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Transmaniacon
BEN RACKEY Foremost Professional irritant, remarkable in acting both as burglar and inciter in the bizarre and pleasure-seeking world of the 22nd century is a fearless, ruthless man of ingenuity, completely overwhelmed with his own strength. His latest and most Dangerous assignment is to steal THE EXCITER. A dangerous and fragile device for the augmentation of the telepathic transfer of mania. By seeking out and amplifying strong, hostile human emotions, the exciter can turn a street brawl into a full scale war. As soon as Ben has possession if it he will have the power to destroy THE BARRIER. Conceived as the perfect defense against nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare, it was activated in 1989 - an invisible screen of densely flowing ions entirely enclosing the continental zone labeled "The United States." Once the barrier is demolished Ben can escape. --- from book's back cover
- GenresScience FictionCyberpunk
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
1 person is currently reading
111 people want to read
About the author
John Shirley
320 books464 followersJohn Shirley won the Bram Stoker Award for his story collection Black Butterflies, and is the author of numerous novels, including the best-seller DEMONS, the cyberpunk classics CITY COME A-WALKIN', ECLIPSE, and BLACK GLASS, and his newest novels STORMLAND and A SORCERER OF ATLANTIS.
He is also a screenwriter, having written for television and movies; he was co-screenwriter of THE CROW. He has been several Year's Best anthologies including Prime Books' THE YEAR'S BEST DARK FANTASY AND HORROR anthology, and his nwest story collection is IN EXTREMIS: THE MOST EXTREME SHORT STORIES OF JOHN SHIRLEY. His novel BIOSHOCK: RAPTURE telling the story of the creation and undoing of Rapture, from the hit videogame BIOSHOCK is out from TOR books; his Halo novel, HALO: BROKEN CIRCLE is coming out from Pocket Books.
His most recent novels are STORMLAND and (forthcoming) AXLE BUST CREEK. His new story collection is THE FEVERISH STARS. STORMLAND and other John Shirley novels are available as audiobooks.
He is also a lyricist, having written lyrics for 18 songs recorded by the Blue Oyster Cult (especially on their albums Heaven Forbidden and Curse of the Hidden Mirror), and his own recordings.
John Shirley has written only one nonfiction book, GURDJIEFF: AN INTRODUCTION TO HIS LIFE AND IDEAS, published by Penguin/Jeremy Tarcher.
John Shirley story collections include BLACK BUTTERFLIES, IN EXTREMIS, REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY WEIRD STORIES, and LIVING SHADOWS.
source: Amazon
He is also a screenwriter, having written for television and movies; he was co-screenwriter of THE CROW. He has been several Year's Best anthologies including Prime Books' THE YEAR'S BEST DARK FANTASY AND HORROR anthology, and his nwest story collection is IN EXTREMIS: THE MOST EXTREME SHORT STORIES OF JOHN SHIRLEY. His novel BIOSHOCK: RAPTURE telling the story of the creation and undoing of Rapture, from the hit videogame BIOSHOCK is out from TOR books; his Halo novel, HALO: BROKEN CIRCLE is coming out from Pocket Books.
His most recent novels are STORMLAND and (forthcoming) AXLE BUST CREEK. His new story collection is THE FEVERISH STARS. STORMLAND and other John Shirley novels are available as audiobooks.
He is also a lyricist, having written lyrics for 18 songs recorded by the Blue Oyster Cult (especially on their albums Heaven Forbidden and Curse of the Hidden Mirror), and his own recordings.
John Shirley has written only one nonfiction book, GURDJIEFF: AN INTRODUCTION TO HIS LIFE AND IDEAS, published by Penguin/Jeremy Tarcher.
John Shirley story collections include BLACK BUTTERFLIES, IN EXTREMIS, REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY WEIRD STORIES, and LIVING SHADOWS.
source: Amazon
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 27, 2024
I don’t write reviews.
Bizarro and cyber punk galore. This story isn’t typical. The writing is neither beautiful nor provocative. Yet it’s interesting. The information is parceled out as the tale progresses, which doesn’t help you ground yourself in the telling. But I couldn’t look away. Chock full of innovative ideas. A solid book for any fan of weird.
Bizarro and cyber punk galore. This story isn’t typical. The writing is neither beautiful nor provocative. Yet it’s interesting. The information is parceled out as the tale progresses, which doesn’t help you ground yourself in the telling. But I couldn’t look away. Chock full of innovative ideas. A solid book for any fan of weird.
December 12, 2021
Full Review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...
"Last year I read and enjoyed John Shirley’s second SF novel City Come A-Walkin’ (1980). I praised the work as a “surreal and earthy paean to diverse urban community and punk rebellion” but pointed out that “Shirley struggles to pull the reader into the mechanism of the hackneyed political corruption plot.” Intrigued but not completely convinced, I immediately tracked down copies of Eclipse (1985), Three-Ring Psychus (1980), and his first SF novel Transmaniacon (1979). The plot follows the somewhat immoral/antiheroic professional irritant Ben Rackey [...]"
"Last year I read and enjoyed John Shirley’s second SF novel City Come A-Walkin’ (1980). I praised the work as a “surreal and earthy paean to diverse urban community and punk rebellion” but pointed out that “Shirley struggles to pull the reader into the mechanism of the hackneyed political corruption plot.” Intrigued but not completely convinced, I immediately tracked down copies of Eclipse (1985), Three-Ring Psychus (1980), and his first SF novel Transmaniacon (1979). The plot follows the somewhat immoral/antiheroic professional irritant Ben Rackey [...]"
October 30, 2019
Crazy but a fun read. Especially recommended for Blue Öyster Cult fans.
October 8, 2019
I don’t remember the last time I read a science fiction book. I had fun reading this. I’m really impressed by John Shirley’s writing and will continue seeking out his books.
January 13, 2010
There is no writer working today in both horror and Science Fiction whose body of work I enjoy more than the work of John Shirley. While he doesn't get the credit he often deserves and i know I have said this over and over. He was cyberpunk before there was a name, he was splatterpunk before there was name. His early ground breaking work with City come a Walking in Science Fiction and Cellars in horror fiction is known with the serious fans of the genres. This debut Science Fiction novel which was written after but published before his early horror novel Dracula in Love.
Transmaniacon is super nutso off the wall original work of pre-cyberpunk science fiction that is like no other book I can think of. It is also a great work out-of -date old school science fiction.The plot centers on "The barrier" a huge shield erected as a nuclear defense over the united states in 1989. This book takes place in 22 century two hundred years after a nuclear conflict devastates the world outside the barrier. The U.S. has broken up into several city states that are each very different and all of them are at war with at least one other city. Beyond the barrier is a mystery, is nature claiming the earth, has chaos taken over?
The main character Ben Rackey moves pretty freely working as a professional instigator for corporations and states that pay him. Ben is is hired to steal a device, the "Exciter" which can be used to direct individuals and crowds by enhancing their strong emotions of anger, saddness etc. Ben sees this device as the keep to accomplish his lifetime goal to bring down the barrier.
Ben Steals the exciter and thus begins an adventure across the weird landscape of the united states under the barrier. The level of strange environments and original creations range from the disturbing to the hilarious. The tone shifts dark socially political themes to almost Douglas Adams-ish humor.
Some of the things you'll find in this novel include Fly and owl shaped -nul grav cars, Dolphin pilots who lead blood cults, fist fights with conjoined octuplets, two century old frozen biker gangs, Musac used as a sedative, motor controlled mindless slaves, brainwashed mercenaries, and my personal favorite - the flesh tractors which are genetically engineered giant hands that are used as beasts of burdens.
There is more, much more. Transmaniacon is early work and does not show the mastery of of political allegory that Shirley became. There is alot being said here, I took from it a subtle message of the negatives of US isolationism. A basic statement against the status quo most of all it is an excellent and imaginative piece of speculative fiction.
Transmaniacon is super nutso off the wall original work of pre-cyberpunk science fiction that is like no other book I can think of. It is also a great work out-of -date old school science fiction.The plot centers on "The barrier" a huge shield erected as a nuclear defense over the united states in 1989. This book takes place in 22 century two hundred years after a nuclear conflict devastates the world outside the barrier. The U.S. has broken up into several city states that are each very different and all of them are at war with at least one other city. Beyond the barrier is a mystery, is nature claiming the earth, has chaos taken over?
The main character Ben Rackey moves pretty freely working as a professional instigator for corporations and states that pay him. Ben is is hired to steal a device, the "Exciter" which can be used to direct individuals and crowds by enhancing their strong emotions of anger, saddness etc. Ben sees this device as the keep to accomplish his lifetime goal to bring down the barrier.
Ben Steals the exciter and thus begins an adventure across the weird landscape of the united states under the barrier. The level of strange environments and original creations range from the disturbing to the hilarious. The tone shifts dark socially political themes to almost Douglas Adams-ish humor.
Some of the things you'll find in this novel include Fly and owl shaped -nul grav cars, Dolphin pilots who lead blood cults, fist fights with conjoined octuplets, two century old frozen biker gangs, Musac used as a sedative, motor controlled mindless slaves, brainwashed mercenaries, and my personal favorite - the flesh tractors which are genetically engineered giant hands that are used as beasts of burdens.
There is more, much more. Transmaniacon is early work and does not show the mastery of of political allegory that Shirley became. There is alot being said here, I took from it a subtle message of the negatives of US isolationism. A basic statement against the status quo most of all it is an excellent and imaginative piece of speculative fiction.
February 3, 2025
If China Mieville is my literary dad and Clive Barker is my literary partner, then John Shirley is rapidly becoming my literary crazy uncle who shouts at rainstorms and shows me his collection of severed wasps heads. The previous book of his I read, A Splendid Chaos, was an acid-trip nightmare of an alien world. Transmaniacon meanwhile feels like an acid-trip nightmare through post-war America, although given current world events, that fiction is starting to look like possible reality.
INSERT POLITICAL SATIRE HERE!
Transmaniacon puts us in the shoes of Ben Rackey, a professional criminal whose main job is that of an Irritant - basically someone who seeds crowds/ideological groups and manipulate them to the purposes of his employer. Rackey is hired by a secretive benefactor to acquire a device called 'The Exciter', which amplifies human emotions, driving them to extreme behaviours. But Rackey decides he wants the Exciter for his purposes. And he'll travel all across a post WW3 America to see things done.
Basically, what starts as a heist shifts in a novel-length road-trip as Rackey travels across an America cut off from the rest of the world, divided into nation-states that can best be described as absolutely nutter-butters and navigating through things like mercenary terrorist groups, cybernetic freaks, Satanic bikers and fascist dolphin overlords.
I think I've cracked Shirley's literary style. I call it the 'Pile-On Method'. The dude will pile on crazy on crazy and when something isn't working, he keeps piling. Shirley's work has been described as 'proto-cyberpunk' and I believe it. Rackey's trip takes him across various places across the former US and each place has it's own quirks and eccentricities and when a version of Las Vegas where 'gambling for your life isn't a metaphor' is tame, you know you're in for some weird shit. Each city-state is distinct and engaging but doesn't stick around for long enough for you to get bored with it which is a plus because such a formula would get stale after too long. The pacing is pretty brisk with dialogue written sharp and characters not mincing words, events playing out like a snowball sliding downhill and conclusions often ending with destruction of public property. And given the constant referrals to classic rock artists, it feels a very apt approach.
But this fast frenetic style and pace does come at a price. Given how vast the world of Transmaniacon is and how short comparatively the book is, a lot of backstory and history of the world and characters is left to the dreaded 'infodump' where Shirley has characters - Rackey mostly - explain world events to other characters not in the know, particularly Gloria, one of the bikers who pick Rackey up for the initial assignment and becomes the audience surrogate for most of the book. And on the note of Gloria, the characters are a mixed bag too. Most of them come and go at the drop of a hat and those that stick around are either fleshed out just enough to be interesting or 'meh' enough to be of little care when they're gone. Gloria spends a lot of the story flipping back and forth between awe at the world and apathy and it can be difficult to nail down her character. Carlton Fuller - the closest thing Rackey has to a nemesis - comes and goes as the plot demands of him and never really rises above a psycho thug. Hell, even the main villain of the story - Rackey's employer - never really comes to the foreground until the end of the novel and only then do we get a sense of who they are.
And while I'm whinging myself inside out, some aspects of the plot feel either like filler or struggle to make sense. Not every place Rackey visits in equal in terms of writing quality. Some are more interesting than others and some places feel like Shirley was struggling to get the plot moving along and just had Rackey and Gloria stumble into whatever he needed to kick things over the cliff. Not to mention that Shirley's writing style can be quite descriptively dense and some sections end up getting so stuck up their own arse, that it can take a couple rereads to get your bearings. The ending is particularly egregious about this, what with multiple events and revelations all getting flung at the wall like chimp shit in the monkey house until the story ends in a damp squib.
That being said, I still think highly of this book. If there is one thing that elevates Transmaniacon up over its flaws, its that like any good rock album, it puts the pedal to the floor and just doesn't stop. It's a fun, crazy ride and sometimes that's enough.
Sit down, strap in and don't fear the reaper.
INSERT POLITICAL SATIRE HERE!
Transmaniacon puts us in the shoes of Ben Rackey, a professional criminal whose main job is that of an Irritant - basically someone who seeds crowds/ideological groups and manipulate them to the purposes of his employer. Rackey is hired by a secretive benefactor to acquire a device called 'The Exciter', which amplifies human emotions, driving them to extreme behaviours. But Rackey decides he wants the Exciter for his purposes. And he'll travel all across a post WW3 America to see things done.
Basically, what starts as a heist shifts in a novel-length road-trip as Rackey travels across an America cut off from the rest of the world, divided into nation-states that can best be described as absolutely nutter-butters and navigating through things like mercenary terrorist groups, cybernetic freaks, Satanic bikers and fascist dolphin overlords.
I think I've cracked Shirley's literary style. I call it the 'Pile-On Method'. The dude will pile on crazy on crazy and when something isn't working, he keeps piling. Shirley's work has been described as 'proto-cyberpunk' and I believe it. Rackey's trip takes him across various places across the former US and each place has it's own quirks and eccentricities and when a version of Las Vegas where 'gambling for your life isn't a metaphor' is tame, you know you're in for some weird shit. Each city-state is distinct and engaging but doesn't stick around for long enough for you to get bored with it which is a plus because such a formula would get stale after too long. The pacing is pretty brisk with dialogue written sharp and characters not mincing words, events playing out like a snowball sliding downhill and conclusions often ending with destruction of public property. And given the constant referrals to classic rock artists, it feels a very apt approach.
But this fast frenetic style and pace does come at a price. Given how vast the world of Transmaniacon is and how short comparatively the book is, a lot of backstory and history of the world and characters is left to the dreaded 'infodump' where Shirley has characters - Rackey mostly - explain world events to other characters not in the know, particularly Gloria, one of the bikers who pick Rackey up for the initial assignment and becomes the audience surrogate for most of the book. And on the note of Gloria, the characters are a mixed bag too. Most of them come and go at the drop of a hat and those that stick around are either fleshed out just enough to be interesting or 'meh' enough to be of little care when they're gone. Gloria spends a lot of the story flipping back and forth between awe at the world and apathy and it can be difficult to nail down her character. Carlton Fuller - the closest thing Rackey has to a nemesis - comes and goes as the plot demands of him and never really rises above a psycho thug. Hell, even the main villain of the story - Rackey's employer - never really comes to the foreground until the end of the novel and only then do we get a sense of who they are.
And while I'm whinging myself inside out, some aspects of the plot feel either like filler or struggle to make sense. Not every place Rackey visits in equal in terms of writing quality. Some are more interesting than others and some places feel like Shirley was struggling to get the plot moving along and just had Rackey and Gloria stumble into whatever he needed to kick things over the cliff. Not to mention that Shirley's writing style can be quite descriptively dense and some sections end up getting so stuck up their own arse, that it can take a couple rereads to get your bearings. The ending is particularly egregious about this, what with multiple events and revelations all getting flung at the wall like chimp shit in the monkey house until the story ends in a damp squib.
That being said, I still think highly of this book. If there is one thing that elevates Transmaniacon up over its flaws, its that like any good rock album, it puts the pedal to the floor and just doesn't stop. It's a fun, crazy ride and sometimes that's enough.
Sit down, strap in and don't fear the reaper.
February 26, 2020
Mal tradotto, poco avvincente e con molte falle logiche.
September 19, 2020
Imaginative but kind of disjointed. Hard to follow at times.
February 12, 2023
Robust cyberpunk future, somewhat dated with an almost deus ex machina of a main character, but still fascinating.
January 23, 2013
Did not disappoint.
dont-read
May 19, 2017A rather depressing dystopian future, with a level of violence and death that I wasn't in the mood for. Got through about half and it didn't catch me. Skimmed the end, and not feeling like I'll miss it.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews