite have ascended to a state of being milliseconds out of sync with the lower classes. But reality keeps shifting around Jason, each time with the world becoming less and less technologically advanced.
Zinos-Amaro uses his protagonist's interest in science fiction to provide an extensive reading list of obscure works, and as a method for Jason to avoid confronting the pain of his own past. It's a mind-bender of a book and I'm still digesting what I've read. I loved the challenge.
Zinos-Amaro uses his protagonist's interest in science fiction to provide an extensive reading list of obscure works, and as a method for Jason to avoid confronting the pain of his own past. It's a mind-bender of a book and I'm still digesting what I've read. I loved the challenge.
June 28, 2024
A love letter to the SF genre, this is a phildickian reality shifting romp with more SF titles referenced than probably any other SF book in history. The author is a critic and no doubt an avid book collector himself, the latter characteristic transferred onto our humble protagonist Jason Velez. Throughout the tale, the ground is forever shifting beneath our feet and we never know if we will find ourselves in our own reality or not. Lovers of older SF will love this, and I suspect general readers too. It's a cracking caper.
February 3, 2024
Equimedian is one helluva mind-bending experience! Laden with sci-fi intricacies and distinctive alternate history elements, it pays homage to the literary science fiction that influenced its creation. A remarkably original novel, showcasing an impressive debut from the author.
April 25, 2024
A slow starter that got more enjoyable as reality started to unravel in a way reminiscent to Total Recall or The Lathe of Heaven, but I could've done without the blocks of text consisting of B-list sci-fi books and their authors.
March 15, 2025
This is self-absorbed writing in that the author knows a ton about SF but they're too "in their head" to convey emotional complexity and excite the reader. It's flat fun. If you want an easy distraction from life's troubles with a cerebral twist, this is for you. Fore the true SF aficionados, pass.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews