Miss Brandymoon's Device: a novel of sex, nanotech, and a sentient lava lamp

by Rune Skelley

Prophecy can go fulfill itself.Fin Tanner takes a certain pride in the spectacle of his gradual self-destruction, until he meets body piercer Rook Brandymoon. She punctures both his eyebrow and his cocoon of isolation. Fin and Rook bond over a joint, a game of chess, and conversation with Fin's lava lamp, Vesuvius. After one carnal night together, Rook uses Fin to escape her toxic relationship.But the problem with a romance foretold by fate is that it comes with strings attached. Unbeknownst to Rook, the jewelry she installs in her customers -- including Fin -- contains black-ops nanotech that makes its wearer vulnerable not only to spying, but to mind control, and worse. The jewelry's tech has drawn the attention of guerrilla televangelist Brian Shaw, who is bent on leveraging the transceivers to impose his dogma upon the masses. During a telepathic interrogation, the reverend unleashes Fin's latent mental powers and triggers a meltdown that leaves Fin catatonic. Rook rebuilds him from the inside, cementing their bond.While Rook tackles the question of why Shaw's heretical prophecies seem to feature Fin and herself, Fin struggles to halt the invasion of a proselytizing alien collective who utilize the tech-tainted jewelry in their attempts to spread their monstrous beliefs.Could it be that Fin truly is the Divided Man of Shaw's prophecy, and Rook his Completer?The couple's gritty, darkly humorous adventure leads them from meeting in a tattoo parlor to escaping a mercenary-infested factory; from hiding in an abandoned bomb-shelter to Rook's imprisonment in a religious broadcasting empire's luxurious penthouse; from the bizarre, dream-logic landscapes of the characters' minds to the cavernous interior of the asteroid Gaspra.Ultimately, all Fin and Rook must do to save the world is stay together. Can they?Interview with the Describe the world where this story takes From the outside, Webster appears to be a typical northeastern college town, but under the surface things are dangerously askew. It's consensus reality with an insidious twist. a reality that we sideswiped a couple of decades ago that's still wobbling in its Describe your style of science It's intensely character driven, especially the characters' flaws. It has complex plots. But the most important thing that all of it has in common is that there's a dangerous secret, a Big Idea, embedded in what appears to be the normal Miss Brandymoon's Device is a novel that isn't entirely comfortable being categorized as science fiction. But if you agree not to call it that, it insists that it has all the extraterrestrials, nanotechnology, and telepathic powers anyone could That's not a question. But, yeah. It's fun to read novels that cross genres and defy categorization. And when you can't find enough of them, sometimes you have to write your Is that why you write? Writing's a thrill! Putting pictures in someone else's head, stirring the feelings of another person, that's magic. Writing offers a chance to get to know interesting people; you just have to make them up first. In fact, it lets you be those other people, and go with them to impossible places. And then it lets readers have that experience, too.

351 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 13, 2016

Reviews

[D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy freaking lava lamp, Batman.

I'm sure other readers of this book will empathize with me when I say that I am still trying to put my brain back together after finishing just a few minutes ago. I . . . am sure the reconstruction process will take some time.

This is easily the strangest book I've ever read. I can say that without reservation and without any negative intention behind the comment whatsoever. What most impresses me is just how tight the writing is. Every sentence sizzles. Every statement accomplishes a purpose or twists your mind around beautifully-crafted concepts. I have never read more masterful descriptions of mental landscapes, I have never been taken on such a whirlwind tour of such a blissfully bizarre story.

Seriously, just read it. You'll understand. Incredibly well done, and I can't wait for the next installment. Gimme more. Gimme gimme gimme gimme.

[Patty Blaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book surprised me. I was not expecting the more sci fi feel of this one. It was really good.

[Jason Brown (Toastx2) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh, but not great..

Finished Rune Skelley’s “Miss Brandymoon’s Device”

Started reading sometime at the beginning of summer. I feel a little duped to be honest. It was interesting enough to finish, but hit points where it was easy to peel away and nearly shelve it.

It was kind of a garbage fire. The beginning contained kinda interesting story telling and interesting characters, who were then interrupted and diminished a fair amount by cult and alien nonsense.. I enjoyed the writing style of the first half pretty evenly, then shit went sideways with a massive leap of plot with no warning or foreshadowing.

Biggest issue and the likely reason readers should avoid this novel… a VERY problematic commodification of a woman, her body parts, her memory and conciousness. The female lead for the story was strong and quickly devolved to a plot tool that two dudes tug o warred over very grossly..

I would consider reading book 2 because this novel did have some interesting scifi thoughts but if it continues the same problems of disempowerment I would skip finishing it.


Side note: I am annoyed by books that rely on sub titles to get marketing attention. This book was labeled ‘A novel of sex, nanotech, and a sentient lavalamp.’ To be clear, this book contained a fair amount of problematic sex, some loose ill-defined and pointless nanotech, a talking lavalamp that served zero plot value…

[Lori Dundon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sentient lava lamp, Vesuvius, is my favorite, but all of the character development is done really well here. And even though the book takes some very strange sci-fi turns, it is easy to follow and I cared and worried about what would happen to Fin and Rook and Vesuvius. Oh and Bishop. And the ones you love to hate too... I read it twice.