Glass Houses

Avatars Dance #1

by Laura J. Mixon

When Ruby, the proprietor of an android business, and Golem, her favorite android, attempt to save a rich Egyptian from a collapsing skyscraper, they instead become deeply involved in an adventure that could take Ruby to the despised Outside. Original.

Genres: Science Fiction, Cyberpunk, Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Thriller, LGBT

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Laura J. Mixon is a chemical and environmental engineer better known as a science fiction writer. She writes about the impact of technology and environmental changes on personal identity and social structures. Her work has been the focus of academic studies on the intersection of technology, feminism, and gender. She has also experimented with interactive storytelling, in collaboration with renowned game designer Chris Crawford. She is married to SF writer Steven Gould (Jumper), with whom she collaborated on the novel Greenwar. In 2011, she began publishing under the pen name Morgan J. Locke. Under that name, she is one of the writers for the group blog Eat Our Brains.

Reviews

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up

This was an enjoyable caper & a quick read. Mixon's cyber punk rendering of our climate change future still felt fresh and relevant 20 years later. I really liked the first person perspective of Ruby, the scrawny plucky young Waldo operator (waldo being a mech/robot proxy body with various inspector-gadget like appendages that she operates through a neural link). I enjoyed Mikey, scrap yard purveyor, and her loyal friend, with his ever-present toothpick.

There was one thing that really bothered me: Melissa. I was sad she was so one-dimensional and that she was portrayed in such a slut-shamey/whore-phobic/biphobic way.

Yes to unexpected friendships, boo to stereotypical queer villains.

[Emmalyn Renato · Rating 4 out of 5]

A belated selection for the r/Fantasy 2019 Bingo for the 'Cyberpunk' square. Mixon is not as well known as some of the other women cyberpunk authors from the 80's and 90's such as Pad Cadigan and Melissa Scott but in my opinion she should be up there with them. This is the first in the Avatars Dance series and I highly recommend it. I've also read Proxies (the second one) and enjoyed it. Now I need to see if I can find a copy of (Burning Ice), the final one.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Glass Houses follows a woman who runs robotic creatures remotely, feeling what they feel, to go into dangerous situations and recover items requested by employers. When she encounters a surprising man in a dangerous, storm-tossed abandoned building, she tries to save him... and fails, but discovers the man was incredibly rich and it's entangled her in a complicated situation.

I don't have a whole lot to say about this book. It's mildly enjoyable, has a few interesting ideas, and a few annoying quirks that you might like or dislike more than me. Chief among them is, whenever she's piloting one of her creatures, the pronounces change to something like "I-He." So you get huge chunks like "I-He walked up to the room and grabbed the thing in my-his hands." I get what the author was going for, but it got to be a little tiresome. Similarly, calling the TV (with some internet capabilities) 'Jellovision' wore thin pretty quickly.

The ebook version I read contained an introduction from another author talking about how the book, written in the 90s, doesn't feel dated at all... that's a little overblown, and particularly how the Internet is described falls into that category. The funny thing is, thats kind of par for the course with older books, and I wouldn't have mentioned it at all... if not for the introduction, which got my hopes up and so while certainly well-intended praise, wound up being counterproductive.

Still, while the story wasn't huge, it was entertaining enough with a few well-drawn characters. As I understand it, the author wrote another book in the same universe, and I might check it out (as I've read later works by the same author that show a good deal of growth), I'm just not blown away. I got it as part of a bundle of ebooks and I don't feel like I wasted whatever portion of the money that particular book cost me.

[Heather Warner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very fast-paced mystery cyberpunk story set in a future climate change ravaged world. This future America was fascinating. Ruby, the main protagonist, is a flawed & damaged person, loyal to her friends & her love interest to a fault, and you will be cheering her on. I loved all the characters except for Ruby’s love interest Melissa, she was kind of a stereotypical femme fatale villain and I found it hard to understand her motivations. Ruby is great though, full of depth and emotion. Great storyline with a fun twist at the end. A very enjoyable book….written in 1992 and pretty on point in many ways!

(From the book blurb): “Ruby runs waldoes. Freelance. Construction, security–no job too large or small. And her favorite tool is Golem, six hundred pounds of vaguely human-shaped, remote-operated power. Not an easy living, but it's better than most in half-sunken, greenhouse-heated, 21st Century New York. Best of all the waldoes go Outside, not Ruby. Ruby hates the Outside.
But when a Ruby/Golem tries to rescue a rich Egyptian from a collapsing skyscraper, and accepts the papers he presses into her hands as he dies, Ruby's in trouble. She may have to go Outside for real.
All of which might be a lot easier if she hadn't stolen the diamonds off his body…”

[S.j. Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this slim paperback at a 2nd hand book shop, mainly because on the back of the jacket there's a quote from George RR Martin saying that "Laura Mixon was going to be one of the stars of the '90s!" Well, Martin overshot it a bit, but the book was entertaining. Described as a cyberpunk story, it takes us on an action packed ride with Ruby as she pilots her robots remotely from her apartment in a futuristic globally warmed Queens, New York. Ruby finds herself at an ethical crossroads after having stolen something from a dead guy, and the attempt to fix it takes her on a dangerous journey. As far as character development, Mixon does a pretty good job introducing us to Ruby, her room mate Melissa, and quite a few other important players. Since I'm fairly new to SF and cyberpunk themes, i was unfamiliar with a lot of the terms, such as waldos (the robots remotely piloted). I was also thinking that a bit of world building with regards to the state of the world and how it got that way would have made the story much more engaging for me. In the end Ruby faces down mortal danger, saves somebody's life and makes right what she did wrong. A fast, fun read.

[Tova · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came here for Ruby and her waldos (which is mentioned in the article Feminist Cyberpunk by Karen Cadora), and I got exactly what I wanted in that regard, even if the bodyshifting stuff was much less prominent than I would have liked. With regards to the story itself, while I loved most of the book and Ruby's slow drift towards excusing worse and worse acts, I can't give this any higher than three stars with how this story murders its own thematic coherence in the third act.

Also, there's a whole moon colony that Ruby apparently worked at when she was younger that's mentioned once as a throwaway line in her backstory? I would've loved to see that. The other biggest weakness of this book is that we don't really get any sense of how Ruby became the lovable agoraphobe she is at book start. It's like she popped into existence fully formed.

But despite everything I just said, I would still recommend checking this out if the premise interests you. The MC is a twitchy agoraphobe who can barely stand to walk outside of her apartment building while struggling with her feelings towards her roommate, it is exceedingly hard not to love her.

[M.H. Thaung]

This was quite a fun read with a storyline that wasn't too complex. I enjoyed learning about Ruby's world, where (of course) the socially advantaged and less affluent have different ways of dealing with the unfriendly environment. I note the book was originally published in 1992. The author's rendering of remote-controlled androids (waldos) now feels more futuristic than her methods of access to "online information." That's an interesting contrast to Snow Crash, also published in 1992, where the (virtual) Metaverse seemed more significant than physical/mechanical technology.

A couple of things didn't quite tie up for me - perhaps I simply missed them. The first issue was that I don't know if we ever got a reason why the deceased was there for Ruby to encounter in the first place. Secondly, for someone with such an aversion to physically going Outside, once she had done so, she didn't seem to have any problem after that, which felt a bit inconsistent.

An interesting story that's aged somewhat, but still an enjoyable read.

[Iain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting cyberpunk story. Has a very contemporary feel to it despite being 28 years old. And I couldn't definitely see it being turned into a show for one of the streaming channels.

[Vasha7 · Rating 3 out of 5]

No one could say that this book is gracefully written (how did the author think it was a good idea to describe the response to an unexpected noise like so: "My skin started to creep up the back of my neck like it wanted to hide on top of my head"), but it’s fast-paced and fun, and I didn't have any trouble deciphering the important aspects of the setting or following the plot. It ticks all the boxes: a gritty future setting, a tough-and-tender techie heroine (the emotional implications of the fact that she spends most of her time piloting a waldo by VR link are one of the best things in the story), chases and fistfights, treacherous lovers and loyal friends. It’s light entertainment of quite good quality.

[Jenn Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pretty awesome action-mystery story. Add in scavengers harvesting/recycling bits of scrap left over from old buildings and cities (one of my favourite themes) and giant robots (actually robots of all sizes) controlled through remotes that are plugged into your brain, and you've got a fun rainy day read. Also, sometimes I realise I'd never make a good crime sleuth/hero because: dang it, I'm not that smart. Still, it's fun to read characters that know what they're doing, even if THEY'RE not so sure they should be doing it.

Bit-Man-Singer aside, this may actually be my favourite Mixon novel yet.

[Brian Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

In an exotic setting of the future, in which environmental damage and wars have reshaped the face of the planet ... New York is still a city of haves and have-nots. Ruby operates "waldos", remote operated robots, salvaging objects for sale to local junkyards and particular dealers. So when she discovers an incredibly rich man in a skyscraper just before it gets destroyed... an adventure begins.

It's basically cyberpunk, with a mystery in it , as Ruby has to deal with her back-rent, her girlfriend, the mystery of what the man was doing there, and what she's going to do about it. It's not epic -- it's just fast paced and exciting.

[Samuel Lubell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is giant remote controlled mecha in a cyberpunk novel. The heroine starts out unlikable, stealing from a dying man after failing to rescue him, and her turnaround to risking her life to return the stolen fortune struck me as unconvincing.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspired to read by this great essay on woman and cyberpunk, specifically the mixed gender and identity of the main character, Ruby, as she inhabits her self-made robots:
http://project.cyberpunk.ru/idb/genre...

[Neil Mosspark · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it. great book with understandable characters, and a good storyline.

[Reet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun read.