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PolyCorpse
Not yet published
Expected 12 Jun 26342 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication June 12, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
Advanced Review Copy provided in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to author Jarrett Poole for providing a review copy.
Score: 🎹🎶👻
The review aims to be as Spoiler-free as possible.
Jarrett Poole's debut novel, PolyCorpse is a stylish blend of post-apocalyptic eco-punk with an intriguing music-based magic system. A blend of the neon lights and gritty underbelly of the cyberpunk with the heart and vibe of GhostBusters, PolyCorpse aims to… resonate with our souls.
I am a sucker for any music-based magic/sci-fi system, so reading the ARC pitch for Poole's debut, PolyCorpse, along with a captivatingly colorful and evocative cover, had me scrambling to the author for a copy to dig into.
The story takes place in and around the futuristic dome-city of DehantaPolis (my Indian heritage made me chuckle at the obvious linguistic pun). After the standard post-apocalyptic collapse of society, DehantaPolis rises as the new bastion of culture and progress, fueled by… you guessed it, human souls!
Central to the story is Theo, an Itako or harvester of resonance, the in-world analog for the soul. The mechanism of harvesting souls is where PolyCorpse truly shines. A blend of retro-modern audio equipment from archaic tape-recorders, loopers, CD-jockeys and Walkman players, to more modern sequencers, synthesizers (the eponymous PolyCorpse) and other devices are used by the veteran Itako Theo to coax resonance into floppy disks, then used by the megacorp to keep the lights of DehantaPolis burning for another day. She is contracted to reave the resonance from the recently deceased in and around DehantaPolis, often taking her outside the city into the wastelands of the Moor.
Along with Theo we also get the verbally, visually, and aesthetically colorful Sarika, a Marrowmancer - an organ harvester. Together Theo and Sarika are drawn into a tale of rebellion, espionage, and good ol' fashioned electronica-soul-reaving!
From a stylistic standpoint, the premise pitch of PolyCorpse hit all the right notes for an audiophile like me. With chapters named after different music genres from Pop, Electronica, to more extreme genres like Nu Metal, Death Metal, Deathcore, etc. aptly connected to the flow of the plot, I admired Poole's commitment to the music motif. In addition, I was convinced of Poole's own passion for music production and composition as the details of Theo's composition, equipment, and other audio themes felt authentic, sincere, and well-researched! As a fan of many of these genres (more specifically, the metal side of things) I was obviously enthralled by these themes.
For anyone versed in cyberpunk, eco-punk, or any other post-apocalyptic sci-fi subgenre, the plot, setting, and character archetypes presented in this novel will be bog-standard to a point of tedium. The plot follows a predictable path, where even the "twists" feel wholly scripted and checkpoint-y rather than organic. Fortunately, the plot pushes forward with a steady clip, moving from one set-piece/location/character-development-stop to the next without grinding to a halt.
The characters too, felt wholly… expected. I enjoyed facets of Sarika's zing and its contrast to Theo's more sincere and sometimes dark character sketch. However, Sarika's pizzazz took away some gravitas from pivotal story moments while Theo's "darkness" came across more as whiny and contrived. The dialog between Sarika and Theo also felt anachronistically "present day" with jibes, sarcastic quips, and general banter taking away more than adding to the scenery, harkening more towards the Marvel-ificiation of protagonist dialog, rather than character/relationship building moments. The interpersonal conflicts between Theo and Sarika as they navigate their complex relationship, supposed to be the emotional heart of the story felt forced and underdeveloped within the constrained page-count of this standalone.
The side-characters and antagonists felt wooden with paper-thin motivations, very predictable in the eco-punk space exploring standard themes of rebellion against the "evil megacorp", and "wanting to build a better future", etc.
While I thoroughly enjoyed the chapter layout, the nods to music production, and even Poole's recommended Spotify playlist (listening to the playlist while typing this review), the story itself felt lackluster and far too stereotypical for the genre. With such an interesting premise, I was disappointed that Poole took the story in the direction he did, leaving so many possible "riffs in the tank".
Unfortunately, PolyCorpse ended up being a classic case of "style over substance". However, I will keep tapping my feet to the beat, and wait for an encore to keep the music playing, perhaps to set my own soul free!
Read this review and more on my Medium page: Distorted Visions
Instagram
Threads
Score: 🎹🎶👻
The review aims to be as Spoiler-free as possible.
Jarrett Poole's debut novel, PolyCorpse is a stylish blend of post-apocalyptic eco-punk with an intriguing music-based magic system. A blend of the neon lights and gritty underbelly of the cyberpunk with the heart and vibe of GhostBusters, PolyCorpse aims to… resonate with our souls.
I am a sucker for any music-based magic/sci-fi system, so reading the ARC pitch for Poole's debut, PolyCorpse, along with a captivatingly colorful and evocative cover, had me scrambling to the author for a copy to dig into.
The story takes place in and around the futuristic dome-city of DehantaPolis (my Indian heritage made me chuckle at the obvious linguistic pun). After the standard post-apocalyptic collapse of society, DehantaPolis rises as the new bastion of culture and progress, fueled by… you guessed it, human souls!
Central to the story is Theo, an Itako or harvester of resonance, the in-world analog for the soul. The mechanism of harvesting souls is where PolyCorpse truly shines. A blend of retro-modern audio equipment from archaic tape-recorders, loopers, CD-jockeys and Walkman players, to more modern sequencers, synthesizers (the eponymous PolyCorpse) and other devices are used by the veteran Itako Theo to coax resonance into floppy disks, then used by the megacorp to keep the lights of DehantaPolis burning for another day. She is contracted to reave the resonance from the recently deceased in and around DehantaPolis, often taking her outside the city into the wastelands of the Moor.
Along with Theo we also get the verbally, visually, and aesthetically colorful Sarika, a Marrowmancer - an organ harvester. Together Theo and Sarika are drawn into a tale of rebellion, espionage, and good ol' fashioned electronica-soul-reaving!
From a stylistic standpoint, the premise pitch of PolyCorpse hit all the right notes for an audiophile like me. With chapters named after different music genres from Pop, Electronica, to more extreme genres like Nu Metal, Death Metal, Deathcore, etc. aptly connected to the flow of the plot, I admired Poole's commitment to the music motif. In addition, I was convinced of Poole's own passion for music production and composition as the details of Theo's composition, equipment, and other audio themes felt authentic, sincere, and well-researched! As a fan of many of these genres (more specifically, the metal side of things) I was obviously enthralled by these themes.
For anyone versed in cyberpunk, eco-punk, or any other post-apocalyptic sci-fi subgenre, the plot, setting, and character archetypes presented in this novel will be bog-standard to a point of tedium. The plot follows a predictable path, where even the "twists" feel wholly scripted and checkpoint-y rather than organic. Fortunately, the plot pushes forward with a steady clip, moving from one set-piece/location/character-development-stop to the next without grinding to a halt.
The characters too, felt wholly… expected. I enjoyed facets of Sarika's zing and its contrast to Theo's more sincere and sometimes dark character sketch. However, Sarika's pizzazz took away some gravitas from pivotal story moments while Theo's "darkness" came across more as whiny and contrived. The dialog between Sarika and Theo also felt anachronistically "present day" with jibes, sarcastic quips, and general banter taking away more than adding to the scenery, harkening more towards the Marvel-ificiation of protagonist dialog, rather than character/relationship building moments. The interpersonal conflicts between Theo and Sarika as they navigate their complex relationship, supposed to be the emotional heart of the story felt forced and underdeveloped within the constrained page-count of this standalone.
The side-characters and antagonists felt wooden with paper-thin motivations, very predictable in the eco-punk space exploring standard themes of rebellion against the "evil megacorp", and "wanting to build a better future", etc.
While I thoroughly enjoyed the chapter layout, the nods to music production, and even Poole's recommended Spotify playlist (listening to the playlist while typing this review), the story itself felt lackluster and far too stereotypical for the genre. With such an interesting premise, I was disappointed that Poole took the story in the direction he did, leaving so many possible "riffs in the tank".
Unfortunately, PolyCorpse ended up being a classic case of "style over substance". However, I will keep tapping my feet to the beat, and wait for an encore to keep the music playing, perhaps to set my own soul free!
Read this review and more on my Medium page: Distorted Visions
Threads
May 27, 2026
PolyCorpse is a standalone novel set in a near future in which a powerful corporation, Saint Exxo, has developed the means to use energy from human souls, or “resonance”, to power the city of DehantaPolis. The main character, Theo, is a hunter of souls from the dead who have fled from their final obligation to the city; to willingly offer up their soul to Saint Exxo. Theo chases after these escapees, “the Disavowed”, on the Moor, a lawless, desolate and dangerous place that surrounds the city, where she harvests their souls using old-world 1990s music technology such as a synthesizer, tape deck and floppy disk drive. Each soul’s resonance needs a different musical combination to set it free, and Theo is quite the macabre DJ mixing in samples of ambient noise with her own voice to find the right combination for each corpse. She stores them on floppy disks and is paid by the big bad corporation on delivery.
We meet Theo after her own dying husband, Gin, has absconded, without leaving her a note, and is presumed dead somewhere on the Moor outside the city. She wants to find his body and set free his resonance, even though he had come to despise her profession and had become part of a rebel alliance that hoped for a better life outside the city:
“Gin was someone who believed deeply in individual freedoms. The right to choose.”
Woven throughout the early chapters of the book are flashbacks, which give the reader the backstory of Theo and Gin’s romance and life together. These help with the worldbuilding of this complicated yet intriguing world. We also see flashbacks of Theo and Sarika’s hedonistic friendship. Sarika is devoted to Theo, and their relationship acts as a contrast to that of Theo and Gin, whose relationship had soured well before Gin left. Poole does a wonderful job of painting these very different characters. I really enjoyed the friendship between Theo and Sarika and found it completely authentic. It took me back to my own London clubbing days with a group of friends. We witness Gin develop from being a caring, earnest nerd to an unhinged egomaniac, and Theo’s eventual realization that he is no longer the man she fell in love with helps to underscore the end of their relationship.
Once the stage is set, PolyCorpse picks up speed, and we see the girls going on a hunt outside the city for Gin’s body, hurtling from one daring adventure to the next. In Theo’s words, they experience:
“Escapes and scraps and tuk-tuk chases and bomb threats and murder.”
The novel becomes an exciting page turner, which I was not really expecting from the earlier chapters, but I thoroughly enjoyed the wild ride!
Along the way, Theo gets time to consider her career and begins to see what Gin found so distasteful:
“Death had always infested her life, but it had been a stale presence. Long rotted and stagnant, she trudged through the dead far after their ultimate act of dying. She’d been nothing more than a grave robber, shrouded by the lapse of time, showing up only after the emotions of death had waned.”
I found Poole’s writing style thoroughly immersive, and it was easy to see his experience from his day job as a narrative designer shining through – this guy knows how to write a smoothly connected series of adventures without losing momentum and keeping the reader engaged in the quieter moments.
I was sent an arc of PolyCorpse by the author – thank you! My review is honest, and my opinions are my own.
We meet Theo after her own dying husband, Gin, has absconded, without leaving her a note, and is presumed dead somewhere on the Moor outside the city. She wants to find his body and set free his resonance, even though he had come to despise her profession and had become part of a rebel alliance that hoped for a better life outside the city:
“Gin was someone who believed deeply in individual freedoms. The right to choose.”
Woven throughout the early chapters of the book are flashbacks, which give the reader the backstory of Theo and Gin’s romance and life together. These help with the worldbuilding of this complicated yet intriguing world. We also see flashbacks of Theo and Sarika’s hedonistic friendship. Sarika is devoted to Theo, and their relationship acts as a contrast to that of Theo and Gin, whose relationship had soured well before Gin left. Poole does a wonderful job of painting these very different characters. I really enjoyed the friendship between Theo and Sarika and found it completely authentic. It took me back to my own London clubbing days with a group of friends. We witness Gin develop from being a caring, earnest nerd to an unhinged egomaniac, and Theo’s eventual realization that he is no longer the man she fell in love with helps to underscore the end of their relationship.
Once the stage is set, PolyCorpse picks up speed, and we see the girls going on a hunt outside the city for Gin’s body, hurtling from one daring adventure to the next. In Theo’s words, they experience:
“Escapes and scraps and tuk-tuk chases and bomb threats and murder.”
The novel becomes an exciting page turner, which I was not really expecting from the earlier chapters, but I thoroughly enjoyed the wild ride!
Along the way, Theo gets time to consider her career and begins to see what Gin found so distasteful:
“Death had always infested her life, but it had been a stale presence. Long rotted and stagnant, she trudged through the dead far after their ultimate act of dying. She’d been nothing more than a grave robber, shrouded by the lapse of time, showing up only after the emotions of death had waned.”
I found Poole’s writing style thoroughly immersive, and it was easy to see his experience from his day job as a narrative designer shining through – this guy knows how to write a smoothly connected series of adventures without losing momentum and keeping the reader engaged in the quieter moments.
I was sent an arc of PolyCorpse by the author – thank you! My review is honest, and my opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from Author
This review was originally posted on FanFiAddict: https://fanfiaddict.com/polycorpse-by...
This book needs a playlist. I mean that as one of the highest compliments I can give.
PolyCorpse takes place in DehantaPolis, a walled city fueled by the energy of the dead, wrapped in 90s technology, and soaked in the kind of atmosphere that reminds me of Final Fantasy VII. It’s a world where necromancy and live music coexist, where soul-rending instruments are literal tools of the trade, and where the vibe of late nights in smoky bars with too-loud bands pulses through every chapter. Poole has built something genuinely unique here, a setting that is equal parts dystopian and nostalgic, morbid and magnetic.
At the center of it all is Theo, a soul retriever hunting down her terminally ill husband who fled the city and denied it his spirit. She’s armed with grief, rage, and her instruments, and she is fantastic. Every great fantasy story balances its fantastical problems with more personal, human ones, and PolyCorpse nails that balance. Theo feels real. Her pain feels real. The way she carries her loss and her anger through this strange world made me reflect on who I used to be when I was more broken, and who I’ve become since. That’s a rare thing for a book to do.
Sarika is equally wonderful, and together she and Theo feel like people I’ve actually known. The entire cast is thoughtfully constructed, full of strengths and weaknesses and faults that make them relatable even when the world around them is deeply strange. Poole understands that characters don’t need to be likable to be alive. They just need to be true.
The plot is full of unexpected twists and turns that kept me guessing, and the ending brought everything together beautifully. All those small details and quiet moments throughout the story converge into an emotional payoff that genuinely moved me. The thematic throughline can get a touch heavy-handed at times, but the delivery is strong enough that it never undercuts the impact.
The dialogue deserves special mention. It has this lived-in quality that transported me back to my early twenties, hanging out in bars, listening to live bands, staying out way too late with people I loved. Poole captures that specific nostalgia with remarkable precision. The prose itself is clean and serviceable, never flashy but never in the way, which is exactly what a story this atmospheric needs. The world does the heavy lifting, and the writing is smart enough to let it.
PolyCorpse is emotionally dark but also light in beautiful ways. It’s a story about grief and retribution and the space between what is right and what you crave, and it made me feel good about how far I’ve come while honoring how hard the broken times were. If you loved Gideon the Ninth or The Invocations, you’ll feel right at home here. And seriously, someone make the playlist, or a musical.
This book needs a playlist. I mean that as one of the highest compliments I can give.
PolyCorpse takes place in DehantaPolis, a walled city fueled by the energy of the dead, wrapped in 90s technology, and soaked in the kind of atmosphere that reminds me of Final Fantasy VII. It’s a world where necromancy and live music coexist, where soul-rending instruments are literal tools of the trade, and where the vibe of late nights in smoky bars with too-loud bands pulses through every chapter. Poole has built something genuinely unique here, a setting that is equal parts dystopian and nostalgic, morbid and magnetic.
At the center of it all is Theo, a soul retriever hunting down her terminally ill husband who fled the city and denied it his spirit. She’s armed with grief, rage, and her instruments, and she is fantastic. Every great fantasy story balances its fantastical problems with more personal, human ones, and PolyCorpse nails that balance. Theo feels real. Her pain feels real. The way she carries her loss and her anger through this strange world made me reflect on who I used to be when I was more broken, and who I’ve become since. That’s a rare thing for a book to do.
Sarika is equally wonderful, and together she and Theo feel like people I’ve actually known. The entire cast is thoughtfully constructed, full of strengths and weaknesses and faults that make them relatable even when the world around them is deeply strange. Poole understands that characters don’t need to be likable to be alive. They just need to be true.
The plot is full of unexpected twists and turns that kept me guessing, and the ending brought everything together beautifully. All those small details and quiet moments throughout the story converge into an emotional payoff that genuinely moved me. The thematic throughline can get a touch heavy-handed at times, but the delivery is strong enough that it never undercuts the impact.
The dialogue deserves special mention. It has this lived-in quality that transported me back to my early twenties, hanging out in bars, listening to live bands, staying out way too late with people I loved. Poole captures that specific nostalgia with remarkable precision. The prose itself is clean and serviceable, never flashy but never in the way, which is exactly what a story this atmospheric needs. The world does the heavy lifting, and the writing is smart enough to let it.
PolyCorpse is emotionally dark but also light in beautiful ways. It’s a story about grief and retribution and the space between what is right and what you crave, and it made me feel good about how far I’ve come while honoring how hard the broken times were. If you loved Gideon the Ninth or The Invocations, you’ll feel right at home here. And seriously, someone make the playlist, or a musical.
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