Quicksilver

by Anastasia Spinet

Following a catastrophic global war, humanity has been reduced to a handful of densely populated cities dispersed among vast swaths of arid wasteland. Great Hill City, a towering metropolis of silver skyscrapers and technological prowess, crouches upon the rocky Northeastern coast of what was once the United States, dazzling in its bustling modernity and safety amidst a ravaged world. That is, of course, only if one obeys Great Hill's draconian laws. The price of safety in Great Hill's metallic arms comes at the lofty cost of one's own mental and physical freedom.

Tammy Anker, a human-feline hybrid, works as a Freerunner – a member of a secret society that shepherds hybrids and their sympathizers out of Great Hill and off to kinder cities and towards kinder futures. However, Tammy's heart grows weary of the danger, stress, and fear associated with years of Freerunning, and now she plans to leave the job behind forever. That is, until she meets Jet, a jackal hybrid with fragmented memories and no home to call his own. Spurred by compassion, Tammy takes him in as her final Freerunning gig. With his easy-going personality and willingness to cooperate, she assumes getting him out of Great Hill will be the easiest job she's ever had. However, strange tidings seem to follow Jet everywhere he goes, and together they find themselves tangled up in a plot more terrifying than anything either of them could have ever imagined.

376 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2024

About the author

"Anastasia Spinet" is the pen name of seven cats in a trench coat masquerading as a single author.

When not writing strange fiction, she can be found communing with crows or hunting mushrooms deep in the woods.

Reviews

[Frank LeRenard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was absolutely my jam. Despite its large cast of characters, with the story alternating among their individual points of view, everything felt super tight, had great flow, and was easy to follow. Many times while reading, I found myself smiling and shaking my head at how cleverly the whole thing was put together. That on its own is a really impressive and commendable feat.

But also, I loved all the characters, all of whom felt distinct and fully fleshed out. And the book takes its time, ensuring that there's ample space to become immersed in and to understand its world and the people in it. The Dredge is iconic; I suspect it might have been partly inspired by the Kowloon Walled City, from how it was described, though it also made me think of the setting in Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, a game (and perhaps few others) kind of adore.

Definitely have some deeper thoughts on the book's themes and commentary, which is where my sole criticism might lie. Mostly it's the ending that threw me a bit. The book is spent setting up this idea that the chimeras (the animal people who lead the narrative) were constructed by humans to be weapons of war, and then the Shifters (another iteration of them) were built after to help control the chimeras, and how this is generally a bad thing (no arguments there). So the big overarching battle is against control by higher authorities, from the goals of the Freerunners, to Jet's personal battle with the AI Serenity. So it has this running undercurrent of finding one's own purpose, and of defying one's destiny. The last chapter seems to want to expand this to AI, the ultimate antagonist, but then pulls back, declaring unequivocally that, despite her protests, her concept of selfhood is actually invalid. I'll have to think on it more, but it felt like it muddied the theme a little, and I'm not sure to what end it did that.

That minor criticism aside, I absolutely recommend folks pick this one up. It's really good.

[Harriet G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quicksilver by Anastasia Spinet

Quicksilver is a story about Freerunner Tammy Anker, who covertly assists people in escaping an oppressive cyberpunk city in a post-apocalyptic world. One day she discovers a strange jackal man unconscious in an alleyway. Upon noticing that he does not have his government tracking chip, Tammy feels a sense of duty to take him in and help him escape to the Dredge- a secret city free from the government.

Meanwhile, an office worker for said oppressive government's special police task force- the Enforcers, loses his last remaining family member- his little brother, and sacrifices his privileged lifestyle to find the Dredge, where he believes his brother might be.

Quicksilver is an excellently written book, with an ensemble cast of lovable characters, and seeing how their separate journeys converge was very satisfying! There is plenty of top-notch drama, action, mystery, and even horror at times.

The retro-futuristic cyberpunk setting is also gritty and believable. From the government-mandated chip implants, to the hovercars and laser blasters, to the rogue omnicidal AI and mutant cyborg super-soldiers, Quicksilver takes full advantage of it's neon-drenched setting, and really captures the imagination!

Overall, if you like furry sci-fi, Quicksilver is a must-read!

[Bryan Potratz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note: I listened to the PDF of this book using the text to voice app "EVIE". It would be awesome as an actual Audiobook.
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How do you know who you are when you don't know who you were?

In the turmoil of life, sometimes all you can cling to is the past, but are you sure your past is actually yours?

In a post apocalyptic world of humans and Chimeras, genetic constructs humans created to fight their wars, Chimera live on the margins of society, theoretically free, but always on a technological leash.

Our Chimera protagonists, Tammy, Jet and Randal, struggle to find a place for themselves and their kind away from the watchful eyes and tech of the human Enforcers and a society that treats them as tools.

Thus begins a story of self discovery, friendship, love and heroism - of reaching beyond the limits of who we are or were, reaching to who we can be even when your world crashes around you.

This story drops you into a world of Tech run amok, of family giving their all in a world of strict technical stratification and the secrets it holds, with characters you wish you could help and be friends with, despite their non-humanness.

Believe with and for them.

[Mark Engels · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book features an ensemble cast, but it's main characters Tammy and Jet whose personal struggles are sure to draw readers in and keep them engaged throughout. Jet especially struggles with a lingering legacy of medical experimentation, self-hatred, and a sense of isolation given who--and what--he is. Tammy comes to struggle with that too, realizing at length Jet never asked for the hand life had dealt him as she struggles to accept her own. A narrative sure to leave readers questioning and unsettled by the role technology, disability, and loss of bodily autonomy will play in all of our lives sooner or later. And delighting in characters coming to find their own purpose, to defy the destiny fate had forced upon them.