Transmatic

Slave State

by Chris Kelso

"....part-time hitman/ exterminator, Ignius Ellis's dream is to buy a candy-apple red Nova Supreme. In the process of trying to earn enough cash to make his dream come true he gets sucked into the rough world of Visitacion Valley, SF. When the tenants in his apartment complex reveal their various extracurricular activities this take an even more bizarre twist and Ellis soon becomes acquainted with the nightmarish Salve State dimension..."

Genres: Bizarro Fiction

125 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Chris Kelso is an award-winning genre writer, editor, illustrator, and musician from Scotland. His work has been published widely across the UK, US and Canada.

Reviews

[Michael Faun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished this fresh off with a happy smile on my face because this book is a printed gem of a story. It reads like a bizarre lucid dream with no disturbance from the mundane boring world at all, a smooth ride through a part nightmare society picture, the Slave State, and the wonderfully portrayed characters who plummets into it without one seeing the edge from where reality's ending. The prose is outstanding, and I loved the poetic tone in it because it led somewhere. It wasn't just "beautiful" for the sake of it. I simply loved the book through and through. Now I am hooked on the drug called Kelso, too! Hat off!

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ummm...sooo...I'm not so sure what I just read, but I know it was good and I know it is important. Every time I read Kelso, I feel like a moron. That damn Scotsman is just WAY too smart for his own good. This novella contains several storylines, but they are all connected and meshed and somehow fit together, although I'm not sure my interpretation of the book is what Kelso was going for (and I am not about to attempt a 'deconstruct' here where I'll really end up sounding like an idiot and/or being dead wrong).

The bottom line to me, at least, is that Kelso is probably the most 'poetic' Bizarro writer out there, and should be required reading in the genre for that fact alone. I'm not so much a modern poetry gal, so I suspect that's why a lot of it (seemingly) went breezing over my head. Pick this one up if you're into thought-provoking works in which the writer does not tie everything up with a pretty bow at the end. You WILL have to make a couple leaps and bounds here, people. But that's always a good thing, right? This one creates a personal experience, as I assume each reader will interpret this in different ways.

I'll leave you with a quote to pique your interest (although it speaks more to the quality of books being printed now-a-days that the plot of the story):

You see, the main problem is that all the stories are the same and since the fall of the publishing industry, there's no filter for the work being disseminated.

Annnddd....now that Goodreads has changed their 'terms of use,' I have to divulge that I received a copy of this from the author in exchange for an honest review. zthis is as honest as I get, folks! Its good...check it out! Hell, it's worth the price just for the kick-ass graphics!

(And, since I'm being all honest, I have to say this is the SECOND review I've written for this book. The first one got lost in the aether when I accidentally hit my browser's 'back' button. I swear to fucking god, I lose reviews all the mother-fucking time , both on my laptop AND on my phone. Looks like I'm going to have to take that loooonnggg, circuitous route of writing everything in word processor, saving every 5 minutes, then copying and pasting. Its like a fucking college essay, for Christ's sake! But what am I supposed to do? Proverbially slap these authors that provide me review copies in the face? I don't think so! I have a few retroactive reviews I need to get up, even for books I bought. Bizarro writers need all the publicity they can get...write as many reviews as often as possible, guys!)

~Teresa~

[John McNee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure Chris would want me to review this. Not after the mauling I gave Moosejaw Frontier (I gave it 3 stars, which for one struggling Scottish author to give to a work by another struggling Scottish author is tantamount to kicking his mother in the face).

But the thing is... I quite like Transmatic.

You should probably give it a go.

[David Eccles · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author kindly provided me with a paperback copy of "Transmatic" in exchange for a fair and honest review.
After finishing the book, I was left wondering if Chris Kelso had laced the pages with a powerful psychotropic drug, such was the effect "Transmatic" had on me.
A brilliantly constructed multi-threaded peepshow which left me wanting to read more of Chris's work. I'm pretty sure that I should have read "A Message From the Slave State" and "Moosejaw Frontier" before tackling "Transmatic", an error that I'll be sure to rectify in the near future.
Humorous, dark, tragic, bizarro, and so much more, "Transmatic" deserves multiple rereads, because though you have your eye on the ball, what you fail to notice is the pitcher behind you, getting ready to yank down your pants!

[Nick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just a tedious pastiche of William S Burroughs and Philip K Dick with neither the charm nor character to make it worth reading.

[J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a 2.5, really. An interesting idea that could really have used some expansion.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm going to say 4.5, though I erred down to the 4-star.

When I sat down to read Chris Kelso's Transmatic I had no idea what I was in for. I'd been following Chris and a few other Bizarro fiction authors on FB for a while, and when the offer of free books for reviews came up, I jumped on it. As life does, it kept me from reading for a while, and now that I have done the reading, I feel pressure to provide as honest a review as I possibly can.

I really liked this book. Did I love it? I think I did, but not in the way I loved books that were more familiar in their genre/approach. That has made the process of reviewing the work even harder.

This didn't push or stretch my boundaries -- it asked me to go for a ride and then broke through my fences and went roaring off into unexplored wilderness while I held on for the ride. There's little exposition in the book, and there's little need for it. The dialogue and what else is there is sufficient to communicate the story in action. While there are places here and there that might want for further explanation, it's only because the narrative seems to want you to explore uncomfortable ideas and play around on its playground of broken glass and nail-filled boards.

I won't attempt to summarize it (which may be a flaw in my review style); it is such a short read that any such attempt on my part might end up longer than the book - I ramble.

Kelso's writing is sharp and succinct. No words are wasted and the reader is expected to use the momentum and motivation built up by the story to keep moving right along with it. There's definitely some meta-narrative work happening (at least, I think so) and it is of the sort that your mileage will certainly vary. There's a smartness happening here and I'm aware enough to know some of it went right by me.

If you've never dabbled in Bizarro fiction, this probably isn't the worst place to start. It'll feel a bit like jumping off the deep end, but it is well-worth the risk of drowning (which, in terms of books and experiencing new literature, seems like not such a terrible thing - drowning in new books & ideas).

[Vincenzo Bilof · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to admit that I have a soft spot for Kelso’s work because I enjoy poetry. It’s difficult to find surreal poetry, and even more difficult to find surreal poetry that is written in narrative form. Transmatic reads like a Burroughs nightmare splattered across the shared universe that is Kelso’s mind; meaning everything and nothing is happening and context does not require explanation. Kelso’s work is typically set in the same universe because it takes the slave state concept as a manifestation of our global government network. The setting, then, is contemporary and existentialist.

The hitman metaphor resonates with me because the paranoia is inferred rather than felt; the slave state concept itself is the psychological derangement imagined by a society that wants its own annihilation. Of course, my understanding of this piece is exclusive to me, because my interpretation is personal. I believe Transmatic can be read through different lenses, and like a poem, it can be read more than once; I love the aesthetics Kelso employs, and the characterization is subtle, the setting is engaging. More Kelso. Now.

[Renato Bratkovič · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ignius Ellis is an exterminator, dabbling in killing people as a part-time hitman to buy himself a brand new Nova Supreme. He finds himself in the company of many characters, no one of which who they seem to be. The story begins in Visitacion Valley in San Francisco, but you change places in a series of events like on the roller coaster, and you need more than a second or two to grasp, that the border between the reality as you know it and the Slave State is invisible.
The main character is an exterminator and there is an entity we may be not aware of - the Slave State, but here (at least to me) the comparison to Burroughs ends.
Kelso is an original writer and he has just won himself another fan!

[David Keaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Transmatic, Chris Kelso definitely has a toe in the time machine, wiggling around the British '60s New Wave, a little Dystopian Dick, too (Phil K. I mean), but also there's the paranoid Burroughs flavors, maybe more Naked Lunch the movie than Naked Lunch the book, but the lunch is still pretty naked. However, this author is certainly more than his influences. At turns both raunchy and talky, it's a relief that Kelso has skill at conversations, because this book is constructed almost entirely of fast, intricate exchanges, which give it a welcome momentum in the saggy world of science-fiction. A fast, kinetic read.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Thomas Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps more straightforward in delivery than his other work, this is no less a Chris Kelso book than Moosejaw Frontier or The Black Dog Eats The City. Populated with some very strange, yet extremely well-written, characters, Transmatic is a multi-threaded story that slips in and out of the Slave State dimension like a candy-apple red Nova Supreme slipping into the lane of oncoming traffic. It was a very quick read, full of the type of great dialogue Kelso is an expert at delivering, and it was thoroughly entertaining and compelling too. If you are a fan of Kelso's other books, take Transmatic for a spin. You won't be disappointed!
Well written, great dialogue, wonderful characters. Kelso delivers another entertaining and immensely enjoyable read!